Has anything changed for the Philadelphia Flyers draft strategy? Plus, more depth pick options!
it’s the lock on Flyers podcast for Thursday June 27th your daily dose of Flyers news analysis and high quality content that is wondering if this is the Calm before the storm or the craziness before the storm it’s both you’re locked on Flyers your daily podcast on the Philadelphia Flyers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey there and thanks for making lockdown Flyers your first listen every day I am Rachel Donner you can find me on Twitter at rium I’m here as always with Russ Cohen who’s on all your favorite social media apps at sportsology we are at lockon flyers on Instagram threads blue sky and Twitter as well today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply you can find us on YouTube or on the SiriusXM app or anywhere you listen to podcast subscribe to get our latest episode as soon as it’s available here on the locked on podcast Network your team every day uh it is the crazy Calm before the storm I guess if we combine them and we are going to get into some final predictions thoughts about the 12 overall pick and some overall draft thoughts plus some a depth pick options that are still on the table but no real update on mitchoff I think we’re expecting things to happen after the draft at this point just because it’s too much at once right it is probably middle of the month you know maybe by the 15th or something of July ju not this month I mean this month’s almost done yeah that’s true that is true but in the meantime uh the buyout window starts today so we got to keep our eye on that in terms of if the Flyers decide to take that option with anybody on the team plus there’s trade rumors uh abounding of course I think they get a little ridiculous at this time of year right they do uh this is when everybody says they do a story their team’s willing to trade to pick and and I laugh because most of the time it doesn’t happen we had one happen already of course that that’s fine uh but you know as an example like if I see something well the Leafs are willing to trade their 23d overall well on its own you’re not getting as much as you think whoever you are Mr Ryder you’re just not now if it’s packaged with something that’s fine but if you’re just trading that pick you’re not getting one of those two defenseman that Brad Sher living says good defenseman that he’s looking for it’s not going to happen that way so I think that’s where those articles are a little of skew now if you have a top 10 pick yeah then you’ve got some real currency as far as the Flyers go I think you know the weirdest one honestly is Marner and I think that is clickbait because yeah what would the point be of that at this point in the rebuild there’s no point and why would he do it no there’s no reason for him to do that at at this point um Brady Shay I you know I give that a thought but it just also the timing seems off no the timing’s off I mean he’s still a good defenseman he’s physical short um you know he’s not much of an offensive player anymore they you know the kaks have sucked the life that last bit of offense out of him so now he’s just you know a a rugged defenseman more of a shutdown physical guy I mean they already have they already have risto whether he could play or not that’s what they have it doesn’t make sense to expend assets to get him no not at all and of course the everpresent Jacob chran uh rumors do persist we talked about it yesterday in the sense that you know with the Senators making a deal forar you know the likelyhood of them doing another big deal involving their first round pick goes down a little bit uh but it I mean I would want this less than almost any other deal out there even to move up sure uh but I do think the likelihood of it happening isn’t great and I don’t think the return on it is is you know it’s like it’s not going to be worth it like you’re going to give up either a second or you’re going to give up some other player that you don’t feel you could sign and I I just don’t think they should do that right now it doesn’t just stay at 12 12’s a good spot don’t worry about what Ottawa does yeah I think this is definitely a worry about yourself kind of yes time here uh we also got some draft adjacent news related to your work Russ in Prospect and analysis in the announcement of a new CHL uh us prospects challenge which I think is really intriguing but uh what do you think about this national team development program versus CHL Allstars love it I’ll be there I think it’s fantastic uh you know it’s kind of like I guess what the all americ game used to be except now they’ve expanded it to to other places they’ve kind of been changing the format the last few years and now instead of having to travel in January to Detroit it’s November the weather’s a lot more certain so I’m all for it yeah so it will take place in November so it’ll be the development uh program team versus the CHL Allstar team but if an American or euro is on one of those CHL teams they can participate as well right right to Canadian players which I think is important right yes and and I think that you know they’re going to have a rotation with the ol and the Q and the WHL in terms of Hosting yep and I I love it I think it’ll be a lot of fun and and I do like that November time slot as well me too um it it’ll be good across the board now maybe they’re GNA still