For weeks, everyone in and around the National Hockey League knew the order teams were selecting in round one of the NHL draft Friday night in Buffalo. It wasn’t a huge surprise where various teams were picking, with the Flyers set to pick in the twenty-first slot. Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere, assistant general manager Brent Flahr, and the entire Flyers scouting staff have various game plans as to which player might be available at that selection. Or whether it would be wiser for the club to trade down if a player they wanted could be picked later. Most importantly, the organization could start kicking the tires with various teams ahead of them to see about possibly moving up in the first round, and picking a more impactful player. At least, that was the plan on Monday.
However, in the last seven days, there was plenty of trades. And plenty of first-round picks moving to different teams. On June 17, Buffalo acquired the twentieth pick from San Jose while sending off defenseman Michael Kesselring. So any preliminary talks Briere might have had with Sharks general manager Mike Grier about swapping slots went out the window. On June 21, Florida acquired the twenty-fifth pick from Seattle, then took that pick and the Panthers’ ninth-overall pick as part of a package to acquire Brady Tkachuk from the Senators hours later. On June 23, that newly-acquired ninth-overall pick Ottawa owned headed to San Jose when Ottawa landed William Eklund in a trade. As well, St. Louis acquired the sixteenth-overall pick as part of a package from Washington in shipping off Jordan Kyrou. And last but not least, Buffalo landed the fourth-overall pick (and other pieces) from Chicago in a trade that included Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway.
Having said all that, there are new homes for the fourth, ninth, sixteenth, and twentieth picks. Meaning, most likely, those clubs are intent on keeping those picks when the draft gets underway on Friday evening. That means, of course, it probably got more arduous for Philadelphia to try and trade their way up in the first round. Not impossible, just a bit harder. Especially for a team with only four picks in seven rounds this year.
Picks 11-16 already spoken for?
As of now picks 11 through 16 run as follows: St. Louis, New Jersey, the Islanders, Columbus, St. Louis, and St. Louis. So the idea that Briere would be able to swing a deal with a fellow Metropolitan Division rival in the Devils, Islanders, or Blue Jackets — at least without the price being quite high — seems remote. Although those three teams weren’t part of any trades for first-round picks picks in the last day or two, those picks would most likely be off the table in terms of trading up. Which means the Blues would be the other team in that range.
Having three of six picks that high gives St. Louis plenty of leverage. They could package those picks to move into the top ten if the right deal came along. Or they could parcel out one or two of those picks to acquire players that fill immediate needs. Regardless, the Flyers are competing with a bevy of teams trying to get or bend the ear of Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to see what it might take to get the eleventh, fifteenth, or sixteenth pick. And that gives a club like the Blues an advantage. One only has to go back to last year’s draft to remember that Philadelphia had three first-round picks, using two of them in a trade with Pittsburgh to move up into twelfth spot to land Jack Nesbitt.
Another aspect concerning St. Louis is the fact Armstrong has reportedly rebuffed offers for center Robert Thomas. Thomas is the highly coveted forward that Philadelphia most likely has on a short list regarding possible centers that could fit with the Flyers. So any trade with the Blues for Thomas would need the Flyers to move one or two current Flyers most likely. With three picks that high for St. Louis, the twenty-first pick alone doesn’t really give Philadelphia any leverage.
Has to make sense but can’t empty the cupboards
If there’s one phrase that has epitomized Briere’s approach in rebuilding the Flyers, it’s that any move, trade, signing, or pick-up, has to make sense. Briere hasn’t really made a lot of wild, off-the-wall acquisitions. So, unless the Flyers can move up in the first round without it costing a lot, Philadelphia shouldn’t be in the mindset of needing to trade up simply for the sake of it. The idea of trading any young and promising prospect like a Nesbitt, Matvei Michkov, or Porter Martone for anyone seems asinine. On top of that, it seems far-fetched to think the Flyers could move up into the top five or top three without Toronto, San Jose, or Vancouver — three teams who could certainly use a Gavin McKenna, Chase Reid, Caleb Malholtra, or Ivar Stenberg — wanting two or three key pieces off Philadelphia’s current puzzle.
Another factor to consider is where Philadelphia is in its rebuild. While not trading their picks for players who can help them in October, the club isn’t starting off on the ground floor right now. They’re not tearing things down to the studs. Or laying the foundation, resulting in another three or four years of non-playoff hockey. Philadelphia wants to get better, and part of that improvement might come in free agency. Or, in those precious few days after the draft but before July 1, where a club who still owns the player’s rights could get something for the player heading out. Although it seems remote, could Detroit’s Dylan Larkin expand his list of teams he wants to go to, thus giving the Flyers a chance to land him? And if he was so inclined, would it make sense to trade a piece this week to move up a few slots in the draft when that same piece could be part of a package to get an impact, top-line center in Larkin?
On the whole, if Briere was going to pull the trigger on a deal — whether at the draft or afterwards — it seems he’d be more inclined to land a player who can help the club this coming season and beyond. That’s not to say the Flyers are looking at a two-year or three-year window to win it all. And if another Porter Martone was available at this year’s draft and they could reasonably land him, they’d do it. But it appears that they are no longer wanting to take a dramatic step back in their direction. They want to keep this going forward. Thus the need to keep things rolling towards more playoff appearances and deeper runs heightens. Losing roster players to wait for a forward who might not wear a Flyers jersey for two or three seasons isn’t the way to remain competitive.
Overall, the Flyers didn’t have the picks this coming draft that they did in previous years. They will have two first-round picks (most likely) in 2027. And have plenty of time to add other second-round or third-round picks down the road. As it stands now, Briere and the Flyers weren’t in the best position to trade up into the top tier of picks this year. They would’ve been doing good to trade up five to eight spots to land a good prospect. But the trades the last few days has made that notion seem more of a dream than anything based in reality.
