Draft Reaction

With the 2014 NHL Draft now having its own complete Wikipedia page, the focus now shifts from who will it be to who are they and when will they be here. The Flyers owned picks number 17, 48, 86, 138, 168, and 198. Ron Hextall’s stated goal was to improve team speed and draft high-character players. The Flyers had to draft players to fill these needs, especially outside the first round.

There is exactly one player on the Flyers that was drafted by the team outside of the first round in Zac Rinaldo. They only have first round picks Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Steve Downie (for a few more days) still on the roster. The rest of the team was filled via trade and free agency. Building a team this way worked before the Salary Cap Era, however now with it firmly in place homegrown talent is a cost effective way to fill out a roster.

Successful teams are built from the draft. Key players can be brought in from free agency, but the core is home grown. Chicago has Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook. Los Angeles has Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Anze Koptiar, and Dustin Brown. The Flyers counter with Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Zac Rinaldo. Not much competition. Now the Flyers are good at finding young free agent players, such as Matt Read, Michael Raffl, potentially Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Sergei Bobrovsky. Hopefully the players taken will soon be making an impact for the Orange and Black.

Rd. 1 Travis Sanheim (D)

Some team was going to pick this fast riser. Originally projected as a second or third round pick, Sanheim rose to number 8 in TSN Craig Button’s draft ranking. Sanheim possesses a big frame that will be a solid second pair defenseman. A smart defender with good mobility, Sanheim plays a solid, unspectacular game. With the three most recent drafts, the Flyers have invested heavily in the defensive core. Sanheim will develop with Samuel Morin, Robert Hagg, and Shayne Gostisbehere as the future defensive core of the Flyers. One downside of Sanheim is that he, like the other recent draft picks, is a left-handed shooting defenseman.

Rd. 2 Nicolas Aube-Kubel (W)

With Roland McKeown and Jack Dougherty surprisingly still on the board, the Flyers decided to take winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel with the 48^th overall pick. Aube-Kubel is a smaller, but skilled player that can play either center or, more likely, wing. Despite his size, Aube-Kubel is not afraid to throw the body around and work hard to win puck battles.

Rd. 3 Mark Friedman (D)

With their third pick, the Flyers once again went the defensive route taking Mark Friedman from the USHL. Friedman is an offensive defensemen taking the college route, similar to Gostisbehere. He will attend Bowling Green in the fall, so he will not sign for at least two years, more likely, three.

Rd. 5 Oscar Lindblom (W)

A mid-season faller, Oscar Lindblom has NHL size and toughness. He battles for every puck. He could potentially be an NHL player as he skates well, but is streaky and suffered from prolonged slumps this season. He was moved through three different levels last season, which did not help him find his consistency until late in the season.

Rd. 6 Radel Fazleev (W)

Typically shying away from anything east of Sweden, the Flyers took Russian Radel Fazleev. He is not a traditional Russian, as he played last season with Travis Sanheim with Calgary of the WHL. He has decent size and potential; he was taken ninth overall in the KHL draft. Playing in the CHL seems to indicate a willingness to play in the NHL, but if things do not work out, do not be surprised to see him head back to Russia.

Rd. 7 Jesper Petterson (D)

Small, but strong Jesper Petterson was the Flyers final pick. The Swede is gifted defensively, but limited offensively with a tough style of defense. Despite being 190 lbs. and muscular, he unfortunately stands at only 5’9, which will hold him back. Hardworking and smart, Petterson could potentially overcome his smaller stature, but the odds will be stacked against him. 

Prospects are Coming

Winter is coming. Eventually. More immanently the draft is coming. With all teams in Philadelphia, and countless eyes watching, this is the time that every team has a chance to change their franchise. Picks can take a team to the next level or set them back for years. For every home run, such as Pavel Datsyuk or Joe Pavelski, there will be a Patrik Stefan or Alexandre Daigle.

