Thursday Quick Hits
* Yesterday morning, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the first episode of "Flight Plan". The program gave a glimpse into the last stages of the process involved in coming up with final internal rankings before the NHL Draft. The program specifically focused on a discussion amongst Flyers scouts around where eventual first-round pick Samuel Morin should be ranked.
The program was only eight minutes long, which means that a lot of pertinent scouting information and debate -- even as relates to Morin -- got left out. What was made very clear is just how hard the scouts work over the course of the year.
Western Hockey League scout Mark Greig noted that he typically sees potential draftees between eight to 13 times per season with the crossover scouts (who are primarily assigned to the Ontario or Quebec leagues) making three to five trips to scout the targeted players. Now multiply that by the sheer number of prospects that get evaluated both before and after the Draft -- which includes not just comparing notes with other scouts on the strengths and weaknesses witnessed firsthand, but also reviewing video, talking to their coaches and trying to get a handle on both the tangibles and intangibles the players possess.
What you saw in "The War Room" was only snippets of discussion; dramatic moments such as Dennis Patterson (arguably Morin's most vocal advocate among the scouts, at least from the small sampling of discussion that was aired) saying that Morin may have a better grip on his future NHL role than the more highly touted Darnell Nurse.
One thing the Flyers scouts had to evaluate -- and this is the hardest part of the decision-making -- is which prospects will be the best NHL players three to five years in the future. In some cases, these are NOT the ones who are the best players right now. This is what led the Flyers to ultimately rate Morin and Mirco Mueller above Nurse, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, Josh Morrissey and Ryan Pulock (who was my own personal pre-Draft preference but who was apparently not particularly high on the Flyers' internal rankings).
As Patterson said of Morin's potential, "I don't know if he'll hit it, but he's got the most upside."
Only time will tell, of course.
Perhaps the most fascinating piece of debate and decision-making revolved around the Flyers moving Morin up in their final rankings and moving forward Sean Monahan down; something that did not have unanimous agreement in the room and about which Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren slyly quipped that the assembly was "fading under the pressure" of coming to a final ranking decision.
In a longer program, it would have been interesting to hear some of the other scouts offered int the discussion. For example, how did Ilkka Sinisalo (the organization's de facto head European scout, although he does not have a higher title) weigh Morin against Ristolainen and where would he have personally have placed someone such as Aleksander Barkov, Valeri Nichushkin, Elias Lindholm or Alexander Wennberg on the overall list? While Sinisalo was seen in the room on the video, none of the conversations he participated in survived the final edit for "The War Room."
Some people have asked why the Flyers ranking list was blurred on the video (except for Morin's name) now that the Draft is over. The answer is that the evaluation process for players does not end on Draft day and some other teams' draftees may be potential Philadelphia acquisitions down the line. Therefore, it made more sense not to show how highly some other prospects may have been rated by the Flyers -- although there are some major clues given even within the eight minutes of footage.
The next episode of the program will look at the activities on the Draft floor during Draft day itself.
* In yesterday's action at the World Junior Championship Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, NY, Team Canada downed Finland by a 5-3 score while Sweden whitewashed what has thus far been a lackluster Team USA in a 4-0 final.
Scott Laughton did not dress for the game for the Canadians. Kasperi Kapanen, the son of former Flyers forward Sami, scored a goal for Finland. In the Sweden-USA game, Robert Hägg assisted on the first goal for the Swedes and logged heavy ice time overall in what was by far his best game of the three he's played to date in the tournament.
Later today, Team USA plays Finland while the Canadians clash with the Swedes.
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Flyers Team of the 2000s: Defenseman Run-offs
Today marks the final poll of the Flyers Team of the 2000s series. We will select the sixth and final starting defenseman with the runner-up getting the reserve (seventh) spot on the roster. I am adding one additional reserve to the roster among players who did not get enough initial votes to earn a starting spot.
Here is the roster to date:
Starting Forwards (12): Claude Giroux, Keith Primeau, Mike Richards, Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne, Mark Recchi, John LeClair, Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek, Mike Knuble, Jeremy Roenick, Jeff Carter.
Reserve forwards (2): Sami Kapanen, Danny Briere.
Defensemen (5): Kimmo Timonen, Eric Desjardins, Chris Pronger, Kim Johnsson, Derian Hatcher.
Goalies (2): Roman Cechmanek (starter), Brian Boucher (backup).
Head coach: Peter Laviolette.
Former Flyers forward Ian Laperriere, now the organization's Director of Player Development, will be participating in the Ironman Mont-Tremblant: North American Championship on August 18. Apart from competing in the triatholon, Lappy is raising funds for a variety of charitable causes: the IRONMAN Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and Go4theGoal Foundation- Tunes4Teens. Laperriere has set a $10,000 fundraising goal. For more information or to make a donation,
click here.
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