9:45 P.M. EDT
With the 192nd overall pick, the Flyers selected Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) defenseman David Drake. Another big-framed player at 6-foot-4, defensive defenseman Drake has a lot of filling out to do. The Illinois native had one point -- a goal -- and was minus-13 in 12 games played on a bad team.
9:00 P.M. EDT
With the 162 overall pick, the Flyers selected a big-framed American high school goaltender, Merrick Madsen. The 6-foot-4 netminder, who turns 18 in August, played last season for Proctor Academy. He was ranked 26 among North American goaltenders by Central Scouting. He is committed to Harvard University in the fall.
I know nothing about Madsen but
here is a profile on the player.
8:45 P.M. EDT
With the 132nd overall pick of the Draft, the Flyers selected prep school defenseman Terrance Amarosa (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) from the Holderness School in the NEPSHC. I know nothing about him but here is a
highlight video.
Edit: Apparently he's a player who considered a little too small to be on a major junior track but had a growth spurt over the last year. He will play in the USHL next season. Was unranked by Central Scouting.
7:45 P.M. EDT
With the 71st pick of the Draft, the Flyers selected 19-year-old Kelowna Rockets agitator Tyrell Goulbourne. A winger and center, Goulbourne is best known for an aggressive hitting style that can be likened in a somewhat similar fashion to current Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo. The Kelowna forward, who was ranked 151st by Central Scouting this year, was bypassed in last year's Draft.
In my opinion, there were much higher upside players available at every position. Why not aim a little higher?
6:40 P.M. EDT
With the 41st overall pick of the Draft, the Flyers selected Modo defenseman Robert Hägg. He would likely have been a first-round pick but was better in the first half of this past season than the latter part.
During the World Junior Championships, former Flyers forward Mikael Renberg (now a hockey commentator on SVT) said on Swedish television that Flyers scouts had approached him to get his opinions on Hägg.
Hägg, who split the 2012-13 season roughly in half between Modo's J20 (which he captained) and Elitserien rosters, has a combination of size, mobility and puck skills. I watched a fair amount of Elitserien hockey this season and Hägg looked good in limited ice time in several Modo games plus Sweden's WJC games that I caught.
Although one of the scouting reports I've read likened his physical game to feared Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall, I saw more of a traditional Swedish two-way puck-mover from my observations. Perhaps the nasty edge came out in other games, but Hägg to me seemed to be more in the Kim Johnsson or Kenny Jönsson mold than a Kronwall type who makes opposing players skate with their head on a swivel apart from his other skills.
Hägg was too good for SuperElit level this season, averaging nearly a point per game at the J20 level. He had one assist in 27 Elitserien games but that had more to do with ice time and focus on improving all around than it did a lack of potential to produce at higher levels as he continues to grow and mature.
The defenseman played admirably at U20 WJC and was easily Sweden's best defenseman on an otherwise underachieving U18 WJC squad. He will not be NHL ready within the next year or two. However, the mutual benefit of the new NHL-SIF transfer agreement, which enables NHL teams to hold onto the signing rights of 18-year-old draftees for four years, is that it will enable Hägg to develop at his own pace without being rushed to the pros.
The Flyers may very well have to wait for him until he's 21 or 22 to be ready to play over here. But if he develops the way he's capable of developing, the NHL team would be getting a young player with potential to step into a significant role by his second or third North American season.
4:15 P.M. EDT
With the 11th overall pick of the first round, the Flyers select defenseman Sam Morin. Huge frame, and a good skater for such a big player. There's still room to improve his footwork to be more fluid, however. He currently projects as more of a strictly defensive defenseman but there are some who think more of an offensive game could come in time. He was a late riser in the projections after a very strong QMJHL playoff run and Under-18 World Championships following his return from a broken collarbone.
Morin will likely not be NHL-ready for a few years. Currently packing 210 pounds on a 6-foot-6 1/2 frame, the player said he'd ultimately like to play at 230 to 240 pounds.
During his interviews, the personable young man made frequent mention of modeling his game after Chris Pronger and talked about how hard he's worked on his shot and would like to bring out more of an offensive game over time.
2:15 P.M. EDT
Lots of Flyers rumors, nothing verifiable as of yet. Typical Draft day thus far, in other words.
12:30 P.M. EDT
The Flyers are one of just two teams that already has their full contingent assembled at their table on the Draft floor. San Jose is the other team. I don't read any particular significance into that, except that the Flyers obviously wanted their people there early for some last-moment discussions.
EDIT (12:45 P.M.): The meeting lasted about 10-15 minutes and then dispersed.
3:45 A.M. EDT
I will be in Newark, NJ today to cover the 2013 NHL Draft for HockeyBuzz along with Julie Robenhymer. Throughout the day, I will post news and commentary on this blog space whenever the Flyers make a Draft selection or a trade.
The Flyers have been in the middle of a host of trade rumors -- particularly Braydon Coburn to Edmonton and as well as several goalie-related possibilities. Yesterday, there were also widespread reports that Philly is among the teams courting recently bought out Tampa Bay Lightning center Vincent LeCavalier.
Currently, the Flyers hold the following picks in today's Draft, listed by round and overall selection number:
1/11
2/41
3/71
5/132
6/162
7/192
As a primer, here is a series of Draft-related profiles I wrote in the weeks leading up to today:
Top Defense Candidates After Seth Jones: Ryan Pulock, Rasmus Ristolainen, Darnell Nurse, Josh Morrissey, Robert Hägg, Nikita Zadorov, Shea Theodore, Samuel Morin, Steve Santini
Beyond the Consensus Top Defenseman: Profiles of 46 Draft Candidates Not Listed Above
Thumbnail Profiles of Valeri Nichushkin, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Alexander Wennberg, Hunter Shinkaruk, Frederik Gauthier and Max Domi
Profiles of 10 Power Forward Candidates Plus a Look at Marc-Olivier Roy
Profiles of 6 Undersized Skill Players Plus a Look at Nick Sørensen and Anton Slepyshev
Shinkaruk Vs. Domi: More in-depth than thumbnails in top forwards blog
On Goalie Drafting and Baked Potatoes (mentions Zach Fucale, Tristan Jarry, Eric Comrie, Marcus Högberg, Brendan Burke, Ville Huuso, Philippe Desrosiers and Ivan Bocharov)
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