Bill Meltzer: Flyers Draft Weekend Wrapup

Nolan

I just got one thing to say to the Penguins after our draft.... yea ummmm.... quickie.

Nolan
- Mordecai

so excited to see him play might go to the flyers/sharks preseason game

Right now it looks like a good draft. We will have to revisit it in a couple years to really tell. But Patrick is a soon to be NHLer for sure. He will instantly give this team a boost.

Losing Schenn wasn't the best but the price was right and with a couple possible incoming impact players we will continue a step in the right direction while the Cap situation continues to clean up. Well done Ron.

Ratcliffe is probably the most intriguing pick to me. I'm not sure that I see the Rick Nash comparison some scouts have labeled him with. I do see a lot of Simmonds in his game however. And he can snipe a bit on top of that too. He could be a real force if things go according to plan.

I'm not sure what the Flyers are projecting Frost to be but watching Hextall talk about him he just kept saying over and over how smart of a player he is on the ice. Couple that with his speed and he could be a real pain in the ass for the opposition all over the ice.

Love the goalie pick as well. Flyers have to have one of the better goalie prospect pools right now I would think.

I'm calling it here first Nolan Patrick will lead us to the playoffs next year. So when it happens I can say I told you so

Ratcliffe is probably the most intriguing pick to me. I'm not sure that I see the Rick Nash comparison some scouts have labeled him with. I do see a lot of Simmonds in his game however. And he can snipe a bit on top of that too. He could be a real force if things go according to plan.

I'm not sure what the Flyers are projecting Frost to be but watching Hextall talk about him he just kept saying over and over how smart of a player he is on the ice. Couple that with his speed and he could be a real pain in the ass for the opposition all over the ice.

Love the goalie pick as well. Flyers have to have one of the better goalie prospect pools right now I would think.
- hereticpride

Simmonds is a mosnter and pain in the ass to play against. Ratcliffe doesn't seem to have that edge to his game. I think the Rick Nash comparison is a good. Just hope Ratcliffe is better playoff prefomer than Nash.

Ratcliffe is probably the most intriguing pick to me. I'm not sure that I see the Rick Nash comparison some scouts have labeled him with. I do see a lot of Simmonds in his game however. And he can snipe a bit on top of that too. He could be a real force if things go according to plan.

I'm not sure what the Flyers are projecting Frost to be but watching Hextall talk about him he just kept saying over and over how smart of a player he is on the ice. Couple that with his speed and he could be a real pain in the ass for the opposition all over the ice.

Love the goalie pick as well. Flyers have to have one of the better goalie prospect pools right now I would think.
- hereticpride

Frost is a bit reminiscent of Giroux in his draft year if you ask me.

Great draft. The only pick I didnt like was Frost. With the team being so deep at center I was kind of surprised they didnt add a winger or another Dman.

Coturier is still young, rubstov and patrick down the middle, I figured it wouldnt hurt to add a winger in Lind, Tolvanen or who I thought they would have taken in Kostin.

I know your loaded on defense but it never hurts to have depth there so I thought that would have been an option with a few guys around there that would have been ok.

Yeah about that goalie. .....can't wait for Monday.

I'm calling it here first Nolan Patrick will lead us to the playoffs next year. So when it happens I can say I told you so
- 2Real

Speak it into existence.

Patrick is the only guy taken for the Flyers who SHOULD play in the NHl. The other picks are a hope they play, including Frost. That too me isn't good enough for having 2 1sts and your 2nd. If Ratcliffe was a 1st round pick in your minds, why didnt you take him in round 1 ? You could have traded up in round 2 and taken Frost . Those statements, He was a number 1 pick on our board stuff, is a crock IMO. NOBODY I seen had Frost going in round 1. With all that said, I hope they all turn out to be great Flyers.

Now Hextall go get some size and grit for this team

I don't agree that trading Schenn means they'll be resigning Simmonds. The Schenn trade shows me Hexy s willingness to move established players out with prospects he feels are ready. I'll be interested in seeing how Allison and Radcliffe develop this coming year. Hopefully, we ll see more growth.

