The Flyers will not officially confirm any new signings as of this writing, but the team's announcement appears to be a formality at this point.
Baie-Comeau Drakkar defenseman Maxim Lamarche
posted both in English and in French on his Twitter account (@Max_Lamarche) that he has signed with the Flyers. The 20-year-old is coming off a strong overage season in the QMJHL.
Meanwhile, both
Austrian and
Swedish newspapers have said that Leksands IF winger Michael Raffl has signed a two-way contract with the Flyers.
As will all NHL teams -- and big businesses in general -- the Flyers tend to deny all outside reports of trades and free agent signings until the contractual legalities are finalized and the information has already been approved to be released by the team itself.
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Undersized Skill Abounds in 2013 Draft Pool
One thing the 2013 NHL Draft class does not lack is an abundance of skilled but undersized forwards, starting with likely top-three selection Jonathan Drouin and continuing through a variety of other well-known (such as Hunter Shinkaruk or Max Domi) and lesser-known candidates at all projected levels of the Draft. The focus here will be on the latter group.
There is often a tendency among fans to look first and foremost at a forward's offensive statistics (and, sometimes, penalty minutes) when making an instant assessment of whether the player was a "good" pick. Scouts, however, aren't concerned with stats. Instead, they look at factors ranging from the player's size and strength, skating ability, demonstrated skills with and without the puck, hockey sense, work ethic and their perceived potential for continued improvement in the years following the draft.
What you find in any given Draft -- and this year will be no exception -- is that if a player is undersized, the only way he will be a serious candidate for first-round selection is if he has a markedly superior profile in the other assessment areas. That is especially true for players like the 5-foot-9 Domi. He has to be that much better than the competition in numerous aspects of his game or he'll slip on Draft day.
For an NHL prospect, the combination of below-average size with average to below-average skating can be fatal to hopes of being selected in the early rounds of the Draft -- if the player is even drafted at all. What you tend to find in the Draft is that dominant offensive talents who go round after round without being selected are either severely undersized (i.e., standing less than 5-foot-10) and/or having question marks about their skating or defensive play.
The odds are always stacked against the severely undersized players making it to the NHL, much less attaining stardom. Of course, there are exceptions, especially among forwards. Veteran Tampa Bay Lightning standout Martin St. Louis was never drafted at all because he stands just 5-foot-8. Former NHL star Theoren Fleury's 5-foot-6 frame alone caused him slip to the sixth round of the 1987 Draft, even though he had already shown himself to have elite-caliber scoring skills and the infamous pugnacious streak for which he was equally well-known on the ice. Current Buffalo Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe, a fifth-round pick in 2005, stands 5-foot-6.
There are no guarantees that any of the small forwards in the 2013 Draft pool will go on to have notable pro careers in North America. Nevertheless, this category of players includes some of the more intriguing dark horse candidates to become breakout performers in the years to come.
Apart from Drouin and Domi, here are six sub-six-foot forwards whose names could be called in the top 60 to 75 picks, including a couple of potential first-rounders. There's more where they came from in the mid-to-late round projection range as well (such as Christopher Clapperton, who went undrafted last year).
Arturri Lehkonen (LW, KalPa Kuopio (Sm-Liiga, 5'10", 152 pounds): A similar prospect to Chicago Blackhawks 2012 first-round pick Teuvo Teräväinen, Lehkonen is even a little smaller than his countryman (who was tabbed in pre-Draft ratings as a potential top-six pick but slipped to 18th overall due to concerns over his lack of size and strength). Most Draft projections have Lehkonen going anywhere from the middle of the first round to the early part of the second round. Apart from the size concerns, concussion issues this past season could hurt him on Draft day. However, Lehkonen's skill set is comparable to Drouin's. He's very, very skilled with the puck on his stick, has a well above-average finishing touch, is elusive and creative and is deadly on breakaways and shootouts. He is said to have a similar competitive drive to KalPa owner and teammate, former Flyers forward Sami Kapanen. Skillwise, he may be even better than Kapanen, who was a two-time NHL All-Star in his prime with Carolina. Already a rapidly emerging scoring threat in the SM-liiga, Lehkonen won't even turn 18 until July.
