During the Olympic break, Denver Barkey headed back to London, Ontario.
Roughly eight months prior, the forward had captained the Ontario Hockey League’s Knights to the Memorial Cup. Now, he wasn’t just a pro hockey player; he was an NHL regular for the Flyers after being called up in December.
So with some time off during the break, Barkey headed back to see his old club. It was there that the generously listed 5-foot-10, 170-pound Barkey met the accurately measured 6-7, 238-pound Maksim Sokolovskii.
“I only watched two games, but obviously he’s a big boy [who] throws his body around,” replied Barkey, who had no idea in February that the two would one day be wearing orange and black together.
“I think he’s got a lot of raw skill. When I watched him, it seemed like he moved really well, moves the puck well for being [6-7] at that age. It’s pretty impressive, and I think he’s got a really high ceiling.”
And that’s the thing: Sokolovskii, whom Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr described as a “unicorn” this weekend, does have a high ceiling. In the same breath that many fans and draft prognosticators questioned the Flyers’ moving down to take the Nikita Zadorov comparable, they’ve acknowledged his impressive skating for his size. He is considered a prospect who, while raw, will indeed play in the NHL one day.
“He’s 6-foot-8, and he skates like he’s 5-foot-8,” Mike Taylor, the Atlantic Hockey Academy’s owner and one of Sokolovskii’s coaches two seasons ago, told The Inquirer recently. “… He came here, and I had a skating coach once a month come up and do power skating with our guys, and he does it like with UMass Amherst, and all these other schools.
“And he saw him skate, and he’s like, ‘Oh, my God.’ He couldn’t believe how good his edge work was … for being the size that he is.”
A strong first impression
During the first day of Flyers development camp on Monday, as Sokolovskii towered over the coaching staff and most of his fellow defensemen — 6-5 blueliners Carter Amico and Luke Vlooswyk were the exceptions — the long and lean defenseman looked anything but gangly on the ice.
Are there small tweaks that need to be made? Absolutely.
Director of player development Riley Armstrong said he and Flyers skating instructor Lindsay Tilley noticed he was turning his upper body too much during the skating-only drills, which made him a weaker skater. “When your hips and your shoulders don’t stay in a square, it throws you all off balance,” Armstrong noted.
#Flyers first-round pick Maksim Sokolovskii said “I feel amazing” after putting on logo for just time.
“I think great,” he said of first day at development camp. “Good experience first practice with the pro guys,” Mentioned he hadn’t skated in two weeks. pic.twitter.com/qfXm27fbbO
However, Sokolovskii didn’t really do that during the drills with the puck, as he executed puck retrievals with some deception while keeping his feet moving. It was evident to all in attendance, including the several fans who lined the rink, that there was a smoothness to his skating — even though he had been off the ice for about two weeks.
“I feel amazing,” he said when asked about wearing the Flyers logo for the first time.
And how did day one go? “I think great. Good experience, first practice with the pro guys.”
Sokolovskii doesn’t turn 18 until July 12. He’s still shy and reserved, at least off the ice. But on the ice, it is a different story.
“He’s a big, strong shutdown defenseman with a really good stick and a physical side,” London assistant coach Rick Steadman told The Inquirer during a recent phone interview.
“He likes to play hard. He likes to step up and hit guys, and he’s just that big beast back there that’s going to really protect you defensively.”
It wasn’t always like that.
Defense first
Two years ago, when the Kazakhstan-born, Russia-raised blueliner came to the United States to play at the Atlantic Coast Academy, Taylor recalls that the league was a little beneath Sokolovskii because he was bigger and stronger than everyone else. And because of that, he’d get a lot of penalties.
Maksim Sokolovskii first came to North America as a 16-year-old to play for Atlantic Coast Academy.Courtesy of Mike Taykor
Despite spending a lot of time in the penalty box, Sokolovskii still put up big numbers, racking up 34 goals and 84 points in 65 games. His issue was in his own end. “He was taking chances and doing things with us that he wouldn’t do at the next level, because the hockey allowed the level of play,” Taylor said.
When Sokolovskii went to London, things changed.
“I think when I started the year, I tried to play more offensive,” Sokolovskii mentioned Monday. “But they told me you need to play more [in the] defensive zone. … You can play in the NHL if you will play more defensive.”
And that was the focus.
“For us, we like our guys to be able to play D first, so we can trust them out there and get more ice time. So we really did push that a lot,” Steadman said. “And we were trying to get him to create offense from the defense, like he’d poke a puck away on a rush or a big hit turned into transition, trying to get him to do offense that way.
“When he was playing a little younger, because he was so big and he got such a big reach, he could really just push guys out of the way … so we tried to teach him that pro-style game, use your teammates, stay at the blue line, get your shots through to create your offense, not stickhandle through everybody, and try to get as close as you can to the net.”
Sokolovskii worked his way up the lineup. He came in as a seventh or eighth defenseman and was rotating in and out at first. But he “dug in,” according to Steadman, and after Christmas, they opted to trade some players, knowing that he was ready to effectively step into the lineup. He started on the third pair, was scratched a few times, but eventually forced the Knights to keep him in the lineup.
Maksim Sokolovskii (No. 17) tied forward Brooks Rogowski for the tallest players measured at this year’s combine.Courtesy of London Knights
It was his games against Brady Martin, the fifth overall pick in last year’s draft, in the playoffs that opened many evaluators’ eyes. Martin, a point-per-game player during the regular season, had five points in the series against London; however, his only goal with Sokolovskii on the ice came on a power play. He shut him down at five-on-five.
“That’s just saying that he got that defense system figured out. He was playing hard, big minutes. He was hitting, playing physical, without taking a penalty, which is pretty amazing for a kid that big, and just never backed down, kept going, and really a key guy that way coming in,” Steadman said of the blueliner.
“And it’s one of those things that translates really well to the NHL is that ability to defend and play against top guys. You always hope that offense will come, but you always need guys to keep that puck out of the net.”
It was Sokolovskii’s progression throughout the season that stood out to the Flyers and enticed them to draft the blueliner. “It seemed every month he just kept getting better and better, and figuring out the game more and more,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said on Friday.
According to Steadman, that progression was due to a multitude of factors, but none greater than Sokolovskii becoming more comfortable speaking English. It helped him be more confident on and off the ice.
“Things that we take for granted — just asking somebody for something, or like, where do I get this, where’s this in the dressing room, and then on the ice, just even yelling to your partner, ‘I’m open, I’m open,’ or ‘You’re OK, you’re OK,’ or ‘Someone’s coming, move the puck quickly.’ You just don’t have that. You’re just playing purely on and living on your natural ability to just try to figure it out as you go,” Steadman said.
The Flyers have big hopes for Maksim Sokolovskii, whom the team drafted 27th overall in last week’s draft.Adrian Kraus
“So that’s why I do think he has a good hockey brain to be able to figure it out when you can’t speak; it is pretty amazing. And then his English got better and better, and he understood and could talk to his teammates.
“From the start of the year, couldn’t have a conversation with him as a coach. You try and use Google Translate, [but the] conversations took forever. At the end of the year, you could sit down and just chat away with him, and then have a conversation about anything — his family, hockey, how he’s doing — and he really progressed that way.”
Now, the next step is building up his offense.
Part of the criticism around Sokolovskii’s selection in the first round was his limited production. He had only two goals and eight points in 44 regular-season games and was without a point in five postseason games.
Sokolovskii told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine that he wants to keep working on his foot speed. The hope is that it will all translate to offensive improvement.
“A big guy with skates that big, it takes a while to get that quick twitch going, so he’ll keep working on that; that’ll just help with his game and breakouts better,” Steadman said. “And then we talked to him a lot about just getting his shot off quicker. It’s a long way from his head to his hands to the bottom of his stick, and it takes him a long time to get that puck off.
“But if you can get that off quicker, with how hard his shot is … he will beat goalies and be able to score. So he’s just got to get it off as quick as possible, let it touch his stick, get it off, and hopefully, help him create offense that way,”
He does possess a big-time, hard shot that could become a weapon from the blue line. Sokolovskii is excited to work on building his offense — and he may get some time on the power play in London.
“I would probably guess in London next year you’ll probably see him [add offense], once he has the ability to start joining the rush more,” Armstrong said.
“And now they know that he can defend and he’s good at it — you see some of the bone-crushing hits and a couple of fights he was in — I think he’s going to have more space next year. I think guys are going to probably be a little bit more scared of him going into the season, so I think that’s going to open up the offensive side of his game as well. And I’d like to see him throw a couple in the back then as well, add to his toolbox.”
The Flyers were required to submit qualifying offers to their restricted free agents by 5 p.m. on Monday.
After the deadline, they announced that they did not provide qualifying offers to forwards Philip Tomasino, Brett Harrison, Tucker Robertson, and Karsen Dorwart, and defensemen Artem Guryev and Christian Kyrou. They will now be unrestricted free agents on July 1.
They gave qualifying offers to forwards Trevor Zegras and Nikita Grebenkin, as well as defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Hunter McDonald. Drysdale, Zegras, and McDonald are eligible for arbitration.
