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Quick Hits: Goalie Drafting, Flyers Warriors, TIFH |
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Quick Hits: June 5, 2021
1) As a rule of thumb, I am not a big fan of using a first-round Draft pick on a goaltender. Among all positions on the ice, post-draft goalie development is the hardest to predict and the most likely to look significantly different in hypothetical "re-drafts" years later compared to the actual selection order in their entry draft year.
There are exceptions, however. If a team owns more than one first-round pick in a given year and there's a standout goalie prospect available, it might make sense to use on the netminder. Another possible exception is if there's significant drop in the projected first-round prospect pool and there's a goaltender who can be argued to be the best available player in the draft spot in question.
Each year on the Flyers' website, I do a mock draft shortly before draft day. While running through different scenarios, there were several in which most of the position players that I'd be very comfortable with the Flyers selecting 13th overall were off the board in the top 12. For example, while I'd love to see the Flyers be able to select Mason McTavish, I really don't think he'll be on the board beyond the lower end of the top 10. Likewise, if Cole Sillinger is on the board at 13th, I'd be excited if he were the Flyers' pick barring a major surprise in someone such as defenseman Brandt Clarke sliding that far (which I don't think is realistic).
Additionally, the 2021 Draft is one of those years where I think that selecting a goalie just might be a realistic scenario with the 13th overall pick -- or else trading down a few slots, as an alternative. There are two goalies this year who are considered viable first round candidates. In fact Swedish goalie Jesper Wallstedt is ranked in the top 10 overall of many projections, including Bob McKenzie/TSN and McKeen's (4th overall). Really, it's just a matter of which NHL team in the top half of the first round is the first to have the nerve to select Wallstedt rather than a forward or defenseman.
McKenzie/TSN also have a second goalie, hulking Edmonton Oil Kings netminder Sebastian Cossa listed in their top 15, ranking him 14th overall. Other projections have him more in the latter first-round to early second round range.
If the Flyers were to select Wallstedt with the 13th overall pick, there would no doubt be overreactions by fans who assume that it would due to a loss of confidence in Carter Hart to be the Flyers long-term No. 1 goaltender. In reality, NHL teams nowadays need two quality goalies plus the development cycle on Wallstedt will take several years -- by which point there will be a much wider body of NHL work by which to judge whether Hart will become a workhorse No. 1 or works better in a 1A/1B arrangement.
2)The Philadelphia Flyers Warriors finished 1-1-1 in the round robin portion of Hendrickson Foundation National Hockey Festival in Minnesota, sustaining a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota St, Cloud Warriors after tying the St. Louis Blues Warriors (2-2) and beating the Minnesota Warriors (6-1) on Day 1 of the tournament. Playoff details are TBA.
3) June 5 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Andre Lacroix (1975), Radko Gudas (1990).
4) Today in Flyers History: On this night in 1995, the Flyers were unable to build on early goals by Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg and went on to lose Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final to the New Jersey Devils by a 5-2 score. Power play goals by Randy McKay and John MacLean tied the game at 2-2 by the end of the first period. Ron Hextall had a rough night in goal -- allowing two stoppable goals -- and was pulled in the latter stages of the second period after unanswered goals by New Jersey's Neal Broten, Bobby Holik and defensive defenseman Ken Daneyko. Dominic Roussel went the rest of the way in net. The Flyers got frustrated with the Devils' neutral zone trap and generated almost no pressure on Martin Brodeur over the final 35 minutes of the game.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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