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Prospect Watch: John Mustard
Photo Credit: Chris Zoeller
With player’s seasons now coming to a close all around the world and the NHL Draft looming ever closer, one prospect’s body of work this season that I think deserves a bit of last-minute recognition is John Mustard’s.
John, who was taken 109th overall out of New Jersey in the 2022 USHL Draft by the Waterloo Black Hawks, was projected at the start of this season as being just another kid who was lucky enough to be selected. But in very little time, he quickly began to change his critics’ minds when he started to shoot up the league’s point standings. Yes, with each passing game, teams and scouts alike began to stand up and pay attention as this 17-year-old rookie proved that he was someone they would have to plan for.
Mustard’s game is one that consists of a lethal shot and incredible on-ice instincts. And, like any good predatory animal does when they are stalking their prey, John can either hurt the opposition by harmlessly floating around the ice until their defense deems him not to be a threat and foolishly takes their eyes off him. Only to find that when they regain sight of him, it is usually too late, as he is already celebrating a goal with his teammates under the glow of that red rotating light. But if John’s elusiveness does not fool them, he has been known to use aggression. When he becomes impatient, or time is simply running out Mustard has been known to rush his opponent and take back what he feels is rightfully his. Once he reclaims his prize (the puck), John is then off to the races and uses his speed and ferocious stick-handling skills to make his way up the ice unscathed, to a position of his choice where he then releases his fatal blast into the back of the net.
This is something that Mustard was able to do an impressive 29 times this year and assisting others to do much of the same for another 27 times for a total of 56 points. And it’s because of these efforts that he was able to go from a seemingly unknown and unranked prospect to one who has been able to climb his way to the top of some teams’ draft boards in just a few short months.
However, potentially being drafted in the second round this summer isn’t the only opportunity that John’s extraordinary play this season has been able to provide him, for it has also afforded him a scholarship offer to play for the Providence Friars of the NCAA, starting in the 2025-2026 season.
With all that being said, it would appear as though John has all the intangibles to develop into a top-six forward in the NHL one day. So, with him doing his part, all we can do is impatiently wait to see if our team is the one lucky enough to end up stepping up to the podium to call his name.
With Each Embarrassing Loss, the Flyers Inch Closer to a Lottery Pick
Photo Credit: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/
Last night, the Philadelphia Flyers were handed their eighth straight loss. And to add insult to injury, it was to the tune of 9-3 by the Atlantic Division’s last-place team, the Montreal Canadiens. But this latest defeat should not be considered a fluke, as their last six losses have come against non-playoff-bound teams who will be picking from the lottery.
Now, while most of us probably predicted the season to go this way before the first puck of the 2023-2024 season was ever dropped (seeing that the club is in the middle of a rebuild). I don’t think that anybody would have foreseen that this team of underdogs who showed they could hold their own against some of the best in the league by maintaining third place in the Metro. Division, for over 110 calendar days, would have battled so hard for much of the season just to allow themselves to run out of gas with the finish line in sight.
With time running out, their collapse could not have come at a worse time, as it has seen them go from a guaranteed playoff spot to not even being in the running for a wildcard position in a matter of just two weeks. And with only three games now remaining, the Flyers’ hopes of making the postseason are all but gone, as most teams that have recently moved ahead of them all have a game in hand.
So, with that being said, I’ll allow the team’s head coach, John Tortorella, to figure out why this happened in the off-season and instead focus on what this means for the club moving forward.
Now, I am just as confused and frustrated as I’m sure most of you reading this article are with this team. And I know the words “moving forward” are probably considered a bit of a laughable statement at this point, considering that this team’s last Stanley Cup champs are now in their mid to late 70s, seeing that the franchise last raised the cup NEARLY 50 years ago. But, since Danny Briere was promoted to general manager a little over a year ago, I, for one still feel the team is moving in the right direction. He was dealt a crappy hand filled with bad contracts and no cap space but has since managed to shed salary by dropping dead weight like Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov. In doing that, he has managed to garner multiple high-end draft picks for his troubles. I.E., the 1st rounder he used back in 2023 on Oliver Bonk and the one he gained for Sean Walker this year. So, while I know at the present time being a fan of this club seems grim, I assure you the future will be bright.