According to Puckpedia, Zegras’ qualifying offer is $5.75 million. It is the same amount as his expiring three-year contract signed in 2023 with the Anaheim Ducks. Drysdale is due $2.3 million, the same as the three-year deal he inked with Anaheim in 2023. Grebenkin’s is $850,000, and McDonald’s is $897,750.
In his first season in Philly, Zegras had 26 goals and 67 points — both were career highs — in 81 regular-season games before adding another six points in 10 playoff games. It was his first playoff experience, as it was for Drysdale, who stepped up his game this past season and had a career high in goals (eight) and tied his career high in points (32). He added two goals and four points in 10 playoff games, scoring the first Flyers playoff goal since 2020.
Grebenkin has not played since late March due to an upper-body injury. “Initially, we thought it was going to be something short, and it just never got better,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said at his end-of-season press conference. “Now we’re looking at different options for him. So he’s the only one that I would say maybe [he’s not ready for training camp], if it doesn’t improve.” Brière did not have an update when speaking to The Inquirer at the start of June at the NHL scouting combine.
McDonald made his NHL debut this season, skating in the season finale, and registered the secondary assist on Oliver Bonk’s first NHL goal. A rugged blueliner, he had six assists in 65 games for the Phantoms.
“Hunter took a big step last year in his development, and that’s why he played that game late in the season,” Brière told The Inquirer in early June. “I think our coaching staff was really impressed [with] how he took a step forward this year. He put in the work and really elevated his game, earned that NHL game at the end, and he was around the team when we played in the playoffs as well.
“Really exciting to see him have growth to his development. It’s a big summer for him, but we’re excited about him. A big, physical defenseman like that is not easy to find, and we hope he’s going to be one of those guys, eventually. But he’s going to have to beat someone at some point to earn those minutes.”
Tomasino was acquired this past season in a swap that sent Egor Zamula to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He potted 12 goals and 41 points in 52 regular-season games between the two teams’ AHL affiliates. A first-round selection of Nashville in 2019, he has 218 NHL games under his belt.
Traded to the Flyers with Jackson Edward for Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo in March, Harrison had two goals and four points in 12 games with Lehigh Valley. Guryev was part of the deal that sent Ryan Ellis’ contract to the San Jose Sharks, and Christian Kyrou was acquired in a one-for-one, with Samu Tuomaala going to the Dallas Stars.
Dorwart was signed out of Michigan State as a college free agent in March 2025. He skated in five games after inking his entry-level contract, making his NHL debut in Montreal. Last season, he had 10 goals and 24 points in 70 games for the Phantoms.
“This draft, I’ll be honest with you, there’s layers, and especially early on, our layers got cleaned out quickly. And I’ve never seen it like that before,” he said. “Even as the draft went along, but we were able to move back in the first, and then we’re able to move around and get players we’re happy with, so it worked out fine.”
Maybe that’s it. It was fine.
Yes, it’s too early to tell where this draft will land because 99% of the time, players need time to develop and grow. And there may have been something in the air because while the gambling floor of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino had people testing their luck with the press of a button on a slot machine, on each spin of the roulette wheel, and every roll of the dice, that appears to have permeated upstairs to the Flyers’ draft room as they selected their next generation in the 2026 NHL draft.
The Black and Orange opted for long-term wait-and-see projects. (They love projects, don’t they?) And, to be fair, they have some time with the past few draft classes finally bearing fruit.
Maksim Sokolovskii, the Flyers’ first-rounder who Flahr called “a unicorn,” is a big, mean defenseman who needs to continue building his defensive game while also trying to add some offense. Goalies Martin Psohlavec and Marek Sklenička looked great at the U18s for Czechia — another Flyers trademark — but are still raw. And second-rounder Brek Liske, probably the best story of the draft, just for the fact that his dad is a diehard Flyers fan, has a solid foundation, but does have to work on his skating — where have we heard that before?
The Flyers were higher than most on Maksim Sokolovskii. They view him as a defensive “unicorn.”Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Center KJ Sauer missed most of this past season after tearing his posterior cruciate ligament the year prior and compared his style of play to that of Brady Tkachuk. Flahr said last week the Flyers could add a small, dynamic defenseman — but in the later rounds — and they got Max Laatikainen, a small Finnish defenseman they are hoping still can grow.
Whether they actually see an NHL game is truly a crapshoot anyway. But that’s always the case. In 2020, DobberProspects did a study showing that 60 NHL players from a draft class eventually make it to the NHL, which is less than 27%. TSN director of scouting Craig Button recently told NBC Sports Philadelphia that “approximately 45 players from any draft will play 350 games or more in the NHL.” That’s not a whole lot.
Entering this draft, since Flahr has been at the helm, the Flyers have drafted 50 players. Not counting the two previous classes, although Porter Martone and Jett Luchanko have already played NHL games, 44% have played at least one NHL game. Will this class make it? Who knows.
Now it does feel like they stayed the course and went down the path of previous drafts with a slight twist.
They again drafted for size — even though Flahr said Saturday it wasn’t a focus — with only Laatikainen of the six picks under 6 feet. In the process, they left players like dynamic but risky small defensemen Ryan Lin, Tommy Bleyl, and Xavier Villeneuve on the table in the first round and talented forwards like the Ruck Twins, Jack Hextall, J.P. Hurlbert and Brooks Rogowski.
But Flahr and general manager Danny Brière did stress that players drafted today will not help the team in the near future — so drafting a power-play specialist would not have made the atrocious power play better in the here and now — and they needed goaltending and defensive depth.
It just felt like maybe there were better options?
But who is to know today what tomorrow brings?
Rugged defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii was the second-biggest player drafted this past weekend.Courtesy of London Knights
It may be sweltering outside, but there is ice in our future.
Fresh off drafting the next generation, the Flyers will be in action, beginning on Monday and wrapping up with a five-on-five scrimmage Thursday night and a three-on-three tournament Friday morning.
Here’s what you need to know about Flyers’ development camp.
What is the schedule for development camp?
All on-ice sessions are free and open to the public at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. There will not be any on-ice activities on July 1, the first day of free agency. Instead, fans can attend an autograph session at The Franklin Institute from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. A museum ticket is required to attend.
On Tuesday, Team Jones and Team Brière will skate from 4-5 p.m. on the Phantoms and Flyers’ Rinks, respectively. Thursday at 6 p.m. on the Flyers Rink, the two teams will square off. On Friday, a three-on-three tournament will wrap up the week at 10 a.m. on the Class of ‘67 Arena rink.
Who will be attending?
Among the 41 players in attendance, fans will get a chance to see the entire 2026 draft class don Flyers gear for the first time at development camp. But while everyone will be clamoring to see 6-foot-7 defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii, the 27th pick on Friday, there are several familiar faces to get an up-close look at.
Fresh off their first tastes of the NHL — regular season and the playoffs — Porter Martone, Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Oliver Bonk will participate in camp.
Centers Jack Berglund and Jett Luchanko will be at camp, but will not participate in on-ice sessions. Berglund has played a lot of hockey this past year between regular season and playoffs for Färjestad BK of the SHL, Sweden’s top men’s league, and World Juniors and World Championships for Sweden.
Ilya Pautov, a member of the 2024 draft class who signed an entry-level contract this spring, will make his development camp debut. He is expected to be playing for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League this season.
Of the last five draft classes, the only players still with the organization not attending are Matvei Michkov (2023), Yegor Zavragin (2023), Austin Moline (2024), and Max Westergård (2025). Forward Karsen Dorwart, who was signed as an undrafted college player, will be a restricted free agent on July 1 and is expected to get a qualifying offer by June 29. Every member of the 2026 class will be at development camp.
Forwards: Denver Barkey, Samuel Beauchemin, Jack Berglund,Alex Bump,Alex Čiernik, Christopher Duclair, Grady Deering, Sawyer Dingman, Matthew Gard,Devin Kaplan, Jack Kernan, Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko,Ryan MacPherson,Porter Martone,Jack Murtagh, Jack Nesbitt, Noah Powell,Nathan Quinn, Heikki Ruohonen, Ilya Pautov, KJ Sauer,Riley Thompson, Shane Vansaghi
Defense: Carter Amico, Oliver Bonk, Matthew Desiderio, Jackson Edward,Spencer Gill, Alonso Gosselin, Leo Gruba, Max Laatikainen, Brek Liske, Maksim Sokolovskii, Riley Steen,Luke Vlooswyk
Goalies: Carson Bjarnason, Mathis Langevin, Martin Psohlavec, Marek Sklenička, Shane Soderwall
Things to keep an eye on
The Flyers have invited 11 players to attend camp this season.
Samuel Beauchemin is a winger who just put up 66 points in 64 games for Rouyn-Noranda of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. His father, François Beauchemin, played 903 NHL games, and Samuel played his youth hockey for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks.
Swift Current of the Western Hockey League winger Sawyer Dingman, who was eligible to be drafted this weekend, is the son of former NHLer Chris Dingman. Forward Christopher Duclair, the shortest player in camp at 5-8, is the younger brother of New York Islanders forward Anthony Duclair.
Defenseman Matthew Desiderio is from North Jersey, and his fellow blueliners, Alonso Gosselin, who is 17 and played for Chicoutimi of the QMJHL, and Riley Steen, who played with the Ruck Twins for Medicine Hat of the WHL, were eligible to have been selected in the 2026 draft.
