There are a lot of ways to turn a team into a Stanley Cup contender. The draft is a particularly important one, while adding through trades and free agency has both helped and hurt teams, depending on how smart they are with their acquisitions.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at just where the potential 2018-19 Flames have come from.
This is just a mock lineup – don’t take the line combinations too seriously.
| Johnny Gaudreau | Sean Monahan | James Neal |
| Matthew Tkachuk | Mikael Backlund | Elias Lindholm |
| Sam Bennett | Derek Ryan | Michael Frolik |
| Troy Brouwer | Mark Jankowski | Austin Czarnik |
| Curtis Lazar | Garnet Hathaway |
Or, to put it another way:
| Draft pick – no AHL time | Draft pick – no AHL time | Free agent signing |
| Draft pick – no AHL time | Draft pick – AHL time | Trade |
| Draft pick – no AHL time | Free agent signing | Free agent signing |
| Free agent signing | Draft pick – AHL time | Free agent signing |
| Trade | Undrafted free agent – AHL time |
Eight or nine (depending on Rittich and Gillies’ statuses) members of the Flames’ potential lineup are draft picks, seven or eight came from free agency (two unproven, undrafted players; three if Rittich makes it over Gillies), and seven via trade.