Some players fall due to size, playing location, or poor showings. These can turn out to be a true weakness or a misconception. Limited exposure and the dreaded “Russian Factor” influenced Valeri Nichushkin in 2013. On the opposite end, over-exposure hurt Seth Jones, the consensus top pick. This year is considered a sandwich year. Last year was a deep draft, 2015 seems deeper and has wunderkind Connor McDavid, but this year seems average at best. The top players are considered less dynamic.

This does not mean that these players will have any less of an impact on their teams’ future. Weak at the wings and lacking in high-end scoring limits the Flyers system. Overall team speed throughout the organization is a major issue that Ron Hextall must address. The development of Shayne Gostisbehere was a pleasant surprise, however he projects to be an offensive specialist. He is the only prospect with great skating and NHL potential. On the wings, the best prospects are Jason Akeson and Tye McGinn, neither of with projects to be top six forwards.

With that respect, here is a quick look at some players that Flyers could target at 17. They are mostly high scoring winger and some prospects with local connections.

Sonny Milano

This is the player that could fill a lot of holes in the organization. A wizard with the puck from the USNTDP, Milano drew attention with his puck handling in the parking lot of the NHL combine. He combines that great stickhandling with a high speed, offensive game. He can be considered a boom or bust as he is not a large player at 5’11 and 185 lbs., nor does he play a big player game. He could be a top line player or he could be the next Rob Schremp.

Kevin Fiala

One of the wildcards of the draft, Fiala approached all kinds of Elitserien records. He scored 11 points in 17 games, and then improved in the playoffs, scoring 6 in 8 games. He has the second highest PPG behind only Peter Forsberg for a U18 player, topping Sasha Barkov, last year’s second overall pick. He is small, but sturdier at 5’10 185 lbs. He may be the fastest prospect in the draft, which would certainly improve team speed. As a European, he is eligible for the AHL immediately to ease the transition to the North American game. He may take two to three years to develop into an NHL regular, with the need to improve his defense and recklessness and to cut down on his penalties.

Anthony Deangelo

Anthony Deangelo is a local kid from nearby Sewell, New Jersey. Scouts agree that he is a first round talent, however he comes with major character concerns. He was suspended on two separate occasions, the last for verbally abusing a teammate. He is a fiery competitor that hates to lose, so maybe Sarnia was not the best place for instincts are better than Gostisbehere, but the character and maturity concerns will drop him out of the first round.

Joshua Ho-Sang

Ho-Sang is an interesting player as he is a dangler that plays a chippy game. He can skate though teams with the puck, entering the zone with the ability to set up plays on his own. He will throw his body around and yap at opposing players, but at 5’11 and 167 lbs., that will be risky in the NHL. Flyers top goaltending prospect Anthony Stolarz was suspended for 8 games for slashing at Ho-Sang’s head in a manner reminiscent of Ron Hextall’s vigilantism early in his career. He will take time in the OHL to develop and require seasoning in the AHL as well. He probably will not be ready for at the minimum 3 seasons, possibly as much as 5.

Jakub Vrana

The Czech was a dominant force in the U18s. He wants a goal on every shift, and will drive play to the net to get one. During his regular season in the Elitserien, he was less than impressive, getting just 2 goals and 3 points in 24 games. That is to be expected, playing in a men’s league, but still carries considerable risk as he is more of a boom or bust pick as he is so one-dimensional.

Kaspari Kapanen

This name should be familiar to Flyers fans. The son of Sami is the victim of over-exposure this season. He was ranked as the top European prospect at the beginning of the season and was talked about as a top pick last season. He did not stick out on KalPa, with his father and team owner Sami, but was a 17 year old playing in a men’s league. More worrying, he did not stick out in the U18s against his peers. He is a good offensive talent with holes in his defensive game, but has the pedigree to become improved that aspect.