For instance, I don’t know about you, but I love how Briere took a chance on drafting Matvei Michkov, whose 19 goals and 41 points this season in the KHL blew away a player like the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov’s former stats who, in his draft plus one season only posted 11 goals and 27 points. Now, I’m not trying to say that Michkov will ever develop to be the annual 40+ NHL goal scorer that Kaprizov is, but at least there’s a chance that he could.
With Briere now at the helm, I believe the team hitting a wall this season will not be a recurring issue. Unlike the Flyers’ previous administration, he knows that you do not waste a first-round pick on defensive-minded players like Coots and Laughton because you can find those types of players later in the draft or in free agency (like he did when he brought in Ryan Poehling, and Garnett Hathaway earlier this season).
That’s why I think that if we are ever to see this team raise the Stanley Cup again, “Dealing Danny” needs to continue to take chances by offering up multiple draft picks from his stockpile in an effort to move up in this summer draft to select a game-changing face of the franchise type player who could assist the Flyers in their efforts to get back to contention as early as next season.
As we all know, the team has multiple first and possibly second-round picks in both this year and subsequent drafts. These additional picks came by way of trading away players like Giroux, Provorov, Sean Walker, and Cutter Gauthier. As well as compensation for losing out on former 1st round pick Jay O’Brien. So, while the Flyers are currently projected to select 12th overall and twenty-something overall this year, which might allow them to obtain a good to great NHL player, if they were to package these draft picks or a mixture of others that they have at their disposal, they could attain someone elite. Someone whose face you could be proud to see hanging off the side of the building next year before walking into the Wells Fargo Center opening night to purchase their jersey.
Now, while I know these types of players are few and far between, this draft class could prove to produce multiple. The first, of course, would be the sensational Macklin Celebrini, but the chances of the Flyers convincing the Sharks, who look destined to get the first overall pick, to give up the opportunity to draft him is slim to none. And while Cayden Lindstrom’s size is impressive, the fact that his point production only increased from 42 last year to 46 points this season doesn’t exactly make me want to rush out and give up that kind of draft capital in order to select him.
Cole Eiserman
So, who’s left? Well, if I had my pick, it would be between two players, the first of which is the US National Development Teams’ Cole Eiserman. Cole is indisputably one of the best snipers of this draft class. And it should be noted that he is also one of the youngest, seeing that if he were born just two weeks later, we would be talking about Eiserman being drafted this time next year. Some scouts have Cole dropping out of the top three players selected this summer because he stands just a smidge under 6’0. But I would advise prospecting teams not to worry about that, seeing that he is already over 200 pounds and shows no problem standing his ground in front of the opposition’s net.
But perhaps the thing I like about Eiserman the most is his ability to create a shot off the pass. Young and talented players like him typically try to do it all on their own because a lot of the time, growing up, they had to in order to win their team’s games, seeing that they were by far the best players on their team. But as most learn, in order to play in the NHL, where everyone was that player growing up, you have to learn to play off the puck.
With these traits, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that Cole’s 118 career goals with Team USA have seen him pass some current NHL greats like Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, and Auston Matthews on the USNDP’s all-time lists.
So, with there now being no question that he can score, I guess the only unanswered one left is just who he will be doing it for at the next level.
Berkly Catton
The other guy I would suggest being worth moving up at the draft for would-be the Spokane Chiefs’ elusive center, Berkly Catton. Berkly is an 18-year-old center/wing who stands at 5’11 and weighs in at 170 pounds. He already has a complete game that includes the ability to score goals off the rush. As well as possessing the ability to change speed and direction often to keep the defense guessing. But lets not forget that he shows a willingness to drive the puck to the center of the ice. He does so by being one of the best stick handlers in this draft class. In fact, his dangles are so good that they allowed him to lead Canada to a gold medal (where he served as their captain) at the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he led all players in that tournament, scoring eight goals and two assists for a total of ten points in only five games played. But that was before this season even started. Once joining back up with the Chiefs this season, Berkly was able to more than double both his goal and point totals from last season scoring 54 goals and 62 assists for 116 points on the year. Now, if you do the math, that means he was averaging an unheard-of 1.71 points per game (P.P.G.). Folks, that’s better than Leon Draisaitl’s 1.64 P.P.G. average, which he was able to produce in his draft year while playing for the Prince Albert Raiders!
