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Prospect Watch: Liam Greentree
As the 2024 season looms ever closer, I feel it necessary to start to provide you with a few names of some promising prospects who I think you need to keep an eye on. One such name is Liam Greentree. Liam is a 2024 draft-eligible player who stands at 6’2 and 198 pounds. He is a right-winger who plays for the Ontario Hockey Leagues (OHL) Windsor Spitfires.
Now, Liam is viewed by several so-called experts as a potentially late first-round pick. Still, by my evaluation, he will likely surprise many people this season with his game and potentially be taken just outside the top ten next summer.
I based my hypothesis on the fact that Liam scored more goals than any other rookie in the OHL last season when he totaled 25. Yes, that means he even managed to outscore the highly touted Michael Misa (who is projected to be 2025’s number-one overall pick), who finished the season with only 22 goals, but who won the OHL’s Rookie of the Year Award (Emma Family Award) last season because he finished the season with more overall points than Greentree.
But how does he do it, you may be asking? To go with his NHL size and strength, Liam already possesses the kind of high-powered shot and quick release some players can only dream about having. Whether he has space to let it go from above the faceoff dots or finds himself in tight with traffic, Greentree always manages to put the most behind his shot. He may have picked up this trait from watching the Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele who Liam once compared his game to in a prior interview. Let’s hope this comparison is accurate because Scheifele set a career-high in goals this past season with 42.
What could help Greentree reach such lofty goals is that teammates: Matthew Maggio, Jacob Maillet, Alex Christopoulos, Oliver Peer, Brett Harrison, and 2022 4th overall pick Shane Wright all are either aging out or potentially moving on to bigger and better things. So Liam will likely get the playing time he thus deserves next season for the Spitfires.
His first chance, however, to prove his worth to the masses this upcoming season will be in just a few days when he suits up for Team Canada in the 2023-2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which will be held July 31st through August 5th in Trencin, Slovakia, and Breclav, Czechia. It is here where Greentree will not only get a chance to shine playing alongside some of the best Canada has to offer but be allowed to line up across from some of the players who currently sit above him in those mock drafts. And so, you don’t miss your opportunity to catch Liam donning the Red Maple Leaf with pride, make sure to tune into NHL Network for all the action.
Sam Dickinson is one name that should already be up on the Flyers 2024 Draft Boards
With the 2023 NHL Entry Draft now behind us, it is never too early to start looking ahead at the next crop of young upcoming players who will be available to select in the draft next summer. That statement resonates even more true if you are the Philadelphia Flyers, who are just now embarking on a total franchise rebuild.
Now, of course, it is still extremely early to try and nail down exactly where the newly promoted President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones and General Manager Danny Briere will be making their first-round selection from next summer but given where the team finished this past season, and the players Briere has already shipped out or chosen not to resign I feel like it’s a pretty safe bet to say that Philly most likely will find themselves picking from within the top ten once again next offseason.
With that being said, Sam Dickinson is one prospect who will be available above all others in this upcoming draft class that should already be up on the Flyers Draft Boards. Sam is a 6’3, 194-pound left-hand shot defender who plays for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). A team that the Flyers are very familiar with, seeing that they just drafted Dickinson’s defensive partner, right-hand shot defender Oliver Bonk with the 22nd overall pick this year, as well as the Knights center Denver Barkey who the team took in the third round with the 95th overall pick.
What’s with the Flyers’ fascination when they hear “This is London Calling,” you may be asking? Well, you could say Keith Jones and the Knight’s Head Coach/ Part Owner Dale Hunter have some history. They played together for five seasons in Washington D.C. for the Capitals from 1992 to the end of the 96-97 season. So, it should go without saying when Hunter calls up his old teammate and says you have to come check this kid out. You best believe the Flyers executives and their scouts will be on the first plane out of town.
But this interest in selecting Dale’s players isn’t solely based on nepotism. It’s founded on the fact that these players also possess a lot of skill. And why wouldn’t they? After playing in over 1,400 NHL games, scoring over 1,000 points, and totaling over 3,500 penalty minutes throughout his 19 seasons in the league, I think it’s safe to say that Hunter has developed not only quite the eye for spotting talent but for developing it as well seeing that he now has amassed over 900 regular season wins coaching in the junior ranks.
In saying that, Sam is just the latest prospect in a long line of Knights players who have been or are currently being cultivated by Dale Hunter. And it is this writers opinion that because of the tutelage he has received while playing in London that Dickinson projects to be not only one of this draft’s top two-way defenders but a top-five pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft as well. Sam’s assets may include his NHL size and strength, but what really sets him apart from the pack is that he is able to combine his herculean-like attributes with an immense amount of speed that he uses to jump up and join the rush offensively.
To prove this, in just his first season playing in the OHL, Dickinson scored nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 62 games played during the regular season. He built upon that newfound success in the playoffs by scoring four goals and four assists for eight points in 21 games.
But while Sam is already projected to be a top-five pick in next summer’s draft, what I believe will let him maintain his current draft stock is his ever-evolving shot from the point. As the season went on last year, I saw Dickinson feel increasingly more comfortable unleashing his behemoth of a shot from the point when traffic was in front of the net. This proved effective primarily because Sam concentrated on trying to keep the puck on the ice so that it did not lose any velocity on its way to the back of the net.
In addition, I would like to see Sam introduce a little more physicality to his game. But in doing so, he has to be careful because this can prove to be a double edge sword if not done correctly. For Dickinson already excels at the art of using his size to force the opponents to the outside, which creates tougher angle shots for them to shoot from. He also is skilled at tactfully removing the opposition from in front of his goaltender’s net to eliminate the possibility of a screen. But Dickinson does not use brute force to outright knock the opposition off the puck, for example when crossing the blue line. So, if he adds this to his repertoire and manages to do so cleanly, Dickinson just might follow Bonk’s footsteps by holding an Orange and Black jersey up on draft day so that the pair can continue to build upon their success together at the pro level.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1657540639230230528
Flyers have Addressed Many Issues This Off Season, but one they have yet to touch is the Left Wing Position.
With the additions this off-season of defenseman Marc Staal, right wing Garnet Hathaway, and center Ryan Poehling, Danny Briere, the Flyers’ newly appointed general manager, has certainly managed to bring in an established veteran presence who will be able to help guide this team’s youthful core. But there’s just one thing; management has yet to address their lack of depth at left wing. To date, the team currently only has three natural left-wingers signed. Only two are proven NHL talents, Joel Farabee and Nicolas Deslauriers. The other is prospect Elliott Desnoyers. Their unsigned left-wing talent is as follows prospect Cutter Gauthier, who refused to sign with the team when offered an entry-level deal earlier this off-season and recently turned down the invite to development camp. Another is Alex Bump, who is having a good camp but is still a year or two away, and lastly, Alex Cernik, the Flyers’ 2023 4th-round pick.
The right side is a different monster, though. The Flyers have tons of depth lining up on that side of the faceoff circle, with names like Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Garnet Hathaway, Wade Allison, and Cam Atkinson all being natural right-wingers who are already on the Flyers roster. On top of that, the team has multiple right-wingers in the waiting like this summer’s first-round pick Matvei Michkov, early-round draftees like ’20 1st round pick Tyson Foerster, ’21 2nd round pick Samu Tuomaala, ’19 2nd round pick Bobby Brink, ’22 3rd round pick Devin Kaplan, and late round gem Alexis Gendron who managed to score 55 goals this season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
To combat this lopsided depth chart, the Flyers invited the 23-year-old NCAA undrafted left-wing prospect Matt Brown to Development Camp. Brown, who stands at just 5’9, played in 39 games for the Boston Terriers this past season, scoring 16 goals and 31 assists for a total of 47 points. These totals equated to him scoring at a 1.20 points-per-game pace. To go along with that impressive stat, he also maintained a +15 average on the season. But unless he outshines the other Flyers previously drafted prospects that the franchise has coveted and scouted for months/years before selecting them, he will not be able to garner a contract by the end of this week.
