Coming from Minneapolis, Minnesota to our cross-state rivals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we find ourselves with a weak top 3 with Edmonton, again, picking first and taking Nail Yakupov, then Ryan Murray going second to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Alex Galchenyuk going to Montréal third overall. The host team, Penguins, made a huge deal sending Jordan Staal to Carolina for Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin, and the 8th overall pick, which they picked Derrick Pouliot.
First Pick: Round 1 Pick 20 (20)
Original Pick: Scott Laughton (C)
New Pick: Shayne Gostisbehere (D) (78)
Scott Laughton was a fine pick. He has made his name as being a serviceable top-nine guy that can contribute in the top-six occasionally, and has a face that can kill. By the way, we just missed out on Andrei Vasilevskiy. In 374 NHL games for the Flyers, he has 53 goals and 73 assists for 126 points. Shayne Gostisbehere is a polarizing figure in the Flyers’ fandom. Some, like me, love him while some hate him. This was a tough pick because there are other guys that are NHL talent, but I feel like none of them had the same high that Ghost has had in the NHL and that really pushed my judgement to him. Also, I swear I’m being as unbiased as I can be. In 381 NHL games with the Flyers, Ghost has 60 goals and 159 assists for 219 points. He finished 2nd in Calder voting, behind Artemi Panarin, in 2016 and was named to the NHL’s All Rookie Team that year. He has received Norris and Byng votes in two of his 6 season, not counting his 2 games in 2014-15 as a season. He has definitely left a lot more to be desired of him after his fantastic 2017-18 season where he had 65 points in 78 games, but has shown somewhat of a resurgence this past season with 20 points in 41 games (a 40 point pace in 82 games).
Others in contention: Tanner Pearson (30), Brady Skjei (28), Jake McCabe (44)
Second Pick: Round 2 Pick 15 (45)
Original Pick: Anthony Stolarz (G)
New Pick: Joonas Korpisalo (G) (62)
This pick was acquired in a June 22, 2012 trade that sent Sergei Bobrovsky to CBJ for VAN 2012 4th+MIN 2013 3rd+this pick
Anthony Stolarz is a name I miss hearing about being a Flyer, and Dan misses him too. Stolarz was a very good AHL goalie who could be relied on to come up for short stints when he was with the Flyers. in 34 games NHL games for the Flyers, Oilers and Ducks, he has a 10-10-4 record with a 2.78 GAA, a .914 sv% and 3 shutouts. Korpisalo has been a very serviceable goalie for the Blue Jackets, serving primarily as Bob’s backup and then sharing the crease with Elvis Merzlikins to create a pretty decent tandem. In 160 NHL games for the Blue Jackets, he has a 69-56-21 record with a 2.90 GAA, a .905 sv%, and 3 shutouts. He broke the modern day NHL record for most saves in an NHL game when he had 85 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the infamous quintuple OT game 1 of round 1 of the 2020 NHL playoffs. He also was at the 2020 NHL All Star Game.
Others in contention: Colton Parayko (86), Damon Severson (60), Adam Pelech (65), Matt Murray (83)
Third Pick: Round 3 Pick 17 (78)
Original Pick: Shayne Gostisbehere (D)
New Pick: Frederik Andersen (G) (87)
This pick was acquired in a July 1, 2011 trade that sent Kris Versteeg to Florida for 2012 or 2013 2nd (Panthers’ choice, they chose 2012) and this pick.
Well, this is awkward. Both players have been talked about before. I explain Ghost’s stats for our first pick. And now, if you’re having déjà vu about seeing Frederik Andersen’s name before, you have a good eye. He was my pick for who the Flyers should’ve picked with their 4th pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. Because of that, I’m not going to go through all his stats, although I will add his stats from this past season as they were not in the 2010 Redraft. He had a 13-8-3 record with a 2.96 GAA, a .895 sv% and no shutouts.