I think Frost is a good pick. Remember Nolan is going to be a guy who is going to take Top line C spot from Giroux in the future. Frost could be that #2 guy. I think the team has kind of accepted that Couturier might be a 3rd line guy or perhaps there is going to be another trade involving him. That being said I wouldnt expect Frost in the line up for at least another year or 2

Patrick is the only guy taken for the Flyers who SHOULD play in the NHl. The other picks are a hope they play, including Frost. That too me isn't good enough for having 2 1sts and your 2nd. If Ratcliffe was a 1st round pick in your minds, why didnt you take him in round 1 ? You could have traded up in round 2 and taken Frost . Those statements, He was a number 1 pick on our board stuff, is a crock IMO. NOBODY I seen had Frost going in round 1. With all that said, I hope they all turn out to be great Flyers.

Now Hextall go get some size and grit for this team
- twpguy

Just my opinion but I think the Flyers scouts are due some respect these last few years with some of the guys they're finding. They've had like three guys in the last 4 years in Ghost, Lindblom and Meyers where scouts have turned around and said "yeah, these guys are 1st round talents."

Who knows where Frost would've went otherwise. Everyone thought Tolvanen was a top 10 pick and ended up going 30th overall...

Year 1 of Hextall playoff bubble team. Going into year 4 of Hextall playoff bubble team.

For everyone who thinks this team will be a Cup contender 2-3 years from now who is the goaltender then?

I'm calling it here first Nolan Patrick will lead us to the playoffs next year. So when it happens I can say I told you so
- 2Real

I doubt it. So many things need to happen for that.

1) Giroux needs to bounce back.

2) Voracek needs to step up and earn that 8 mill contract.

3) Going to need some wingers to step up and contribute. Top 4 wingers right now are gonna be Voracek, Simmonds, Fillpula and Weal/Konecny. This is assuming Giroux and Nolan are your Centers. Giroux could also be moved to the wing and Fillupula takes Center. Given Giroux is a top Faceoff guy, doesnt seem like a good idea from a defensive stand point perhaps it is.

4) D needs to be a lot stronger. Given the fact that our most Veteran guy is AMac, the D scares me a bit. Assuming Hexy doesnt sign anyone, we are looking at a D core of AMac, Gudas, Ghost(Who struggled last season), Provorov(2nd year Dman), 2 rookies and Manning. That doesnt put a lot of confidence in me.

5) Goalie situation is less than ideal. Neuvirth had played well for us but has had trouble staying healthy. Stolarz has been solid in the few NHL games he has played. I would honestly prefer to keep Mason over Neuvirth.

I really feel like the Flyers are on the outside looking in but come FA day perhaps Hextall improves the team via FA or trade. Still to early, the team could be quite different come training camp.

Year 1 of Hextall playoff bubble team. Going into year 4 of Hextall playoff bubble team.

For everyone who thinks this team will be a Cup contender 2-3 years from now who is the goaltender then?
- PLindbergh31

you

Year 1 of Hextall playoff bubble team. Going into year 4 of Hextall playoff bubble team.

For everyone who thinks this team will be a Cup contender 2-3 years from now who is the goaltender then?
- PLindbergh31

Likely Stolarz. He has been solid in the few games he played with the big club.

Carter Hart will be the netminder for the 2023 Stanley cup champion Philadelphia flyers.

Carter Hart will be the netminder for the 2023 Stanley cup champion Philadelphia flyers.
- Tfaehner

Or Felix Sandström

Likely Stolarz. He has been solid in the few games he played with the big club.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Stolarz has played 100+ games with the Phantoms and been pretty pedestrian.
He's played well in the NHL but it is such a small sample hard to put a lot of stock in that.

Here are some general thoughts:

I'm guessing that new PP coach Kris Knoblauch may change the configuration, which would likely have diminished Schenn's value overall given his 5 on 5 play.

In the short term, I'm not crazy about the trade in that I thought by adding Lindblom and Patrick, along with Schenn, the team could have rolled 3 or 4 lines that all had some level of offensive game. I think that they'll be better but no where near where they need to be to truly compete yet.

I don't like the Frost pick. Maybe I'm in the minority, and it seems like there is something with Tolvanen, but I think he'll be the steal of the draft for Nashville. I spoke to a respected Finnish hockey writer at the World Juniors who raved about him. But Frost to me is a reach - targeting a specific player that you "have to have" and maybe over-extending.

That having been said - Hextall gets the benefit of the doubt because he has certainly done well "reaching", most notably with Sanheim.

I really like the strategy on Day 2 overall. Swing for the fences.

you
- 2Real

I would pay good money to take a shot on net.