So, who does that leave the team within which to fill those vacant roster spots created by James van Riemsdyk’s recent departure? Center Scott Laughton has been known to play left wing over the recent years but shouldn’t be counted on to stay there all season long as Sean Couturier should now be labeled as injury prone as he missed all of last season and only played in a combined 74 games throughout the last three seasons after sustaining numerous injuries that required him to have to endure two separate back surgeries.
For those of you who have never played the game, it might be easy to say the team should just force one of their young and upcoming right-wingers to slide over and play their off-wing. But I would disagree. That may work in the minor leagues where a promising prospect can react fast enough to get the best of a career AHL’er. But it won’t work in the NHL, where everyone is the world’s fastest, strongest, and most talented players. By doing this, the team is putting said prospect at a severe disadvantage. Let me give you some examples. Every time that off-wing tries to break out of the defensive zone, that prospect is forced to either receive the puck on their backhand or turn their backs entirely to the opposition’s defense to accept a pass on their forehand. This proves to be very dangerous as they then become an unsuspecting target when they turn around, and the opposing defense is there to try and administer a filling rattling open ice hit to regain the puck for their team. Ouch!!! To compare the severity of that kind of impact (think of a slot receiver in football when they stretch out to catch a ball over their head only to come back down and have a middle linebacker like Ray Lewis or Brain Urlacher coming at them in full stride while foaming at the mouth).
Those same drawbacks happen once they cross into the offensive zone, seeing that a player who is forced to play his off-wing will feel immediately handcuffed by any pass heading in their direction because they will always be on their backhand. And in that split second it takes to try to stop and bring it to their forehand for a better shot, sometimes is all the time a goaltender needs to dish out a little left-hand larceny.
So, with all the big-name unrestricted free agents now inked to new deals, how might Briere manage to bring in some much-needed help on the left side? Well, he could call his old Sabers teammate Chris Drury who is now the New York Rangers General Manager, and ask him what it might take to acquire their former number one overall pick Alexis Lafrenière. I mean, it is plausible. The Rangers have already gone out this off-season and signed veterans like Blake Wheeler, Tyler Pitlick, Riley Nash, Connor Mackey, and goaltender Jonathan Quick to fill vacancies in their lineup. But because of this recent shopping spree, Drury has left himself with very little cap space left to re-sign his own restricted free agents. So much so that he has been rumored to be listening to offers for Lafrenière even though he hopes to be able to keep him. But Drury also has restricted free agent (RFA) defenseman K’Andre Miller to sign, who has been an integral part of the Rangers’ defense over the last couple of seasons and is rightly due a substantial pay raise. This makes Alexis (the other RFA) possibly the odd man out, seeing that he has been rumored not to be willing to sign a team-friendly bridge deal.
And who could blame him? Alexis is a natural left winger with a ton of skill that is still just 21 years of age. He already has three NHL seasons of experience under his belt, but to date, he has yet to reach his full potential because he has been buried on the depth chart by other Ranger superstar left wings like Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin. But that doesn’t mean that Lafrenière has failed to produce. In the ’21-22 season, Alexis set a career-high in goals with 19, and this past season he set a career-high in points with 39.
These totals might not seem entirely up to par with what you would expect from a former number-one overall pick. Still, I believe if the Flyers could somehow acquire him from New York, his production might take off like Owen Tippett’s did when he was given a chance to finally play consistent top-six minutes upon arriving in Philadelphia.
The question now becomes, what exactly might Briere have to give his old teammate to obtain him? Might it take a 1st round pick? The Flyers have two of them next year. One of which previously belonged to the Florida Panthers, who, as we all know, made it to the Stanley Cup Finals this year, so if they are anything close to the team, they were last year; it will be like giving up an early second. My guess is that with the Rangers being short on funds and having to get cap compliant. They might be willing to settle for a lower-tier NHL roster player and someone like Samu Tuomaala or Bobby Brink, who also were taken early in their respective drafts and show a lot of promise.
Whether Briere chooses to orchestrate a sign-and-trade deal or settles for retaining his rights, given that he is due to get more cap space with the DeAngelo trade supposedly being finalized in the next few days, I think the cost would be worth it. For adding Alexis to the youth movement here on Broad Street that already includes Foerster, Gauthier, and now Michkov, the Flyers struggles are sure to become a thing of the past once they find themselves all playing on the same sheet of ice.
Evaluating Dealing Danny’s First Draft Haul as the Flyers GM
Leading up to this draft, the Flyers faithful had their hope in this franchise restored as Dealing Danny Briere had already managed to acquire an additional first-round selection for his team when he dealt defenseman Ivan Provorov away to Columbus in a three-team trade which also involved the LA Kings. A couple of days later, Danny was able to unload part of Kevin Hayes’s inflated contract in a trade that sent him packing to the St. Louis Blues.
So, even before he made his first pick as the Flyers’ new GM, he had already started changing the landscape here on Broad Street.
Now for the draft. On day one, Danny waited his turn as there proved not to be many trades in the opening round. So, with each passing selection, Briere’s mouth was watering. When it finally came time for the Flyers to head to the podium, one of their rumored favorites, right-hand shot defenseman David Reinbacher had already been taken fifth overall by the Montreal Canadiens. But the forecasted favorite Ryan Leonard from the United States National Development Program was still on the board, as well, as the highly touted Russian offensive dynamo Matvei Michkov. Some projected this player to be the best player to come out of Russia since maybe Alexander Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin, which is a lot to live up to for sure.
Round 1 (Seventh overall) Matvei Michkov Wing KHL
Philly’s choice, as we all know now, was Michkov. But I am not as sold as much as some others on this prospect. As you can imagine with, Russia actively being at war with not only the Ukraine but themselves as well (as some of their soldiers recently went rogue and launched a full-on civil war to try and overthrow their President: Vladimir Putin). Getting any additional scouts into Russia to grade this supposed generational talent has been challenging. To further play into the mystery of Matvei Michkov was that he did not even attend this year’s NHL Combine. So, teams did not formally get to interview him or see him run through the paces physically as they did with so many other of this year’s top prospects.
But what left me really questioning whether the Flyers should not have just gone with someone else at seven is the mystery surrounding his 51-year-old father’s sudden death, which is still left unsolved. This came about allegedly after Matvei and his family decided that he should pursue his dream of playing in the NHL. At the same time, his dad Andrei was said to be trying any way possible to get his son’s current obligation of playing in the KHL for the next three years rescinded so that Matvei could play in North America A.S.A.P. Then, shortly after leaving the house one night with the promise of returning shortly, Matvei received a strange call that he could not make out what they were saying because the caller seemed out of range. Michkov wanted to tell his father about it, but his dad never came back home.
Come to find out, he was found later face down in a lake outside Sochi, the city of the team that Michkov is currently contractually shackled to.
https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/rumour-matvei-michkov-s-father-s-death-is-linked-to-his-son-s-nhl-career
So, you see, I’m not denying that Michkov is a very talented player, but I think I would have tended to side with the six other teams ahead of the Flyers that chose not to get involved with this Russian prospect.
Round 1 (22nd Overall) Oliver Bonk Def. London Knights OHL
With this newly acquired pick that the Flyers received from trading away defenseman Ivan Provorov it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that with the team selecting a forward with their first pick, their second first-round selection would be a defenseman. The blueliner that they chose was from Keith Jones’ longtime friend Dale Hunter’s team, the London Knights. His name is Oliver Bonk, and he is an 18-year right-hand shot defender who stands at 6’2 and weighs 172 pounds. While Bonk was able to post ten goals and 40 points in the OHL this season, his actual worth is his ability to shut down the opposition. Whether he is forcing them to the outside or causing them to create turnovers, you can rest assured that Oliver is of the mindset of defending at all costs first, then, and only then, if the opportunity presents itself, he’ll join the rush. A trait that I’m sure his dad, the former number three overall pick of the Ottawa Senators Radek Bonk, instilled in him from an early age.
