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Quick Hits: July 5, 2022
1) As we count down to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers Daily podcast on the Flyers Broadcast Network is spotlighting some of the Flyers amateur scouts and Hockey Operations higher ups. We do not discuss individual players in the Draft in any depth but we talk extensively about the ins and and outs of scouting, the qualities that are valued in ranking players and how scouting has evolved over the guests' careers. We also look at the post-Draft developmental side of the equation, and what a Development Coach actually does in interactions with prospects.
Thus far during Scouts Week, Jason Myrtetus and I have interviewed Flyers European scouting director Joakim Grundberg and the organization's primary Western Canada based scout Mark Greig. Wednesday's interview will feature Flyers player personnel director Alyn McCauley. On Thursday morning, we will run our interview with Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr as the final segment before the Draft begins that evening.
I hope you enjoy the interview series. It's our third year of doing Scouts Week and both Jason Myrtetus and I always come away feeling like we've learned something.
2) The Flyers have invited Neumann University senior Jasmine Martinez to be the person who will announces the organization's first-round Draft pick (No. 5 overall) during ESPN's televised coverage of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Jasmine, a Snider Hockey alum, is a first-generation Ed Snider Youth Hockey Goals & Assists Scholarship honoree. The scholarship covers tuition, room, and board at Neumann where she has been successful both academically and on the university’s women’s ice hockey team. Jasmine is set to graduate early, in December 2022, with a bachelor's degree in Sport Management. She is already taking graduate-level courses in the Sport Business master's degree program.
3) I don't have a personal strong preference as to whom the Flyers select (barring a trade) at No. 5. There's a rather wide array of candidates for whom a case could be made.
If there's a run of four straight forwards taken before the Flyers' turn comes up, I would suspect there is a strong chance that a defenseman (Simon Nemec being a distinct possibility) would be atop the Flyers' internal BPA rankings with four forwards off the board and every Draft-eligible blueliner available. However, if someone goes off the board within the top four picks or the top four include the most expected three forwards (Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley) plus Nemec or David Jiricek, the Flyers could go in a variety of different directions.
I won't be upset if the Flyers select Cutter Gauthier or Jiricek. The latter's knee seemed to be fine at the IIHF World Championships, is widely considered the Draft's best shutdown D and has a cannon of a shot although perhaps not the wider-reaching offensive savvy to be a future NHL first PP unit type. With Gauthier, it's all about the tools: size, above-average skating ability, a good shooter and a demonstrated ability to get to the greasy areas although his point totals with the USNTDP weren't spectacular.
I confess that I am intrigued by all three of the Djurgården forward prospects -- Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Noah Östlund and Liam Öhgren -- who are projected as potential first-round picks. The latter two, who excelled at the Swedish U20 level and Under-18 World Championship tourney, could be potential step-up/trade-down candidates depending on the Flyers' internal rankings, while Lekkeremäki is already widely projected as a top 5 to top 10 selection candidate.
Of the three, Lekkerimäki spent the most time (26 games) and had the most 2021-22 impact (seven goals, nine points) at the pro level with DIF's senior team. He is one of the better pure shooters in the draft, and plays a strong puck-possession game with above-average mobility. Lekkermäki, who had 20 goals and 36 points in 26 games at the J20 level this past season, has not yet shown the same tendency to score in bunches that Joakim Kemell has in Finland but he progressed at an arguably steadier rate. Lekkerimäki lacks size (5-foot-10 1/2, 171 pounds) but is an above-average skater.
Östlund's name is rarely mentioned as a potential higher-end first-round candidate in many of the public rankings but he's a name that made waves within NHL scouting circles in the second half of the 2021-22 season. He saw little ice time in 11 SHL games with the Djurgården senior team but he had outstanding campaign for their J20 team (42 points in 33 games) and an even better Under-18 World Championship as an alternate captain for the Swedish national team. A prolific playmaker and speedster, Östlund averaged more than an assist per game (33 helpers in 32 games) for DIF's J20 team and had six assists and 10 points in six games at the U18 Worlds. He is also a silky skater and slick stickhandler with strong offensive anticipation and ability to go to the right spots and make creative plays without taking low-percentage risks.
The main concern about the player's projection -- assuming he remains at center -- is that he needs to add a lot of muscle to a 5-foot-10, 164-pound frame. Nevertheless by the end of the season, Östlund appeared on most of the more reputable pundits' first-round projections including the 22nd overall rankings by Bob McKenzie and McKeen's.
Craig Button moved Östlund up to the 30th in his final ranking. International Scouting Services has him 18th. The biggest outlier -- an eye-popping one at that-- was Recrutes. Former Montreal Canadiens scout Grant McCagg is such a strong believer in the player that he ranked Östlund second overall for this year's Draft crop, behind only Slafkovsky!
Öhgren made for a lethal combination with Östlund on Djurgården's J20 team this past season. Left winger Öhgren racked up 33 goals and 58 points in 30 games at the J20 level in 2021-22 and also appeared (in fourth line minutes) in 25 SHL games for the DIF men's team (one goal, one assist). Öhgren captained the Swedish national under-18 squad at the 2022 Under-18 Worlds. Despite playing through an ankle injury, Öhgren posted nine points (3g, 6a) in six games at the tournament.
Öhgren has good size -- 201 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame -- and is considered a high-character player. The question is how much better he can get and whether his performance against much less physically mature players will translate to playing against grown men. Button ranks Öhgren 18th, while McKenzie and McKeen's both have him 21st and International Scouting Services places him 25th. Central Scouts slots him eighth among European skaters. The high-end outlier is McCagg/Recrutes ranking him 8th.