Keeping with the theme of having a tall team, of the 46 players attending camp, only 10 players are under 6 feet tall. The tallest is camp invitee Jack Anderson, a defenseman who stands 6-6. He just wrapped his third season at Lindenwood University and is committed to Michigan Tech in the fall.
ATLANTIC CITY — After making a “big” splash on Day 1 by selecting 6-foot-7 London Knights defenseman Maksim Sokolovski with the 27th pick, the Flyers were back at it early Saturday with five picks.
They picked twice in the second round and once each in the fourth, fifth, and seventh, adding depth primarily on the blue line and in goal.
Here’s a running list of the Flyers’ Day 2 selections:
Second round
No. 53: Brek Liske, RHD, Everett (Western Hockey League)
A teammate of Luke Vlooswyk with the Silvertips, the defenseman was paired in the playoffs with projected 2027 No. 1 pick Landon DuPont for the Memorial Cup finalists. Before Tarin Smith got hurt, Liske was paired with Vlooswyk, the Flyers’ fifth-rounder last June.
A 6-2, 190-pound right-shot defenseman from Manitoba who can play the left side, he had 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 52 games but broke out in the playoffs with four goals and 17 points in 18 games as Everett won the WHL.
“He has nice size, and he has some maturation and growth to come,” said Flyers amateur scout Mark Greig, who is based out west.
“It’s a two-way game, and he is sound on both sides of the puck. He really took a step in the second half of the season … [and] he flourished right through to the Memorial Cup. We like the two-way game and the trend he finished the season with.”
According to Elite Prospects, he does have to — wait for it — work on his skating. But he is a versatile, well-rounded blueliner who projects to be a third-pair guy down the road.
This pick is not just about adding a good defensive prospect. Liske grew up a Flyers fan because his dad, Lonnie, is a fanatic Flyers fan.
“I’ve never heard him yell so loud. There was a big cheer, but I could distinctly hear my dad’s voice,” Liske said via Zoom from his draft party while wearing a Flyers jersey. “He’s wearing his Flyers jersey, very proud right now. I think he’s a little bit more in awe than I am right now.”
No. 62: Martin Psohlavec, G, Karlovy Vary (Czechia junior league)
Stop if you’ve heard this before: A 6-5 goalie from Czechia donning orange and black. No, this isn’t Dan Vladař; meet Martin Psohlavec.
The size and athleticism are surely what enticed the Flyers to make the pick, along with his performance at the U18s. Philly has a long-standing trend of taking players who have excelled at the spring tournament, and Psohlavec is no different, posting a 3-1-0 record with a 1.68 goals-against average and .926 save percentage.
That came after he went 31-11-0 with a 1.92 GAA and .928 save percentage at the Czech junior level in the regular season and won five of eight games in the playoffs with a 1.78 GAA and .925 save percentage.
But that was on a U20 team, and the expectation is he will be a bit of a project — yes, he needs to work on his skating and is a little raw, according to Elite Prospects — and that makes sense for the Flyers with Aleksei Kolosov, Carson Bjarnason, and Egor Zavragin rising in the pipeline.
The Flyers acquired this pick when they moved down in the first round.
“Martin’s a big goaltender for a young guy,” Flyers goaltender scout Ryan Cyr said. “He’s very athletic for a goalie of his size, with really good feet, and we just feel the upside that he has is very high and high assuming. We’re looking forward to seeing how he can develop over the next few years.”
Fourth round
No. 120: Marek Sklenička, G, Seattle (WHL)
Assistant general manager Brent Flahr said the Flyers would, more than likely, take a goalie as it had been a few drafts since they took Bjarnason and Zavragin in 2023. He should have added an “s” to the end because in the fourth round, with another pick acquired from moving down, they took another netminder — and another from Czechia, although he’s “only” 6-4.
A teammate of Flyers’ 2025 second-rounder Matthew Gard, Sklenička went 20-12-6 with a 3.21 GAA and .902 save percentage for Seattle. His save percentage rose in the playoffs to .913, but it was at U18s, in tandem with Psohlavec for Czechia, that he shone the brightest. He had a 1.91 GAA and a .921 save percentage in three games. In the bronze-medal game, he made 21 saves in a 4-1 win against Latvia.
“Marek’s a goalie who just continually got better throughout the course of the year. Physically, he started to develop, and you could see it in his game. He competes very hard. He is on an OK junior team, and he had a really good run with them to get them into the playoffs,” Cyr said.
“Next year, we hope to see continued development. We hope Marek continues to take steps in his game, adds a few pieces of the technical element, and continues to develop on the curve we know he’s going toward.”
Fifth round
No. 136: KJ Sauer, C, Andover (Minnesota HS)
The Flyers definitely have a type. Sauer is a 6-3, 203-pound center drafted out of Minnesota high school hockey in the fifth round. Alex Bump was a fifth-rounder drafted out of the State of Hockey’s high school system. Noah Cates was also plucked from Minnesota high school hockey in 2017 in the same round, although that came under the previous regime.
Sauer had 25 points in 15 games with Andover, helping lead them to the state tournament. His season started late after he tore his posterior cruciate ligament in April 2025, and didn’t play in a game until Jan. 6. He finished the season playing for Lincoln of the United States Hockey League.
“I’d say I’m a big power forward,” he said via Zoom. “I work both ways. Like to be gritty, … like to get into greasy areas and not afraid of anyone.”
Sauer said he models his game after Brady Tkachuk’s and will be playing for Edmonton of the WHL this season. Sauer has pedigree, with his uncles Kurt and Michael having played in the NHL, and his dad Kent Sr. playing in the minors.
“KJ’s a sizable center that can really skate. … We really like the upside of this player,” said Flyers scout Shane Fukushima, who is based in Minnesota and was given credit by Flahr for the pick. “… He has a physical side to his game, and if we can round out a little bit more offense, we really like where his game’s going,”
Seventh round
No. 213: Max Laatikainen, RHD, K-Espoo Jr. (Finland-Jr.)
The youngest player in the draft, born one day shy of the cutoff for next year’s draft, the 17-year-old Laatikainen is small at 5-11, 185 pounds, but brings the skating the Flyers want to add on the blue line.
He spent the majority of the year playing juniors but did notch two assists in Liiga, Finland’s top men’s league, for Kiekko-Espoo. At U18s, he played five games and had a goal and an assist.
“He needs to get physically stronger, but he’s an energetic, offensive guy who likes to have the puck. He moves it really well,” Flahr said, giving amateur European scout Sami Sandell credit. “Playing with the national team, he was very effective, and we’re hoping he can maybe catch an inch still. But, at the same time, he’s got a lot of juice, lots of energy.”
Breakaways
Winger Blake Zielinski, who hails from Berlin, Camden County, was selected in the third round by the Los Angeles Kings. … Berwyn native Ryan Cameron was drafted in the seventh round by the Edmonton Oilers. Last July, the then-17-year-old goaltender participated in the Flyers’ development camp. … Victor Plante, whose father Derek played for the Flyers, was selected in the second round by the Detroit Red Wings.
ATLANTIC CITY — Now that the first round is over, it’s time to turn the page to Rounds 2-7.
After selecting towering defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii in Round 1, the Flyers have picks Nos. 53 and 62 in the second round, 120 in the fourth, 136 in the fifth, and 213 in the seventh.
Here are 14 names to keep an eye on for Day 2 (which begins at 11 a.m. on NHL Network and ESPN+) in alphabetical order.
Niklas Aaram-Olsen’s teammate with Örebro HK U20, Alexander Command, said he is “hard-working” and “enjoyed playing with him, [a] talented guy.”Courtesy of Örebro HK U20/Erik Widlund
Niklas Aaram-Olsen, LW, Örebro (Sweden)
A power forward, the Norwegian just put up 20 goals and 40 points in 29 regular-season games in Sweden’s junior league before adding another eight points in 13 playoff games. He spent some time in the SHL, Sweden’s top men’s league, this season, and put up points on the international stage. He’s not a playmaker, but according to Karl Kling, his coach with the junior team, he’s explosive and has a great shot; however, he has to play more to his strengths, work on driving to the net, and be more direct in his game. He is a boom-or-bust kind of player.
Ryder Cali, C, North Bay (Ontario Hockey League)
Off to Providence College in the fall, his coach, Nate Leaman, told The Inquirer he is “quick out of the gate, good hockey IQ, really competitive, good shot. He does a lot of things well.” Cali is a 200-foot center — says “it’s fun” to take care of his own end — has a great motor, says it’s satisfying to steal pucks, and won’t be 18 until early September.
Named the tournament’s best defender at the U18s this spring, Slovakia’s captain recently turned 18. He’s a bit of a project, but has already proven he can be a workhorse by averaging more than 20 minutes for Slovakia on the top pair, including ice time on the power play and penalty kill.
Ben Macbeath, LHD, Calgary (Western Hockey League)
This past season, Macbeath notched 51 points (seven goals, 44 assists) in 67 regular-season games and added another two assists in seven playoff games. He killed penalties, got power-play time, and described himself as “a two-way defenseman. I think I got good feet, which allow me to impact both sides of the game.” According to Elite Prospects, he needs to work on his reads and killing plays quicker. He can work on building his aggressiveness and urgency at the University of Denver in the fall.