And when you draft a player who scores at this rate in junior hockey, I see no need for you to send him back to junior’s next season. I mean, what does he have left to prove? And who there is going to challenge this player to get better? Berkly is an absolute game-changer and would instantly, upon drafting him, make any NHL club better next season.
Remember, the Flyers haven’t had a player of this caliber since maybe Eric Lindros. And the game has changed from its barbaric roots, as much as that hurts me to say. The NHL now is played more wide open without all the holding, tripping, and slashing that went on in the past. This allows the league’s most talented players the opportunity to put on a show each and every night. So, now drafting speed and scoring ability is a must. And these two players would offer Philadelphia all that and so much more. All they need to do now is decide which one they want to pursue.
As the Playoffs Draw Near, the Flyers would Appear to have Hit a Wall
You have to admit that for much of this season, the rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers managed to exceed expectations so much so that they found themselves seated in third place in the Metropolitan Division for over 100 days straight!
But recently, something has changed. After making it through possibly the most brutal stretch of their season where, the club was able to pick up some huge points against playoff-bound teams like the Boston Bruins, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers, and the New York Rangers, it seemed as though the Flyers all but solidified themselves the opportunity of a postseason run because they would only have to face one playoff caliber team in their final nine games.
However, since gaining those much-needed points against those aforementioned playoff contenders. The Flyers have somehow managed to hit a wall. And what I mean by that is that they have lost seven straight games since then, with most of these losses being dealt to them by teams who are among the worst in the league that have already been eliminated from playoff contention for some time now.
What may be the cause of this, you may be asking? Well, for most of the season, the Flyers have had to be dependent on guys like Travis Konecny and the team’s promising youth that consists of Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, and Tyson Foerster to carry much of the load offensively. All of these players have shown significant improvement this season and have or are on pace to set new career highs in both goals and total points. Despite their efforts, though, these players are not and should not be considered elite. Therefore, they are unable to turn it up a notch at this time of year and take their play to another level.
Let me explain. Because of the Flyers’ prior administration decisions to try and acquire or hold onto who they thought to be elite. I.E., the misuse of funds in which they overpaid the often injured Sean Couturier to the tune of $7.75 million a season until 2030 and trading for players like Cam Atkinson, who has been nonexistent this year but is still somehow allowed to cash checks that pay him $5.8 million a season, and Ryan Ellis who the Flyers are stuck paying for until 2027 despite them only managing to get four games out of him for their troubles.
New management and head coach, John Tortorella, have been forced to try and squeeze the most they could out of the players they have on their roster. So, I don’t want to hear that Torts has lost the locker room because it should go without saying that when you’re stuck trying to get Ferrari-type performance out of a bunch of Honda Civics, you can expect to have it all blow up in your face. For example, when you compare the Flyers’ leading goal scorer this year, Travis Konecny, who has scored 31 goals on the year (which ties his career best), with the league-leading goal scorer Auston Matthews, who currently has 64 goals on the year, you’ll see that there is a 33 goal difference meaning Travis would have to play two seasons in order to reach Auston’s goal totals from this year. And if we look at our point leader, who just so happens to be Travis as well, you’ll see that his 65 points scored this season is a little off the pace of the NHL’s leader in that category as the Lightnings Nikita Kucherov has already totaled 136 points on the season (a 71 point difference).
Now, this is in no way meant to be a knock on Konecny or anybody else currently on their roster but used as an eye-opening realization that without a superstar talent on the roster to lead them down the stretch, Philadelphia will be forced year in and year out to check playoff updates on their phone in between holes at their favorite golf course.
This is why, to combat this issue, the team’s general manager, Danny Briere, has been working tirelessly to continue to gain future assets in order to build for the future like he did when he traded away both defenseman Ivan Provorov and Sean Walker for first-round picks and so much more.
So don’t be surprised if you hear some shocking names appear on the old trade block sooner rather than later as the Flyers off-season draws ever closer, especially since rumors would already have it that Dealing Danny has been in discussions of late with Montreal about the possibility of moving Travis Konecny for quite the package which would include the Flyers adding another first-round pick this year. Again, these are all rumors at this point, but with Briere at the helm, you can be sure to expect further changes to come.