Although they moved down six slots and acquired two additional draft picks for Saturday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere says he thinks London Knights defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii will take some time to develop. But believes it will be well worth the wait.
The Flyers selected Sokolovskii with the twenty-seventh overall pick, sliding down a half dozen slots after San Jose traded their first-round, second-round, and fourth-round selections. The blueliner is 6’7″ and 240 pounds with a ridiculous wing span and a mean streak. Briere wasn’t sure if he’d be picked prior to the twenty-seventh pick, but felt adding more picks for Saturday was worth rolling the dice on.
“There were a few tiers in front of us that got wiped out pretty quickly off the board,” Briere said after the first round. “So at that point we started looking (at moving down). It’s more than just your ranking. You also have to understand what happens on the other side with the other teams and where teams are leaning. We felt that Sokolovskii was the guy that we could move back and still get. He was the next guy on our list but he was also a big defenseman, something we don’t have a lot of, especially left shots. We don’t have a lot in the organization. So that was a plus. But we felt, it was a little bit of a risk that he could’ve been taken. But the chance to add a couple of picks in a year where we didn’t have a lot of draft capital coming into it. For us it felt it was worth the chance.”
Not much offense, but plenty of size
After playing 44 games in London of the Ontario Hockey League, and scoring two goals to go with six assists, Sokolovskii’s numbers don’t scream offensive generator. However, Briere is well aware of that, believing Sokolovskii’s physicality has been already well-established can’t be taught. Other parts of his game can be enhanced and developed with more time in junior before he takes the next step in his career.
“I mean, we don’t expect him to be the next big point producer,” Briere said. “I don’t think that would be fair to be drafted for that. We see him as a big physical force, a defenseman that’s going to be tough to face. 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 are things that you can’t teach. There are things you can’t change. He’s still going to be six-foot-seven two years from now and that internal physicalness 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.
“Now what pairing I don’t know yet, it’s a little too early to tell. He could become a top four defenseman if things fall into place, absolutely. With the reach that he has he’s going to be tough to go around. And if he keeps improving his puck game, who knows how good he can be?”
Briere said the biggest aspect of Sokolovskii’s game he said he seen progress on was his skating as well as his play with the puck. As well, the defender’s play regarding when to pinch and not pinch, and when to make a bit hit without taking himself out of the play was improving. All of those aspects Sokolovskii seemed to get better at the longer London’s season went. But the organization and Briere know Sokolovskii won’t be taking a roster spot this year in Philadelphia. The club feels with more time and playing time some of that rawness or roughness can be removed in what they hope will eventually be a dependable, durable defenseman.
What Sokolovskii’s future holds
As for now, the goal is to see him with the Knights for the 2026-27 season. It’s a club Briere expects to be a contender given how well the junior club run by Mark and Dale Hunter have performed over the years.
“I would hope that he plays at least another year in London,” Briere says. “I think for him, not playing a lot of heavy minutes early in the season, building his way up, I would expect London to be very competitive next year again. So I would like to see him play a big role because that’s important too, learning how to play heavy minutes and playing in important situations, playing against the top players on opposing teams. We’ll see where it goes from there. There’s no rush. Whatever time it takes for him. It takes a long time for those guys to learn their body and feel comfortable in their body. This will take a little bit of time for him.”
In addition to his size, Briere also loves the compete level and innate mean streak Sokolovskii brings to the table. “The compete level is in a lot of cases you either have it or you don’t, it’s really tough to bring that out in someone who doesn’t have it,” he says. “You watch him, it’s a natural thing. He likes 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.”
Not making a move just to make a move
After trading Emil Andrae to Toronto earlier in the month, and picking a giant in Sokolovskii, some might believe the Flyers aren’t focused on a puck-moving defenseman. However, Briere didn’t rule out taking such a player on Saturday. But the focus isn’t on need by position immediately. That could be something that they emphasize the longer the draft goes on in the latter rounds.
“In a second round, if somebody falls that we had high on our list it’s a chance — because we now have two second-round picks — that makes it easier to do as well,” the general manager said. “If we’re in position to draft a top-end goalie we’ll look at that. It’s no secret that we’re a little thin on defense. I wouldn’t mind adding more defensemen. But if someone falls on our list that we have high, even if it’s a winger, we’ll jump on it. But the later picks, fourth, fifth, seventh rounds, we might try to target our needs a little bit more at that point.”
Finally, Briere knows the team has been linked to a few defensemen this summer, including Darnell Nurse and, more recently, Columbus blueliner and Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski. Nothing has been confirmed, but the Flyers appear to be sniffing around to see if Werenski is available and looking at Philadelphia as a possible destination. Briere stressed he’s not making a move simply because other teams are wheeling and dealing. And he also feels the team’s top four — Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Jamie Drysdale — performed well last year. However, if there’s a chance to land a Norris Trophy winner, you do it, as long as it makes sense from the cost both in terms of personnel and on the cap.
“We’re exploring. It’s about making the right moves, but also you got to be patient,” Briere said. “We’re not going to make a move just to make a move. I know there are some people out there complaining that we’re not making the big move yet, but it’s got to be the right thing to do. I’m not going to make it just to try to say that I made a big move. We’ve made some big moves before. Right now the value coming back is just not there for us. And there’s a lot of our players that we need to know more about as well.
“We have so many young guys that are still trending up. You want to give them time to develop and take their game to the next level value wise and also for our team, to show they can help. And that gives us a clearer picture of what to expect in the future. It’s not because other teams are making moves that we have to make moves. We have an up-and-coming team, a young team that’s trending in the right direction. We’re going to make moves when it’s time. I think that we’ve improved the team already from last year adding some support for Dan Vladar and also some grit on defense. So I think we’ve taken a step already. Maybe not the huge step that a star player would bring, but certainly in the right direction.”
