May 26, 2016
After the playoffs ended and Flyers cleaned out their lockers, there hasn’t been much going on with the Orange and Black. There is a Game 7 later tonight during which the entire Delaware Valley will be Tampa Bay Lightning fans, but that’s about it.
Anyway, let’s take a break from the Simmons-Ingram debate for a minute to look at a few NHL mock drafts and see who is projected to fall to the Flyers at the 18th pick. Remember that Travis Konecny went 24th last season and he can do stuff like this (via Sons of Penn):
A decade ago, the Flyers selected Claude Giroux with the 22nd overall pick, so you can definitely get high-level players in the back end of the first round. Projections are a bit all over the place, but here are some of the names you could be hearing on June 24th:
The Flyers opt for duty over dazzle with a versatile 'plug-and-play' forward whose contributions usually go beyond the score sheet. Led Wisconsin with impressive 19 goals as freshman.
The Flyers need depth down the middle behind Claude Giroux, and Kunin could be that player. He’s a feisty, aggressive forward and captain material. Strangely, the Badgers played him at left wing this season.
Luke Kunin not Auston Matthews, was captain for Team USA's Under-18 Team at the World Junior Championships. Kunin had 6 assists in 7 games for Team USA so that will get him drafted in the top 20 with many teams having Kunin graded out as a top 20 prospect.
My take: Over at ESPN Insider, Corey Pronman has the University of Wisconsin freshman ranked 16th overall, so this falls right in range with that. From the sound of things, Kunin is a pretty safe pick.
Gauthier has slid down draft boards in the second half of the season after being seen as a sure-thing top-15 pick in November. He's still a pretty coveted player, and would fit in well in the Flyers system because of his size (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) and high-end skill; currently, the pipeline is stacked on defense and has a good, small center in Travis Konency.
My take: Well, Ron Hextall mentioned that he was looking to add size and playmaking up front. We’ll see if he’s able to do that in free agency, but Gauthier would fit the bill.
-- My NHL Draft
My take: More size, and more physicality, this time from a loaded junior team already in the finals of the Memorial Cup. Jones is known as a player that isn’t afraid to throw his body around. In fact, Jones was suspended 12 games earlier this year for this vicious hit:
He’s smallish at 6-foot, 165-pounds, but he can skate and move the puck with some creative flash. The Flyers are perpetually on a search for talented young D-men, and he might develop just in time to replace the skill set of Mark Streit. His 24 goals led all CHL defensemen this past season.
My take: It would be a bit surprising if the Flyers go defense, but we know that they’ve watched Bean play quite a bit. He was Travis Sanheim’s defense partner in juniors.
-- Tim Daniels, Bleacher Report
My take: Again, it would be interesting if the Flyers took a defenseman. McAvoy, a Long Island native, is ranked 26th overall by Pronman.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
