Photo Credit: Rena Laverty
Yes, it’s that time again, folks, when the Flyers will let us all down by selecting someone they shouldn’t or draft a player with promise only to ruin them later once they enter into Philadelphia’s less than stellar player development program. But despite all that, I’m here to give you my list of some names who the Flyers’ general manager Chuck Fletcher should be calling in the coming weeks.
Round: 1
Thanks to a multitude of injuries this year, management’s unwillingness to bring in a new head coach mid-season after firing AV, and certain prospects (Morgan Frost, etc.) not advancing their games this season to any level that would be helpful. Philadelphia finds themselves with a top-five draft pick this year. And with Giroux now gone and past decisions when in a similar position a few years ago not turning out so well (Nolan Patrick), the Flyers have to get this pick right. The fan base needs a new face of the franchise. Someone they can both believe in and whose jersey won’t be found in every Goodwill Store in the tri-state in five years’ time. To prevent that from happening before we can officially get started, we have to go over a few of this year’s top prospects that the Flyers should stay away from, such as damaged goods like right-hand shooting defenseman David Jiricek who has already had to have one major knee surgery in his just 18 years on this earth. Then there’s Finnish-born winger Joakim Kemell who, while offensively gifted, suffered a shoulder injury this season that he was eventually able to return from physically but was never able to produce at the same level upon his return to play. If you want to know more about these cautious tales, you can read this article I wrote back in May on them.
So, if not those players, who then? Well, either Slovakian-born winger Juraj Slafkovský or defenseman Simon Nemec would be great, but they both will most likely be off the board by the time the Flyers make their selection. Diminutive winger Matthew Savoie would have made a lot of sense before the Flyers decided not to sign his similar stature, high-scoring Winnipeg Ice linemate Connor McClennon who they drafted back in 2020.
Cutter Gauthier
That said, my pick for the Flyers 5th overall selection would be U.S.A.-born product Cutter Gauthier. Standing at 6’3 and weighing in at over 200 pounds, Cutter already has an NHL frame, and he is capable of playing both the wing and the center position, which would help this team out immensely. Starting out this season, Cutter was considered to be but a piece on a very good United States Development Program Team but ended up quickly making a name for himself this season, playing more of the power forward role. Using his size to his advantage, Gauthier out-hustled and out-muscled his way to be one of the team’s best players. To which you should know, he even outscored prized prospect Logan Cooley this year in goals 53 to 40 when you combined both their USHL game schedule and their USDP schedule, which has them playing against some of the NCAA’s best. Currently, the Flyers lack size, grit, and scoring ability, but with just one pick, they could land all of that and so much more by taking Cutter with the 5th selection.
(Here’s an article I wrote on him way back in March if you want to learn more about him)
2nd Round Pick
Yes, I know the Flyers don’t currently have a second-round pick, but that hasn’t stopped Chuck and his crew from talking to a number of players at the NHL combine this year who are projected to be drafted in the second round. Everyone, including Chuck, knows that he is on a short leash right now with the team’s recent failures, and has let it be known that he will be doing anything in his power to get this team back to their winning ways next season in order to save his job. And as we all know, when Fletcher has been high on a prospect in the past, he has been known to move up in the draft to get his guy. Perhaps the best example of that is 2020’s Zayde Wisdom which the team moved up to the fourth round that year to be able to select him. Now, do I think the team potentially moving up is wise? Not really, but it would depend on a lot of things; how far are up are we talking? How much will it cost the Flyers to do so? And who exactly is the player the team is trying to move up for? If anyone of the following forwards, Jagger Firkus, Ivan Miroshnichenko, or defenseman Seamus Casey falls to the second round, I would be willing to make a move without hesitation. But I think a more likely move would be if the Flyers believe that a team might take right-hand-shot defenseman Christian Kyrou late in the second round instead letting him fall to them at the beginning of the third. Only then might they be willing to move up a few spots in order to acquire him.
