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Meltzer's Musings: Monday Quick Hits |
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MONDAY QUICK HITS
* With the start of the free agency period one day away and the Flyers looking both to carve out some cap space and to make some speed upgrades at forward and defense (preferably without sacrificing too much size), we are in for an interesting week. If and when moves are made, the blog will be updated.
* I spoke yesterday with an NHL scout from a Western Conference team to get his take on the Flyers' draft picks. He said that he primarily liked the selections of Travis Sanheim in the first round and Mark Friedman in the third.
"Philly has been stockpiling defensemen in the system, and I think that's going to pay off for them at some point," he said. "Sanheim is someone who made a lot of us take notice once he get settled in with Calgary. All the tools are there and he's got some intangibles, too. Friedman isn't a big guy but he is very confident with the puck and pretty good without the puck, too. In terms of comparison players, I do think there's some similarities to [Shayne] Gostisbehere but the NHL player I'd compare his style to is his Matt Carle. [Carle] added some size after he was drafted [by San Jose in the 2nd round of the 2003 Draft] and Friedman is a little smaller but the game is similar."
* Friedman was originally supposed to matriculate at Bowling Green University last summer but, due to a class registration snafu, ended up having to wait. As a result, he played an extra USHL season with the Waterloo Black Hawks. It ended up being a blessing in disguise as the player blossomed into one of the top offensive defensemen in the league.
According to Flyers scouting director Chris Pryor, Friedman intends to honor his commitment to the Bowling Green program, who recruited him as an early commitment back in 2011. If Friedman leaves college to play major junior hockey in Canada, which was the path that Flyers 2012 second-round pick Anthony Stolarz took after a partial season at UN-O, his CHL rights belong to the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires.
The Bowling Green hockey program used to be pretty good one but fell on hard times and was nearly cut by the University a couple years ago. In the past, however, it produced its share of notable NHL players, including recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Rob Blake, current Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa, and retired former Flyers defenseman Garry Galley.
* A couple of people have asked me this, so I will post it here: To the best of my knowledge, Friedman is the third Jewish player whom the Flyers organization have drafted. The other two were Harvard University goaltenders Aaron Israel (7th round in 1993) and Dov Grumet-Morris (5th round in 2002).
* The fans of Swedish Hockey League team Linköpings HC dubbed diminutive but stocky young defenseman Jesper Pettersson with the nickname "Pitbull" for his aggressive and tenacious style of defensive play. The nickname has stuck. Pettersson, whom the Flyers drafted on Saturday with the 198th overall pick of the 2014 Draft, will turn 20 years on July 16. He is slated to play again next season in Linköping.
* Flyers Alumni Birthdays: Retired goaltender Rev. Bob Froese celebrates his 56th birthday today. Offensive defenseman Steve Duchesne, who had two stints with the Flyers, turns 49. Feisty little forward Jim Montgomery, who dubbed the trio of Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg the "Legion of Doom" line turns 45. Craig Fisher turns 44. Fisher, who briefly played parts of two seasons with the club, is most notable for being part of the three way trade with Philly, Edmonton and Los Angeles that sent Scott Mellanby and Craig Berube to the Oilers, flipped the rights to Hall of Fame Jari Kurri to the Flyers and then immediately to Los Angeles in exchange for Duchesne and also returned Dave Brown to the Flyers.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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