According to the team’s official website, the Philadelphia Flyers have signed left winger Carsen Twarynski to an entry-level contract. The details of the 20-year-old’s contract have yet to be released.
The Flyers selected Twarynski 82nd overall in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. In his fourth season in the WHL, he sits third on the Kelowna Rockets in scoring with 70 points behind Kole Lind (Vancouver Canucks’ prospect) and Dillon Dube (Calgary Flames’ prospect). His 43 goals leads the Rockets and puts him in a tie for ninth in the WHL in goal scoring this season. Of those 43 goals, 17 have been scored on the power play, which puts him in a three-way tie for third in the WHL.
Having played 66 games this season, Twarynski is a point-per-game player for the first time in his WHL career. After he posted 22 points in 58 games in 2014-15 and 45 points in 67 games during his draft year with the Calgary Hitmen, Twarynski hit 43 points in 64 games between the Hitmen and Rockets last season.
He’s a bigger player (6’2”, 198 pounds) who uses his size and physicality to his benefit. He has pretty good speed for a skater with his build, as seen in the Flyers’ rookie game earlier this season against the New York Islanders. According to Prospect-Stats, Twarynski has also used these skills to record 22 goals at 5-on-5 (tied for 17th among 88 forwards with at least 66 games played in the WHL this season), eight primary assists (tied for 59th), and 39 points (tied for 30th). He is also averaging 0.33 goals per game at 5-on-5 (17th across the same field) and 0.59 points per game (tied for 30th).
With Twarynski signed and Jordan Weal currently on the Flyers’ roster, the two assets general manager Ron Hextall acquired in his deal with the Los Angeles Kings back in January of 2016 (the Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn deal) are still part of the organization. Twarynski is also the fourth player from the Flyers’ 2016 draft class that has been signed to an entry-level contract. Of the remaining six draft picks, Anthony Salinitri is the only player that needs to be signed by June of this season. The group of Wade Allison, Linus Hogberg, Tanner Laczynski, and David Bernhardt don’t need to be signed until 2020.
