The past week has only been Maksim Sokolovskii’s first taste of action as a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, but if his performance against his peers says anything about his future, look out.
Sokolovskii, 17, was drafted 27th overall by the Flyers in the 2026 NHL Draft earlier this month, and while many bemoaned the choice because he fits the “big guy hits hard” mold, there is actually so much more depth to the 6-foot-7 defenseman’s game than that.
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At development camp, the London Knights product flashed everything he has to offer: effortless skating, strength, confidence, a good defensive stick, and… dangles with the puck on his stick!
No, really, Sokolovskii can do it all. This isn’t to say that the new Flyers prospect is a world-beater or finished product–far from it–but it should reinforce the Flyers’ belief that the defender has sky-high upside as a player.
Mechanically, Sokolovskii’s skating needs some work, and he can still be loose and awkward when handling the puck. The good news is that the Flyers have five or six years to develop that, on top of his superhuman size and strength.
Sokolovskii’s performance in the 3-on-3 tournament to finish out the Flyers’ development camp was his most impressive of the week by far, giving a glimpse of what he can be if everything goes right in his development.
Again, yes, it is a development camp against other prospects and camp invites.
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The highlight of the 2026 first-round pick’s morning was the penalty shot attempt he converted on draft classmate Martin Psohlavec, going backhand-forehand and scoring blocker side.
How did a defenseman like Sokolovskii get a penalty shot in a 3-on-3 game, you might ask?
The Kazakh defender was all over the ice, constantly getting north in open space to receive pucks and create offensive opportunities. Sokolovskii frequently demanded the puck from his teammates, and was astonishingly effective at creating offense from behind the opposing net–a long way from the point at the blue line.
It was easy to see Sokolovskii’s daredevil personality coming out on the ice; to draw the penalty shot, he made an audacious attempt at a between-the-legs shot on Psohlavec, drawing a hook from a back-checking defender in the process.
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With his absurdly long reach, Sokolovskii was also able to consistently create second- and third-chance opportunities, even after he and his teammates lost the puck or missed on a scoring chance.
The first of those resulted in a Jack Nesbitt goal from the high slot, with Sokolovskii supplying the assist from behind the net. Another came courtesy of Alex Bump a few shifts later.
“Sokolovskii, he likes to go, he actually likes to handle the puck. He has some things he’s going to have to learn, but we want him to be trying things, especially in this environment,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said after Friday’s tournament.
“You want him to try to make plays and get up ice and take himself out of his comfort zone. I think all these players, whenever you get to junior or the American league, you play safe and try not to make mistakes and all this stuff. When you’re a young player, especially junior and minor leagues, we want you to try things, just try to improve. Every player wants to be an offensive guy and score goals and make plays, and obviously they’re going to be defense-first, but then we want guys to join the rush. Modern-day NHL, you need guys coming in a second wave to score.”
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This is less about making Sokolovskii out to be Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, or even Zdeno Chara or Victor Hedman, and more about showing what his full potential could be like down the road.
Sokolovskii was one of the youngest players in the entire 2026 draft class, not turning 18 years old for another week, which leaves him plenty of developmental runway.
Naturally, Sokolovskii is the star of the show simply because of his anomalous size, but his development camp showing proved that he has quite the bag of tricks in his locker, too.
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