Pierce Mbuyi, LW, Owen Sound (OHL)
The Penn State 2027 commit is a skilled winger who notched 75 points in 68 games this past season as an OHL rookie. The son of a mom from Prince Edward Island and a dad from Russia, he found his love of the game from his brother. “I think something I pride myself on is how I see the ice, my vision,” he told The Inquirer. “I think I make my teammates around me better. Another thing I pride myself on is my compete, my work ethic.”
Charlie Morrison (27) lays a booming hit during a game against the Charlottetown Islanders.Courtesy of Québec Remparts
Charlie Morrison, LHD, Québec (Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League)
Morrison was our second-round pick for the Flyers in Friday’s final mock draft. His GM, Simon Gagné, has the scouting report: “A big, strong defenseman. Likes to hit. Likes to [catch] guys [with their] head down, middle of the ice type of defenseman that you don’t see too often in the league anymore. They’re seeing, sure, that Charlie needs to improve — he’s only played two years in our league — but he’s getting better and stronger, and that’s definitely a guy that could be a good pick for the Flyers.”
Although he initially was a baseball player — his father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and reached triple A, and the Los Angeles Dodgers selected his uncle Ryan — Rogowski is a 6-7, 236-pound center who is committed to Michigan State. Nick Fohr, who coached him at the U.S. National Team Development Program, describes him as a big, dependable centerman with a strong work ethic who has a big personality and was a vocal leader on the bench.
Filip Růžička, G, Brandon (WHL)
A 6-8 behemoth in net who spent this season playing for the same team the Flyers snagged Carson Bjarnason from in 2023, the Czechia native tied for the seventh-best save percentage (.906) in the WHL in the regular season. In the playoffs, he started all four games, upping his save percentage to .936 while dropping his GAA to 2.47. Wheat Kings coach and former Flyer Marty Murray said in a text with The Inquirer, “He made tremendous strides throughout the season. I think he was really raw when he arrived, and worked hard on his game with our goalie coach, Tyler Plante. I think there is still room to grow, but I believe his ceiling is very high.”
A Penn State commit, the Russian spent the past year playing in the QMJHL for Victoriaville, where he centered the top line. He won 54.8% of his faceoffs and put up 82 points (31 on the power play) in 63 games on the way to being named the league’s offensive rookie of the year despite not turning 18 until the end of April.
Alexandre Taillefer had 17 points in a 28-game injury-shortened season.Courtesy of Québec Remparts/Jonathan Roy Photographe
Alexandre Taillefer, LHD, Québec (QMJHL)
Another guy that Gagné is pushing for the Flyers, here’s a scouting report from Flyers prospect and teammate Nathan Quinn on the UMass 2027 commit: “I think he’s a really, really good offensive defenseman. He has a lot of skills with the puck. Obviously, it was a hard season for him — he had a bad injury — [and] he’s a really good kid too, but his strength is with the puck. He’s a really good guy on the power play. His skill set is pretty impressive.”
Tobias Trejbal, G, Youngstown (USHL)
“If we’re in a position to draft a top-end goalie, we’ll look at that,” Danny Brière said Friday. Many expect the Czechia native, who is off to UMass in September, to be the first goalie off the board. A right catch goalie, he went 30-9-3 with a .916 save percentage for the Phantoms (apropos, no?). “Nothing that rattles him, very athletic, tracks pucks really well. His hands are really good, he’s never out of a save, he’s got like the next puck mentality, like if he gets scored on, he’s stopping the next puck,” Youngstown coach Ryan Ward said.
Size is probably what cost Villeneuve a first-round slot; that and the 5-10¾, 164-pound blueliner needs to work on his defense and gain strength to accommodate his small stature. He’s dynamic — and that’s the word assistant GM Brent Flahr said a small guy would need to be. “Offensively, he’s seeing things, and he’s able to create things that not too many players are able to do,” his coach with the Armada, Alexandre Jacques, told The Inquirer. “At the offensive blue line, he is really, really, really deceptive, so he’s able to create something out of nothing with his edge [work]. Skating sideways is probably one of his greatest attributes, and he’s good at using [his edge work] to create shooting lanes or to create offensive situations.” Villeneuve is following in the footsteps of his comparable, Lane Hutson, and will play for Boston University this season.
Blake Zielinski holds his NHL draft day jacket at his family home on Monday, June 22, 2026, in Berlin. Zielinski’s jacket features different moments throughout his hockey career.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
Blake Zielinski, F, Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
There is mutual interest here, but it all depends on whether he is there. Zielinski grew up in Berlin, Camden County, and played for Flyers Elite before heading to North Jersey to suit up for the Avalanche. As he said, he knows what it takes to be a Flyer, and at the combine, Brière asked him if it felt like home. His name started rising after his play at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and the kid who loves to score will head to Providence in the fall, with Leaman calling him “really crafty around the net.”
Cole Zurawski, RW, Owen Sound (OHL)
A later-round option, there are two reasons he is on this list. One is that he is off to Notre Dame, where highly regarded Flyers prospect Cole Knuble just turned pro from. And two, he finished in the top 25 of 13 fitness tests at the scouting combine. There are only 15 tests. It was noted during his draft year how well Jett Luchanko did in the testing, and he only finished in the top 25 in seven tests.
ATLANTIC CITY — The Flyers traded down from No. 21 to No. 27 with the hope that the guy they wanted would still be on the board. They sweated a little, but in the end, they got their guy and two extra picks to boot.
With the 27th pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL draft, the Flyers selected Maksim Sokolovskii, left-shot giant from London of the Ontario Hockey League, to bolster the blue line.
Although he is not expected to play in the NHL any time soon — he will head back to the Knights in September and is committed to the University of Maine for the following season — it’s never too early to hand out a grade to Flyers general manager Danny Brière and his staff.
Grade: B
It was no secret that the Flyers were long interested in Sokolovskii. Since the NHL scouting combine in early June, the word on the street was that the Flyers were higher than the consensus on the 6-foot-7¼, 240-pound, mean, physical defenseman who skates well for his size.
Did they pass on flashier guys like two-way center Jack Hextall, dynamic defensemen Ryan Lin, whom San Jose took at 21, Tommy Bleyl, and Xavier Villeneuve? Yes, and that could come back to haunt them like drafting Jett Luchanko over Zeev Buium and Konsta Helenius two years ago.
But Sokolovskii was always their guy, especially once Ilia Morozov was taken at No. 20, which is why they moved back. And even before that, several media outlets had the Flyers taking the defenseman at No. 21, including The Inquirer in our final mock draft.
There is a lot to like about Sokolowskii. According to Mike Taylor, his former coach at the Atlantic Hockey Academy, “he skates like he’s 5-foot-8.″ Taylor also mentioned how a college hockey skating coach they brought in could not believe how good Sokolowskii’s edgework was for his size.
As The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer, “When you’re huge, and you can skate, that’s often all that you need for NHL scouts to sort of perk up and start to pay attention.”
And the Flyers paid attention — a lot of that is because he was in London, which Brière called after drafting Sokolovskii: “One of the better organizations in the CHL. They seem to be able to build winners.”
Sokolovskii, who was born in Kazakhstan and grew up in Russia, brings meanness and physicality, and considers himself a shut-down defenseman who likes to hit. Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek called him the hardest hitter in the draft class. Some have even compared his physicality and nastiness to that of fellow 6-7 blueliner Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins.
Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov is a common comp for Flyers draft pick Maksim Sokolovskii.Michael Dwyer
“The compete level is something that, in a lot of cases, you have, or you don’t,” Brière said. “It’s really tough to bring that out of someone who doesn’t have it. You watch him, it’s a natural thing. He loves to go after a guy. He likes to disturb, and on top of his size, it makes for a very impressive player on the ice. Someone that you don’t like facing or playing against.”
And part of that competitiveness is just his desire to get better. There is a lot of upside to Sokolovskii, and many have noted how much his game improved as the season went on in London. His switch to the OHL was not an easy one — he was even a healthy scratch at times — but by the end of the season, he was on the third pair and even played second-pair minutes at times. And while he wants to work more on his footwork, next season, Sokolovskii told The Inquirer at the combine that he wants to be more of a leader, too.
“The one thing that really stood out was the progression that he showed throughout the season,” Brière said. “When we saw him early in the season, we thought this could be a late pick for us, and then it seemed every month he just kept getting better and better, and figuring out the game more and more.”
Organizationally, the pick helped fill some depth on the left side, so add a check mark for that. Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Nick Seeler, and the newly acquired Simon Benoît, who can play on the right side too, are at the NHL level. Ty Murchison, 23, Jackson Edward, 22, and Hunter McDonald, 24, are in the system on the left side. But that’s it. Oliver Bonk, another London guy, Spencer Gill, Carter Amico, and Luke Vlooswyk are all righties.
Now, there are, of course, some question marks.
“I think that would be Sam Morin part two,” FloHockey draft and prospect analyst Chris Peters said on Flyers Gameday Central about taking him at No. 21. They didn’t do that, but then he said this.
