When it comes to system depth, the Flyers are considerably stronger at wing than they’re at heart. Nevertheless, Flyers normal supervisor has pledged that the group will take whichever out there participant is on the high of their inside rankings of Draft-eligible prospects when their first choice comes up within the first spherical. Whether or not the participant is a middle, winger or defenseman is not going to be the deciding issue.
In our take a look at a number of the most notable facilities out there on this yr’s Draft, we famous that a number of are “swingman” candidates who might find yourself primarily taking part in on a wing within the NHL even when they’re at present listed as facilities.
For this version, we’ll take a look at 5 pure wingers. Whereas it isn’t remarkable for a junior winger to be transformed to a middle on the professional degree — longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux being probably the most notable Philly instance — that is much less frequent than a junior league heart or swingman change into unique wingers within the NHL. For instance, longtime Flyers star left winger Simon Gagne was a middle within the QMJHL. Present Flyers winger Travis Konecny performed each heart and proper wing within the OHL.
Within the projected defenseman-heavy high half to high 18 of the 2024 Draft, listed here are 5 wingers who might hear their identify known as in Vegas on Friday:
Ivan Demidov (RW, SKA St. Petersburg, KHL)
Demidov is commonly in contrast by followers and scouts to present NHL star Kirill Kaprisov or to a different participant who got here up by the SKA growth chain: Flyers 2023 first-round choose Matvei Michov. Demidov has a really excessive offensive ceiling, though Michkov made a faster affect offensively within the KHL.
Demidov spent many of the 2023-24 season at Russia’s junior degree (MHL, 30 video games). He additionally noticed 4 video games within the KHL high professional and wearing one recreation on the minor league professional (VHL) degree. Conversely, Michkov spent a mixed 30 video games within the KHL between SKA and HC Sochi in his Draft-eligible 2022-23 season.
If Demidov comes near maximizing his potential, he’s able to turning into a high-end scorer within the NHL. Different areas of his recreation want work as he good points expertise however the 6-foot, 192 pound winger is taken into account to be a possible top-three (probably even high two) to top-five choose primarily based upon his expertise degree. He is particularly lethal in transition.
Beckett Sennecke (RW, Oshawa Generals, OHL)
Sennecke rose with a bullet in pundit Draft projections throughout the second half of the 2023-24. There’s nonetheless some rawness to his recreation however Sennecke has a projectable NHL 6-foot-2 body that ought to fill out within the subsequent few years. He’s prepared to go to the arduous areas of the ice. competes for the puck in all three zones and has proven the potential each to complete and arrange performs.
Sennecke has change into a well-liked choose to land within the high half of the primary spherical on this yr’s Draft, even amongst some who see his upside primarily as a future top-six complementary linemate to a high-end heart.
Cole Eiserman (LW, USNTDP)
Eiserman entered the 2023-24 season extensively thought-about to be a possible top-two Draft candidate for this yr’s Draft. Though he went on to set a brand new USNTDP scoring document, Eiserman fell out of the projected top-10 (in some circumstances, out of the projected top-half) of the 2024 Draft based on the pundits.
Eiserman is a divisive participant in a lot the identical vogue as longtime NHLers Phil Kessel, though they don’t seem to be clones as gamers. Eiserman, like Kessel, has A+ palms and the power to attain in bunches. He may also end from vary. Eiserman has extra of a bodily dimension than Kessel.
Nevertheless, Eiserman has simply as many critics as admirers, starting from his total contributions if not scoring, to coachability, to motor. For these causes, he went from a pre-season “slam dunk” for a top-five choose to a wildcard who could possibly be taken off the board early or might slide into the middle-round territory.
Liam Greentree (LW, Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
So long as Greentree can work round some skating deficiencies — in a lot the identical vogue as Flyers winger Tyson Foerster — he has all of the instruments to change into in affect ahead within the NHL sometime. He is already bodily mature (6-foot-3, 210 kilos), confirmed the power each to make performs (54 assists) and the potential to complete (34 objectives) as effectively.
Defensively accountable, unafraid of battling for pucks or taking part in by contact, and already displaying management potential, Greentree has most of the parts of a traditional energy ahead however he additionally possesses extra finesse to his recreation to simply categorize with that label. Huge-and-skilled is a horny mixture of attributes for many organizations, however the skating points are one thing the participant might want to tackle over the following few seasons.
Andrew Basha (LW. Medication Hat Tigers, WHL)
Pundit Draft projections for Basha are inclined to vary anyplace from the top-18 to the early second spherical. Nevertheless, it will not be a shock if he comes off the board nearer to the entrance finish of that vary.
Playmaking wingers are usually valued a little bit decrease than goal-scoring sorts, however Basha additionally possesses effectively above-average velocity. He has a projectable middle-six upside within the skilled recreation.
Though Basha is a pass-first sort of attacker, he may also rating opportunistic objectives. He completed the 2023-24 season with 30 objectives (55 assists and 85 factors in 63 video games) throughout the common season. He scored three objectives and added two assists in 5 playoff video games as his group was knocked out by the Crimson Deer Rebels within the first spherical of the 2024 playoffs. His No. 1 asset, nonetheless, is his creativity with the puck and his deft passing contact.
Basha possesses common dimension (listed at 6-0 and 185 kilos by some sources, 5-foot-11, 175 kilos by others). He’s a late-year birthday participant (born Nov. 8, 2005), which is one thing that works in opposition to him in public rankings.
Different names to observe: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (Mora IK, Allsvenskan), Teddy Stiga (USNTDP), Ryder Ritchie (RW, Prince Albert Raiders), Igor Chernyshov (Dynamo Moscow, KHL).