have the All American game in January I don’t know yeah they do if they do then what this you know because I was thinking about it maybe that’s not going to replace it maybe this is like when they don’t have the five nations I don’t know yeah I don’t know I know they’re getting rid of the CHL top prospects game this will replace that but supposedly the All-American Game will continue and okay I haven’t heard that yeah yeah so I don’t know what that’ll mean for the uh five nations game but yeah those aren’t every year anyhow so it does you know yeah see not there not at you know USA Hockey Arena they’re in other places right so more opportunities to see the prospects leading up to the draft for the next few years at least so that should be interesting uh we also got the uh formal announcement slash debut is I would say of the Fanatics jerseys for next season because of course the draft picks uh and tomorrow and Saturday’s draft will be given the new Fanatics jerseys and man they are working overtime to build confidence in these jerseys especially what why is that rage well because of the baseball situation Russ that was a huge mistake I think the the point they’re trying to emphasize here you know you can take it or leave it but the point they’re trying to make is that while the baseball jerseys they kind of redesigned in more of a vacuum they’ve actually taken player and equipment manager input here uh into consideration to the point that they tested a new design for the elbow and sleeve fabric because they got feedback about it and in fact the Flyers were part of that testing process uh last summer they wore some prototypes during uh practices in order to test it out so this is what they say but who knows well again not to throw cold water on it I kind of want to see them in action the same way we saw the baseball ones in action because that’s how you know until then it’s all just you know Photoshop as far as I’m concern they haven’t changed the design really at all you know aside from you know some of these slight adjustments with the feedback they got rid of the dimples though in the shoulder for the Authentics I could probably live with that uh I think the Authentics is the key right so I mean this is where the big conversation’s going to come in because if people are going to spend 250 bucks on it it it better be like stitched on numbers it better be all that stuff and if it’s not people are going to they’re not going to want it and I really want to see all the little details when it comes out because there’s a lot of Jersey people out there that care right that they collect these and so we’ll see that’s when we’ll really know right and they don’t go on sale to the public until September right but what we have been told is that there’s going to be instead of two levels of jerseys there’ll be three levels of jerseys so you know they have like the Breakaway ones that are the cheaper ones and that’s the ironon stuff and and the softer logo and all of that and they’ll have the women’s cut for that as well then they’ll have a premium which is basically like what the top level is now which is not authentic but then no but then there’s going to be an authentic pro which is exactly what the players okay but here’s the issue now with the fight strap and and everything no no I I understand what you’re saying but here’s the issue the issue is they’ve now created another level so they could raise the price on the authentic don’t disagree that there’s you know a financial implication here yeah and and that’s why no way would I buy an authentic until I see it and feel it and match it up I would actually bring in one of my old Authentics and match it up next to it and see just what’s what because I don’t know that it’s going to have the same weight I don’t know like I said if the stitching is going to be the same these things are really important uh to people they really are and so and you know there’s nothing worse than spending $350 on a jersey or a sweater whatever you want to call it and it and it gets to you and it’s screwed up it’s painful for people well for anybody going to the draft Russ you included if you have a chance to like get a little feel of of the jerseys when uh the new pick how am I gonna do that Rachel am I gonna just bump into mlin celeb when he’s at the serious booth and just say hey Ma Ma what do you think about can I feel it and they’re gonna be like user this they’re gonna be like Usher this guy out of here I think it’s a worthy question to ask no it’s not we have to talk about who’s going to be in those jerseys that we’re talking about especially I’ll do that for the Flyers uh we’re gonna ask our last questions and talk about that 12th overall pick coming up next it’s summer which always makes me think of baseball and especially with the Phillies having a ton of fun this season I want to be there in person as much as possible game time is an authorized ticket Market Place of Major League Baseball makes getting tickets faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch with killer last minute deals views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying those coveted MLB tickets in your town the summer concerts and more my favorite part of the game time app is that it’s great for getting notified about last minute Flash Deals and they let you save even more with Zone deals where you pick a section and let game time choose