Michael Dal Colle

To get Dal Colle the Flyers would have to move up to a top-5 picks, but it could pay off for the team. Dal Colle was on the Oshawa Generals with Flyers top prospect Scott Laughton. They made up 2/3s of a dominant line that dragged a one-line team deep into the playoffs. He is a natural center but certainly did not miss a beat shifting to Laughton’s wing. A dynamic playmaker, he has good size and a frame that he can grow into. Defensively, he is a bit of a wildcard as Laughton is such an instinctual defender that could potentially have covered Dal Colle’s weakness, but that line was solid at both ends of the rink. If they move up to take him, they should not trade Laughton as their chemistry could ease their transitions to the NHL level.

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#HartnellDown and Out

News broke early on Monday about Scott Hartnell being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. I will wait a moment for that to set in. That’s right, everyone knew the Flyers were desperate for cap space and looking to move a large contract and Scott Hartnell certainly fit that bill. However he holds (held) more perceived value to the Flyers, which made his departure unlikely.

Scott Hartnell was one of the longest tenured Flyers, only Braydon Coburn has been with the team longer. Not only was he a team leader, but he wore an “A” as an alternate captain. He was a part of the leadership committee and very popular in the locker room. He did rub people the wrong way (suck it Phaneuf) but his teammates supported him. Claude Giroux, captain and face of the franchise, found out when Hartnell texted him early Monday morning and thought that it was a prank. But no, now the team moves on from a former 37 goal scorer and top line winger.

Coming back the other way is a familiar face, former Flyer RJ Umberger and a fourth round pick. Dissatisfied with his treatment by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Umberger demanded a trade earlier in the offseason. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen made it clear that he would look to trade Umberger or buy him out with Columbus’ remaining compliance buyout. Umberger carries a $4.6 million cap hit for the net three seasons. Hartnell just completed the first year of an extension. He has five years with a $4.75 million cap hit.

This is one of three confusing aspects of the trade. Columbus had little leverage in which to trade him. If they bought him out, he would become a free agent and any team can claim him. Columbus would lose him for nothing and be forced to pay him not to play for them. Why then would Flyers GM Ron Hextall make a trade for him, moving a considerable asset in Hartnell?

This brings up the second confusing aspect of the trade. Hartnell had a full No Trade Clause, any trade involving him must be approved by him. Why then would he waive it to go to Columbus? It seemed that he loved Philadelphia and the Flyers. He was a stereotypical Flyer, big, tough, and Canadian. Not only was he a top line player, but he was consistently on that top line. He played with Danny Briere and Ville Leino during the 2010 Stanley Cup run, later playing with Giroux and Jaromir Jagr, then Giroux and Jakob Vorachek.

Finally, the trade did not clear up many cap dollars, saving less than $200,000 a season. It did save real dollars, but for a team like the Flyers, that meant nothing. They have money and an owner that is willing to spend if it helps the team. This is why Ilya Bryzgalov is no longer a Flyer

After the 2013-2014 season ended, changes had to come. Hextall became GM and stated that the team needed to become faster. Hartnell did not seem to fit into the plans. He was moved around the lineup last season and younger players started filling his spots. Other teams saw this and inquired about the left winger. Hextall compared the offers, finally settling on Columbus.  Fortunately, he did not have to retain any of Hartnell’s salary.

Umberger seems to fit with Hextall’s strategy. He is versatile, can play in all situations, and has speed. Right now, he could be slotted on Claude Giroux’s wing or if they move Brayden Schenn or Wayne Simmonds into that spot, he could play second line wing. The best fit for him may be the third line in Steve Downie’s recently vacated spot. Umberger should play with rising star Sean Couturier and Matt Read, forming a potent third line.

The Flyers still have moves to make this off-season. With the draft in Philadelphia, the expectation is for the Flyers to make a splash for their fans. Rumors have been flying since the team was eliminated about moving up to the top pick or potential trades of Lecavalier or Grossmann. The need for more speed on the backend still exists and there do not seem to be many players that could improve it. This trade was the tip of the iceberg for what should be an interesting off-season.

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Information from NHL.com and NJ.com was used in this article