Maksim Sokolovskii, right, stands with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, left, after being drafted by the Flyers with the 27th pick in the draft.Adrian Kraus
“I watched him in the playoffs a lot, and that’s where I think a lot of this late buzz is coming from, is that he was a really good shutdown guy for London in the postseason. And he was playing a physical, mean brand of hockey, the kind of hockey that helps you win in the playoffs. … [But] he’s too one-dimensional defensively. The skating, it isn’t good enough for me to say, like it’s good for his size, but like it’s not good enough, I don’t think.
“He has boom-bust potential, too, because he’s got this massive frame. He has incredible reach. I think he thinks the game decently well, I think he thinks the game defensively pretty solidly. I think he’s got good enough mobility defensively. And so I think he’s going to play [in the NHL]. The question is, where does he go?”
So, does he need to refine his defensive game more? Absolutely. Does he need to develop his offensive game? Of course — he had only eight points in 44 games for the Knights. But one intriguing factor is that he scored 34 goals and 84 points in 65 games for Atlantic Coast two years ago, albeit against lesser competition.
And Taylor brought up something interesting.
“He always was trying to be offensive with us. His deficiencies with us were the defensive side of the puck, where it was his strength in London,” he recalled.
“I knew he could play that way. I knew he would adjust, because I knew how good he was of a player. I just knew that he was taking chances and doing things with us that he wouldn’t do at the next level, because the hockey allowed it, [that] level of play.”
With Taylor, he went out for shootouts and even got time on the power play, notably at the net-front — imagine a 6-7 player screening the goalie? So maybe Sokolovskii was just focusing on the defensive end as an OHL rookie, and the offense has room to reawaken a bit?
After all, when you ask him who his comparables are, he’ll tell you Zadorov, Logan Stanley of the Buffalo Sabres, and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, who boasts a Norris Trophy and 811 points in 1,164 career NHL games.
There’s definitely some boom-or-bust volatility with Sokolovskii, but the Flyers hope they have added a massive defenseman who plays playoff-style hockey, can kill plays defensively, and strike fear into opponents with his physicality.
ATLANTIC CITY — The Flyers were on the clock at 21, and then they weren’t, because they were confident they knew they could get their guy at 27.
Did they sweat a little bit when a trade was announced, and the Montreal Canadiens, who were at No. 28, moved up to No. 26? Yes. But they breathed a sigh of relief when Montreal took Russian winger Gleb Pugachyov, and they were able to get their in 6-foot-7¼ left-shot defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii.
“It’s my dream. It’s the dream [of] every hockey player,” Sokolovskii told The Inquirer at the scouting combine about being drafted. He added he would be happy if it happened in the first round, but he knew it was only the first step. “Just keep working, help my team.”
The Flyers moved down to 27 by trading the 21st pick to the San Jose Sharks. They also got the 62nd (second round) and 120th (fourth round) selections in the swap. For Day 2, they now have two picks in the second round, including No. 53, one in the fourth, fifth (136), and seventh (213).
As detailed in our final mock draft, Sokolovskii fits the archetype of player the Flyers like to select in the draft. He is well over 6-foot, tough, and competitive, and he plays for London of the Ontario Hockey League. Forward Denver Barkey and defenseman Oliver Bonk were also drafted out of the program run by the Hunters, Mark and Dale, who president Keith Jones knows very well.
But here’s one difference: He’s not someone who needs to work on his skating too much.
“When you’re huge, and you can skate, that’s often all that you need for NHL scouts to sort of perk up and start to pay attention,” The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine.
“He was much better in the second half; you could see him figuring it out. … You want that [big] guy to be mean and punishing, and he’s got a little bit of that.
“But it’s the skating. If he couldn’t skate, it would be a major red flag at that size, but because he can skate, teams get excited about that.”
He worked on his skating with Alex Antropov, who was also his coach for D13, a team from Russia that played in the World Selects Invitational in Voorhees in May 2024. He brought that strong base with him when he was 16 years old and moved to Massachusetts to play for Atlantic Coast Academy.
“He’s 6-foot-8, and he skates like he’s 5-foot-8,” Mike Taylor, the program’s owner and one of Sokolovskii’s coaches, told The Inquirer recently. “… He came here, and I had a skating coach once a month come up and do power skating with our guys, and he does it like with UMass Amherst, and all these other schools.
“And he saw him skate, and he’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ He couldn’t believe how good his edge work was, and stuff, for being the size that he is.”
Sokolovskii has some bite on the ice, likes to be physical, throw the body around, and plays tough. He is considered a shutdown defender right now, as evidenced by his only eight points (two goals, six assists) in 44 regular-season games with London. But Taylor says there is an untapped offensive dimension to his game — as seen from his numbers at Atlantic Coast (84 points in 65 games) — and he even used him at the net-front on the power play.
The consensus is that his game improved as he got more comfortable in the OHL. By the end, he was on the second pair and played big minutes in the playoffs, notably shutting down 2025 fifth overall pick Brady Martin.
“The one thing that really stood out, I think, was the progression that he showed throughout the season,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said. “When we saw him early in the season, we thought this could be a late pick for us, and then it seemed every month he just kept getting better and better, and figuring out the game more and more. So that was interesting to the point where he’s going to be a first-rounder, and to be able to move back, get some draft capital, and still get him, it feels like it was the right thing to do.”
Maksim Sokolovskii (No. 17) tied forward Brooks Rogowski for the tallest players measured at this year’s combine.Courtesy of London Knights
But like most in the draft class, Sokolovskii has his warts, and there are question marks surrounding his game, specifically his decision-making and puck play. He told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine that he wants to keep working on his foot speed. He’ll need some time to grow into his game, and the Flyers have the time for that.
“We see him as a big physical force as a defenseman [who] is going to be tough to face,” Brière said. “There’s a lot that needs to come obviously. The way our development has worked the last few years, we feel confident that it’s going to come. We know there’s a lot of work to be done, but there’s things that you can’t teach, and there’s things that you can’t change; he’s still going to be 6-foot-7 in two years from now, and the internal physicalness that he has as well is something you can’t really teach.
“That comes naturally to him, so that’s a big plus, and the rest of his game has to round out, no doubt about it. But the progression that we saw this season leads us to believe that he’ll be able to make it to the NHL.
Sokolovskii will be returning to London in September and is committed to the University of Maine for 2027. Most compare the Kazakhstan-born and Russian-raised blueliner to fellow 6-7 defenders Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins and Logan Stanley of the Buffalo Sabres. He’ll add Victor Hedman, who is also 6-7. “But I want to be better,” he told The Inquirer.
Sokolovskii’s name was mentioned to this reporter at the combine as someone the Flyers were interested in, and some pundits think this is their guy. Ultimately, where there was smoke, there was fire, as the Flyers selected him at the end of Round 1.
Who the Flyers will actually select in the first round is now just hours away from being revealed, with the 2026 NHL draft kicking off at 7 p.m.
Philly picks at No. 21, so there is a lot of intrigue to see who they can get that deep in the draft. And that’s the crux and the reasoning behind why, in the fourth and final mock draft for The Inquirer, we have the Flyers picking a fourth different player.
In the first mock draft, compiled before the NHL scouting combine, we had the Flyers taking small defenseman Tommy Bleyl. Although he could help on the power play, it doesn’t sound like the Flyers are 100% behind picking an under-6-foot-tall blueliner, and as general manager Danny Brière has noted a player picked today will not impact the team for a few seasons — and the power play needs help immediately.
After the scouting combine in Buffalo, our second mock draft had Alexander Command. The Swedish center expressed a connection with the organization and just oozed Flyer during his time in Western New York; however, the consensus is that he is rising and will now be long gone.
So with that, we went for another center in the third mock draft, taking Jack Hextall, a player many see as already having pro habits. And, no, he’s not closely related to Ron, the former goalie and GM; they are distant cousins, and according to Jack, have never met.
And now we come to our final mock draft, where none of these players are on the list in the first round.
Maksim Sokolovskii (No. 17) tied forward Brooks Rogowski for the tallest players measured at this year’s combine.Courtesy of London Knights
First round: Maksim Sokolovskii, LHD, London (OHL)
Meet Sokolovskii, who checks several boxes for the Flyers’ usual modus operandi at the draft and is the targeted pick for several outlets and insiders.
For background, since assistant general manager Brent Flahr took over, he has drafted 50 players, with general manager Danny Brière by his side for 26 of those.
The position Flahr has drafted the most across his tenure is defense, at 15, and he did mention during his sit-down in Buffalo that the Flyers need to add to their defensive depth. He added during his pre-draft presser last week that the Flyers could use some more depth down the left side in particular — he did add “not necessarily being the first round” — and Sokolovskii is a left-handed defenseman.
Unlike other teams lately, the Flyers are not afraid to draft Russian players, with three taken in the last three drafts. The difference here with Sokolovskii, compared to Matvei Michkov, Egor Zavragin, and Aleksei Kolosov, who is Belarusian and also played in the Kontinental Hockey League, is that while Sokolovskii was born in Kazakhstan and raised in Russia, he spent the past two years playing in North America. And the Flyers tend to stick with North American-based teams under the Flahr-Brière tandem (74%).
Now here’s where the eyebrows will get raised. After spending the 2024-25 season with the Atlantic Coast Academy, Sokolovskii played this past season for London of the Ontario Hockey League. Yes, that London, where Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk won a Memorial Cup one June ago. That London where team president Keith Jones has a connection with Mark and Dale Hunter. The Flyers like the system and how they prepare players. Could this be a match just for that reason?
