MELTZER'S MUSINGS: AUGUST 14, 2015

1) Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of prospect rankings. The nature of the beast is that too many of the comparisons are of the apples-to-oranges variety. With that said, I agree with those who have opined that the recently released ESPN rankings of NHL prospects are mystifying. If the views of scouts across the pro ranks were the Wrigley Field ballpark, some of the ESPN ratings wouldn't just be out beyond the ivy in the left field bleachers they'd be on Waveland Avenue outside the stadium.

For instance, in ordinal rankings, they have the Flyers top four prospects as Travis Konecny (18th overall), Ivan Provorov (31st overall), Oskar Lindblom (46th overall), and Travis Sanheim (68th). From there, Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hägg and Samuel Morin were honorable mentions.

While Lindblom is an intriguing sleeper prospect who has improved by leaps and bounds over the past year --especially in the skating department -- I have not spoken to a single NHL scout who would presently rank the muscular winger above Sanheim. Ditto Konecny and Provorov; which is certainly not a knock on the NHL potential of the highly skilled and feisty forward Konecny but rather an affirmation of how highly regarded Provorov is as an NHL defense prospect.

No NHL team would have taken Konecny above Provorov as the "best player available" on the board in June. Less than two months later, nothing would have changed. Meanwhile, if there was a theoretical redrafting of the 2014 NHL Draft, there's no doubt Lindblom would go much higher than the fifth round. He'd probably go in the second round (which was the consensus of where he was pegged prior to a down year in 2013-14). Would he go higher than Sanheim, who has done nothing but continue to improve since the Flyers drafted him 17th overall last year? Absolutely not.

Keep in mind, though, that these rankings are just one pundit's opinion and it is tough to accurately rank players of different positions and projected roles on the same set of criteria. It often comes down to whom can be more comfortably projected to play higher in an NHL lineup at his respective position. That is closer to the bottom line basis of how the real-life scouting departments of NHL teams make their assessments in apples-to-oranges comparisons.

2) Speaking of scouts, today marks the 25th anniversary of the Flyers hiring Simon Nolet and Bill Dineen as scouts. Both men made important contributions to the franchise in that capacity. Nolet, a member of the Flyers' 1973-74 Stanley Cup winning team, still scouts for the organization to this day. At age 73, he no longer does crossover scouting, but he still scouts Quebec for the Flyers in conjunction with Todd Hearty.

There is an interesting story behind Nolet's return to the Flyers' organization a quarter century ago. After his playing days ended, he scouted for the Quebec Nordiques for many years. With the Nords management being re-structured and people's jobs in jeopardy, Nolet accepted an offer from old friend Bob Clarke to join the Flyers' scouting team.

Nolet left the Nordiques and joined the Flyers with only a handshake agreement with Clarke and nothing in writing yet. In April 1990, Clarke was fired as the Flyers general manager and accepted the GM post with the Minnesota North Stars. Nolet was understandably very worried.

In a testament to the character of all of the people involved, Nolet decided to ride it out in Philadelphia rather than trying to follow Clarke to Minnesota. Clarke told Nolet -- even after being fired by the Flyers -- that he was positive Jay Snider, Ed Snider and Keith Allen would make sure Nolet was taken care of and had a place in the organization even with a new general manager (Russ Farwell) aboard. On Aug. 14, 1990, Nolet was formally hired by the Flyers and has worked for the organization ever since.

Although Nolet is most often credited with being "the" scout behind the selections of Simon Gagne in 1998 and Claude Giroux in 2006, he has always been quick to spread the credit around among all of his colleagues, noting that mutual trust and consensus are the basis by which the Flyers have always run their scouting operations. There is no room to be territorial -- it's not about advocating for a certain player simply because he plays in the Quebec League -- and crossover scouting is designed to expand the basis for discussion.

For instance, even though Jeff Carter and Mike Richards were Ontario League players, Nolet scouted each about a half-dozen times in their 2003 draft year to supplement the work of Dennis Patterson and other Philadelphia scouts. Ultimately, Richards narrowly edged out Corey Perry in the Flyers' pre-draft rankings. That same year, Nolet did the lead scouting on a sleeper prospect from the Quebec League and, at his recommendation, other Flyers scouts circled back to see how much he'd improved from the beginning of the year.

