From Sunrise, Florida to Buffalo, New York we come to another draft with a 1st overall pick to kill over. Auston Matthews went first overall to Toronto, followed by Patrik Laine going second to Winnipeg and Pierre-Luc Dubois going third to Columbus and then both getting swapped almost 5 years later. This draft was really hit or miss with Hextall, and boy were there some misses and some hits.
First Pick: Round 1 Pick 22 (22)
Original Pick: German Rubtsov (C)
New Pick: Jordan Kyrou (C) (35)
This pick was acquired in a June 24th, 2016 trade that sent our 1st (18-Logan Stanley) and our 3rd (79-Luke Green) to Winnipeg for their 2nd (36) and this pick (Chicago’s 1st).
German Rubtsov was another of Ron Hextall’s failed Russian experiments. An off-the-board pick that was supposed to make him look like a genius did the opposite. Rubtsov has played in 4 NHL games with the Flyers and has 0 points. There were even reports that the Flyers weren’t going to even retain his rights in the 2021 offseason, but he agreed to accept the qualifying offer. Jordan Kyrou is a pretty darn good player for the Blues. In 99 games for the Blues, he has 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points.
Others in contention: Henrik Borgstrom (23), Max Jones (24), Tage Thompson (26), Brett Howden (27), Trent Frederic (29), Sam Steel (30), Rasmus Asplund (33)
Second Pick: Round 2 Pick 6 (36)
Original Pick: Pascal Laberge (C)
New Pick: Alex DeBrincat (RW) (39)
This pick was acquired in a June 24th, 2016 trade that sent our 1st (18-Logan Stanley) and our 3rd (79-Luke Green) to Winnipeg for Chicago’s 1st (22-German Rubtsov) and this pick.
Another cataclysmic miss by Ron Hextall in this draft. Pascal Laberge has never played in an NHL game and his highest games played in an AHL season is 23. Alex DeBrincat was seen as too small and a product of McDavid in juniors. He burst onto the scene and is a part of the bright future for the Blackhawks after Toews and Kane. In 286 NHL games with the Blackhawks, he has 119 goals and 110 assists for 229 points. He finished 10th in the 2017-18 Calder voting and has received votes for the Byng in three of his four seasons (7th in 2017-18; 19th in 2018-19; 26th in 2020-21). Another scorer we could’ve had.
Others in contention: Libor Hajek (37), Samuel Girard (47)
Third Pick: Round 2 Pick 18 (48)
Original Pick: Carter Hart (G)
New Pick: Carter Hart
Carter Hart has seemingly become the answer we’ve been waiting for in net. Never have we had a goalie like Hart since the early days of Ron Hextall. Carter Hart started out pretty strong, especially for a 20 year old coming into a mess in net that had him included in our historic 80-goalie season. In 101 NHL games with the Flyers, he has a 49-37-9 record with a 2.88 GAA, a .905 sv%, and 2 shutouts. A lot of his numbers got worse due to this past season. He was the rookie of the month in January of the 2018-19 season and was the second star of the week for the week of February 4, 2019. Hart was also the youngest Flyers goalie to record a shutout when he recorded his first shutout against. the Devils in a 4-0 home opener on October 9, 2019 at the age of 21 years and 57 days old.
Others in contention: none
Fourth Pick: Round 2 Pick 22 (52)
Original Pick: Wade Allison (RW)
New Pick: Adam Fox (D) (66)
This pick was acquired in a February 2, 2015 trade that sent Kimmo Timonen to the Chicago in exchange for their 2015 2nd (61-Jeremy Bracco) and this pick, which was originally a conditional 4th but became a 2nd due to the Hawks making. the Finals and Kimmo playing in at least 50% of playoff games.
Wade Allison has had a very short pro career. After injury riddled years at Western Michigan University, Allison finally turned pro this past season. He started off strong in the AHL and eventually got called up to the NHL. In his 13 NHL games with the Flyers, he had 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points. He became a fan favorite due to his play always being upbeat and playing like he wants to be there. As good as Wade Allison looks in this small sample size, Adam Fox has become a top defenseman in the NHL already in just his second pro season. One of the few recent prized college prospects that refused to sign with his draft team, his rights were traded from Calgary to Carolina and finally to New York where he would sign. In 125 NHL games with the Rangers, he has 13 goals and 76 assists for 89 points. He would finish 4th in Calder voting in 2019-20. In 2020-21 he really asserted himself in the top defensemen in the NHL by winning the Norris and being named to the 1st NHL All Star Team. He also was 13th in Hart voting and 30th in Byng voting.
