Quick Hits: Jun e 19, 2023
1) Flyers Daily: In this week's Mondays with Meltzer edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus kick off podcast coverage of the countdown to the 2023 Draft. Considered one of the deepest Draft classes in recent history, Craig Button has said that he projects 20 to 24 players who have the upside to be bonafide top-six forwards or top-four defensemen in the NHL. Not all will hit the mark, of course, but there are usually later-blooming players who are selected beyond the first round and wind up outshining more touted prospects from their Draft year.
Among other topics, Jason and I discuss the possibility of the Flyers to be the first team to take a defenseman off the board. While I personally like enough forwards to prefer to see a forward at the top of Philly's BPA list come the seventh overall pick, it also would not be hard to justify taking a defenseman such as David Reinbacher if each of the top six picks are forwards.
However, there are a whole lot of high-ceiling, medium-to-high-floor forwards in this year's Draft pool for whom a top-half of the first round pick -- even a top 7 selection -- could be justified without a big stretch. Even some of the knocks on players through most of the potential first round pool are more along the lines of quibbles than grave concerns. There's no need to reach on a project when there are players who, within a few years of typical physical development, could become effective pros.
Every Draft pool has level-off points. This year, while there's a full step down in projected ceiling from Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli and (if all else was equal) Matvei Michkov to the rest of the talent pool, there's not a steep drop in the next category. If a team selects astutely, and has a dash of good luck (a prospect avoiding injuries, living up to the expected D+1 and D+2 ascensions while seeing their roles expand, etc.), they can expand both the big-picture depth and talent in their farm system. This is a great year to have multiple picks.
To listen to the 27-minute podcast, click here.
2) In this year's HockeyBuzz mock draft, I am picking for the Flyers at 7th and 22nd overall. The first six picks off the board were Bedard, Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, Michkov, Will Smith, and Reinbacher. I selected Ryan Leonard with the seventh overall pick.
I considered several other prospects that I like: Dalibor Dvorsky and Zach Benson were the two alternatives, while Colby Barlow or Gabe Perreault were in the picture in some trade down scenarios (for simplicity's sake, trades do not really enter the picture in the HB mock).
Like most everyone who weighs in on this year's Draft, I love Oliver Moore's wheels -- he's the consensus fastest skater in the Draft -- but I'm not totally convinced he has either the type of finish or elite playmaking to be in the top 10 in the mock. Likewise, while defensemen Tom Willander and Axel Sandin Pellika are hot names that have found themselves in the top 10 of some projections, there are several small-framed but high ceiling forwards beyond Benson whom I like and two-way forwards Nate Danielson and David Edstrom both have a good chance at becoming long-time NHL mainstays, there's just a lot of tough competition in this year's Draft pool.
What I particularly like about Leonard is that he's a plus skater and one of the top pure shooters in the Draft but he's also a tenacious, high-motor player who prides himself in playing a two-way game. There's both a high floor and high ceiling on the player, even if his ceiliing is a little south of being a superstar. You still could hit a home run with him if he maxes his potential even if it's not likely to be a grand slam home run. At his floor, he's not a stretch at all to picture as a quality complementary player. Put a good playmaker with him and he'll score in addition to creating space and winning puck battles. Most of all, you'll never have to worry about "compete level" with Leonard.
3) Today in Flyers History: On June 19, 2019, the Flyers signed center Kevin Hayes to a seven-year, $50 million contract after acquiring the pending unrestricted free agent's negotiating rights from the Winnipeg Jets.