Now is this the defenseman I would have taken at this point in the draft? NO! I would have taken the more aggressive and punishing Etienne Morin of the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, that later went to the Calgary Flames. But that doesn’t mean that I think Bonk was a bad choice. He has yet to show his full potential and should continue to develop new parts to his game over the next couple of seasons.
Round 2 (51st Overall) Carson Bjarnason G Brandon Wheat Kings WHL
This one was a surprise, for sure. The Flyers acquired this pick by trading a sixth-rounder this year and a 2024 second-round pick to the Blackhawks to select the 4th goalie taken this season. That netminder was Carson Bjarnason of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. Carson is a 6’3 190, pound guardian of the blue paint that tends to keep tight angles on the puck and covers the bottom of the net very well. My only knock on him is that once he is down in the butterfly, he keeps his hands tight to his body and very low to try and add to the coverage of the bottom of the net. In the future, I would like to see Carson keep his hands a little higher, like I teach my younger goaltenders to do when dropping down to make a play. The reason for this is so that they don’t give up to much of the upper part of the net, which is a place where the more gifted players of the WHL, like Connor Bedard and company, were able to score on Bjarnason this season.
This is a big reason why his numbers suffered more than others. Carson, (who is a huge Carter Hart fan) played in 47 regular season games this year, where he posted a 3.08 goals against average (G.A.A.) with just a .900 save percentage (SV%). Out of those 47 games played, he only managed to win 21 of them, which equates to him only having a 44% win percentage.
Bjarnason shows a lot of promise, but I would have liked to see the team wait a bit to draft a goalie and get a guy like the Seattle Thunderbirds Scott Ratzlaff or the virtually unknown Calvin Vachon.
Round 3 (87th Overall) Egor Zavragin G Russian Jr’s
Unhappy with the current depth chart in net, Briere and President of Hockey Ops Keith Jones decided to go back-to-back goalies. Now, honestly, I don’t know much about Zavragin, seeing that he played in Russia and the scouting from outside the country was pretty limited this season. But here are his numbers while playing in the MHL (Russia’s version of Major Juniors). Egor posted a respectable 2.49 G.A.A. and a .920 SV%, in which he won 11 of the 21 games he played this season.
Round 3 (95 Overall) Denver Barkey Center London Knights OHL
Well, the Flyers’ second third-round pick screams Danny Briere, as you can see a lot of similarities in both center Denver Barkey and his game. Barkey is a diminutive center who currently stands well under 6’0. He persevered over his shortcomings by utilizing a motor that just won’t quit. Also, Barkey has a nice touch and fast release that has seen him net almost a point per game average this year, where he scored 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in 61 games. It seems like Barkey will be heading back to London this upcoming season, where he appears almost destined to turn into one of the Knight’s top point producers.
Round 4 (103 Overall) Cole Knuble Center Fargo Force USHL
Well, here is a familiar name. Cole Knuble (yup, you guessed it) is the son of the former dominant Flyers power forward Mike Knuble, who spent parts of five seasons with the Flyers. Unlike his father, though, Cole is a center, a pretty good one, I might add. He plays just as gritty as his dad ever did. He even wears the same number as his dad did. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I would think Mike found the Fountain of Youth some wear and just changed his name to throw us all off. Cole played in 57 regular season games this season, where he netted 30 goals and 36 assists for 66 points. On top of that, Knuble maintained a +31 average on the year. Cole is set to attend and play for Notre Dame this fall and should thrive throughout the rigorous NCAA season.
Round 4 (120 Overall) Alex Ciernik Wing Swedish Jr Leagues.
Ok, stay with me here; with their second pick in the fourth round, Philadelphia selected winger Alex Ciernik. Cirenik is a German-born, Slovakian prospect that currently plays in Sweden. I know, right. Alex is another guy under 6’0 tall with quick feet who tends to be in the right place at the right time. He has a fast release and loves to bury rebounds. This season Ciernik played in multiple leagues in Sweden, showing more and more success as the year went on. And let’s not forget the fact that he was able to light the lamp twice in the World Junior Championships U20 Tournament in only five games played. Don’t expect Alex to join or be signed by the big club any time soon, but rather do keep an eye on his progression over the next year or two because it just may surprise you.
Round 5 (135 Overall) Carter Sotheran Def. Portland Winterhawks WHL
This one, to me, is a bit of a head-scratcher. I get they wanted to add to their defensive depth by taking another right-hand shot defender here, but why did they not take Cameron Allen off the Guelph Storm? He is a right-hand shot blueliner who went the next pick to the Washington Capitals. Probably mainly because Cameron was named the OHL’s Rookie of the Year the season before. Allen was considered a first-round pick this year before his team had a down year. But I honestly don’t think it was his fault. The Storm struggled to find good goaltending this season as they saw five netminders try to take over the pipes, all of which failed to secure the crease as their own.
Anyway, back to Sotheran, I guess. As I previously stated, Carter is a right-hand shot defender who stands at 6’3 and 203 pounds. He plays smaller than he is because he always is crouched into a shooting position. He only scored four goals this year but showed the ability to produce more. While I see not much to get overly excited about his game right now, he is a plus defender and can skate well enough to stay with the breakout when his team is leaving their own zone. This kid has the chance to be more than his round five draft selection would leave you to believe, but Carter will have to be willing to work hard to hone his skill set to the point he can turn professional.
Round 6 (172 Overall) Ryan MacPherson Center GOJHL
Entering the later rounds, the Flyers brass thought they would take a chance on a center from the GOJHL, a not so well known Ontario Junior Hockey League. The player they took a chance on was center Ryan MacPherson, a biological twin who played with his look-alike on the Leamington Flyers this year. Ryan scored 25 goals and 36 assists for 61 points in only 49 games played. I assume that his ability to play like Noah Cates drove the Flyers to his game as MacPherson won the Best Defensive Forward Award for his league this season. Ryan will play with his brother next year, but this time for the Penticton Vees of the BCHL. Then he is set to join the University of New Hampshire Wildcats the season after that. MacPherson is a few years out, at least from possibly turning pro, but he plays the game the right way, which could lead to him surpassing others on the Flyers’ depth charts in the coming years.
Round 7 (199 Overall) Matteo Mann Def. Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL
With his last pick in his first draft, Danny choice to get some size and toughness. He did so by selecting the 6’6 229, pound right-hand shot defenseman Matteo Mann from the Chicoutimi Saguenees of the QMJHL. With Mann being 6’6, he will need to work on skating because he currently looks like a basketball player who decided to lace up a pair of skates for the first time. As he is only 18, Mann is probably still getting used to his newfound size and lankiness. What stands out to me about his game is Mann’s ability to completely take his man out of the play if and when he can get his hands on them. Matteo utilizes his size to clear the porch by overpowering the opposition in front of his net. He also has shown the willingness to sacrifice his body by throwing it in front of an incoming puck to block it by any means necessary. Thus, proving that Matteo is willing to do anything to help his team win night in and night out. And with that mindset, he will be a fan favorite here sooner rather than later.
When you look at this list of newly drafted Flyers players, you can see that it is chalked full of guys who may not even have hit their ceiling yet. They all have room to grow and possess a great work ethic that should help them to achieve their goals. While all of these picks may not be my favorite, they are a bunch of guys who have the chance to be something more than their respected draft positions would usually allow. And who knows, with former Flyer greats like John LeClair and Patrick Sharp now overseeing Player Development, the sky is the limit.
Prospect Watch: Cullen Potter
With the 2023 NHL Draft commencing and teams already selecting many talented players, that I have tirelessly scouted, interviewed, and previously written about over the course of the last year. I am now forced to wish those prospects the best of luck and commence on a new journey to scour the globe for the next crop of up-and-coming talent.
That said, I thought I share with you a prospect that has recently caught my attention. And, no, he is not a member of the 2024 NHL Draft class; instead, he will be selected in the 2025 Entry Draft. His name is Cullen Potter, and he is a 5’9 152 pound, 16-year-old American-born prospect from the great state of Wisconsin.
What caught my attention about this prospect is that he is a bit of an anomaly. What do I mean by that? Well, Cullen has shown that he is, in fact, multi-talented. He excels at not only playing the center position but the defensive position as well.
