Tod Button thinks the Calgary Flames took care of the most important items on their to-do list at the NHL Entry Draft.

At least he hopes so.

"We went in with a couple goals," the Flames head scout said Saturday afternoon via cellphone from Montreal. " One was to get a defenceman, and it happened to be with the first pick."

With the first pick (23rd overall), the Flames selected smooth-skating Swedish defenceman Tim Erixon.

At 18, Erixon is already playing against grown men in the Swedish Elite League. His father, Jan Erixon, toiled for 10 years in the NHL as a checking forward with the New York Rangers.

As it stands, the Flames surrendered their first-round pick in 2010 to Phoenix in the Olli Jokinen trade. Calgary's second-round pick next year belongs to Chicago thanks to the Rene Bourque deal.

So Button admits to feeling the heat at the Flames draft table on the floor at the Bell Centre.

"We absolutely couldn't make a mistake on our first pick," he said. "This pick counted for two. We put the pressure on ourselves and we put the pressure on our staff to make sure that was the case. We think we did that. Only time will tell."

And it will take time for Erixon to develop. The six-foot-two, 190-pounder is expected to play at least one more season for Skelleftea in the Swedish Elite League.

"We had to make sure this player was a good enough player to make up for the fact we don't have a first or second-round pick next year," Button said. "Yet."

General manager Darryl Sutter pulled off four trades at the draft in Montreal, so the old cowboy is certainly not shy of wheeling and dealing --now or in the future.

"He keeps us up-to-date and very, very informed about the trades he's working on," Button said. "So we're never caught off guard or unaware. We make sure we're prepared.

"He found another way to make it exciting for the team and the fans in getting Jay Bouwmeester. But we're never surprised."

Heading into the draft, the Flames made no secret of their desire to bolster their defensive corps and add to a talent pool that already includes Matt Pelech, John Negrin, Keith Aulie and T. J. Brodie.

"Once we took a defenceman, our focus turned to scoring wingers," Button said. "We wanted to get some scoring on the wing."

Enter Ryan Howse, a five-foot-11, 185-pound left-winger from the Chilliwack Bruins.

According to Chilliwack GM Darryl Porter, the Flames committed armed robbery by claiming such a pure-goal scorer with the 74th overall pick.

"I think the Flames got an absolute steal in the third round," Porter said. "On our team, we got dealt some really hard breaks early last year. Oscar Moller went to the NHL and a number of other things happened where Ryan's linemates weren't with the team.

"So we ended up being a very, very young team, and Ryan had to basically produce all by himself last year."

And he did. In 61 games, Porter notched 31 goals and 44 points in spite of a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for two weeks.

"He's an explosive player," Porter said. "He's from a down-to-earth, blue-collar family, and that's really what Ryan is as well."

Ryan's dad, Jason, works as a custodian at Heritage Elementary School in Prince George. His mom works at Lush, a soap shop.

"If it weren't for all their hard work driving me to practice in the morning, I wouldn't be getting this opportunity," Howse said from Prince George. "My dad is from Calgary, so I can't tell you how excited he is. And so I am."

Howse received a heads up Saturday morning from his agent before a mystery voice called him from the Flames.

"I couldn't hear who it was," he said. "That's how loud it was in the background.

"They just congratulated me and said they would call on Monday."

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, right winger Henrik Bjorklund learned the news just after his team was eliminated from an in-line hockey tournament.

"I'm a little bit in shock," Bjorklund said via cellphone over the din of the Stockholm subway system. "The Flames are an awesome team, and I was very happy to hear about it."

In the fifth round, the Flames selected forward Spencer Bennett from Surrey of the BCHL. In the sixth, they claimed Finnish netminder Joni Ortio, who is from the same area as Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.

To wrap things up, the Flames selected centre Gaelan Patterson from the Saskatoon Blades.

"We feel really happy with the way things went," Button said. "But then again, so do the other 29 teams."

vhall@theherald.canwest.com