The days of poor drafting are slowly coming to an end as Ron Hextall and Co. have been able to walk away from recent drafts with some pretty good hauls. The Flyers have bolstered their prospect pool, but most impressively done so by drafting from the back-end out. With players like Ivan Provorov (7th, 2015) and Travis Sanheim (17th, 2014) coming up on the back-end, the days of adding mediocre defenders via free agency will shortly come to an end. They have also been able to add some solid right shot blueliners in the form of Philippe Myers (Undrafted) and Reece Willcox (141st, 2012) who will spend another winter outside of pro hockey.
One of the more impressive aspects of the Flyers prospect pool comes in the form of netminding, as they’ve been able to bring in pro-ready college prospect Alex Lyon (Undrafted) in order to give their top goaltending prospects Anthony Stolarz (45th, 2012) and Carter Hart (48th, 2016) more time for development. Up front the Flyers have done a good job, adding a combination of speedy, skilled forwards with a group of skilled two-way forwards. Travis Konecny (24th, 2015) is the teams most highly regarded prospect, and for good reason. The nineteen-year-old playmaker will look to play a prominent role on Team Canada for this years WJC, as well as provide the offensive punch for the Sarnia Sting. The 2016 draft helped the Flyers in regards to their prospect pool as they were able to add two extremely skilled, two-way centers in German Rubtsov (22, 2016) and Pascal Laberge (36, 2016), both of whom will look to add to last years point totals. The wait will not be long as the Flyers have a ton of prospects on the brink, so let’s dive in and take a look.
Depth Chart
|
Left Wingers |
Centers |
Right Wingers |
|
Oskar Lindblom |
Travis Konecny |
Nicolas Aube-Kubel |
|
Taylor Leier |
German Rubtsov |
Wade Allison |
|
Radel Fazleyev |
Pascal Laberge |
Cooper Marody |
|
Carsen Twarynski |
Connor Bunnaman |
|
|
Danick Martel |
Mikhail Vorobyov |
|
|
Samuel Dove-McFalls |
Tanner Laczynski |
|
|
David Kase |
Anthony Salinitri |
|
|
Tyrell Goulborne |
|
|
|
Left Defenceman |
Right Defenceman |
Goaltenders |
|
Ivan Provorov |
Philippe Myers |
Alex Lyon |
|
Travis Sanheim |
Reece Willcox |
Anthony Stolarz |
|
Samuel Morin |
Mark Friedman |
Carter Hart |
|
Robert Hagg |
Jesper Pettersson |
Felix Sandstrom |
|
Linus Hogberg |
|
Merrick Madsen |
|
David Bernhardt |
|
Matej Tomek |
|
David Drake |
|
Ivan Fedotov |
|
Terrance Amorosa |
|
|
|
Valeri Vasilyev |
|
|
Risers
Like any organization, players stock rises and falls season to season. The Flyers prospects have managed to stay pretty well on course, however there have been a few players who have far exceeded expectations.
Philippe Myers (Undrafted)
6’5 / 209 lbs
Right Defenceman
Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)
No Flyers prospect came further in their development in the 2015-16 season than Philippe Myers. Myers, a hulking 6’5 defenceman, went undrafted before coming into camp on an invite where he impressed Flyers brass to the point of earning a contract. He brings a strong mix of skills on the back end that includes a strong first pass, strong puck control on the blue line and an innate ability to separate the man from the puck below his goal line. Myers seems to be trending in the way of becoming a top-four blue liner for the Flyers in the future, and given their lack of right-handed blue liners, he may be there sooner than later.
Cooper Marody (158th, 2016)
6’0 / 179 lbs
Right Winger
University of Michigan (NCAA)
In his freshman season at Michigan, Marody managed to put up some impressive numbers through 32 games as he posted 10 goals and 14 assists. Marody is a pass-first type of forward, however he shows good shot selection when he does opt to shoot. He needs to work on rounding out his 200-foot game, but by all means he’s a player on the rise and may make a difference on the Flyers roster in the future.
Reece Willcox (141st, 2012)
6’3 / 183 lbs
Right Defenceman
Cornell University (NCAA) / Leigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)
Reece Willcox has never been known as an offensive defenceman, however during his time at the end of the year with the Phantoms, he proved he could be a capable puck mover. He’s a reliable two-way defender who demonstrates strong leadership abilities both on and off the ice. Willcox will make the jump full to the AHL next season where he will look to make a case for an NHL call up.
Merrick Madsen (162nd, 2013)
6’5 / 190 lbs
Goaltender
Yale University (NCAA)
After starting only one game for Yale last year, Madsen took the bull by the horns in 2015-16 and ended the season with an impressive .931 save percentage through 20 performances. The 6’5” netminder will attend Yale once again this fall where he will look to repeat this past years performance.
Fallers
Samuel Morin (11th, 2013)
6’6 / 207 lbs
Left Defenceman
Leigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)
Since being selected eleventh overall in the 2013 draft, Samuel Morin hasn’t been able to live up to expectations thus far. He’s a big, defensive defenceman who is projected to be a shutdown defender at the NHL level, however his development is coming along slowly. Through 76 games, Morin put up 118 penalty minutes and chipped in with 19 points. Those aren’t bad numbers given it was his rookie year in the AHL, however the question will soon become whether or not he has what it takes to be a full time NHL player. 2016-17 will be a big year for the young defenceman as he will need to make a big jump if he’s going to be considered for an NHL spot ahead of players like Provorov and Sanheim.
Robert Hagg (41’st, 2013)
6’2 / 205 lbs
Left Defenceman
Leigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)
Hagg had “darkhorse” written all over him coming into the 2013 draft, however he hasn’t been able to establish himself as one of the better defenders from that class. Hagg had a very rough year statistically, managing to only post 11 points, which is nine short of the year before. Given the strength of the defenders ahead of him in the system, Hagg is going to need to really establish himself as an up and coming defenceman before he’s pushed out of the system.
Matej Tomek (90th, 2015)
6’3 / 181 lbs
Goaltender
University of North Dakota (NCAA)
It was a dissapointing year for Matej Tomek as he was held out of competition due to a string of injuries. The former 90th overall pick will return to North Dakota this Fall where he will look to bounce back, however as far as fantasy hockey goes, he’s a risky bet given the strength of prospect goaltenders already in the system.
Updated Top 10
1. Ivan Provorov
2. Travis Konecny
3. Travis Sanheim
4. German Rubtsov
5. Philippe Myers
6. Alex Lyon
7. Oskar Lindblom
8. Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9. Samuel Morin
10. Pascal Laberge