This statement is substantiated by the fact that Potter posted 43 goals and 44 assists for 87 points this year in only 52 games played for the Dallas Stars Elite 16U Team. But to further validate my earlier claim of Cullen being a very versatile player, I would like to point out that his game is more than just his ability to average 1.67 points per game last year; he also proved to be defensively responsible as well by being able to maintain a very respectable +60 average on the season!
How does he do it, you may be asking? Let me break down Potters’ game for you. Cullen’s best attribute is his blistering speed. Defensively, he reminds me a little of Paul Coffey, given that Potter should always be considered a threat to be a one-man breakout option, as he was able to take it coast to coast many times this season while being virtually untouched by the opposition.
Offensively, Potter’s speed and work ethic reminds me of a former NHL player of similar stature who scored 20 goals or more in five consecutive seasons. That player was Sami Kapanen, who managed to stay in the league for a very respectable 12 seasons, despite his diminutive size, simply because he never took a shift off.
Therefore, it is my opinion that because Cullen already possesses these above-mentioned rare skills, he was recently selected to play for the U.S. National Development Team’s Under 17 Team next season.
Now, gifted with this amazing opportunity, look for Cullen to continue honing his skills over the next few seasons and possibly be a first-round draft pick in 2025.
The SteelFlyers Podcast: “Off-Season in full swing, with lots of moving and shaking!”
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Episode Description
SteelFlyers All Sports Network Presents:
The SteelFlyers Podcast Season 2 Episode 24
“Off-Season in full swing, with lots of moving and shaking!”
* Steelers
– Omar Khan has been busy with many off-season moves and player additions
– Steelers are looking to make a big splash this coming season
– OTAs and Mini-Camps have already taken place and of course everyone looks good in helmets and shorts
– Home opener for the first time in awhile
– Bye Week in week 6.
* Flyers
– New Front Office hires
– Provoy Trade nets some prospects and a 2nd 1st round pick at #22
– John LeClair/Patrick Sharp in as advisors
– Just who should the Flyers pick at 7th and 22nd?
*NHL 2023 Draft
– 2023 NHL Draft to take place in Nashville
– Generational Talent in this year’s draft
– A very deep draft for centers, wingers and defensemen
Cannot thank you enough for listening and checking us out.
Check us out on Spreaker as well!! www.spreaker.com/show/the-steelflyers-podcast
Now you can find the SteelFlyers podcasts on Amazon and IHeart radio!
THANK YOU to The Overview Effect for providing the great music on this episode!
Please follow me on twitter at @Steelflyers52.
You can also follow me on Facebook as well as the web site at www.steeflyers.com.
Prospect Watch: Asher Barnett
There is no off-season for us here at Prospect Watch, so here is yet another player you should be keeping an eye out for. His name is Asher Barnett, and he is a 16-year-old left-hand shot defenseman from Wilmette, Illinois. He came to my attention after playing the last two seasons for one of the premier AAA feeder programs out of the Midwest, the Chicago Mission. A team that helped mold and develop a former NHL defenseman you may have heard of that goes by the name Dustin Byfuglien.
Now, while Barnett may not have Byfuglien’s size of 6’5, 250+ pounds, he does manage to play much larger than his current 6’0, 181-pound frame would appear to allow. So much so that Asher looked like a man playing amongst boys this season; using his strength, Barnett halted the opposition’s onslaught by setting his point of no retreat at his blue line. But administering a soul-crushing hit to stop his opponents’ advances is not the only way Barnett uses his size to his advantage. Asher also excels in board battles where he often comes away with the puck, seeing that when his challengers try to knock him off of it, they usually just end up bouncing off of him. Additionally, Barnett often utilizes his brute strength to exhibit old-school defensive tactics like winning positioning battles in front of his goaltenders’ net. He does so by way of, lifting his advisory’s stick to not only prevent his opponent from scoring (by way of a deflection or rebound) but eradicates the threat altogether by then muscling them out of the area so that his netminder can then have a clear view of the puck coming in from the point.
But physicality is not the only part of his game. Barnett is considered a two-way defenseman for a reason.
With his head constantly on the swivel and his skates continuously in motion, Asher’s ability to transition from a defensive mindset while skating backward to suddenly switching gears and jumping up with the rush on offense is unmatched by anyone in his age group. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that if you’re playing against him, and you see Barnett leading the breakout, please don’t think you’ll just step up and take the puck from him because he will probably end up breaking your ankles. He does so by waiting for the opposition to lunge at him so that he can then stop on a dime and head in the other direction.
Better still, once he and his team find their way into the offensive zone, Asher often feels so inclined to show off his talent of dancing along the blue line while they cycle the puck around to try and find where best to unload a shot from.
If no shot presents itself- fear not, as Barnett has shown it to be no problem in taking it upon himself to create a little offense. Gifted with a great set of hands (especially for a defenseman), Asher has proven time and time again that he is fully capable of taking the most direct route to the net by weaving his way through the opposition’s defense with ease. And or deciding on a more scenic route where he sticks handles along the boards with one hand while fending off his foes with the other before crashing the net himself or passing it back out in front to an awaiting teammate.
As far as his shot goes, if Barnett presently finds himself at the point, opposing goaltenders best be ready, as Asher is proficient in the art of the one-timer. If he is on the move, however, netminders should expect one wicked wrister to come their way.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who is a fan of his skill set, though. Barnett recently made the cut to be a member of the 2023-24 U.S. National Development Under-17 Team. Will he still be able to shine playing alongside some of the best this nation has to offer? I think so, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Prospect Watch: Ryan Hedley
This week’s prospect to watch hails from the newly formed Hockey Hotbed of North Carolina. Yes, you read that right, with teams like the Dallas Stars relocating from Minnesota in ‘93 and the Tampa Bay Lightning (‘92) and Florida Panthers (‘93) having much success shortly after becoming expansion teams in the early nineties. It not only proved that hockey could be both marketable as well as profitable in the South but paved the way for other clubs to migrate to a warmer climate. One of those teams was the Hartford Whalers, who moved to Raleigh, NC, in 1997, where they rebranded themselves as the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s hard to believe, but those moves were over 25-30 years ago. And today, in these areas, it is not uncommon to spot a new ice rink being built in the community. Because as infatuated as these fans have become with their respected NHL teams, adults who never played this great sport before are now involved in adult leagues, as well as their children who are now playing in youth leagues after having decided to pick up a hockey stick in lieu of a baseball glove or football.
This being the case for the young Ryan Hedley, whom this article is all about. Now, if you have not heard of Ryan or been lucky enough to have seen him play, I assure you you’re in for a treat. Hedley is a 15-year-old center who currently stands at 5’11 and weighs in at 165 pounds. Where over the last three seasons, while playing for the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, he has been able to score an astounding 375 points!
Now that I have your attention. I have to say I can find no holes currently in Hedley’s game. Ryan simply possesses all the intangibles of some of the greatest players to have ever stepped on the ice. He can dangle like Datsyuk, and he can protect like Jagr. Hedley can accelerate with the puck on his stick like Modano and can finish with the accuracy of Gaborik.
I guess that’s why after a season (like this past one) where Ryan averaged an incredible 2.42 points per game, scoring 50 goals and 81 assists for 131 points in only 54 regular season games played, he will have his pick of where to he wishes to play over the next few seasons seeing that he was recently drafted by two different teams from two different leagues. Those teams being the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League and the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League.
Will this underrated prospect be able to achieve similar success in the coming seasons while playing for one of these elite junior programs? Time will only tell, but signs should point to yes if his skill set is any indication.
Keith Jones has Unveiled his Vision for the Flyers to Become a Defensive Juggernaut; now, how might he go about getting that done?
Since being given the job and title of the Philadelphia Flyers’ latest President of Hockey Operations, former Flyer Keith Jones has been busy finishing out his contract with TNT covering an immense amount of playoff hockey games. Along with that, Jones has been running the gambit of late as he has been seen on every media circuit out there that covers this great sport; we all know and love trying to ensure the Flyers fanbase that he has a plan on how to bring this once great franchise back to contention.
