This morning, ESPN’s Corey Pronman released his midseason rankings of the top prospects in the NHL. The list is limited to those with Insider privileges, but we provided our thoughts here.
The Flyers saw six of their youngsters earn their way onto Pronman’s list, including defensemen Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim, forwards Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom, and goaltenders Felix Sandstrom and Anthony Stolarz. In addition to Pronman’s list, ESPN Senior Writer Craig Custance was able to speak with representatives from each Metropolitan Division organization, in order to get their thoughts on the prospects.
To learn more about the Flyers, Custance chose to interview Chris Pryor, the team’s scouting director. Pryor singled out Provorov and Lindblom for praise. He noted that Provorov was the top prospect closest to making an NHL impact, while Lindblom had taken the biggest recent leap.
Prospect closest to making an NHL impact: Ivan Provorov
The Flyers’ pipeline is loaded up on defense, and there will be guys who make it to the Flyers on defense before Provorov. But in terms of impact, he’s got the most potential.
He has 32 points in 32 games this season with Brandon in the WHL, after being the No. 7 overall pick in 2015.
“All these kids have a ways to go but Ivan, he’s probably one of the guys who has a good opportunity in the near future,” said Pryor. “It’s going to be in his control. He’s a solid all-around player. There’s not a lot of flash in Ivan’s game — and that’s a compliment to Ivan. He thinks the game extremely well. He breaks the game down, there’s very little risk in Ivan’s game. He plays from the back end out, a very mature game.”
Prospect making the most progress: Oskar Lindblom
The 6-foot-1 forward from Sweden slipped to the fifth round of the 2014 draft, and the Flyers are excited about the progress he’s made since Philadelphia grabbed him.
He has 18 points in 28 games this season in Sweden, and is trending the right way.
“If you look at what he’s done in the last couple years, he’s on the upward track. He’s playing with the big team. We’re really happy with where he’s progressed,” said Flyers scouting director Chris Pryor. “He’s a lot bigger and stronger, and his skating has gotten better. The thing about Oskar is he always knew how to play the game. The kid has a great work ethic, head on his shoulders and you’re starting to see the fruit of his labors paying off.”
Provorov will be given every chance to make the Flyers’ roster out of camp next season, while Lindblom will likely come to North America after this season to play with the big club or in the AHL with Lehigh Valley.