And then there’s the height. And Sokolovskii is, to put it mildly, a big boy at6-foot-7¼, 240 pounds. The Flyers like tall dudes, drafting 6-5 Jack Nesbitt, Carter Amico, Luke Vlooswyk, and Matthew Gard all last year. Since Flahr took over, 31 of 50 players are over 6-feet, and 17 of those were taken with Brière as GM.
The biggest difference compared to several previous prospects is that Sokolovskii is a pretty good skater for a guy his size.
“He’s 6-foot-8, and he skates like he’s 5-foot-8,” Mike Taylor, the owner and one of Sokolovskii’s coaches at Atlantic Coast Academy, told The Inquirer recently. “… He came here, and I had a skating coach once a month come up and do power skating with our guys, and he does it like with UMass Amherst, and all these other schools. And he saw him skate, and he’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ He couldn’t believe how good his edge work was, and stuff, for being the size that he is.”
Maksim Sokolovskii first came to North America as a 16-year-old to play for Atlantic Coast Academy.Courtesy of Mike Taykor
Considered a mean guy with some bite on the ice, Sokolovskii likes to be physical, throw the body around, and play tough. Although Taylor says there is an offensive dimension to his game — as seen from his numbers at Atlantic Coast — he is considered a shutdown defender.
He had eight points (two goals, six assists) in 44 regular-season games with London; however, everyone agrees there was a ton of improvement in his game as he got more comfortable in the OHL.
But like most in the draft class, Sokolovskii has his warts, and there are question marks surrounding his game in his decision-making and puck play. He told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine that he wants to keep working on his foot speed and make his feet quicker. He’ll need some time to grow into his game, and the Flyers have the time for that.
Sokolovskii’s name was mentioned to this reporter at the combine as someone the Flyers were interested in, and some pundits think this is their guy. But it does make one wonder that if the two are being connected … is it all smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand? Because outside of maybe Craig Button, no one had Jett Luchanko for the Flyers in 2024. And Jack Nesbitt wasn’t seen as on the radar either, although they did trade up for him.
So with that, let’s add in that Maddox Dagenais, Jack Hextall, and Ilia Morozov are three players we see the Flyers considering at 21, too.
Called a “mobile, punishing shutdown defender with NHL-calibre tools” by Elite Prospects, Charlie Morrison’s floor is a third-pair defenseman.Courtesy of Québec Remparts
Second round: Charlie Morrison, LHD
The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler’s final mock draft has the Flyers taking Sokolovskii in the first round and right-handed Finnish defenseman Samu Alalauri in the second.
Wheeler’s colleague, senior NHL prospects writer Corey Pronman, has the Flyers taking 6-4 leftt-handed defenseman William Håkansson in the first and small but dynamic lefty defenseman Xavier Villeneuve — our pick in version 3.0 — in the second.
Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson has center Oliver Suvanto in the first and defenseman Måns Gudmundsson in the second. And Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis had the Flyers taking center Suvanto in the first and defenseman Timmy Runtso, an overager who is heading to the University of Miami (OH) this fall, in the second.
It feels like everyone is leaning toward defensemen in the second round, as everyone has the Flyers pegged for stocking the blue line cupboard.
A few names pop here for us, like Juho Piiparinen, who says he grew up a Flyers fan in Finland, Runtso, who brings some offensive punch and attention to detail the Flyers like, and Ben Macbeath, our pick in version 2.0. Macbeath plays for Calgary of the Western Hockey League, the same team Travis Sanheim was drafted from in 2017.
For our final draft, we’re going with a defenseman, too, but it’s Morrison, a 6-3½, 200-pound physical left-shot blueliner who plays for Québec of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Pronman has him going at 44 to the New Jersey Devils, Wheeler at 50 to the Ducks, and Ellis has him at 65 to the Flames.
And guess who the GM of that team is? Simon Gagné.
The Inquirer recently spoke with the Flyers legend, and he gave his scouting report on Morrison.
“A big, strong defenseman. Likes to hit. Likes to [catch] guys [with their] head down, middle of the ice type of defenseman that you don’t see too often in the league anymore. They’re seeing, sure, that Charlie needs to improve — he’s only played two years in our league — but he’s getting better and stronger, and that’s definitely a guy that could be a good pick for the Flyers.”
Charlie Morrison (27) lays a booming hit during a game against the Charlottetown Islanders.Courtesy of Québec Remparts
The Flyers have done their homework on the Québec players, which also includes potential first-round pick Maddox Dagenais and late-round option and defenseman Alexandre Taillefer. This past season, Morrison had 13 points in 41 regular-season games before adding another four points in 10 playoff games.
Morrison does have some pedigree, as Elite Prospects lists his great uncle as Dan Bouchard, a goalie who played 656 NHL games, and Morrison is heading to the University of Connecticut in 2027.
And one interesting note: last season, the four Flyers taken in the second were listed at 30 (Jack Murtagh), 33 (Vansaghi), 37 (Matthew Gard), and 41 (Carter Amico) in Central Scouting’s final rankings for North American skaters. Morrison is right there, too, at No. 39.
The Flyers entered the night with the No. 21 pick, but traded down with the San Jose Sharks. The deal also netted them two additional picks: No. 62 and No. 120.
“Meet Sokolovskii, who checks several boxes for the Flyers’ usual modus operandi at the draft and is the targeted pick for several outlets and insiders.
…
After spending the 2024-25 season with the Atlantic Coast Academy, Sokolovskii played this past season for London of the Ontario Hockey League. Yes, that London, where Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk won a Memorial Cup one June ago. That London where team president Keith Jones has a connection with Mark and Dale Hunter. The Flyers like the system and how they prepare players. Could this be a match just for that reason?
And then there’s the height. And Sokolovskii is, to put it mildly, a big boy at 6-foot-7¼, 240 pounds. The Flyers like tall dudes, drafting 6-5 Jack Nesbitt, Carter Amico, Luke Vlooswyk, and Matthew Gard all last year. Since Flahr took over, 31 of 50 players are over 6-feet, and 17 of those were taken with Brière as GM.
The biggest difference compared to several previous prospects is that Sokolovskii is a pretty good skater for a guy his size.
“He’s 6-foot-8, and he skates like he’s 5-foot-8,” Mike Taylor, the owner and one of Sokolovskii’s coaches at Atlantic Coast Academy, told The Inquirer recently. “… He came here, and I had a skating coach once a month come up and do power skating with our guys, and he does it like with UMass Amherst, and all these other schools. And he saw him skate, and he’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ He couldn’t believe how good his edge work was, and stuff, for being the size that he is.”
Considered a mean guy with some bite on the ice, Sokolovskii likes to be physical, throw the body around, and play tough. Although Taylor says there is an offensive dimension to his game — as seen from his numbers at Atlantic Coast — he is considered a shutdown defender.
Flyers take defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii with No. 27 pick
The Flyers selected Maksim Sokolovskii after trading back to the No. 27 overall pick in the first round of the NHL draft.
// Timestamp 06/26/26 9:56pm
Flyers should have some good options at No. 27
A couple of good options should be there at No. 27 when the Flyers now pick.
The list of prospects could include Maksim Sokolovskii, Brooks Rogowski, Jack Hextall, Ryder Cali, Tommy Bleyl, and maybe the first goalie off the board, Tobias Trejbal.
I wouldn’t sleep on Casey Mutryn or William Håkansson, either.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Maksim Sokolovskii go at 27 now. Not a fan personally but there's been a lot of smoke around him and the Flyers, and 27 feels like a slightly more defensible spot for him.
TRADE ALERT: We have acquired the 27th, 62nd and 120th overall picks in the 2026 #NHLDraft from San Jose in exchange for the 21st overall pick. pic.twitter.com/bW46IMZYPE
Flyers are up and all three of the undersized blueliners are still on the board in Ryan Lin, Tommy Bleyl, and Xavier Villeneuve. Let's see if the Flyers buck their norm and believe in one of these guys.
Ducks center Mason McTavish has been traded to the St. Louis Blues, using their No. 15 and No. 29 overall picks.
McTavish was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, and signed a 6-year extension worth $7 million annually ahead of the 2025-26 season, but he fell out of favor in Anaheim with the emergence of Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson.
McTavish had been linked with the Flyers over the past two summers given his pedigree, the team’s need at center, his north-south game, and the team’s well-documented trade history with the Anaheim Ducks.
Swedish center Alexander Command, who at one stage was probably someone the Flyers thought they had a shot at but had been rising, goes at No. 12.
With Tynan Lawrence and Command gone, Oliver Suvanto, Ilia Morozov, Jack Hextall, and Brooks Rogowski make up the next group of centers if the Flyers choose to go that route.
Keaton Verhoeff is heading to San Jose. Craig Lassig
With Keaton Verhoeff off the board at No. 9 to San Jose, that closes the book on the top tier of defensive prospects in a draft class heralded for its blueliners.
Expect a run of forwards to come now with Malte Gustafsson and Ryan Lin highlighting the next tier of defensemen. As Jackie Spiegel noted earlier, Tommy Bleyl, MaksimSokolovskii, and Xavier Villeneuve are among the defensemen the Flyers could consider at No. 21.