Christian Kyrou
Brother of St. Louis Blues star Jordan Kyrou, Christian has become one of this draft’s fastest risers thanks to him having a breakout season this year while playing for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). What blindsided most is that before this season, Christian did not even have a single point in juniors because last season, the OHL was shut down due to COVID, and two years ago, when Kyrou was just 16 years old, he only got to play in a handful of games. So, you can see why at the start of the season, no scout was probably blocking off his schedule to come to see Kyrou play. Christian’s efforts this year quickly changed that, though, resulting in teams scrambling to get their guys up to Lake Erie to see this kid play. Gifted with an NHL-level shot, this offensive defenseman, who stands at roughly 5’11 and 175 pounds, scored 18 goals and 42 assists for 60 points this year in just 68 games played. While Kyrou will most likely need a little more time to refine his game before making the jump to the professional level, he most certainly has all the intangibles to one day be a power-play specialist on the world’s largest stage.
(Want to view this guy in action? Click the link below to watch a video in the article I wrote on him a few weeks back)
3rd Round
If the Flyers do not move up to the 2nd round to select a player, they want. They should look to draft from a position of familiarity with their 3rd round selection. Elliot Desnoyers, the Flyers 2020 5th-round selection, is the prospect that the majority of fans here in Philly are the most excited about. Since Chuck drafted this virtually unknown prospect a few years ago, Desnoyers’ development has grown by leaps and bounds. The reason for that is his chemistry with linemate/right-winger Jordan Dumais, whose totals combined with Desnoyers equated to an unheard-of 197 points this season.
Jordan Dumais
Who is Jordan Dumais, who may be asking? He is a diminutive player who currently stands at just 5’9 and 165 pounds. But his size while playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season didn’t seem to be an issue considering Dumais finished the season third in the entire league in points with a total of 109. Breaking that down, Jordan played in 68 games, where he was able to total 39 goals and 70 assists for 109 points. That’s a 1.60 points-per-game average if your keeping track. Hands down, Dumais and Desnoyers, are the best duo Halifax has had since the Mooseheads won the Memorial Cup back in 2013; when newly crowned Stanley Cup Champion Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin (who collectively only scored 180 points during the regular season that year) were patrolling the Scotiabank Centre. And could you imagine if an NHL team ended up with both of them playing on the same line together? If the Flyers were to select Dumais, it would not only give them another offensive talent in their prospect pool but almost certainly ensure that Desnoyers would continue to develop into his untapped potential.
(To get a more in-depth look at Jordan, here is an article that I featured him in back in April)
4th Round Pick
For my 4th round selection, I would suggest to the Flyers that they draft not just an amazing talent but also an amazing human being. Way back in January, I wrote an article about some mid-to-late round draft prospects that Philadelphia should keep an eye on, and one of those players, Connor Kurth, was included in that article.
Connor Kurth
Kurth is a 5’11, 207-pound 18-year-old forward who just finished playing his second season in the United States Hockey League for the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Where throughout 62 regular-season games played, he scored 35 goals and 46 assists for 81 points. That means he averaged 1.30 points per game while still managing to maintain a +37 average on the season. While Kurth’s best attribute may be his shot, he has been known to break some ankles as well with his innate ability to dangle through the opposition on his way to the net. Above any other player mentioned in this article, I believe that Connor has what it takes to make a name for himself at the professional level. After writing my original article about him, Kurth was courteous enough to agree to join me on my weekly Pod Cast: The Hockey Writers Ink, where we learned more about this young man outside of hockey as well, which was just as impressive as the work he puts in on the ice. Overall, I think if the Flyers are able to select Connor in the fourth round in time, experts will look at it as one of the absolute steals of this draft.
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(Want to watch me talking to Connor? Just click the link below)
5th Round
In the later rounds, teams start to take chances, and here is where I think the Flyers should do just that.
Zachary Bookman
Zachary Bookman is a 20-year-old 2022 draft-eligible right-hand-shot defender who stands at 5’10 and 176 pounds. This season this American-born talent played for the Brooks Bandits of the lesser-known Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) that finished with an incredible record of 52-6-1. In which he scored a record-breaking 21 goals and 81 assists for 102 points in just 55 games played. That equates to an unheard-of 1.85 points-per-game for a defenseman. Oh yeah, and that AJHL record he broke for most points scored by a defenseman in a single season used to belong to (former Brooks Bandit) Cale Makar, who previously held the record with a messily 75 points scored. Bookman, who is set to attend and play for Merrick College next year, maybe a bit of a late bloomer, but he is certainly promising. That’s why I think the Flyers would be wise to draft him now in order to get a hold of his rights before his play next season in the NCAA opens a lot of GM’s eyes, and they then would have to fight 31 other teams for a chance at signing him as an undrafted free agent.
