June 28, 2024
The Flyers were back on the clock to close out the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night in Las Vegas, but with the seconds ticking down, the ESPN cameras cut to the Philadelphia table and a smirking Danny Brière, which made it pretty clear that they weren't going to make that pick.
Instead, the Flyers traded the 32nd overall pick to the Edmonton Oilers for a conditional future first-rounder that will take hold either in 2025 or 2026.
Edmonton then used the pick to take London Knights center Sam O'Reilly, who was one of the potential options expected to be around for the Flyers by the end of the opening round had they held on to the selection.
Now, however, Brière and the front office will be eyeing a scenario where they could have up to three first-rounders in the 2025 draft, which is expected to be a much deeper class by comparison.
3️⃣ First Round Picks in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣.#NHLDraft | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/2KyQeR9NMB
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 29, 2024
The trade out of the first round, with the pick acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Claude Giroux trade made two years ago, caps off a curious night for the Flyers overall.
After the first 10 picks threw some heavy curveballs and saw some notable names like defenseman Zeev Buium and sharpshooting winger Cole Eiserman fall within the Flyers' grasp at 12th overall (their own pick), they instead elected to trade back a spot to 13 in a deal with the Minnesota Wild, which also netted them a 2025 third-rounder, and used the swap to take speedy Guelph Storm center Jett Luchanko – a name most didn't expect to go until the latter half of the first round.
Combined with the trade of their later first to Edmonton for another in the future, it all went toward making the Flyers' start to the 2024 draft feel a bit underwhelming, or at least at face value.
Last week, Brière, during his pre-draft media availability, did say that with the focus on the Flyers' long-term, it's the few years' worth of drafts combined that were going to be critical for the organization and not just 2024 on its own.
"Everything's on the table for us," Brière said. "We're looking at all kinds of options. When I talk to teams, we're not stuck in just one mode of trying to move up or trying to move back. I know there's teams that have called and said ‘Look, we want more picks. So, we're looking to move back and just get more shots.' But we have the picks, so it gives us more possibilities to do either or for us.
"But again, the three drafts – 23, 24, and 25 – are going to be critical for our future."
And now the Flyers are looking at possibly three first-round picks and up to 13 picks overall for the last one mentioned in that frame.
Here's an early glance at the Flyers' 2025 draft stock after Friday night:
• 1st: Own.
• 1st: Acquired from Colorado in 2024 trade of D Sean Walker.
• 1st: Acquired from Edmonton for 32nd overall pick in 2024 (conditional to 2025 or 2026).
• 2nd: Own.
• 2nd: Conditional pick acquired from Columbus in 2023 trade of Ivan Provorov after they elected to keep their selection in 2024, per The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.
• 2nd: Acquired from Anaheim in 2024 trade of F Cutter Gauthier.
• 3rd: Own
• 3rd: Acquired from Minnesota as part of deal for 12th overall pick in 2024.
• 4th: Own.
• 5th: Own.
• 5th: Acquired from Carolina in 2023 trade of F David Kase.
• 6th: Own.
• 7th: Own.
The Flyers will be back on the floor on Saturday for Day 2 of the 2024 draft, with seven more picks to work with during Rounds 2-7.
MORE: Flyers take C Jett Luchanko after sliding back to 13th in trade with Wild
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