Do Not Sleep On Wyatte Wylie Flyers Fans

In 2018, Former Flyers’ General Manager Ron Hextall wanted to eventually restock the defensive cupboard within the farm system, hence the reason why Hextall selected a STEAL in Wyatte Wylie in the 5th round of the NHL Draft.

Wylie is a great skater and stick handler for that matter. He remains calm and poised, as he is very rarely out of position defensively. Hextall selected Wylie to help aide the Flyers with transitioning out of the zone, but more importantly join the rush when he sees fit. The Flyers will need speedy right-handed defencemen in the future, as the name of the game in the NHL is speed. There is no doubt Wylie can eventually be that speedy spark to amp up the offense, but play a sound defensive game, as well.

As Wylie headed back to Everett following last year’s training camp he progressed to the point, where he thought he was ready for the rigors of professional hockey in the AHL. What most Flyers fans do not know is that Wylie played on his off-hand in the 2018-19 season for the Everett Silvertips, meaning he can play both the left and right sides on defense. Wylie told me at Developmental Camp that he just wants to play, so he would play either side the coaches ask him to play. These tools became valuable when Chuck Fletcher decided to ink him to a three-year ELC yesterday, “I wanted to come here this Summer to prove to the Flyers I wanted to be here,” Wylie told me at Developmental Camp, “Just give it all I can, and for Everett to let me do this it’s awesome.”

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Wylie continued, “The support Everett (Fans) gives you, whether your home or away, it’s something that makes you want to work harder. It definitely keeps you going. The fans of Everett are everything, their awesome.”

This young prospect in Wylie opened some eyes for the Silvertips this past season with his elite vision of the ice, and just had a knack for shutting down lines. He’s so darn good at shutting down top lines night after night. Wylie can shoot the puck too, as he potted 14 goals this past season, to go along with 50 apples in just 62 games, but he’s taken his defensive game to another level this season, using quick zone exits as a strategy.

What’s become mind-boggling is that he is often forgotten about in the pipeline on defense for the Flyers. I have seen a lot of tweets and read stuff on facebook of people crediting the pipeline with prospects, such as, Mark Friedman, Emil Andrae, Mason Millman, Cam York, Yegor Zamula, Linus Högberg, and even Ronnie Attard all for good reason. However, Wylie is rarely mentioned as a quality prospect that has a future on the blueline with the Flyers. The question is why?

There is only one real answer as to why some people may not be high on Wylie from what I gathered. Some people have told me that Wylie didn’t play against men during his time at Everett in Junior hockey, whereas, Andrae, Högberg, Attard, and York currently do. To me every prospect is different. Some prospects that play overseas have a harder time adjusting to the North American rink size (Felix Sandström was a perfect example of this), while others take more time to get bigger and stronger to handle the rigors of an 82 game season in the AHL or NHL.

Wylie has a good hockey IQ, has a keen hockey sense, and can transition from defense to offense with the best of them. This former Silvertips star has some great hockey tools that the Flyers could benefit from in the future. Wylie is so darn good on skates, and he’s just too darn talented to not succeed at the Pro level. One thing is for certain Flyers fans, the future is bright in Flyer land.