J.T. Compher (C, USNTD, USHL, 5'11", 165 pounds): Lost half a season due to an early season injury but played very well upon his return. Apart from his need to add muscle to his frame to better compete at the pro level, Compher is closer to an "average-size" designation than the dreaded undersize label. Apart from his vital stats, he is a complete player with some nifty offensive weapons in his arsenal. Generally pegged as a late first-round to early second-round pick, Compher could go ahead of the projections. Plus skater, plus playmaker, a heavy shot, a high compete level, above-average one-on-one skills and a projectable two-way game are all features of his game. He has committed to the University of Michigan.
Nicolas Petan (C, Portland, WHL, 5'8 1/2", 166 pounds): Size concerns will probably keep the WHL's leading playmaker (74 assists), co-leading overall scorer (120 points, tied with teammate Brendan Leipsic) and fourth-leading goal scorer (46 goals) out of the first round. It has also been said that being surrounded by numerous top-notch offensive talents on a powerhouse Winterhawks team inflated Petan's totals this year. Nevertheless, he is a good bet to be chosen in the early to middle stages of the second round. A very skilled puckhandler and passer whose ice vision has been compared to Mike Ribeiro, Petan also has the advantage of being a plus skater. He can get overmatched defensively or taken off the puck by bigger opponents but not due to a lack of effort. He is also willing and able to steal the puck right back after it's been taken from him. He's adept at triggering transitional opportunities for his team and will also venture into high-punishment areas to make plays.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (RW, Portland, WHL, 5'11", 163 pounds): The Danish winger is a teammate of Petan's and has played on the same line as 2012 Flyers draftee Taylor Leier. Bjorkstrand has high end speed and above-average hands. The main negative is that he tends to overrely on finesse and needs to add a lot of muscle to his frame, because he's weak physically and can get pushed around at times. Bjorkstrand can score in bunches when he gets hot, but can also be rendered a non-factor. Despite the fact that he's fallen from his original first-round candidate projections to a likely second-rounder, Bjorkstrand's collection of offensive skills make him a potential high-yield pick.
Side note: Fellow Danish-born winger Nick Sørensen of the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts is another likely second-round draft candidate. A dual Danish-Swedish citizen who has represented Sweden in the World Junior championships, Sørensen's hands may not be as good as Bjorkstrand's but has a bigger frame and is a little more well-rounded.
Marko Dano (C/LW, Slovan Bratislava, KHL, 5'11", 180 pounds): I've seen Dano listed anywhere from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-0, so we'll go with the middle ground. Although he isn't tall, he's sturdy on his skates and has good pound-for-pound physical strength. As with many young players in European elite leagues, he received sparing ice time for much of the KHL season with Slovan. What is more telling of his potential upside than his points (3 goals, 7 points) is that he dressed in 37 regular season games and four playoff tilts. Dano turned heads at the World Junior Championships with nine points in six games and is so highly regarded that he also earned a spot with the senior level national team at the 2013 World Championships. He's ranked 12th among European skaters by Central Scouting but is a wildcard on Draft Day.
Side note: A bigger-framed player of a somewhat similar "wildcard" profile is Russian forward Anton Slepyshev. Although Slepyshev was pretty quiet at his first WJC this year, he did a good job as captain of the Russian U18 team at the previous year's U18 Worlds and he made an impact in the KHL this season, more so than Dano in fact, as an 18-year-old. The 6-foot-2 Slepyshev is signed to play in Russia for one more season.
Morgan Klimchuk (LW, Regina Pats, WHL, 5'11", 180 pounds): He wasn't exactly surrounded in Regina with the same sort of talent that the Portland players enjoy, so Klimchuk's production increase from 36 points as a WHL rookie to 76 points in his second campaign is pretty noteworthy along with his correspondingly bigger role in offensive situations. He is noted for being patient with the puck and possessing rapid acceleration that compares favorably to players who go on to play in the NHL. Although he is not a physical player and can do a better job in close quarters, Klimchuk is already a responsible two-way player in addition to being an offensive threat. At times, he has been used on the point in the power play as well as on penalty kills. Ranked 25th among North American skaters in the final Central Scouting ratings, Klimchuk is a sleeper in this year's deep draft pool but could have been a higher-profile potential mid-to-late first-round projection had his Draft year fallen in some of the shallower classes.
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