With everyone obviously discouraged by the way the boys of the orange and black have played thus far, one positive that can come from this disastrous season is that the Flyers will have the chance to secure themselves some much better draft picks. This article, my third in this series on whom this writer thinks the Flyers should select in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, has a theme to it so far: Selecting players who show lots of hustle and play with immense heart, determination and grit. In review, with the team’s first selection I had the team taking Zachary L’Heureux from the Halifax Mooseheads in the article provided below: https://flyersnittygritty.com/with-our-first-round-selection-the-philadelphia-flyers-would-like-to-select-zachary-lheureux-from-the-halifax-mooseheads/
Then, with the team’s second selection, I have the Flyers taking Tyler Boucher from the US National Development Program https://flyersnittygritty.com/with-our-second-round-selection-the-philadelphia-flyers-would-like-to-select-tyler-boucher-from-the-us-national-team/
Both are selections I still stand by and believe Philadelphia should make with their respective picks.
With the team’s third-round pick in this year’s draft, most would say the Flyers should look to take a defenseman, seeing how bad the big club has been on the blue line this year. This writer would advise against this, given the amount of unbelievable depth in the system already at that position: Sam Morin got his first real shot at the NHL recently, the Flyers 2019 1st round selection defenseman Cameron York just inked his first professional deal after quite the impressive colligate career in Michigan, then the team has their star undrafted-free-agent signing of defenseman Egor Zamula. Then, there is Wyatte Wylie, Mason Millman, Linus Hogberg, and Logan Day- all of whom are signed and currently patrolling the team’s American Hockey League affiliate (the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’) blue line. Next are the team’s 2020 2nd round pick, defenseman Emil Andrae and the team’s 2019 3rd round pick, defenseman Ronald Attard who are still unsigned because of the lack of places to play them currently.
With that being said, the name the Philadelphia Flyers should be calling when it’s time to make their third selection is forward Josh Doan of the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Chicago Steel. Josh is the son of 21-year NHL legend Shane Doan, who served as captain of the Arizona Coyotes for over 13 seasons after being selected in the 1st round by the then-Winnipeg Jets back in 1995. Shane was an amazing leader throughout his career who played in over 1,500 games and holds the franchise record for that team in both goals and total points. Presently, he is retired and is patiently waiting for his call to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Now that we know his pedigree, let’s take a look at what Josh could bring to Philly, shall we? This 19 year old, 6’2, 176 pound forward could one day soon be considered a draft-day steal, seeing that he is currently labeled as a late bloomer; but this chip-off-the-old-block is much more than that. His numbers from last season compared to this season are quite deceiving due to the fact that he was buried on the Steel’s offensively driven depth chart last season by such names as Las Vegas ‘20 1st round pick Brendan Brisson, Anaheim’s ‘20 2nd round pick Sam Colangelo, and Montreal’s ‘20 4th round pick Sean Farrell (to name a few). Not to mention, this year’s lock for the #1 overall pick- defenseman Own Power, who played with the Steel last season before heading to the University of Michigan. With this type of offense on hand last season it should be easy to see why the offense did not run through Doan.
Since most of these players have moved on, Josh was finally given his chance to shine this season and shine he did. Never taking a game off this year, Josh was able to emulate his father’s game by showing an extreme amount of hustle and hard work night in and night out. Doan was able to cash in on his aggressive fore check using his active stick to strip the opposition of the puck in their own zone. He then was able to create a plethora of offensive zone-scoring chances. Doing this resulted in a drastic increase in his point production, where he went from only scoring 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points in 45 games played last season to totaling an impressive 24 goals, and 36 assists for 60 points this year (which was good enough to make him a 1.27 point-per-game player).
It is obvious that Josh or “Diesel” as his teammates call him has learned a thing or two from his time growing up in the desert watching his father play. In fact, if you look closely, the similarities are uncanny (as evident of these two videos provided): from his strong wrist shot and quick release, to his preferred place to set up (atop the faceoff circle) there’s no doubt that Shane’s blood runs deep in this young forward. That may be why Josh has decided to take his talents back home to the desert and play for head coach Greg Powers and his Arizona State University Sun Devils next season.
One thing that Josh may want to do once he arrives back home is to take advantage of some home cooking and pack on the pounds before he heads off to campus. Once there, the first thing he should do is find the team’s weight room. Weighing in at 176 pounds may be fine if you’re playing in the USHL, but Doan is going to be no longer playing against boys: In the NCAA he’ll be playing against men. Everyone he lines up across from is going to be bigger, stronger, and faster than anyone he has previously played against.
With Josh Doan playing that unyielding hard-nosed, aggressive brand of hockey that every Flyers fan grew to expect from their players on a nightly basis (but hasn’t seen since Mike Richards), expect the Flyers to not walk but run to the podium for the chance to select him, if Josh is still on the board when the Flyers are on the clock in the third round.