the seat for you best of all they have all-in pricing so there’s no surprise fees at checkout and your tickets are sent directly to your phone so you never have to dig through email download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem with the code locked on NHL for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guarantee on tomorrow’s show we’re going to have our final thoughts it’ll be draft day plus we’re going to talk about the NHL awards and your poll results for the week leading into the draft so for the 12th overall pick because this is the big one right this is the one that we’re focused on for the most part for the Flyers um with the fact that mitchoff is coming sooner do you think that the Flyers are going to change their priorities a little bit no I still think it’s defense or center it’s always going to be defense or Center yeah I think that has always been the plan and I think the center part of it does have mitchoff in mind to begin with but I think it just has it the whole team in mind too though yeah yeah of course it always did but I think it was you know they knew they had to have somebody at Center ready for when whenever mitchoff arrived and so that was part of the plan to begin with his coming sooner doesn’t change that right I feel like the the prognosticating community uh they’re too um they’re too like-minded that’s what I think and I I you know I myself have some different things obviously with Teddy STA and whatever and I feel like there’s not enough of that from the big mainstream ones and because again hey it’s your rankings I’m not telling you how to rank it I’m just surprised that it’s sort of more consensus than than usual I think yeah I I think so to a large degree I think you know when you go in the rankings when you go into the mock drafts I think there’s a when that’s when people diverge a little bit yes but in the rankings I feel like it’s been pretty consistent for a while now and they hasn’t been a ton of you know last minute risers or or fallers here I think that sort of happened about a month to six weeks ago yeah when the season ended for those players I think there was kind of a shift at that point when the when the playoffs ended in the CHL and you know the after the Frozen Four for some college players and you know all of that I think all that sure that’s when the big shift happened and things have not changed a ton since that and I find that interesting just because there’s usually somebody that shoots up last minute and is all of a sudden you think is gonna go like three or four instead of seven or right yeah no question I I I think that is true and I I just feel like even when I had to do my one mock on on Sirius that even Shane and I surprisingly we didn’t talk about it matched more than I thought we would just on the 12 13 we talked about and I was surprised at that and and if he didn’t have one guy in one spot I had that guy two other spots away like it was all really close now as we got past like 15 that’s when things kind of diverged right right I just think like there’s been some surprises in the like five to 10 range uh in past years and I just feel like that’s not going to happen here like the surprise will be you know helenius doesn’t go or he goes eight and but like the top 10’s going to mostly be what you think the top 10’s going to be with maybe one exception right and and so that’s what I’m talking about you could Shuffle the deck chairs however you want but I think it’s GNA be mostly the same guys I I’m wondering if there are deals to be made not just for the Flyers but at all because it feels like the league is ripe for it and it’s started but is that all before the draft like did all those teams that were going to do something get it out out of their system and were set or will there be more deals on drafting I think it’s mostly set I do think there’s always that possibility when one player is not picked by six or seven and a team is going to choose within the next three or four picks that they’re going to make a call so I think that’s still going to occur but for the most part I think stuff is set as far as that goes uh yeah it feels like it yeah I just I don’t get the other feeling now I’ll get to talk to GMS on um Thursday so I’ll see if you know I get a feeling I’ll put it up there on Twitter but most of the time you don’t and last year there were no trades at the draft now this year we already had so I don’t know it really could be over right so yeah I just think the Flyers will end up picking at 12 now what happens with the later pick I think is still a question for me um because is there going to be somebody late in the first round that they’re going to want move up a few spots for possibly or is are they going to be willing to trade it away because they know whoever will be available you know two picks later whatever they’re moving down to but I I I feel pretty strongly that they’re gonna pick at 12 and I guess I’ll eat those words if I’m wrong well that’s fine I’ll eat them too I mean I I would say this though I with like the stuff like send people are putting out there well you know the S might trade out of this year and go into next year obviously whoever’s doing that is targeting the Flyers because they have two first round picks next year but all I could tell you is this uh it doesn’t make sense for the Ottawa Senators to do that and to push development back