Thanks to former General Manager Ron Hextall, his Head Scout Chris Pryor, and others in his scouting department. One position of the Flyers rebuild that was imperative to improve was Defense. On Saturday May 30, 2020, the present Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher signed a 2016 draft pick in LHD Linus Hogberg to a two-year ELC (Entry-Level-Contract), and that meaned that it could spell the end for a 2016 Flyers prospect that was in need of a contract in David Bernhardt.
Bernhardt was born on December 1, 1997, in Huddinge, SWE. The Flyers former GM Hextall drafted him in the 7th round of the 2016 NHL Draft. Like most kids that play hockey in Sweden, Bernhardt started playing hockey at a young age. His passion for the game found himself playing for the Vaxjo Lakers in 2019-20. For the season, he registered 0 points in just nine games played for the Lakers. Moreover, he saw himself in and out of the lineup for a large portion of the season, and quite frankly Bernhardt was always seen as a long shot of being offered an ELC by the Flyers.
This 6’3″ 203 pound, LHD, in Bernhardt is a more stay-at-home defenseman. He’s hasn’t been offensive past the Junior level, so his name doesn’t really stand out from other Flyers prospects who deserve ELC’s, like Wyatt Kalynuk, for instance. The Flyers currently sit at 48 total contracts, yes some fall off at year’s end, however, Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison, Linus Hogberg, and possibly Wyatt Kalynuk’s (Hopefully) contracts will start in 2020-21. Although, the Flyers may not run into the 50 contract contractual limit next season, they could possibly have an issue with that in 2021-22 with the likes of Cam York, Bobby Brink (Possibly), and Jay O’Brien (Possibly) looking to sign ELC’s.
Not every prospect in the Flyers system will be able to receive ELC’s. This is a good problem to have, not a bad problem by any means. How many teams in the NHL can say they are being built from the ground up? Hextall left Fletcher in great shape in terms of cap space and prospects, now it’s time for the Flyers to reap the benefits. Make no mistake about this, Bernhardt was a class act, a very good guy, and I personally wish him nothing but the best of luck. At the end of the day this was strictly a business move, not a personal one.