Pavel Dorofeyev is headed to the Rangers. Ian Maule
The New York Rangers are making a big addition on the wing, reportedly acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas for the No. 26 pick, the No. 92 pick and a conditional 2028 first-round pick (condition on the pick is top-10 protected).
Dorofeyev is a restricted free agent who scored 37 goals this past season, and 35 the season prior, plus 12 goals in Vegas’ Stanley Cup Finals run. Dorofeyev is a restricted free agent, joining the Rangers after they finished last in the Metropolitan Division in 2025-26.
Vegas is reportedly one of the teams on Red Wings center Dylan Larkin’s no trade list. Could they be compiling assets to make a run at the Olympic gold medalist? Or even for Stars winger Jason Robertson? The Stars wouldn’t – would they?
Utah Mammoth right winger JJ Peterka is heading to Boston. Melissa Majchrzak
The Boston Bruins are acquiring forward JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth for two first-round picks, including the No. 23 pick in the 2026 draft.
Peterka, 24, managed 25 goals this past season for the Mammoth but his first season in Utah went anything but smoothly. The fit never quite worked out and now Boston will take a chance on the German who has a longstanding connection with Bruins coach Marco Sturm.
Peterka’s best season came in 2024-25 when he notched 27 goals and 68 points in 77 games for the Sabres. He is signed for four more seasons at a cap hit of $7.7 million.
Blue Jackets reportedly taking calls on Zach Werenski. Could the Flyers be interested?
Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski could be on the move. Danny Wild, Imagn Images
The Flyers have said they want to become a destination for top players and believe that Rick Tocchet can help in that aim.
Well, another one seems destined to soon hit the market, as the Columbus Blue Jackets are fielding trade calls on Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, according to Pierre LeBrun.
The report comes after recent rumblings suggested that Werenski, who turns 29 next month, was growing unhappy in Columbus and was not keen to extend with the Blue Jackets when his contract expires in two seasons.
The Flyers will assuredly check in on Werenski, as he is exactly the type of offensive difference-maker they’ve long lacked on the blue line. Werenski has averaged 23 goals, 82 points, and 23 power-play points over the past two seasons and is universally considered one of the best three defensemen in the NHL. Center and a bona fide No. 1 power-play QB are the Flyers’ two biggest needs, and Werenski would certainly check the second box and then some.
The two big questions are would Werenski be open to Philadelphia – he has a full no-move clause and would need to approve any potential destination – and do the Flyers have the pieces to acquire him? Only Werenski knows the answer to the first question, while the Quinn Hughes trade would be a comparable trade to get a sense of Werenski’s value. In that deal, Minnesota traded the equivalent of four first-round picks with Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick going to Vancouver for fellow Norris winner Hughes.
The Flyers to this point have said they are unwilling to move Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov, but this is the type of player that would likely require one to go the other way. Danny Brière’s plan all along was to go “big-game hunting” this offseason, let’s see if the Flyers’ GM gets aggresive here.
Could the Flyers actually target someone under six feet tall?
Tommy Bleyl (right) is coming off an impressive first season in the QMJHL where he was named the top defensive rookie.DanielStLouis
The Flyers have prioritized size when drafting – and not drafting – defenseman the past few seasons, but with the 21st pick, and a couple of interesting undersized defensive prospects in that range, could they be more apt to consider someone under six foot this year?
While GM Danny Brière and assistant GM Brent Flahr tried to pour cold water on that idea at their recent pre-draft news conference, could the trade of Emil Andrae have changed things slightly. The Flyers don’t have a truly dynamic offensive defensemen in the system, and Ryan Lin, Tommy Bleyl, and Xavier Villeneuve, while all under six feet, would all fit the bill in some regard.
Jackie Spiegel took a deeper look at the three polarizing defenseman and whether the Flyers could break their mold and target a future potential QB for their power play on Friday night.
While fans have been rapidly refreshing X with the NHL hot stove on fire and the clock ticking closer to the NHL draft on Friday night, the Flyers might have teased something.
At around 2 p.m., the team posted a picture of the team’s draft headquarters in Atlantic City with the following caption:”Ready for action in AC.”
On the floor in the middle of the room was a black Liberty Bell outline in highlighter orange trim. Could this be a new alternate logo for the team’s City Connect jerseys? Hmm …
The Flyers are looking for a power-play quarterback, and with very few available as unrestricted free agents beyond 36-year-old John Carlson, they may need to get creative to find one.
Two days after Bowen Byram was traded from Buffalo to Chicago, another young defenseman came off the board with the Sabres acquiring Olen Zellweger, seemingly as Byram’s replacement, for a second-round pick and forward prospect Anton Wahlberg. The dynamic 22-year-old defenseman is a restricted free agent and will need a new contract from Buffalo.
Known for his effortless skating and silky puck skills, the 5-foot-10, 193-pound Zellweger had seven goals and 22 points last season and has PP1 upside. With Byram and Zellweger off the board, the Flyers will have to look elsewhere if they want to add to their blue line this summer.
We have acquired defenseman Olen Zellweger from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Anton Wahlberg and the 45th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Likely No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna on what he learned at Penn State
// Timestamp 06/26/26 3:35pm
Watch our Gameday Central draft preview
// Timestamp 06/26/26 1:59pm
Maple Leafs deal Sam Ersson to Senators
Goaltender Samuel Ersson is with his third team in the last two weeks.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Sam Ersson is on the move again.
Ten days after being traded alongside defenseman Emil Andrae to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Joseph Woll and depth blueliner Simon Benoit, the former Flyers goaltender’s rights were traded across Ontario to Ottawa on Friday.
TRADE ALERT: The #Sens have acquired goaltender Samuel Ersson from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. pic.twitter.com/MkEuWY9XEt
The Leafs recouped a fifth-round pick for Ersson’s rights, while Ottawa will now likely qualify the restricted free agent goaltender. His minimum qualifying offer is $1.6 million.
Ersson, 26, amassed a 65-50-17 record and .884 save percentage in four up-and-down seasons in Philadelphia. Last year, he posted 14-11-5 record with a .870 SV%, but he was excellent after the Olympic break with a .912 save percentage in nine games. In Ottawa, he could form an all-Swedish tandem with Linus Ullmark.
Maksim Sokolovskii (center) tied forward Brooks Rogowski for the tallest players measured at this year’s combine.Courtesy of London Knights
Who the Flyers will actually select in the first round is now just hours away from being revealed.
Philly picks at No. 21, so there is a lot of intrigue to see who they can get that deep in the draft. And that’s the crux and the reasoning behind why, in the fourth and final draft for The Inquirer, we have the Flyers picking a fourth different player.
First round: Maksim Sokolovskii, LHD, London (OHL)
Meet Sokolovskii, who checks several boxes for the Flyers’ usual modus operandi at the draft and is the targeted pick for several outlets and insiders.
For background, since assistant general manager Brent Flahr took over, he has drafted 50 players, with general manager Danny Brière by his side for 26 of those.
The position Flahr has drafted the most across his tenure is defense, at 15, and he did mention during his sit-down in Buffalo that the Flyers need defensive depth. He added during his pre-draft presser last week that the Flyers could use some more depth down the left side in particular — he did add “not necessarily being the first round” — and Sokolovskii is a left-handed defenseman.
And then there’s the height. And Sokolovskii is, to put it mildly, a big boy at 6-foot-7¼, 240 pounds. The Flyers like tall dudes, drafting 6-5 Jack Nesbitt, Carter Amico, Luke Vlooswyk, and Matthew Gard all last year. Since Flahr took over, 31 of 50 players are over 6-feet, and 17 of those were taken with Brière as GM.
The biggest difference compared to several previous prospects is that Sokolovskii is a pretty good skater for a guy his size and isn’t the big project that other draft picks have been.
Click here for a more in-depth breakdown of Sokolovskii and a look ahead at who the Flyers might take on Day 2.
Will Flyers join Rangers and Blues in Mason McTavish sweepstakes?
Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish is reportedly available this summer.Katie Chin
It’s no secret that Danny Brière and the Flyers are poking around the trade market for a top-six center. One name that has come up quite a bit over the past two seasons is Anaheim’s Mason McTavish. The 23-year-old center, who was the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, has fallen out of favor in Anaheim is reportedly available this summer.
The latest update from Pierre LeBrun is that Anaheim has offers on the table from the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues for the player but that there is still time for another team to get involved.
On Mason McTavish, Anaheim still talking to Rangers and Blues about their offers. NYR package includes roster player while St. Louis offer is picks. If the Ducks make the Blues trade, the idea would be to flip said pick(s) before tonight to go get roster player(s) in separate…
The appeal with McTavish is obvious: He’s a young player with draft pedigree who two seasons ago tallied 22 goals and 52 points on a bad Ducks team. He’s the exact type of reclamation project the Flyers have been attracted to in recent years — Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, David Jiříček. He’s also a rugged player who gets to the hard areas and can help a power play as a net-front presence and as a goal scorer. The Flyers and Ducks have also done two recent deals with one another which adds further smoke here.
The question is after slumping to 17 goals and 41 points and being a healthy scratch in the playoffs this season, is McTavish someone you want to commit to for the next five seasons at $7 million per? He’s also been a defensive liability as a pro and is not the most fleet of foot — two things that could sway the Flyers in a different direction.
