Many Philadelphia Flyers fans want to sign a player like Florida Panthers standout Sam Bennett in free agency, but what if they draft one who is much younger instead?
Various reports have indicated that Bennett, the leading goal-scorer in the NHL playoffs, could receive up to $10 million a year on the open market.
The problem is that the Flyers are still rebuilding, and even with the amount of cap space they’ll soon have, that kind of signing wouldn’t make much sense. Bennett will turn 29 years old before the end of the month and would, in turn, become the Flyers’ highest-paid player at that price point.
He’s never scored 30 goals in a regular season campaign, and has a career-high of 51 points.
The 2025 NHL Draft, on the other hand, could present the Flyers with some more interesting, cheaper, and younger options to get a Sam Bennett of their own.
On Friday, at the NHL Scouting Combine, top NHL draft prospect Brady Martin revealed that he’s met with the Flyers for dinner, which, of course, indicates a fairly high level of interest from Philadelphia.
He’d be the stereotypical Flyer, and one who evoked comparisons to Bennett on his own accord.
“I’m a hybrid between Sam Bennett and Tom Wilson,” Martin was quoted as saying by Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports.
Martin, 18, has already been mocked to the Flyers by some draft experts, including Craig Button, who notably predicted Jett Luchanko to the Flyers in 2024.
The Elmira, Ontario, native just finished his second full season with the Soo Greyhounds, scoring 33 goals, 39 assists, and 72 points in 57 games. Martin added two goals and two assists in five playoff games, and racked up three goals, eight assists, and 11 points for Canada at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship en route to a Gold medal and an All-Star team appearance.
It was this tournament that catapulted Martin atop the draft boards of many NHL teams, and the Flyers appear to be one of them.
The 6-foot center is expected to be available when the Flyers are on the clock at Pick 6; Martin is currently ranked as high as sixth and as low as 28th based on rankings pooled by EliteProspects.
He may not be the most talented on the board, but he checks all the boxes when it comes to intangibles, intensity and physicality. New Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was a fan of one of his former Vancouver Canucks players, J.T. Miller, for this reason.
The Flyers, too, have an affinity for that kind of stuff, and it could make all the difference at the NHL draft later this month.
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