another year now you got a goal you’re gonna try and make the playoffs this year that’s fine but you still are are building to some degree and it doesn’t make sense to push back a year of development trade a year back I I don’t know why they would do that yeah they just seem to be a more of a fixed things through trades team than a draft and develop and at some point that’s going to give right and they’ run into cat problems because of it yeah and so I I just don’t get that strategy yeah and I’m not sure that’s their strategy anymore we don’t really know with Steve stos until it actually happens this year so you have to keep an eye on that yep that is true so looking at that 12th overall pick um you know it’s impossible to predict who it will be and who will available at that time but you can make some educated guesses and you know the the Greater prognosticating Community has said that the most likely players for the people for the Flyers to take at 12 are Carter yakimchuk Berkeley katton which is shocking to me because I don’t think he’ll be available I don’t either but you never know it’s it’s slightly possible yeah and then uh conto helenus which is also not I think 100% likely would be surprising and I you know I I don’t want to be the one to outright just say something’s not gonna happen based on the list but the hockey news with G boam that has 0o percent chance of happening 0% Zer perc I know I saw that I was like nope it’s less than zero it’s really less than zero it’s never going to happen I wasn’t gonna bring it up but you did because it was on our sheet it’s on the list I I can’t ignore it right right but you know everybody else was pretty much uh consistent with those other options and you know I think they’re all good options for different reasons um I really my gut says they’re gonna go with the center for that topic if the if you know the right one is available but then they’ll go for the top defenseman available if the right center isn’t available I think that’s what you do yeah the I mean again you know I picked yakimchuk for a few reasons when people were asking me first was based on what the player said second based on the player feedback about the team third was if you think about it they’re they’re targeting a particular type of defenseman and they’re pretty sure he’s going to be broken away from the pack which I agree with yeah I don’t think there’s any chance he’s going top 10 so I think he’s a guy that was kind of easy to identify that they have a realistic chance of getting and would fill needs on the team and he’s his own tier in a lot of ways yes you know there’s like the top tier of defenseman there’s Carter and then there’s everybody else yeah too many picks below yeah so I I get it and he would be a really good addition to and I think that’s where that comes from the caten stuff comes from if he falls to them but again there’s no guarantee I mean you know mitchoff yes they took you know other guys they haven’t so I don’t know I don’t know if they would if they would take Ken I think they would but I don’t know that for sure they would have to make a heck of a choice there yeah absolutely all right well the Flyers will have to pick Beyond the first round and there’s some good depth options that Russ has his eyes on for the Flyers and we will get to those guys coming up next all right so Russ has a couple of these options one get to them right away Melvin fernstrom uh is a Swedish forward uh ranked kind of midc round to end of third round right now so yeah you know obviously as you go further in the draft the ranking like gets wider and wider for these guys but why’ you want to talk about him and why for the Flyers oh because again he um he kind of fits the bill at being a goal scorer and I feel like the Flyers are still looking for that to some degree and he’s overseas so they don’t have to worry about you know contract or anything for a little while he’s got good enough size you know he’s he’s got good speed but he he knows how to score he knows how to shoot from different angles if you start watching him you realize that that 31 goals in j20 is really good it stands out um both he and I weren’t sure if it was top of the league but it may have been and he’s going to try out for the xhl next year and you know he feels pretty good about that so you know the progression on him is really good like it’s and so yeah if you got him uh at some point in the second that’s a heck of a pick yeah he’s under contract in the shl for two more seasons but that’s fine because that’s a good development path for him um and like you said he’s he’s making the jump he did play a few games in the shl he did past season but um it’ll be his first real shl season upcoming and yeah you know he’s I think he’s not huge but he’s six feet and I think that’ll be important for him to develop into his size and you know figure out what kind of player he will be at the pro level in terms of physicality well I I will say yeah I would say that um according to you know huddle instat um 49% puck battles won 60% shots on net 60 that is fantastic yeah and he’s good Around the Net he he is so just something yeah I I really like him as an option and I like that he’ll have time to cook which is super important the art the full article is on sports.com if you want to check it out uh the other guy you wanted to talk about is Tanner Adams and he’s a lot closer a Long