The Flyers, who did not have a second-round pick, toyed with the idea of trading up to get a second-round pick to grab the player. Ultimately, they gambled that the center -- who was not ranked in The Hockey News' top 100 and whom Central Scouting rated in the mid-to-late third-round range on its North American list -- would be available in the third round when the Flyers' next turn came up at 69th overall.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, another organization also had a bead on the same player and took him with the 45th overall pick. So it came to pass that Patrice Bergeron -- a future three-time Selke Trophy winner and a two-time 30-goal scorer -- became Boston Bruins property. The Flyers selected Colin Fraser with the 69th pick.

Two years earlier, Nolet stepped up to advocate for the organization to select a 19-year-old University of Vermont player whom he felt had been under-scouted and who had passed through the 2000 NHL Draft unselected as the player completed his pre-collegiate career in the USHL. Trusting in Nolet's judgment, the Flyers bypassed a two-picks-for-one offer to trade down and instead selected Patrick Sharp with the 95th overall pick of the 2001 Draft.

That's how it goes in scouting and drafting sometimes. Hindsight is always 20/20. In retrospect, the Flyers "should" have traded up in 2003 to draft Bergeron. They certainly would have liked a do-over on the 2005-06 trade that sent future All-Star Sharp to Chicago.

However, these factors are beyond the control of the scouts. Nolet and the other Flyers scouts were no "less right" about players who blossomed elsewhere -- or ultimately wrong about misses they liked but who were not drafted, because veteran scouts accumulate their fair share of those, too, over the years -- than about players who came to be identified with the Flyers.

3) According to a German published update on free agent goaltender Rob Zepp, there is a holdup in the determination of what direction the now-former Phantoms and Flyers player will take his career.

BZ-Berlin reporter Jörg Lubrich wrote in yesterday's edition that Zepp has had two possibilities arise this summer. One is for the longtime Eisbären Berlin goalie to return to play in the DEL, signing with Red Bull Munich. The other is an offer from an unnamed NHL organization for the 33-year-old to retire as an active player and become a goaltending coach.

There is a snag with Zepp joining Red Bull. BZ-Berline reported yesterday that, as a condition of the player being released from his Eisbären contract to take his shot at the NHL, there were a clause that the Berlin club was entitled to a transfer fee of 100,000 Euros (roughly $114,000 in U.S. dollars) if he subsequently returned to the DEL with a different organization.

According to Lubrich, even though Red Bull coach Don Jackson wants Zepp, the Munich club is not willing to pay the fee (which is quite hefty by European hockey team budgeting standards). While Zepp could pay the fee himself, it probably would not be worth his while. In the meantime, Eisbären has moved on with its own roster planning since his departure last summer.

There has been no information available on which NHL organization has made an offer to Zepp to retire and become a goalie coach. There are no current openings at the NHL level. Earlier this summer, the Flyers hired Kim Dillabaugh to fill their vacant goaltending coach spot.

However, more and more teams around the NHL have hired a goaltending development coach to work exclusively with prospects and supplement the work of their NHL goalie coach (who already has a lot on his plate). Flyers general manager Ron Hextall indicated last month that the organization plans to hire a full-time goalie development coach. Recently let go by the organization, former scout Neil Little had been pulling down double duty by serving as a part-time goalie development coach.

Ultimately, Zepp has the potential to become an outstanding goaltending coach, whether it's at the NHL level or with a prospect development focus. However, as he showed last season, he still has plenty of game left himself, whether its as an AHL/NHL swingman or in European and international hockey. There really is no "hockey reason" for him retire now as an active player unless he wants to get a jump-start on a new career direction that could keep him employed for many years by an NHL organization.

4) According to today's Philadelphia Daily News, Snider Hockey plans to move ahead with an ambitious plan to greatly expand access to youth hockey throughout the Delaware Valley with a focus on under-served communities. The plan is to open four new rinks by 2020, with a groundbreaking in Germantown planned later this year. For more click here.

5) Congratulations go out to former University of Pennsylvania coach Bob Crocker for his selection as a recipient of the Lester Patrick Award. The longtime NHL scout and iconic figure at Boston University coached at Penn when they had a hockey program.

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The Flyers Alumni will host a fantasy hockey camp from August 21-24 in Atlantic City, open to anyone age 21 and older. Instructors and Alumni participants will include Bernie Parent, Brian Propp, Ian Laperriere, Todd Fedoruk, Andre "Moose" Dupont, Dave "the Hammer" Schultz, Joe Watson and Bob "the Hound" Kelly.

Participation costs $3,000 apiece and you can register a spot online. Over on the Flyers' Alumni website, there is more information on camp-related activities and on-ice schedules.