I'd also be fine if the Flyers selected Kemell. He has a pure sniper's touch from a goal-scoring standpoint (especially a lethal one-timer from the left circle) and is an above-average skater. Kemell rocketed out of the gates this past season with 12 goals in his first 16 games. He then suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of action in November.
Upon his return, Kemell was not nearly as effective. Most notably, he only scored three times in his final 26 games. He was also said to much less involved in the play -- fewer puck touches and less involvement in entries and the forecheck. Just as rumors swirled that Kemell might drop out of Top 10 contention for Draft Day, the smallish (5-foot-9 1/2, 185 pound) Finn rattled off a hat trick in the medal round quarterfinal at the Under-18 World Championship. Kemell played a fairly aggressive style game before the shoulder injury and is still working to get back to where he was in the early part of 2021-22.
Other forwards of note include Matthew Savoie and Frank Nazar. It all depends on the Flyers internal rankings, whether they keep the No. 5 pick and if they trade down, where their first pick ultimately falls relative to who is still on the board. There are no slam-dunk superstars in this year's Draft but there's enough quality on the upper end to feel like there will be some who break through as they develop in their post-Draft years. It's not hard to imagine, ala 2017, that a theoretical re-draft in five years would look very different in the top 10 to 15 players from how the actual selection order will go this year.
Beyond Nemec and Jiricek, the mostly high-ranked defensemen in this year's Draft crop often include Kevin Korchinski or Russian defenseman Pavel Mintyukov. Both of the latter players have question marks about their defensive play or overall hockey sense but both have high upsides on the attack or in triggering transition. There's also an x-factor in whether Mintyukov will remain in North America to play or return to Russia.
4) July 5 Flyers Alumni birthday: John LeClair
United States Hockey Hall of Fame and Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame left winger John LeClair was born July 5, 1969 in St. Albans, Vermont. LeClair possessed both a rocket of a slap shot and an uncanny ability to collect goals off rebounds and deflections in front of the net. Once he parked his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame in front of the net, the power forward was virtually impossible to budge.
LeClair was originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1987 NHL Draft. Attending the University of Vermont, LeClair played all four seasons of his collegiate eligibility and posted 25 goals and 45 points in 33 games as a senior in 1990-01. He turned pro at the end of the season, suiting up in 10 NHL games for the Canadiens.
During much of his stay in Montreal, LeClair was used as a third-line center, although he also played left wing as needed. In 1992-93, he earned a Stanley Cup ring in Montreal. The young forward played an important part in the team's accomplishment as he scored two overtime goals in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings.
LeClair and was acquired by the Flyers from the Canadiens in a blockbuster trade on February 9, 1995 that sent Mark Recchi to Montreal and brought LeClair, Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne to Philadelphia.
Shortly after his arrival, Flyers head coach Terry Murray tried out LeClair on left wing of a line with center Eric Lindros and right wing Mikael Renberg. The coach hoped that the LeClair could open up space for his high-scoring linemates with his strong forechecking game and use his strength along the walls to bolster the line's puck-cycling ability.
Little did Murray - or even LeClair himself - suspect at the time that LeClair would almost immediately blossom into a goal-scoring machine in his own right while also contributing the assets for which he was put on the line in the first place.
The trio, dubbed the Legion of Doom, quickly became the most dominant line in the NHL.
LeClair recorded 25 goals and 24 assists for 49 points in 37 games over the rest of the 1994-95 season, and then went on to produce one of the best four-year stretches of any player in Flyers history by recording 371 points (195 G, 176 A) in 322 games, including consecutive seasons of 50, 51 and 50 goals respectively in the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 campaigns.
For the Philadelphia portion of LeClair's NHL career, the forward racked up 333 goals and 643 points in 649 games. Along with Tim Kerr, LeClair is the only player in Flyers' franchise history to score 50 or more goals in three straight seasons. LeClair's stellar production came during an era in which clutch-and-grab hockey and heavily use of neutral zone trapping systems contributed to a league-wide decline in scoring on almost an annual basis.
Although he did not play a particularly "mean" game and tended to be slow to anger, LeClair was plenty physical. It was a common sight for opposing players to be left sprawled on the ice near LeClair. He simply had to dip his shoulder and it was almost always the opponent who took a seat. LeClair was also blessed with a howitzer of a slapshot and would score about six to eight goals per season by winding up and blasting an overpowering shot past the goaltender from anywhere from the blueline to the mid-slot.
For many years, LeClair seemed almost indestructible. He appeared in 90 percent or more of the Flyers' games in eight of his 10 seasons with the club, scoring at least 23 goals in all of those eight seasons. He played in all 82 games on five occasions, including three seasons in a row from 1995-96 to 1997-98.
Eventually, however, the pounding took a toll. His effectiveness gradually declined in the 2000s as injuries - including major surgery on his back - and general wear-and-tear took hold. On July 5, 2005, the Flyers bought out the remainder of a five-year contract that LeClair had signed before the 2001-02 season. The player finished out his 967-game NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
During his stellar career as a Flyer, LeClair was a five-time NHL All-Star and represented Team USA at 1996 World Cup of Hockey, winning the championship, and subsequently at both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.
Along with fellow American-born Flyers Paul Holmgren and Mark Howe, LeClair served as the honorary co-chairman of USA Hockey's 2021 Warrior Classic tournament, which was held in South Jersey. LeClair is also currently involved in the 3-on-3 hockey league known as 3Ice.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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