Others in contention: Cedric Paquette (101), Andreas Athanasiou (110), Josh Anderson (95)
Fourth Pick: Round 4 Pick 20 (111)
Original Pick: Fredric Larsson (D)
New Pick: Jaccob Slavin (D) (120)
Fredric Larsson never played pro hockey in North America, playing a few season in Sweden after playing in the USHL. Jaccob Slavin has turned into one of the top defensemen in the league playing well on both sides of the puck. In 377 NHL games with the Hurricanes, he has 29 goals and 122 assists for 151 points. He went to the 2020 NHL All Star Game. He was 10th in Calder voting in 2016 and has recieved votes for the Byng and Norris in all but his first season getting as high as 4th and 5th respectively.
Others in contention: none
Fifth Pick: Round 4 Pick 26 (117)
Original Pick: Taylor Leier (LW)
New Pick: Connor Hellebuyck (G) (130)
This pick was acquired in a June 22, 2012 trade that sent Sergei Bobrovsky to CBJ for OTT 2012 2nd+MIN 2013 3rd+this pick.
Leier has been mostly a career AHL player with some NHL games. In his 55 NHL games with the Flyers, he had 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. He played this last season in the ELH in Czech Republic. Connor Hellebuyck was just another one of the goalies that made this draft a grade A goalie draft. In 270 NHL games with the Jets, he has a 148-85-22 record with a 2.64 GAA, a .917 sv%, and 20 shutouts. He went to the 2018 and 2020 NHL All Star Games, was on the 2018 NHL Second All Star Team and on the 2020 NHL First All Star Team after capturing the Vezina that season. He was runner up for the Vezina in 2018. He has recieved Hart votes in 2 seasons, placing 13th in 2018 and 6th in 2020. In 2020 he placed 21 in Byng voting. Needless to say, he is one of the top goalies in the league right now.
Others in contention: none
Sixth Pick: Round 5 Pick 20 (141)
Original Pick: Reece Willcox (D)
New Pick: Alexander Kerfoot (C) (150)
Willcox has never played in the NHL, only ever playing the Flyers’ and Capitals’ systems. Alexander Kerfoot may be most famous for an incident when Fanatics listed signed rookie jerseys of his for like $30 and was sold out and many people given refunds for it. In 278 NHL games for the Avalanche and Maple Leafs, he has 51 goals and 85 assists for 136 points.
Others in contention: Ben Hutton (147), Colin Miller (151), Connor Brown (156), Linus Ullmark (163), Christian Djoos (195)
Seventh Pick: Round 7 Pick 20 (201)
Original Pick: Valeri Vasilyev (D)
New Pick: Nikita Gusev (RW) (202)
Vasilyev has never played in North America, and has been playing in the KHL for years. Nikita Gusev has had a way better career in the KHL and internationally for Russia, but was a very hyped up Russian product who finally came over in the 2019-20 season to play for the Devils. In 97 NHL games with the Devils and Panthers, he has 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 points.
Others in contention: none
Draft Picks Traded Away
2nd (50-Colton Sissons (was conditional either our 2012 or 2013 2nd, obviously our 2012 went))+2013 4th+Jon Kalinski to TB for Pavel Kubina
FLA 2nd (53-Brian Hart) to TB for Andrej Mezaros
LA 2nd (61-Devin Shore)+MIN 2013 3rd (77- Jake Guentzel) to DAL for Nicklas Grossman
3rd (81-Oskar Sundqvist)+2011 conditional 3rd (83-Harrison Ruopp)+Matt Clackson to PHX for the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov
6th (171-Tomas Hyka)+Stefan Legein to LA for future considerations (cannot find what they were, if anything)
Flyers Real 2012 Draft
Scott Laughton
Anthony Stolarz
Shayne Gostisbehere
Fredric Larsson
Taylor Leier
Reece Willcox
Valeri Vasilyev
Flyers New 2012 Draft
Shayne Gostisbehere
Joonas Korpisalo
Frederik Andersen
Jaccob Slavin
Connor Hellebuyck
Alexander Kerfoot
Nikita Gusev
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24 and @NoahlyPod)
Photo creds: Wikipedia
brotherlypuck.com 