Jones’s vision on how he will go about getting that done is revamping the team’s blue line. With the idea of trying to build a strong defensive core like his friend and longtime Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile was able to maintain throughout his career down in Music City. Whether it be the early 2000s when the Predators’ core consisted of Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Kimmo Timonen, and Dan Hamhuis. Or right up to this season where his blue line consisted of players such as Roman Josi (two-time Stanley Cup Champion) Ryan McDonagh, Mattias Ekholm, Tyson Barrie, and Dante Fabbro. Poile’s Preds. were always viewed as the league’s benchmark regarding the defensive side of things. And therefore, other teams like the Carolina Hurricanes have tried to mimic their success by following the blueprint Poile laid out for them.
So, I guess now the question becomes, how might Jones go about getting that done here in Philadelphia?
Well, as I see it, he must start by using the Subtraction method. The Flyers’ current defensive core consisting of Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Tony DeAngelo, Nick Seeler, and Cam York, was atrocious again this past season. They finished among the leagues’ worst in penalty killing, with the Flyers only managing to stop their opponents’ advances 74.7% of the time this year. Wonder why? Well, this unit was a combined -53 on the season (with Seeler being the only D-man finishing the season as a plus player, and even that was only a measly +1 average). Not to mention that they are a collective -264 for their career. To put that into perspective, the previously mentioned Predators’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh is a career +227.
After reading that, hopefully, you realize that the Flyers are in a world of hurt right now. So much so that if management doesn’t make any off-season moves, they are due to have to shell out over $30 million to this futile defense next season, that is, if you add in the fact that they are still on the hook for $6.25 million (for the next four years) for the injured Ryan Ellis. Remember, though, this is all before the team comes to an agreement with their restricted free agent Cam York who I imagine will be due quite the hefty raise as he is coming off his rookie deal that only paid him $880,833. That’s a lot of cap space to waste on a group that does their job so poorly.
To right this, Keith Jones and Danny Briere must re-evaluate how they determine what makes a good defenseman. My theory, or at least what I always tell the kids I coach. “It doesn’t matter if you score 50 goals in a season; if you are out on the ice when your opponent scores 51, you’re ineffective.”
Who should/could the Flyers get rid of?
Ryan Ellis
The obvious choice would be to try and trade the dead contract of Ryan Ellis (who Philadelphia has all but said will never play again) to a team like the Arizona Coyotes. But honestly, look how that has worked out for them in the past. The Coyotes have been kicked out of one town for not paying their bills, had to be bailed out by the league multiple times, and are currently playing in a college stadium that only holds roughly 5,000 fans. They just had another town turn down a multi-billion-dollar proposal to build them a new stadium and had their top three pick from last year, Logan Cooley, refuse to sign with them out of pure embarrassment. So, I think that pipe dream is all but shot.
Anthony DeAngelo
They could try and trade hometown boy Anthony DeAngelo seeing that he only has one year left on a contract that pays him a ridiculous five million dollars. But the Flyers would most likely half to be willing to eat half of his salary in which to do so, and the team does not have cap space to spare because they are due to pay the second-highest cap penalty of any NHL club, $1.1 million next year because of players reaching their contractual bonuses this past season.
Rasmus Ristolainen
I’ve seen recent tweets by fans suggesting Philadelphia should try and trade Ristolainen this off-season. But he, too, is overpaid at a rate of $5.1 million and is signed to that deal for the next four seasons. Good luck finding another team dumb enough to trade a first for a former 1st round-pick defenseman who is a career -176.
Ivan Provorov
No, instead, I think the most logical choice of any to try and move this off-season is Ivan Provorov. Now I did a whole article on this before that you can read below:
But the brief synopsis of that article is I think the Flyers should try and trade him to the LA Kings, a team loaded down with right-hand shot defenders who desperately need a left-hander. Although he has been a very dependable minute eater for Philadelphia over the last seven seasons, Ivan has not yet proven to live up to the hype that came with him being taken seventh overall back in the 2015 Entry Draft. Moreover, I think he has been used and abused by the Flyers, who, at times, have played him entirely too much. For years now, Philadelphia has depended on him to play top-line minutes as well as obligating him to play on both the power play and penalty-killing units. The way I see it, Provorov is not a number-one defender, as the Flyers have been forced to utilize him because they have nothing else. He is (and would be if traded to the Kings and got the chance to play with Drew Doughty) a solid number-two guy.
What should the Flyers ask in return for Provy?
A second-round pick would be nice, but the Flyers would be hard-pressed to get that out of the Kings seeing that they already traded their 1st to Columbus this year in a move that sent longtime Kings netminder Jonathan Quick packing. Therefore, they should instead ask for one of their many proven right-hand shot defender prospects.
Brandt Clarke
A heads-up trade for the Kings’ 2021 8th-overall pick defenseman Brandt Clarke would be ideal. This 20-year-old blueliner who stands at 6’2 and around 185 pounds is exactly the partner they need to pair with their future 1st line pairing left hand shot defender Cam York. Is it feasible, though? Possibly. This season, while playing in 31 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues’ (OHL) Barrie Colts, Brandt scored 23 goals and 38 assists for a total of 61 points in the regular season while maintaining a +40 average. In the OHL Playoffs, Clarke netted seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in only 12 games played. He was able to average a +10 in the postseason as well. But Brandt not only showed out in Juniors, he also spent time this season with both the Kings and their American Hockey League affiliate the Ontario Regin. And if all that wasn’t enough, he somehow found time to play in the recent World Junior Championships, where he totaled eight points in seven games for Team Canada.
Now, back to the debatable fact of whether the Kings would do an even swap or not. Provorov is still only 26 years old and is signed to a reasonable deal for the next two seasons. And if the Kings (who made the playoffs this year only to get bounced by Edmonton in the first round) wish to ever win again with either of their aging stars, Anze Kopitar (who is 35) or Drew Doughty (who is 33) they had best make a power move quick. If the Kings declined a heads-up move, the Flyers could spice up the deal by sending one of their multiple 3rd or 4th round picks this year to get the deal done.
Draft
The next thing the Flyers’ Keith Jones and his newly appointed general manager Daniel Briere will need to try and do on June 28th and 29th down in Nashville to help overhaul their blue line is to draft some defensively responsible defenders. For far too long now, NHL executives have viewed guys like the Sharks’ defenseman Erik Karlsson who scored 25 goals and 76 assists this year for a total of 101 points on the season, as the league’s best defensemen. I mean, hell, why not, right? He’s a two-time James Norris Memorial Trophy winner (the award given to a defensive player who the league views has demonstrated throughout the season to be the greatest all-around in the position.) But hold on, if you look up the definition of an ice hockey defenseman, it states that it is a player position-whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. Well, that’s funny because Karlsson was on the ice this season when (an NHL League Leading) 126 EVEN STRENGTH goals were scored against him! That means even with all those points that he achieved and was on the ice for when his team scored, he still ended the season as a -26 player. And if you dive even deeper into his career stats, you’ll find he is a career -103. Now, there are plenty of people out there that will defend him, saying that plus-minus is more of a team stat but call me crazy; I think if Karlsson would focus less on scoring goals and more on his primary job of preventing them, his team may have won more games this season and thus not be drafting fourth overall this summer.
No, when I think of a Norris Trophy winner, I think of a guy like Nicklas Lidstrom, who played on the same team for an incredible 20 seasons where he won the Stanley Cup four times, was a seven-time Norris Trophy recipient, and was a player who kept up a career plus-minus average of +450. Yes, this is a blueliner who every kid playing the game should idolize, a true master of his craft who the Flyers should be aspiring to find a young player who plays a similar style. Not some guy who shows little to no desire to get back and defend, leaving his goalie hung out to dry.
