The draft lottery is tomorrow night, and the Flyers have good odds with landing a top generational talent in Connor Bedard. With a 6.5% shot at landing Bedard most Flyers fans will be glued to their televisions tomorrow night at 8pm for the draft lottery.
At least they have a shot at acquiring Connor Bedard or Adam Fantilli who will presumably get drafted at #2. The hockey Gods owe the orange and black, so let’s see how that goes.
One more sleep, yes one more sleep until the Flyers move into pick one or two for Bedard or Fantilli.
Rumors:
The Flyers would like to have the President of Hockey Ops in place well before the draft that will commence on June 28, 2023. I’m hearing that the vacant position could be filled as early as this week.
Danny Briere will become the 10th General Manager in Flyers history. It’s not a matter of if, but when. He has recently re-signed Egor Zamula to a one-year deal, so hopefully he locks up Owen Tippett and Carter Hart to extensions before the new season begins, as well.
Look for the draft to be filled with movement for the orange and black. Maybe Kevin Hayes gets dealt by then, maybe a blue liner like Travis Sanheim or Tony DeAngelo. Sanheim’s no movement clause does not go into effect until July 1, 2023, so obviously that’s after the draft and one less hurdle Briere could have with movinv him.
Let’s see what happens from now until the draft, but one thing is certain the Flyers will be very active. Hopefully, Briere can shed a few long-term contracts between now and then.
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Just by a flat-out miracle we land Bedard…then what?
Questions:
Will he be ready to play… or will he need ‘seasoning’ and development… just like every player we drafted?
Will Briere be able to ‘build’ around him, and obtain players that will complement his skills set?
Or… will he languish here, a team hindered by the salary cap, and waste the most productive years of his career?
Seeing how the Flyers operate over the past 30 years…option 3 seems to be the viable choice.
They’re going to let this guy carry the burden of this club, and take years off his career in the meantime.
After all, that’s the Flyer ‘way’… which is no way to run a club.