We’ll keep an eye on this one but for now it looks like McTavish won’t be the answer for the Flyers down the middle.
Nine players the Flyers could target in the first round
Could the Flyers take Maddox Dagenais, a potent right winger, in the first-round?Jonathan Roy
The first round of the 2026 NHL draft is just hours away, and the Flyers are scheduled to pick at No. 21.
Who will be there, before general manager Danny Brière’s turn to face the camera and announce the pick, is anyone’s guess. With the expectation that prospects like Wyatt Cullen, Ryan Lin, and Alexander Command — who really does scream Flyer more than anyone on this list — will be long gone, here are nine players (in alphabetical order) the team could take in the first round.
Senators defenseman Jordan Spence (right) is reportedly returning to Ottawa on a four-year deal. Spencer Colby
One of the top restricted free agent defenseman is off the board as Jordan Spence is closing in on a four-year, $20 million contract extension with the Ottawa Senators, according to multiple reports.
Spence, 25, had 31 points last season and had been mentioned in some recent trade chatter. The undersized blueliner’s extension likely doesn’t take Ottawa out of the Rasmus Ristolainen sweepstakes, as Spence is a very different defenseman to the Flyers’ bruiser.
Ottawa, who are lucky to get bigger on the blue line are one of the teams that have been linked to Ristolainen in recent weeks. Ristolainen, 31, is entering the final year of his current contract and is likely not part of the Flyers’ long-term future. With prices high, the Flyers could opt to cash in on the rugged defenseman now, especially given Ristolainen’s extensive injury history.
South Jersey native Tony DeAngelo re-signs with Isles
Former Flyers defenseman and Sewell native Tony DeAngelo is staying in the Metropolitan Division. Sportsnet reported Friday that DeAngelo will sign a two-year contract to remain a New York Islander.
The offensive defenseman, who played the 2022-23 season for his hometown Flyers, tallied five goals and 35 points in 76 games last season for the Islanders. DeAngelo, 30, had 11 goals, 42 points, and a minus-27 rating in his lone season in Philadelphia before being bought out a season before his contract expired following a clash with former coach John Tortorella.
Mock draft roundup: Lots of options for the Flyers
Ilia Morozov could be an option in the first round.Liv Kakabeeke/Miami Athletics
The Flyers have the 21st overall pick in the NHL draft — they also have three more picks on Day 2 — but there doesn’t seem to be any kind of consensus on who Danny Brière and Co. will select Friday night. Here’s a roundup of who some experts think the Flyers will take …
[Note: In Jackie’s final mock draft, which published after this post went live, she has the Flyers taking defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii]
The Athletic: Ilia Morozov, C, Miami (NCAA) — Philadelphia continues to build out its center depth with a potential middle-six pivot in Morozov. Lawrence and Hextall are also possibilities. — Corey Pronman
ESPN: Maksim Sokolovskii, D, London (OHL) — The Flyers have not been shy about drafting a certain type of player — especially given coach Rick Tocchet’s influence on the organization. [Porter] Martone, Jack Nesbitt, Jack Murtagh and Shane Vansaghi are massive players with a physical edge. … The 6-7 Sokolovskii seems like the prototypical Philadelphia Flyer. He’s enormous, skates well, has a mile-long mean streak and is widely considered the hardest hitter in the draft class. All of that screams Tocchet type. — Rachel Kryshak
NHL.com: Maksim Sokolovskii, D, London (OHL) — Sokolovskii checks a lot of boxes for the Flyers. At 6-7, 240, he was the biggest player measured at the NHL Scouting Combine, and he’s a left-handed shot, an area where Philadelphia is thin among its prospects. He also comes from a London program the Flyers have trusted for player development in the past, including defenseman Oliver Bonk and forward Denver Barkey. — Adam Kimelman
NHL.com: Thomas Bleyl, D, Moncton (QMJHL) — If Bleyl (5-11, 170) is here, it makes sense for the Flyers to grab him to replenish their defensemen prospect pool. The 18-year-old is a dynamic puck-moving defenseman who emerged as one of the draft’s pleasant surprises thanks to his offensive production and elite skating ability. A natural power-play quarterback, he makes plays consistently while still holding his own defensively. — Mike G. Morreale
Bleacher Report: Mathis Preston, RW, Vancouver Giants (WHL) — On our draft board, we have Mathis Preston ranked as a high second-rounder. But draft boards and mock drafts are not the same thing, and it’s believable that a team will choose to select him in the first round. Last go-round, we tried the Vancouver Canucks out as a fit; for this one, we thought the Philadelphia Flyers were an interesting landing spot. He brings incredible speed, he’s a later birthday, and his passing and handling are top-notch. — Hannah Stuart
Porter Martone (left) was one of two first-round picks for the Flyers in the 2025 draft. The team only has one this year.Damian Dovarganes / AP
The 2026 NHL draft officially starts at 7 p.m., but the Flyers won’t be on the clock for a lottery pick.
The first round of the draft will air live on ESPN, hosted by John Buccigross alongside analyst Kevin Weekes, NHL insider Emily Kaplan, and Draft and hockey analytics expert Meghan Chayka. ESPN will also
The second round begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday on the NHL Network, and the draft will end with the seventh round that same evening.
When do the Flyers pick?
After winning a playoff series over Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2026 postseason, the team’s first since 2019-20, the Flyers will pick at No. 21 overall during Friday’s first round.
The Flyers will also have three picks on Saturday: in the second round (53rd overall), fifth round (136th overall) and seventh round (213th overall).
Alexander Command’s coach with Örebro HK U20 called him a game-breaker.Courtesy of Örebro HK U20/Erik Widlund
Flyers beat writer Jackie Spiegel’s No. 1 choice for the No. 21 pick tonight, if he’s available, is 18-year-old Alexander Command, a center for Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League.
Unfortunately, Spiegel expects Command to be “long gone” when the Flyers pick. In her most recent mock draft, published last week, Spiegel had the Flyers taking center Jack Hextall, a distant cousin of former Flyers goalie and general manager Ron Hextall.
“This Hextall is a 6-foot-½ inch, 195-pound right-shot centerman who is projected to play a middle-six role,” Spiegel wrote, adding the “Flyers love picking centers in the first round.”
FloHockey draft and prospect analyst Chris Peters is also high on Command, praising his “physicality” and his “doggedness in pursuit of the puck.”
“Just the absolute annoyingness of just getting under your skin, and I think that there’s a lot to like about that player,” Peters said of Command on Flyers Gameday Central. “The comp that I had for him was Brayden Schenn and I think he probably has a higher motor, even there. Brayden Schenn was physical and mean, and he could score, and that’s what I think Command can do, too.”
Flyers land more draft picks by trading veteran forward Garnet Hathaway
Garnet Hathaway was part of a formidable fourth line in the playoffs for the Flyers.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Flyers are making a few changes on the fourth line.
The team announced Thursday that Garnet Hathaway has been traded to the Florida Panthers along with a 2026 sixth-round pick for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and a 2027 fourth-rounder. The Flyers now own four picks in this weekend’s NHL draft: 21, 53 (second round), 136 (fifth round), and 213 (seventh round).
Signed as a free agent in 2023, the 34-year-old winger played three seasons in Philadelphia and put up three points in 66 games last season, down from his 21 points in 2024-25 and 17 in 2023-24. Alongside Sean Couturier and Luke Glendening, he was part of a formidable fourth line in the playoffs, scoring one goal and recording one assist in eight games while asserting himself physically.
A Maine native who graduated from Brown, the undrafted Hathaway ranked fourth in hits in the NHL across his three seasons in Philly. The past two seasons, for every hit the Flyers recorded, Hathaway and his wife, Lindsay, pledged to donate to local first responders with a match from Flyers Charities through Hits for Hath’s Heroes. Following the 2024-25 season, the Hathaways donated $30,000 to the Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation, a Conshohocken-based nonprofit.
Hathaway has one year left on his two-year extension signed last July 1, which is worth $2.4 million annually. A team source has confirmed to The Inquirer that the Flyers will retain 50% of Hathaway’s salary, leaving a cap charge of $1.2 million on the books for 2026-27.
Could the Flyers trade away or acquire more picks?
Flyers general manager Danny Brière (right) and assistant general manager Brent Flahr speak to reporters ahead of the 2026 NHL draft.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Maybe?
In a news conference earlier this month, Flyers general manager Danny Brière did say he was OK with having only four picks now in the upcoming draft — one each in the first, second, sixth, and seventh rounds — and he did call the first- and second-round picks “the key.” But he also said everything is on the table.
“We’ve drafted so much the last few years [so] it might not be quite a bad thing to not have as many this year,” he said. “But, if I had the choice, yeah, I would rather have more picks.”
Fair, because who doesn’t want to keep stocking the cupboard? But what if it meant trading a first-rounder for a young player who could fit into the lineup today?
“Yeah, we’re getting closer to that. I don’t know that we’re quite there yet, but we’re certainly willing to listen on different ideas,” he said. “I’m not too keen on trading future first-round picks, because you never know where it can go, and we’re not at [where] Colorado or Carolina [are] at this point, where you know we’re going to be finishing [high] and picking late first [round]. I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”
