It is impossible to predict whom the Flyers will select in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft, much less in the later rounds. However, it is useful to look at the team's drafting tendencies over the last decade.

As with teams around the NHL, the Flyers have cast a wider drafting blanket over the hockey world than they did in years past.

There has been a leaguewide decrease since the early 2000s in the volume of players drafted from European teams. However, there has been an overlapping increase both in North American and European-born players selected from North American teams outside of the Canadian major junior leagues.

For record-keeping purposes, the NHL lists players both by the leagues from which they are drafted and by country of origin. For instance, Oliver Lauridsen and former Flyers forward Andreas Nödl would respectively be listed as NCAA and USHL draftees and separately listed as players from Denmark and Austria. Additionally, when a player is in his Draft-eligible season, Central Scouting places him on its North American or European list based on his then-current league, and not his country of origin.

For instance, spanning the period of 2003 to 2012, the Flyers selected 55 North Americans and 19 European-born players in the NHL Draft. Six of the European players were playing in North America in their Draft year, so they are counted among North American picks when the picks-by-league are tallied. Three others were already planning to play in North American leagues in the year following their Draft selection.

Working backwards from the Flyers' 2013 Draft crop, here's the draftee breakdown by league and by players' country of origin over the course of the Flyers' last 10 drafts. Note: players who entered the organization as undrafted rookie free agents -- for example, Matt Read (NCAA, Canada), Erik Gustafsson (NCAA, Sweden) and Sergei Bobrovsky (KHL, Russia) -- are not included here. These are only players whose names were called on Draft day.

Over the course of the last 11 NHL Drafts, the Flyers have used a total of 80 picks. Among these selections, 42 players were chosen out of one of the Canadian major junior leagues (11 from the OHL, 13 from the WHL, 18 from the QMJHL). Two were picked from Canadian Junior A leagues.

Among the 22 players selected from U.S.-based circuits, there were three players selected from the U.S. National Team Development Program, eight from clubs in the USHL, and five who played their immediate pre-Draft season in the collegiate ranks. There were also three players from American high school/prep schools and two from the NAHL.

The remaining 14 picks the Flyers have made since 2003 have been players who suited up in European leagues in the season directly before their Draft selection. Four players have been chosen from Swedish leagues; three from the SuperElit junior league and just two who had seen time in the Elite League. Three players were chosen from Russian Leagues (two from junior league clubs, one from the RSL/KHL). There have been two players picked from Finnish-based junior teams (none with SM-liiga experience at the time of their Draft selection) and two from Slovakia (one Slovak Extraliga and one junior league). There was one apiece from Switzerland's top league (National League A) and the Czech Under-20 league.

In terms of the players' countries of origins, the Flyers have selected 43 Canadians and 17 players whose primary citizenship is based in the U.S. (not counting someone such as Phoenix-born Canadian citizen Sean Couturier). There have been 20 European-born players drafted by the Flyers since 2003: six originally from Sweden, three from Russia, two from Finland, two from Switzerland, two from Slovakia, two from the Czech Republic and one apiece from Denmark, Germany and Latvia.

Here's the year-by-year breakdown by league and country of origin:

2013: 6 total picks
CHL (2): Samuel Morin (QMJHL, Canada), Tyrell Goulbourne (WHL, Canada)
Sweden (1): Robert Hägg (Elitserien, Sweden)
USHL (1): David Drake (USA)
U.S. High School/Prep School (2): Terrance Amorosa (Canada), Merrick Madsen (USA)

2012: 7 total picks
CHL (2): Scott Laughton (OHL, Canada), Taylor Leier (WHL, Canada)
NAHL (1): Anthony Stolarz (USA)
NCAA (1): Shayne Gostisbehere (ECHL, USA)
Canadian Junior A (1): Reece Willcox (BCHL, Canada)
Sweden (1): Fredric Larsson (J20 SuperElit, Sweden)
Russian (1): Valeri Vasiliev (MHL, Russia)