Etienne Morin
That’s why I say if Keith and Danny were smart, they would try and package a deal of their extra 3rd or 4th round picks to move up into the second round to take a guy like Etienne Morin from the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Morin is an 18-year-old defender who stands at 6’0 and 183 pounds. Morin can contribute offensively and defend with the best of them. Etienne has shown this season that he possesses a strong outlet pass and can finish from the point when needed. He scored 21 goals and 51 assists for 72 points this year in only 67 games played and, in doing so, maintained a +29 average. When you watch Morin, it is like you stepped back in time, about 20 years. Defensively he loves to stand up the opposition at the blue line and administers some of the brutal open ice checks since maybe the great Scott Stevens himself. On top of all that, Etienne is more than willing to block a shot, get involved in board battles, and clear out his opponents from in front of his net. Morin is a complete player on the backend who is destined to have a very long NHL career ahead of him if he keeps this up.
Free Agency
With the Flyers in a full-on rebuild mode, they shouldn’t be focusing on signing any big-name free agents any time soon. But suppose they manage to trade away a guy like Ivan Provorov or Travis Sanheim for both salary cap relief as well as draft capital. In that case, they may be in the market for a stop-gap guy who can fill in until prospects like Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard, Emil Andre, and Ethan Samson prove to Head Coach John Tortorella that they are ready to take on a full-time role in the NHL.
Ryan Graves
And one of those players that could fill that gap in time who will be available come July 1st, when the NHL’s free agent market is set to commence, is the New Jersey Devils’ unrestricted free agent defensemen Ryan Graves. Graves, who stands at 6’5 and 220 pounds, is only 28 years old and therefore is still in the prime of his career. Ryan finished the season with eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points. As you can see by his stats, Graves is not a flashy player. In fact, you may not even notice him much during the telecast if you have never played the game yourself. But that’s not because Ryan is not doing anything; quite the contrary, that means he does his job so well that he is rarely out of position and, therefore, never has to take any drastic actions to make up for his blunders. I don’t know about you, but this old goalie, turned coach and writer will take a defenseman who plays mistake-free hockey over some flashy egocentric point-driven guy any day.
If you haven’t heard of Graves before, his claim to fame was that he used to be Cale Makar’s defensive partner in Colorado. While Makar was up on the rush, Graves would be that rock on the defense that would stay back and allow Cale to work his magic. The pair had so much success that Graves finished the 2019-2020 season as the league leader in plus-minus with a +40 average. But as with any cup-contending team, the Avalanche had to move Graves to afford to keep others. Lucky for the Devils, they had someone smart enough in management to know his true worth, so they ended up trading for him. And in just his second season playing for them this year, Ryan was able to play a big part in the Devils going from drafting in the lottery last summer to qualifying for the playoffs this year after finishing this season with an astonishing 112 points.
This year Ryan again concluded the season amongst the best in plus-minus, with him maintaining a +34 average for the year. This proves that plus players promote success and help develop a winning culture.
Graves is coming off a contract in which he was paid just over three million a season and could probably be had for something similar, considering the NHL currently only views a players worth by their point production. So, if the Flyers are able to move a contract or two this offseason, it would be in their best interest to try and finally solidify their defense by signing this now veteran defenseman to a similar deal that would bridge them to the point when their own blue line prospects are ready to take over.
For far to long the Flyers have prided themselves on overusing one particular skilled defenseman on their roster. Via: Mark Howe, Gary Galley, Eric Desjardins, Kimmo Timonen, and now Ivan Provorov. Philadelphia commonly forces them to play 25-27 mins a night ultimately leaving them too tired to be effective. Playing their stars on the top pairing, on the power play and the penalty kill the Flyers simply demands to much for their best defenders. To go with that year after year they expect them to carry a defensive core filled with slugs and/or players well past their prime like Kjell Samuelsson, Chris Therien, Mike Rathje, Joni Pitkanen, Braydon Coburn, Andrew MacDonald, and Keith Yandle. If Keith Jones and Danny Briere want this team to be contenders again, they will need to first stop this habit and develop a core of defensively responsible players by the means laid out above that will solidify this defense and thus help rebuild a winning culture here in Philadelphia. Only then will this team return back to their winning ways.
Let’s just hope this “new” regime made up of former Flyers have the wherewithal to follow this blueprint by first tearing it all down to the foundation only to build it back up right.
Green’s Annual Seven-Round Mock Draft for the Philadelphia Flyers
With the NHL Draft Lottery now being a thing of the past, and the Philadelphia Flyers faithful having to come to grips with the fact that all their previous hopes and dreams of possibly moving up to select the young phenom Connor Bedard or Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli have been crushed; they are now forced to sit and wait to see whom their teams’ newly appointed management of Keith Jones (President of Hockey OPS) and Danny Briere (General Manager) will be picking at the league’s 61st NHL Entry Draft down in Nashville come June 28th and 29th.
1st Round
We all know that this team and its fans have suffered multiple losing seasons in a row. Ownership has come out and said they are set to commence a complete rebuild this offseason. Probably, because they currently have no franchise player on the roster. They have little to no cap space to bring anyone new in. The team is loaded with a roster full of albatross like contracts that are going to be impossible to move. And to boot their 2022 top five draft pick (Cutter Gauthier) is unwilling to sign with them for the upcoming season. Therefore, it is imperative that the previously mentioned latest crop of good old boy hiring’s from Flyers past get this year’s seven overall selection right.
Lucky for them, this draft is chalked full of high-end talent, so even with Philadelphia not making their selection until seventh overall, they should still be able to acquire a future NHL star. The only question that remains is, just who should they select with their first pick? If the Flyers brass wishes to draft from a position of need, landing a center would be the way to go.
Especially since Sean Couturier should now be labeled as injury prone after missing most of the past three seasons; moreover, the Flyers also have a very inconsistent Kevin Hayes lining up at center. If you paid attention, he is a player who went goalless for a stretch of 23 games after making the All-Star Game this season. That said, you would think the Flyers would look to draft a player like one of the many great Team USA centers, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, or Oliver Moore. But Smith (the World Junior Championships reigning MVP) will most likely be gone by the time Philadelphia makes their way to the podium. Then there’s Moore, who has excellent speed and playmaking ability but cannot finish at the rate a player drafted in the top ten should. As for Ryan Leonard, everyone seems to favor him as the teams’ pick, especially since he is due to attend Boston College and will play alongside Cutter Gauthier next season. Still, I fear his numbers may have been a bit inflated from getting to play on one of the best lines in hockey (outside of the NHL) this season. Think about it, he had two 2023 future first-round picks in Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, feeding him the puck all season long. Both players finished the season scoring at a rate of over two points per game! Now, ask yourself, if drafted by the Flyers, are you confident that Ryan is still going to be capable of producing at that level without the help of his former linemates when he gets to South Broad Street?
Andrew Cristall- Kelowna Rockets
That’s why if it were up to me, I would select Andrew Cristall from the Western Hockey Leagues Kelowna Rockets. Cristall is one of the most dynamic offensive talents in this draft class. So much so that he managed to score 39 goals and 56 assists for 95 points in just 54 games played this year. Those numbers were good enough for him to rank second to only the great Connor Bedard (for draft-eligible players coming out of the WHL this season) in points per game average, with Andrew scoring at a rate of 1.76 P.P.G. When you look at his totals from this season you will see that Cristall basically did it all himself when you factor in that the mean (or average) of the other 29 players point totals on the roster that dressed for the Rockets this year only came out to them scoring an average of just 16.5 points on the season.
Throughout this long season, Cristall has proven that he can be counted on time and time again to carry his team single-handily to victory. I mean, come on, Cristall even scored more goals this season than the overhyped Zach Benson who played for a very stacked Winnipeg Ice team. That’s why I say the Flyers have to get out of the same old mind set of drafting quality two-way players who do a little bit of everything well and nothing extraordinary. They instead should go after an elite offensive talent (like Andrew) who possesses star qualities like his ability to stick handle through all five players on the ice from the opposition just to finish by deking the goalie right out of his pads for a goal. Now, doesn’t that sound more like the superstar player we need to help bring the Flyers back to contention?
