PHILADELPHIA – With the Olympic break coming to an end next week, Philadelphia Flyers fans are looking at the state of the teams with a half full/half empty mentality. While the fans would love to have their team back in the NHL playoffs, their chances are slowing starting to fate. The Flyers have played in only 56 games in a 82 game season.
Hope may spring eternal, fans have seen there hopes fate. There are several reasons why they are looking dim, the other half of the fanbase is already looking towards the NHL Draft.
Philadelphia is a borderline lottery team sitting 21st in a 32-team league. Like any team that close in the standings, fans have hopes of landing the top prize in this year’s draft. At the beginning of the season the likely top pick was forward Gavin McKenna. Flyers. Now players like Ivan Stenberg and defenseman Keaton Verhoff are making their case to be the top pick.
Philadelphia is looking for two things in the off-season, a number one center and a top tear defenseman. Whether or not they find either in free agency or via trade is doable. The NHL draft is still their more likely option. That said, the Flyers are in dire need of a backup goalie, and left-wing help.
Lets take a look at some of the top prospects the Flyers might target at the NHL Entry Draft in June according to Tankathon:
If the Flyers are hell bent on getting a 1C, any of the top 1 centers listed above are most likely to be a target for Philly. The Flyers would love to take Caleb Malholtra. Viggo Bjorck is probably the most gifted of the centers in what looks like wingers and defense heavy in the top tier. The only thing that might scare teams away is his size, but we need remind people of passing on kids such as Cole Caufield. In Philly’s case, take Bjorck. The numbers might not pop off the page, but his skill is worth the risk.
Ethan Belchetz screams Philadelphia Flyer. He fills a huge need at left wing, a goal scorer which the Flyers are in dire need of, and his size at 6’ 5”, 227lbs. Not listed above is Ryan Roobroeck. He’s a center who can score, something Philly does not have anywhere in their entire system. JP Hurlbert is a pure goal scorer that Philadelphia might not be able to pass up. He currently leads the Western Hockey League in scoring, and second in goal scoring.
If Philly goes for a defenseman, Ryan Lin and Daxon Rudolph might be the key to their struggling power play. Rudolph might be the Cale Makar of the draft. Flyers fans remember passing on Makar his draft year, Philly might not want to repeat the same mistake twice. Lin might not be as gifted as Rudolph offensively, but Lin looks like a solid pick that could turn out to be a solid first pair defenseman.
In my world, the Flyers should target these players in order: Belchetz, Bjorck, Rudolph, Hurlbert, Roobroeck. I can see anyone of these players falling to Philly if they hang around the 10-15 pick range. If the Flyers somehow get lucky and get the top overall pick I can definitely live with Philadelphia taking McKenna, Stenberg, or Verhoff. This is not the best year for taking a center. At the 10-15 range, Bjorck, Hurlbert, or Roobroeck make the most sense. June can’t come soon enough for Flyers fans these days.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on X at @Flyersfan22.