Others in contention: Dillon Dubé (56), Carl Grundström (57), Cliff Pu (69)
Fifth Pick: Round 3 Pick 21 (82)
Original Pick: Carsen Twarynski (LW)
New Pick: Victor Mete (D) (100)
This pick was acquired in a Janurary 6, 2016 trade that sent Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to Los Angeles for Jordan Weal and this pick
Twarynski has been on the cusp of an NHL job for the past 2 seasons. In 22 NHL games with the Flyers, he has 1 goal. Mete hasn’t become a budding superstar like Fox, but he’s been a solid top 6 defenseman. In 199 NHL games with the Canadiens and Senators, he has 5 goals and 31 assists for 36 points.
Others in contention: none
Sixth Pick: Round 4 Pick 18 (109)
Original Pick: Connor Bunnaman (C)
New Pick: Ross Colton (C) (118)
Bunnaman has been pretty much in the same boat as Twarynski, although utilized more. In 39 NHL games with the Flyers, he has 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points. Ross Colton was just a rookie this past season. In 30 NHL games for the Lightning, he had 9 goals and 3 assists for 12 points. He is probably most remembered for scoring the Stanley Cup clinching goal in game 5 against the Canadiens to help the Lightning win their 2nd in back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Others in contention: Maxime Lajoie (133)
Seventh Pick: Round 5 Pick 18 (139)
Original Pick: Linus Högberg (D)
New Pick: Jesper Bratt (LW) (162)
Högberg just came over to North America this season playing for the Phantoms and getting 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. Jesper Bratt has been a serviceable forward for New Jersey in their rebuild. In 231 NHL games with the Devils, he has 44 goals and 86 assists for 130 points.
Others in contention: none
Eighth Pick: Round 6 Pick 18 (169)
Original Pick: Tanner Laczynski (C)
New Pick: Tanner Laczynski
Tanner Laczynski was in the same boat as Wade Allison. He played all 4 years at Ohio State University before going pro for this past year. He also started in Lehigh Valley and played pretty well which led to a call-up. In 5 NHL games he has 0 points. His season was unfortunately ended by a torn acetabular labrum in his right hip.
Others in contention: none
Ninth Pick: Round 6 Pick 21 (172)
Original Pick: Anthony Salinitri (C)
New Pick: Ty Ronning (RW) (201)
This pick was acquired in a June 27, 2015 trade that sent Columbus’s 2015 4th (99-Austin Wagner) to Los Angeles for their 4th in 2015 (104-Mikhail Vorobyev) and this pick
Anthony Salinitri is currently playing for the University of Windsor after his OHL career. He’s not really a prospect on many people’s radars for the Flyers. Ty Ronning is a name you probably know if you watch any of Xtech’s GM mode videos. He has been a career AHL and ECHL guy so far, but has the potential to be an NHL guy.
Others in contention: none
Tenth Pick: Round 7 Pick 18 (199)
Original Pick: David Berhardt (D)
New Pick: Joachim Blichfield (RW) (210)
David Bernhardt hasn’t come over to North America yet, as he’s been playing in the SHL. Blichfield has come over and has played in the NHL. In 8 NHL games with the Sharks, he has 1 goal.
Others in contention: none
Draft Picks Traded Away
1st (18-Logan Stanley)+3rd (79-Luke Green) to WPG for CHI 1st (22-German Rubtsov)+WPG 2nd (36-Pascal Laberge)
SJ 4th (120-Otto Koivula) to NYI for 2017 4th
Flyers Real 2016 Draft
German Rubtsov
Pascal Laberge
Cater Hart
Wade Allison
Carsen Twarynski
Connor Bunnaman
Linus Högberg
Tanner Laczynski
Anthony Salinitri
David Bernhardt
Flyers New 2016 Draft
Jordan Kyrou
Alex DeBrincat
Carter Hart
Adam Fox
Victor Mete
Ross Colton
Jesper Bratt
Tanner Laczynski
Ty Ronning
Joachim Blichfield
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24 and @NoahlyPod)
Photo creds: Wikipedia
brotherlypuck.com 