Here’s a look at some of his highlights
Still can’t get enough of Cristall? Here’s an article I did on him
much earlier in the season.
2nd Round
Now I know what you’re thinking, BUT LANCE, THE FLYERS DON’T HAVE A SECOND ROUND PICK! My answer to that would be you are correct, FOR NOW! For weeks Briere has been rumored to want to move some potential big-name Flyers to regain some salary cap space. Names like Provorov, Hayes, Konecny, and yes, even Hart have been rumored to be available for the right bounty. So, it is feasible that the Flyers could acquire a 2nd round pick in this upcoming draft.
Etienne Morin- Moncton Wildcats
So just in case they can pull that off, here is a viable option for them to consider. And that player is Etienne Morin from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagues Moncton Wildcats. Morin is a 6’0 183, pound left-hand shot defender who offensively doubled his point production from last season when he was able to average over a point per game this year, totaling 21 goals, and 51 assists for 72 points in just 67 regular season games. Etienne was also among the league leaders this year in plus-minus when he finished the season with a + 29 average—proving that Morin is one of the most well-rounded defensemen available in this draft. Offensively, Morin can make the nice long outlet passes that spring his wingers on a breakaway. Also, if a pass is not there, he has no problem jumping up into the zone and scoring a goal himself. Defensively Etienne is a rare breed in today’s game. He takes pride in maintaining a stronghold at the blue line where he administers some of the most bone-rattling open ice hits I’ve seen since maybe Scott Stevens was patrolling the Devils blueline.
If you like what you read about Morin. Come check out both the article I just wrote about him and the latest episode of Prospect Watch, where he found time to join us to answer some questions.
3rd Round
Nick Lardis- Hamilton Bulldogs
Now to the third round, where the Philadelphia Flyers will get to make two selections. Knowing this, I believe the first of the two should be used on Nick Lardis, a 5’11 winger who spent time playing for two teams this year, seeing that he was traded mid-way through the OHL season. Lardis, who has elite speed with the puck on his stick, finished the year playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs, where his combined totals from the two teams equated to him scoring 37 goals, and 28 assists for a total of 65 points in 69 games played. Although still a work in progress defensively, Nick’s offensive talents easily compensate for his backend shortcomings. As they did for Team Canada at the recent World Junior U18 Championships, where Nick was able to net four goals in seven games.
Scott Ratzlaff- Seattle Thunderbirds
With their second pick of the 3rd round, I believe the Flyers should look to acquire a goaltender. Let’s face it, the Flyers’ goaltending depth has been a problem for the team for some time. And one could argue that it still should be considered a problem today. Carter Hart was the first goalie taken off the board in the 2016 Entry Draft, and despite his fantastic pedigree before turning pro, these last five years have been anything but impressive. To date, Hart has only averaged winning .41% of the games he’s played in. His career goals-against-average is a less-than-respectable 2.96 G.A.A., and his career save percentage is barely hanging above .900% right now. Folks, those kinds of numbers will get you fired if you’re a backup in this league, let alone a starter. So, if Hart does not improve upon those numbers next season, the club could look to move him by the trade deadline to acquire more picks because his contract is set to expire. Not to mention that their star Russian goalie prospect Ivan Fedotov has come out and said upon completing his military service in the Red Army, he will return to play in the KHL for the foreseeable future.
So, the Flyers should look to draft a guy like Scott Ratzlaff, who plays for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Scott, who stands at 6’1 and 172 pounds, is a butterfly goalie who is very calm and poised in the net, and because of that, Scott is always in an excellent position to stop the puck. The 17-year-old Ratzlaff won 25 regular season games this season and, on top of that, led the entire WHL this year in shutouts despite having to share the crease with the Thunderbirds’ 20-year netminder Thomas Milic. More impressive still is that Scott was able to total all of these wins and shuts outs despite having to play so many future 1st round picks on a nightly basis: Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, Zach Benson of the Winnipeg Ice, Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockets, Riley Heidt of the Prince George Cougars, and Brayden Yager of the Moose Jaw Warriors. So, just think what kind of totals he will be able to come up with next season when he has the net all to himself.
Here is a video of his play and an Article I featured him in earlier this season.
4th Round
Zach Nehring- Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U Prep Team
Moving on to the fourth round of the draft, the Flyers are again due to pick twice. So, why not look to bring an immense physical power forward like Zach Nehring? When you look back to the Flyers’ history, some of their most successful years have come when they have had a legitimate power forward on their roster. When the team had guys like Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, John LeClair, Tim Kerr, and/or Rick Tocchet on their roster, they were considered a force to be reckoned with. So why not go and try and recreate that success with a guy like Nehring, who played this season for the Shattuck St. Mary’s U18 Prep Team? Zach stands at an impressive 6’3 and weighs 179 pounds. If you watched any tape on him, you would have seen that he never passes up the opportunity to complete a check. To go with that, Nehring loves to get into board battles and often takes up residency in front of the oppositions net so that he can ensure that he will be in the best position possible to either redirect a shot from the point or knock home a nice juicy rebound left in the goal mouth. In saying that, Zach’s hard work and gritty play simply embody what used to be a requirement from a player who dons a Flyers sweater. Zach has committed to play for Western Michigan University next season, where Wade Allison, Ronnie Attard, and the team’s newly appointed President of Hockey Ops, Keith Jones, all are considered alums.
Don’t believe me on how forceful this player can be, then watch this game tape I provided.
Aiden Fink- Brooks Bandits
With the second of their fourth-round picks, I would urge Danny to draft a player whose game reminds me a lot of his. That player is none other than the 5’9 Aiden Fink from the Alberta Junior Hockey Leagues Brooks Bandits. If you know anything about the Bandits, you would probably agree that they are an AJHL powerhouse that gave the NHL and NCAA such players as the great Cale Makar, Ryan McAllister, TJ Hughes, and Zach Bookman. All players that Fink must have been taking notes from because he just got done helping the franchise win their seventh AJHL Championship, as well as being named the league’s MVP after he finished the season scoring 41 goals and 56 assists for a league-leading 97 points in only 54 games played (which averages out to him scoring 1.80 points-per-game). What’s better still is with nothing else to prove in the AJHL, Aiden has decided to bring his talents to our own backyard next season (better known as State College, PA) as he will be playing for the Penn State Nitty Lions.
As you watch some highlight reels and a video of him joining us earlier this year on Prospect Watch, you’ll see that the Flyers should not pass him up.
5th Round
As we begin to get into the later rounds of the draft, it is critical that this club continue to land players that will be a vital part of their future like Philadelphia did with Alexis Gendron, who the Flyers took last year in the 7th round.
Zaccharya Wisdom- Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
A player left on the big board at this time that I believe still possesses that kind of potential is Zaccharya Wisdom from the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League (USHL). And before we get too far, I’m sure a few of you are wondering, Wisdom? Is that the Flyers 2020 4th round pick Zayde Wisdom’s brother? The answer is yes, but I’m not just suggesting the Flyers draft him simply from the point of nepotism. Zaccharya is an outstanding young player in his own right. He just turned 19 back at the end of April and scored 28 goals and 20 assists for 48 points this season. Like his brother, Zac is a solid player who laid some of the biggest hits this season that the USHL has ever seen. Although their games are very similar, playing with a good mix of passion and fearlessness, they differ in one way. Zaccharya stands at 6’1 and 172 pounds, whereas his brother (the bulldog that he is) is lucky if he reaches 5’11 with skates on. Zaccharya commonly uses his size to knock people off the puck, win board battles, and establish body position in front of the net. Therefore, Wisdom would make a solid prospect for the Flyers to add to their depth chart. One that would surely continue to grow his game over the next couple of seasons.
If you find this player intriguing, feel free to click on the links, I provided below with an article I wrote about him in the past and an interview myself and Steel had with him earlier in the year.
6th Round
In the sixth round, the Flyers will again be able to make multiple selections. With the first, I believe the Flyers should try and obtain something their club has been lacking for some time: a little European flare.