Island kid just like you I guess I do keep track of the Long Island guys and and he’s one um so what did you like about him well you know again he’s 5’11 um so you know similar size but I think that you know being part of the US development program very peripherally like not a permanent fixture there but at least having exposure to it is really good really good results in the USHL 33 point in 49 games played um managed to play a few playoff games with uh Five Points in four games so that’s pretty good considering the team got eliminated but he had good results there and he’s going to Providence College which is a a good program so that’s always a good indicator to me of you know if they’re going to play college that’s a smart move for a guy like him Connell is going to be there there’s a couple good players that are going there that that could score yeah I I mean I I I like his speed I think because the guys that get to break away from the program because they’re not getting enough playing time the right ice time the right whatever and could put up good numbers are guys that have really separated themselves from the pack in a way and so I think that was a positive thing for him to do because again you know you look at him and you say and and remember he played as a freshman this year at Providence and so like he wasn’t getting talked about playing as a true freshman and he had pretty good numbers he had like I don’t know 13 15 points if I remember something like that and and that’s good so you look at that and you say wow this guy’s already gotten exposed to college he’s you know not struggling there’s definitely upside here he’s played with elite players he’s already pretty sturdy at 183 probably going to get a little stronger because he gets to work out three days a week I’ll take him I’ll take him in the you know late second early third yeah and he’s a little on the younger side here for being a college freshman right it seems like he started a year early or you know because his birthday is early September right I don’t think it’s a year early it’s like me I’m an October birthday when I went to school and college I was 17 until October you know so it’s just it’s just the way it falls out birthday wise and but that does give a little extra Runway it does yeah and I I always like that in terms of of development um you know it remains to be seen if he could ever play center it feels like he’s a Winger it feels like a Winger um you know he can try at Center I guess he’s got a good shot he he’s one and I’ll just mention if you go to sports.com I just interviewed lonus Ericson he’s my last interview like that’s it until the draft I am done uh but he’s another swed who’s um got some good things to talk about and we talked about New York Bagels excellent he was the first New York Bagel uh player that we hinted about on yesterday show um I think you know looking at Erikson as another option um he is ranked a little bit lower I would say more toward end of second round so maybe he’s a third round option he could be a third or fourth um he’s going to go for another year in Al fensin but he’s also a center and he could be an excellent third line Center and he’s really good two-way and he’s starting to score more goals like he’s working on a shot he’s a playmaker and so those kinds of things uh he may take like it you know this one year in Alvin may turn into like some games in the shl then another season in the shl then it comes over and maybe plays a year in the AHL then then you got a shot and if he’s like a you know a third or fourth rounder I’m good with that yeah I I I love it so these are some good depth options for the Flyers to keep an eye on we’ll see what happens uh the Draft starts uh tomorrow so we will of course be following that closely we’ve got one more show until the draft begins we’ll be talking um more draft and NHL awards on tomorrow show that’ll do it for today if you have any mailbag questions for us uh heading into free agency next week I can’t believe we’re going to be talking about that it’s all just a whirlwind man I know I know um or you know postd draft questions about anything that may occur in the future that we don’t know yet let us know yeah maybe somebody forgets what somebody’s name is maybe you know you never know what’s gonna happen at the DFT I know especially in Vegas oh yeah let us let us know on Twitter lock down Flyers you can email us at lockdown Flyers Gmail or comment on our YouTube channel I’m Rachel I’m on Twitter at our Miriam that’s r m i r i a I’m Russell Matt sportsology s SP o r TS o l o g y lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube that’s also available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you 24/7 covering top sports stories of the day with local Experts of locked on plus National shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app have a great day everyone
On today’s show, Russ & Rachel talk about the latest machinations around the NHL prior to the draft including trade rumors, the opening of the buyout window, and more. We also talk about expectations for the new Fanatics jerseys to be launched at the draft. Then we dig into the Flyers draft options and if the strategy has changed with Michkov on the way.
Finally we profile depth pick options for the Flyers in forwards Linus Eriksson, Tanner Adams, and Melvin Fernstrom.
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