FLYERS PROSPECT PIPELINE GREATLY IMPROVED OVER LAST 5 YEARS
For many years, the Philadelphia Flyers' all-out pushes to be immediate contenders in the Stanley Cup chase came at a hidden cost. The organization frequently traded away draft picks being traded away so as not to have to trade NHL roster players whenever possible.
In 2004, the Flyers had no first or second-round picks. If they would have held a first-round pick, their top targets by consensus would have been Travis Zajac or Andrej Meszaros, although one Flyers scout liked Kris Chucko. Likewise, in 2009, the Flyers had no first-round or second-round picks.
The blockbuster Chris Pronger trade over the 2009 draft weekend opened a window to being a serious threat to win the Cup. It would be hard to imagine a Pronger-less 2009-10 Flyers team or the squad without graduated 2003 first-rounders Mike Richards and Jeff Carter or 2006 first-rounder Claude Giroux making a run to within two wins of the championship. That team also had James van Riemsdyk, the second overall pick if the 2007 NHL Draft.
The Pronger trade also came at the cost of Joffrey Lupul (coming off a 25-goal, 50-poiIt season at age 25), Luca Sbisa (the Flyers 2008 first-round pick), Philadelphia's 2009 first-round pick (Anaheim flipped the pick to Columbus John Moore, and a conditional third-round pick.
From 2005 to 2011, the Flyers only held second round picks in two drafts; three in 2006 (Andreas Nödl, Mike Ratchuk and Denis Bodrov) and one in 2007 (which they traded up to acquire and selected Kevin Marshall). The Flyers would not have had a 2012 second-round pick, either, until Sergei Bobrovsky was dealt to Columbus for a second-round pick the Flyers used on the selection of Anthony Stolarz. Frustrated at being stuck behind Ilya Bryzgalov on the depth chart, Bobrovsky had threatened to go home to Russia if he was not traded, although that fact was kept quiet so as not to torpedo his trade value.
A farm system can survive periodically trading away a few high-end draft picks and recent draftees. Do it too often, however, and the pipeline is bound to suffer in the long run. The Flyers prospect cupboard outside players already in the NHL was virtually bare five years ago. Here was how the "Future Watch Zone" section of The Hockey News' 2010-11 Yearbook rated as the Flyers' top 10 prospects:
1) Jon Kalinski LW 2) David Laliberte RW 3) Kevin Marshall D 4) Joonas Lehtivuori D 5) Andreas Nödl RW 6) Michael Chaput C 7) Patrick Maroon LW 8) Marc-Andre Bourdon D 9) Simon Bertilsson D 10) Joacim Eriksson G
In more recent years, there was been a concerted effort to hold onto more picks and acquire additional picks and prospects when possible. The process started while Paul Holmgren was still the Flyers general manager -- although the team continued to deal away picks for veteran defensemen to add to the NHL roster -- and has greatly accelerated under Ron Hextall the last two years.
Move ahead one year from the 2010 THN rankings. Having acquired the first-round 2011 pick they used on the selection of Sean Couturier and after acquiring Brayden Schenn (ranked as LA's top prospect in the 2010-11 THN Yearbook), the Flyers added two players to the system that by far dwarfed the upsides of anyone on the previous year's list. Incidentally, had Couturier not unexpectedly fallen to the Flyers in the 2011 Draft, the Flyers would likely have chosen defenseman Jonas Brodin over defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Now move ahead to 2015. The current top 10 prospect list would look something like this (give or take a spot or two):
1A) Ivan Provorov D 1B) Travis Sanheim D 3) Samuel Morin D 4) Shayne Gostisbehere D 5) Scott Laughton C 6) Travis Konecny W/C 7) Robert Hà¤gg D 8) Nicolas Aube-Kubel W 9) Taylor Leier W 10) Anthony Stolarz G
The list does not stop here, however. Phantoms players such as Nick Cousins,Mark Alt and recently signed Danick Martel as well as 2014 draftees Mark Friedman, Oskar Lindblom, Radel Fazleev have all shown varying degrees of promise as pro players with potential NHL futures. Convincing arguments could be made for any of these players to be substituted for names in the eight-to-10 range of the top 10.
It remains to be seen how the Flyers' crop of post-first round picks in 2015 shapes up but there were some intriguing selections in the bunch. If nothing else, the selection of three goaltenders may help improve the previously non-existent system depth in goal beyond Stolarz.
There is still room for improvement in the farm system, of course.
The forward crop has a some skill. On the whole, though, it is undersized and does not have the same overall wow factor that other organizations have among their forward prospects. This is the downside of having used three straight first-round picks and a 2013 second-rounder on defensemen.
Until there is a better sense of the development of Felix Sandström, Matej Tomek, Merrick Madsen and Ivan Fedotov, the jury is still out on the quality of the goaltending depth in the system. Stolarz had some ups and downs as an AHL rookie in 2014-15, which is part for the course among most goaltenders his age.
The defense pool is very deep and is now the crown jewel of the Flyers farm system. However, it remains to seen just how many future top-six NHL defensemen there are in the batch and who may emerge as a bonafide top pairing player. The best candidates currently to be two-way impact NHL defensemen are Provorov and Sanheim.
As the cliche goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. The Flyers prospect pipeline in 2015 is immensely better than the state of the system in 2010. It's been a big step in the right direction but additional steps are needed in the next few years.
TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY FROM FlyersAlumni.org
1989: The Flyers release Al Secord from his contract.
2000: The Flyers sign veteran forward Derek Plante as a free agent.
2007: The Flyers sign forward Jared Ross (two-way contract) and goaltender Pete Zingoni (AHL contract).
2012: The Flyers re-sign restricted free agent Jakub Voracek to a four-year, $17 million contract.
FLYERS ALUMNI FANTASY HOCKEY CAMP
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.