Not convinced about Zach just yet? Here are a few articles I wrote about him earlier this season to give you more insight into this player.
Round Six
For the Flyers’ sixth-round pick in this year’s draft, I’m going to suggest another over-ager, this time a player by the name of Stephen Halliday.
Stephen Halliday
There’s no secret that Philadelphia needs more depth at the center position. Considering their current faceoff men have gained an inept ability to suffer multiple injuries throughout the season. That’s why I think the team should once again go back to the hockey hotbed of Iowa and select Kurth’s friend and fellow Fighting Saint Stephen Halliday. I think drafting this 6’4, 209-pound center here in the later rounds of the draft would be reasonably prudent. After going undrafted last year, this nearly 20-year-old prospect was determined to show all the NHL franchises that passed on him last season that they had indeed made a mistake. So much so that Stephen went out this year and scored 35 goals and 60 assists for 95 points in 62 regular-season games played. What may be more noteworthy, though, is that Halliday did all of this while still managing to maintain a +29 average on the season. I’ve been watching this player for some time now, as evidenced by my article where I featured him in from back in March, but I fear he too is quickly gaining acclaim as the draft looms ever closer. So, I hope that this big, bodied center who is more known for setting teammates up with a beautiful saucer pass than for his quick wrist shot is still on the board when the Flyers go to make their pick in the sixth round.
Like Kurth, Halliday was also gracious enough to join my partner and me on The Hockey Writers Ink Podcast earlier this season which you can watch below.
Stephen is set to attend Ohio State University next season, where he will continue to grow his game while playing against some of the best players in the country.
Round 7
Finally, we made it to the tail end of the draft, and the Flyers have yet to take a prospect that plays the one position that has plagued the city of Philadelphia for so long now. Yes, I’m talking about a goalie. Don’t fear, though; I think I have just the kid to do the trick here. Scanning through stats and watching so many junior hockey games this season, I have concluded that there just aren’t many good goalies coming out this year. Most are lucky if they averaged letting in three goals a game. But while I was sorting through all the rubbish, I found one net-minder that stood out amongst the masses, and his name is Marco Costantini.
Marco Costantini
Marco is a 19-year-old goaltender who stands at 6’1 and 185 pounds who played this season for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. Thanks to COVID shutting down his league last season, Marco went undrafted last year because he did not get to play in a single game. But what a difference a year makes. This season with the Bulldogs, Costantini played in 45 regular-season games (winning 31 of them), where he was able to sustain a 2.32 goals-against-average along with a .917 save percentage and recorded an impressive six shutouts. Costantini, who plays the butterfly style, led his team this year to win the Ross Robertson Cup (the league’s championship), and last time I checked, he was playing in the Memorial Cup, which is a tournament of champions where all four winners from the top Canadian Junior Leagues come together to see who will reign supreme. Drafting a player of his caliber in net would restock the cupboard, if you will, after the Flyers finally signed prospect Ivan Fedotov to an entry-level deal.
(Want to see some highlights of this young goalie? Then click on the link of the article I wrote about him not too long ago.)
While this list I compiled was highly unnerving for me to put together, given just how many of this year’s draftees I do, in fact, like. I believe it to be the best group of prospects to help the Flyers moving forward, and with that being said, if anyone of you happens to have direct access to Chuck Fletcher’s office via your his secretary or perhaps a member of the cleaning service that takes care of his building, etc. feel free to do us all a favor and print this article out and place it upon his desk. Thanks in advance!
The photos used by you of Cutter Gauthier and Stephen Halliday are used without authorization. Please remove them from your website.
My apologies I will talk to the website creator.
Didn’t know you would require authorization. I will not use your pictures again. At least we did credit you. But I hear where your coming from.