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Flyers are forward-happy at NHL draft

BUFFALO _ The Flyers were on the offensive in the NHL draft, taking forwards with seven of their 10 picks in Buffalo.

"We wanted speed, we wanted size, and we wanted skill," general manager Ron Hextall said. "Obviously it's not in every player, but we feel we got all three elements. We had enough picks, so obviously it's a lot easier to zero in....We're excited."

The Flyers also selected a promising goalie and two defensemen.

In the second round of Saturday's draft, they selected 6-foot-1, 174-pound center/right winger Pascal Laberge with the 36th overall pick. Laberge had a team-high 68 points (23 goals, 45 assists) in 58 games for Victoriaville in the QMJHL last season.

Laberge was taken with the draft pick the Flyers acquired from Winnipeg on Friday. Craig Button, TSN's draft guru, rated Laberge as the draft's 35th-best player.

"We feel he's high on character," Hextall said. "Very skilled. Some speed. He's a good all-around package."

The Flyers bypassed a chance to select exciting 5-foot-7 right winger Alex DeBrincat, who scored a combined 102 goals for OHL Erie over the last two seasons. Button had him ranked 21st, and he went to Chicago three picks after the Flyers selected Laberge.

Asked about DeBrincat, who had been projected as a first-round pick, Hextall said, "I don't want to talk about other team's players. That wouldn't be fair."

The Flyers took goalie Carter Hart (48th overall) and 6-1, 204-pound right winger Wade Allison (52d) with their other second-round picks.

The 6-1, 176-pound Hart, the first goalie taken in the draft, played in 63 WHL games for Everett last season and had a 2.14 GAA and .918 save percentage.

"His mental game is in order; his tools are in order," Hextall said. "He 's the type of kid who bounces back from a bad game. He has all the makings of someone who has the potential to be a No. 1 guy."

The Flyers now have seven goalie prospects, including  Anthony Stolarz and Alex Lyon. They took three goalies in last year's draft.

Allison, who has committed to Western Michigan, had a strong second half of the season and finished with 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) for Tri-City in 56 USHL games.

Allison is not related to former Flyer Ray Allison.

In the third round, the Flyers went for another power forward, drafting 6-foot-2, 198-pound left winger Carsen Twarynski. He had 20 goals and 45 points for WHL Calgary, where he was a teammate of Flyers prospects Travis Sanheim and Radel Fazleev. In fact, Twarynski was Fazleev's linemate for part of the season.

With their fourth-round pick (109 overall), the Flyers drafted 6-1, 208-pound center Connor Bunnaman, who had 10 goals in 67 OHL games with Kitchner.

After selecting Swedish defenseman Linus Hogberg (6-1, 176) in the fifth round, the Flyers added centers Tanner Laczynski (6-0, 190) and Anthony Salinitri (5-10, 168) in the sixth round.

They appeared to get good value on the centers. Button had Laczynski rated 99th (he went 169th) and Salinitri 84th (he went 172d).

David Bernhardt, a 6-3, 203-pound defenseman from Sweden, was the Flyers' seventh-round pick at 199.

In Friday's first round, the Flyers selected speedy two-way center German Rubtsov, starting their parade of new forwards.

Hextall said he was "shocked" that the first four players the Flyers drafted were still available.

The Flyers had 10 picks in the draft. They briefly added an 11th Saturday morning after Arizona gave them a conditional fourth-rounder (120th overall) from last year's Nick Grossmann trade.

But the Flyers then dealt the pick to the Islanders for a fourth-rounder at next year's draft in Chicago.

With the draft completed, Hextall will turn his attention to the free-agency period, which opens Friday. The Flyers don't have a lot of cap room and aren't expected to be major players.