If you want the Philadelphia Flyers to draft the No. 1 center of their future with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, you’ve already been warned not to get your hopes up.
Wisely, some might say, the Flyers are keeping their options open ahead of the draft later this month. After all, it was only a year ago that the decision to trade down and pass on Zeev Buium to select Jett Luchanko tore through the fanbase like wildfire.
When the Flyers did so, they chose need over value. This was publicly communicated beforehand, as GM Danny Briere suggested they would take a center if a center and a defenseman were tied in rank on their draft boards.
Now, the Flyers are indicating the opposite with four weeks to go before the draft.
“We obviously are aware,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said of the talent issue at center, as quoted by Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “But there’s also a couple other players that it’s going to make it hard. There’s a couple wingers, and even a defenseman, that could be in the mix. You’ve got to be careful not to go by a top line player potentially, just for position. That’s the challenge we’ll face.”
Flahr and the Flyers have been earmarked to draft a center with their top draft pick for months now, with top options comprised of the likes of James Hagens, Michael Misa, Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, Jake O’Brien, Roger McQueen, and Brady Martin.
The fact that Flahr is already willing to look past a glaring need at the position suggests there are multiple centers on that list who are quite low on their draft boards relative to the consensus.
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McQueen, for example, has struggled with back issues, and teams will be eager to test him out at the NHL combine and get a better feel for his health going forward now that he’s been cleared for testing.
On the flanks and on the back end, the Flyers could very well still find some studs. A “couple wingers” likely refers to Swede Victor Eklund, the younger brother of William Eklund, and Canadian Porter Martone, who has drawn some stylistic comparisons to Matvei Michkov.
The mention of a defenseman could just be Flahr being coy about Matthew Schaefer, who is generally considered to be the premier player in this class but could be available if the Flyers trade up with the San Jose Sharks to acquire the No. 2 pick, as some rumors have previously suggested.
Some mock drafts, including one from NHL.com, have connected Barrie Colts defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson to the Flyers at No. 6, but more realistic options at that draft slot include the smooth-skating, 6-foot-3 Jackson Smith or the towering, two-way giant in the 6-foot-6 Radim Mrtka.
After losing three recently drafted defense prospects, including two from the 2023 draft, the Flyers are badly hurting for some young defensemen in their system, even after selecting Spencer Gill and Austin Moline in 2024.
Is that reason enough to potentially pass on the No. 1 center of your future? For the Flyers, it’s at least on the table after last year’s controversy.
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