The Philadelphia Flyers did well at the 2025 NHL Draft, but they were painfully close from going from good to great.
Flyers brass refused to give into their temptations, opting for star winger Porter Martone instead of a highly-coveted center prospect.
No big deal, said the Flyers, as they moved the 22nd and 31st picks to move up to 12th to draft Jack Nesbitt. They hope that, with the right improvements, the burly 6-foot-5 center can become a top-six center for the Flyers someday.
A hot start quickly faded on Day 2, as the Flyers' draft selections became redundant rather quickly.
Energetic wingers like Jack Murtagh and Shane Vansaghi will provide a much-needed physical boost along the flanks, and 6-foot-6 defenseman Carter Amico will ensure the Flyers never lack size, speed, and strength on the right side of their defense.
But, what about goalies? No left-shot defenders?
By the end of proceedings Saturday, the Flyers ended up with three centers, two right wings, two left wings, and two right-shot defenders.
This means that, in terms of prospects, the Flyers have only Emil Andrae, Adam Ginning (if you still consider him a prospect at age 25), Hunter McDonald, and Ty Murchison.
Plus, Egor Zamula, Andrae, Ginning, and McDonald are all out of contract at the end of the season. What's Plan B if none of these players pan out? The Flyers don't appear to be banking on that, but they should be at least considering it.
As for goalies, no additions there mean that it's still down to Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, Aleksei Kolosov, and Carson Bjarnason.
Egor Zavragin is under contract in Russia with SKA St. Petersburg for two more seasons, so the Flyers have no control over his development path until 2027 at the earliest.
Bjarnason will be playing pro hockey for the first time this season, while Ersson, Fedotov, and Kolosov have all flattered to deceive in their relatively short NHL tenures thus far.
Oh, and Ersson, Fedotov, and Kolosov are all on expiring contracts, too. So, not only do the Flyers not have an immediate solution in goal, but they have all their eggs in the basket of two guys for the future at this point in time.
The Flyers traded up for Nesbitt, optimistically a second-line center by their own admission, rather than taking a chance on Jackson Smith, a Penn State commit and a potential No. 1 defenseman who ultimately went 14th to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Kashawn Aitcheson, who also fits the Flyers' identity, went 17th to the New York Islanders.
The Flyers added a solid winger prospect in Murtagh at the 40th slot, but the Carolina Hurricanes started the run on goalies one pick later with their selection of Semyon Frolov.
After the Vancouver Canucks took Aleksei Medvedev at Pick 47, the Flyers were left with Vansaghi as their best remaining option.
Fast-forward to the end of the round, and the Flyers added another high-floor, low-ceiling center in Matthew Gard, only for two-time U18 World Juniors champion goalie Jack Ivankovic to go to Nashville with the following pick.
A few picks later, at the top of the third round, left-shot defenders like Kurban Limatov and Mace'o Phillips came off the board, as did goalie Michal Pradel.
So, while the Flyers went above and beyond to fill some needs, they also completely neglected others in the process. And I would argue that those others were easier to fill given the assets at hand.
Now, with a key phase of the rebuild in the books, the Flyers must pivot towards the future with other potential solutions and ideas keenly in mind.
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