Andrei Loshko- Chicoutimi Sagueneens
Ergo, one of Belarus’ top prospects this year Andrei Loshko, an 18-year-old winger who stands at 6’1 and currently weighs in at 170 pounds. Andrei is already comfortable playing the North American-style game after spending the last two seasons playing for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL. While playing in 67 games this year, Loshko utilized his great on-ice awareness to score 22 goals and 48 assists for 70 points. And I think if the Flyers could get a dynamic player who averages over a point-per-game in the 6th round, their time spent on the current rebuild will significantly drop.
Sam Court- Brooks Bandits
The second player I think the Flyers should draft in the 6th round is another Brooks Bandit. This time a defenseman who goes by the name Sam Court. Sam is a 5’10 190, pound right-hand-shot defender who, before joining the Bandits this year, spent time playing for the prospective Power Plant Avon Old Farms School that so many NHL players have attended and played for in the past. I don’t know if that’s where the Bandits’ scouts found this player, but folks, there is a reason why this team just won their third consecutive Centennial Cup. They simply go out and find exceptional players everyone else has overlooked. Example: I did not think that after losing a record-breaking blueliner like Zach Bookman to the NCAA this past season, the Bandits would be able to find an equal and adequate replacement for him. I was wrong! Sam came into the Bandits this year and simply took over the blueline. But he did not only solidify their defense; he also managed to be a significant factor in their offense. With him scoring 13 regular-season goals and dishing out 59 assists for 72 points in only 52 games this season, Sam’s impressive 1.38 points-per-game average has helped his stock rise immensely as of late, as well as allowed him to play for the University of New Hampshire next season.
Sam is the kind of player who would check off a lot of boxes that the Flyers need right now, and at this late in the draft is a low-risk, high-reward type player that should not pass up on.
7th Round
As I indicated, the Flyers need to do in the final round of my mock draft back in 2020, where I suggested they take a little-known goalie I was very high on named Devon Levi from the CCHL. I am suggesting they do so again, only this time they should use that pick on a Netminder with a Hockey Hall of Fame pedigree.
Calvin Vachon- Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U Prep
That player is none other than Calvin Vachon, who is the grandson of the great LA Kings goalie Rogie Vachon. Calvin was classically trained by Rogie, and it shows. At just 17 years of age, Calvin was able to go undefeated this season for the Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U Prep team. Where this 6’0 goaltender was able to win 22 games (six being by way of a shutout) while somehow being able to maintain a 2.00 goals-against-average (G.A.A.) and a .929 save percentage (SV%). And let me tell you, these numbers are no fluke. An example of this would be his 18-19 season where playing in 57 games for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings he was able maintain a GAA of just 0.59! Calvin has been dominant in the blue paint since he first strapped on the pads.
That’s why, with such a depressing goalie depth chart as the Flyers have, it would be wise for them to draft and develop a proven winner in Vachon.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Unlike most writers that cover this team, I do not simply look to the many mock draft sites a couple of weeks before the draft to put this type of article out every year. I study hundreds of hours of game tape and interview prospects year-round to bring you the most informed opinion I can. Thanks for the read! Go Flyers!
Prospect Watch: Etienne Morin
If an NHL team is looking for a defenseman in this upcoming entry draft, they will probably be enticed by Sweden’s Axel Sandin Pellikka’s offensive abilities. They may favor a guy like Austrian-born blue liner David Reinbacher for his size and patience on the back end. Or perhaps they may desire a player like Canadian-born defender Lukas Dragicevic for his long outlet passes that often allows his teammates to be off to the races. But my question is, why not draft a player who possesses all those skills and so much more?
A player like Etienne Morin, who at just 18 years of age already stands at 6’0 and 183 pounds. Etienne, who is a native of Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada, played for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season, where like the highly touted Axel Sandin Pellikka, he was able to show off his offensive talents, scoring 21 goals, and 51 assists for 72 points in just 67 regular season games played. If you do, the math that equates to this left-hand shot defenseman averaging over a point per game (1.07). Now to the postseason, where Morin would prove to be able to not only sustain his point production but improve upon it, where over the course of twelve postseason games, Etienne was able to net two goals and 15 assists for 17 points (for an average of 1.41 P.P.G.) this, of course, coming before his team was defeated by the Halifax Moose Heads who have now managed to advance to the Gilles-Courteau Trophy Finals where they will be taking on the Quebec Remparts.
Morin managed to gather all of these points by using his High hockey IQ to wait for traffic in front of the net to be at its heaviest (leaving the opposing team’s goalie utterly unaware of when or where his blistering shot would be coming from). And if a shot was not there, Etienne was more than happy just to utilize his innate on-ice vision to dump the puck off to a teammate who was wide open and just awaiting his chance to put one in the back of the net.
But like, previously stated, Morin is not solely one-dimensional; he is also more than capable of handling things on the back end. Like both Reinbacher and Dragicevic (who are projected to go much earlier in the draft than him), Etienne can also be depended on to bring up the puck and make wise outlet passes to his wingers during a breakout. But what sets him apart from the rest of the field is Morins’ ability to stand up to the opposition at the blue line. This is a trait that has become rare in this day and age, seeing that the NHL has become increasingly less physical over the years. Think about it, even the best players cannot score if they are busy asking if anyone back on the bench happened to get the plate number of the truck that hit them once they crossed into their offensive zone. Not since the likes of Scott Stevens or a young Dion Phaneuf have I seen a defenseman who can lay such mind-erasing open ice hits/hip checks along the board that send their opponent’s ass over teakettle. Furthermore because he has perfected this lost art form, Etienne managed to maintain a very respectable +29 average this season. These kinds of results prove that Morin can be counted on not only to help lead the rush offensively but manages to get back and defend with the best of them as well.
Lastly, if you still are not convinced why NHL clubs should be looking to select this impressive two-way defender (who is projected to go in the second round of this summers draft), you need to look no further than what he was able to do at the IIHFs under 18 World Championship that were played in Switzerland just a few weeks ago. Showing up fashionably late due to the Wildcats still playing in the QMJHL’s playoffs, Etienne was able to immediately step in and sure up Canada’s defense. So much so that the red and black went from being embarrassed by teams like Sweden, who beat them 8-0 on April 20th. To upon his arrival, Canada then being able to battle all the way back to defeat Slovakia in the bronze medal game.
While Morin may not be as flashy as some of the other aforementioned defenders in this article that team so desperately desire, rest assured he is the player they need most. Etienne is not a one-trick pony who, after being figured out, will fizzle out of the league in a few years. He is (in my mind) the best overall defender in this draft, and whichever team is wise enough to select him will surely prosper for the next decade.
The SteelFlyers Podcast: “The Steelers 2023 Draft grade, plus second season in the NHL!”
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Episode Description
SteelFlyers All Sports Network presents
Brought to you by steelflyers.com
SteelFlyers Podcast
Season 2 Eps. 23
“The Steelers 2023 Draft grade, plus second season in the NHL!”
*Flyers
– Danny B is the Interim GM
– 3.5 million league-imposed cap hit due to previous years violations.
– Danny B should be Hockey Ops looking for a GM instead of the other way around
– Phantoms lost to Charlotte for a round 1 exit.
*Steelers
– Omar Khan’s first draft as GM
– 2023 NFL Draft 1st round trade to move to 14 overall to select Brodrick Jones, Tackle from UGA
– 1st pick on day two say the Steelers select Joey Porter Jr. CB from PSU plus Keeanu Brenton DT from Wisconsin
– 3rd round sees Khan selecting 2 players after some more trades for TE Darnell Washington from UGA and Nick Herbig LB from Wisconsin
– Grade A for first Draft as GM!!
*Stanley Cup Playoffs
– TOR wins vs TBL 4-2
– CAR, VGK and EDM moving to 2nd round.
– Game 7s BOS vs FLA and COL vs SEA tonight!
*IIHF World Juniors
– Canada comes back from 3-1 to beat Slovakia for bronze in OT 4-3
– USA vs Sweden goes to OT with Ryan Leaonard from USA to score the OT winner for Gold
Cannot thank you enough for listening and checking us out.
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