Photo Credit: Connor Kurth @connor_kurth
With Saturday’s loss to the New York Rangers, the Flyers’ latest losing streak now stands at seven games, giving Philadelphia a well-below-five hundred record of just 13-17-7. With that in mind, it should be all but a forgone conclusion that the Flyers will not be making the playoffs this season. So, lets talk about the only thing a Flyers fan has to look forward to now: the NHL Entry Draft. With their poor play and bad luck this season Philadelphia has begun to jockey for position alongside some of the worst teams in the league for a chance to select some of this year’s top-level prospects. The only problem is they cannot repeat the type of draft day mistakes that Bob Clarke recently pointed out from years past.
Hextall was propagated to us as being a draft guru who would come in and rebuild through the draft, but years removed now from his job in Philadelphia very few of his draft selections have been able to make a name for themselves at the NHL level. So, with the Flyers’ prospect pool all but bare, and with Cam York (a Chuck Fletcher draft selection) now up to stay, the Flyers simply have no room for error on draft day.
The Flyers’ first round draft selection has been covered and is projected to acquire one of the many talented right-hand-shot defenseman to be had there. In addition, the first round will continue to be overly hypothesized by many journalists in the coming months (seeing that is about as far as their prospect knowledge goes) but where the Flyers and Chuck Fletcher have hit pay dirt lately is in the mid to later rounds. For example: 2021 7th round pick Owen McLaughlin, 2020 4th round pick Zayde Wisdom, 5th round pick Elliot Desnoyers, and 6th round pick Connor McClennon.
With that in mind, let’s look at some talented players who are both underrated and should be available in the mid to late rounds of this upcoming year’s draft.
Filip Bystedt
First up is Filip Bystedt, who is projected to be a second round draft pick. Yes, I know the Flyers don’t currently have a second round draft pick because it now belongs to the Arizona Coyotes (which they acquired by way of the future considerations part of the Shayne Gostisbehere deal). But, the Flyers will most definitely be sellers this trade deadline and should be able to get a king’s ransom for Claude Giroux (if he waives his no trade clause), as well as something pretty substantial for their other pending unrestricted free agent veterans: defenseman Justin Braun, forward Derick Brassard, and goaltender Martin Jones. So, just humor me here: Bystedt is a 6’4 187 pound Swedish center who, at just 17 years of age, has already spent time playing in Sweden’s top professional league the SHL for the Linkoping Hockey Club. But he didn’t start the year there: being that he is so young Bystedt began the year with a quick stint playing for their J18 team. After just two games played where he had one goal and two assists for three points, he was quickly promoted to their J20 Nationell [sic] team. There, this big body center was/is not being appropriately challenged either- netting 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in just 25 games played, as well as averaging a +13 to boot. So, he then was given a shot at the SHL where, in 14 games played, he was only able to achieve one goal and one assist for two points. Although his success may have halted once reaching the SHL this year, Filip didn’t seem out of place. Bystedt was able to showcase his hardy shot and his elite vison during his flash in the pan there this season and- once drafted- this summer should be able to return to his home country and be a lock to make Linkoping’s SHL team on a full time basis next season.
Rieger Lorenz
Another name the Flyers should have on their radar come the second or third round is Rieger Lorenz. He is an underrated 17-year-old center who, at 6’2 and 185 pounds, is presently taking the often-overlooked Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) by storm. But don’t worry: you will know his name here in the states soon enough, because he is committed to attend/play for the University of Denver next season. This prospect, in just 42 games this season, has already tallied 27 goals and 38 assists for 65 points (a 1.54 point per game average) for the Okotoks Oilers. In addition, he has been training and prepping for games like a 10-year NHL pro for some time now. That’s why with his incredible skill and unmatched work ethic there’s no doubt in this writer’s mind that you will see him in the NHL in no time at all.
Luca Del Bel Belluz
Projected third rounder center Luca Del Bel Belluz is yet another player who should be on the Flyers’ watch list. This gifted 18-year-old stands at 6’1 and 179 pounds and currently is lighting the lamp in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) at a pretty impressive pace for the Mississauga Steelheads. He is learning as much as he can from the somehow still-undrafted free agent and OHL’s current leading goal scorer James Hardie. But let’s give credit where credit is due; Luca has been able to achieve great success of his own this season totaling 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in 32 games (a 1.34 PPG average). Belluz only trails Hardie by two points on the season and is a +27 on the year.
Connor Kurth
While this player might be my last mentioned (seeing he is projected to go in the 4th or 5th round) he is by far not the least talented. On the contrary: this one may just be the most talented of all. Gifted with the art of deception and NHL size (214 pounds) Connor (who currently plays wing for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL)) has been able to use his stealthy set of hands, his signature shoulder drop, and innate peripheral vision to simply tear apart the Saints’ competition this year. In just 30 games played this season he has already been able to surpass his own career highs in both goals and point totals from last season. Averaging an incredible 1.43 points per game this season, Kurth has managed to amass a total of 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points, which is good enough for him to be second in the league in goals and third in the league in total points. But what sets Connor apart from the crowd the most is perhaps his fantastic shot and the frequency of which he tends to use it. This should help this future Minnesota Golden Gopher prosper in the NCAA next season.
Now, I know you may be looking at this list and saying it’s all the offensive side of the puck, but the defensive depth falls off greatly after the 1st round. Then, to be honest, as far as goaltender goes this draft is full of sieves which aren’t worth wasting a draft pick on. Therefore, after the Flyers acquire their much needed right-hand-shot defender in the first round they should then look to continue to bring aid to their less-than-lethal offense by selecting these players listed above. They would not only help to bring a resurgence in goal production but would pair nicely with some of the previously mentioned offensive threats (Wisdom, Desnoyers, McClennon etc.) who are already in place.
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