2011: 6 total picks
CHL (5): Sean Couturier (QMJHL, Canada), Nick Cousins (OHL, Canada), Colin Suellentrop (OHL, USA), Marcel Noebels (WHL, Germany), Derek Mathers (OHL, Canada)
U.S. High School (1): Petr Placek (Connecticut, Czech Republic)

2010: 6 total picks
CHL (3): Michael Chaput (QMJHL, Canada), Tye McGinn (QMJHL, Canada), Brendan Ranford (WHL, Canada)
U.S. High School (1): Nick Luukko (Connecticut, USA)
USHL (1): Michael Parks (USA)
Sweden (1): Ricard Blidstrand (J20 SuperElit, Sweden)

2009: 6 total picks
CHL (4): Adam Morrison (WHL, Canada), Nicola Riopel (QMJHL, Canada), David Labrecque (QMJHL, Canada), Eric Wellwood (OHL, Canada)
NCAA (1): Oliver Lauridsen (WCHA, Denmark)
Sweden (1): Simon Bertilsson (Elitserien, Sweden)

2008: 5 total picks
CHL (4): Luca Sbisa (WHL, Switzerland), Marc-Andre Bourdon (QMJHL, Canada), Jacob DeSerres (WHL, Canada), Zac Rinaldo (OHL, Canada)
Sweden (1): Joacim Eriksson (J20 SuperElit, Sweden)

2007: 7 total picks
CHL (3): Kevin Marshall (QMJHL, Canada), Garrett Klotz (WHL, Canada), Mario Kempe (QMJHL, Sweden)
USNTDP (2): James van Riemsdyk (USA), Brad Phillips (USA)
NCAA (1): Jon Kalinski (WCHA, Canada)
NAHL (1): Patrick Maroon (USA)

2006: 10 total picks
CHL (2): Claude Giroux (QMJHL, Canada), Michael Dupont (QMJHL, Canada)
Russia (2): Denis Bodrov (RSL, Russia), Andrei Popov (U20, Russia)
NCAA (2): Jonathan Matsumoto (CCHA, Canada), Jon Rheault (Hockey East, USA)
USHL (1): Andreas Nödl (Austria)
USNTDP (1): Mike Ratchuk (USA)
Finland (1): Joonas Lehtivuori (J20, Finland)
Czech Republic (1): Jakub Kovar (J20, Czech Republic)

2005: 6 total picks
CHL(5): Steve Downie (OHL, Canada), Oskars Bartulis (QMJHL, Latvia), Jeremy Duchesne (QMJHL, USA), Josh Beaulieu (OHL, USA), John Flatters (WHL, Canada)
USHL (1): Matt Clackson (USA)

2004: 11 total picks
CHL (5): David Laliberte (QMJHL, Canada), Gino Pisellini (OHL, USA), Freddy Cabana (QMJHL, Canada), Martin Houle (QMJHL, Canada), Triston Grant (WHL, Canada)
USHL (2): Chris Zarb (USA), John Carter (USA)
U.S. High School (1): R.J. Anderson (Minnesota, USA)
EJHL (1): Rob Bellamy (New England Junior Coyotes, USA)
Canadian Junior A (1): Travis Gawryletz (BCHL, Canada)
Slovakia (1): Ladislav Scurko (U20, Slovakia)

2003: 11 total picks
CHL (7): Jeff Carter (OHL, Canada), Mike Richards (OHL, Canada), Colin Fraser (WHL, Canada), Alexandre Picard (QMJHL, Canada), Rick Kozak (WHL, Canada), David Tremblay (QMJHL, Canada), Rejean Beauchemin (WHL, Canada)
USHL (1): Ryan Potulny (USA)
Finland (1): Ville Hostikka (J20, Finland)
Slovakia (1): Stefan Ruzicka (Extraliga, Slovakia)
Switzerland (1): Kevin Romy (NLA, Switzerland)

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