Flyers grab 6-6 winger by jumping up in the draft

CHICAGO — Ron Hextall went against his usual strategy Saturday.

The Flyers' general manager is fond of stockpiling draft picks, but he felt so strongly about the player he wanted — big left winger Isaac Ratcliffe — that he dealt three selections to the Arizona Coyotes at the United Center.

Hextall moved up in the second round to the 35^th overall spot, and he nabbed the 6-foot-6, 200-pound Ratcliffe.

"He's a prototypical kind of power forward," Hextall said. "He doesn't quite have the power part down yet in terms of his body. He's got to put some weight on and add strength. But he's a young kid, and he's raw. And like I said, we're really excited about him."

The Flyers sent their second-round pick (44^th overall) and their 75^th (third round) and 108^th (fourth round) selections to the Coyotes. The latter pick was acquired from Tampa Bay in the Mark Streit deal.

"When you really like a guy, you go after him, and that's what happened," said Hextall, who said he considered taking Ratcliffe with the 27^th overall pick in the first round Friday but instead drafted center Morgan Frost in that spot. "He fit one of our positional needs. He's got real good size. He plays hard. He can score goals."

Hextall said Ratcliffe has "some work to do" before developing into an NHL player, "but we really like his upside and his attitude."

Playing for Guelph in the Ontario Hockey League, Ratcliffe had 28 goals and 54 points in 67 games last season.

He was rated as the 27^th-best prospect by draft expert Bob McKenzie and 47^th by draft guru Craig Button.

"I'm numb," said Ratcliffe, adding he has known Flyers winger Travis Konecny for a while. "It's going to be awesome."

Ratcliffe said the draft was "unpredictable" and that he didn't know if he would go in the first round Friday or slip into Saturday's rounds.

"I'm just unbelievably proud and excited to say that I'm now a Flyer," he said. "It feels surreal."

Ratcliffe said he needs to gain weight and get stronger "to get to the next level."

"I believe I can be one of the top players in this draft with my size and with my talent and with my progress in the future," Ratcliffe said.

Ratcliffe said the Flyers were one of the first teams to interview him at the recent scouting combine in Buffalo. He has played left and right wing and center.

The London, Ontario, native said he tries to model his game after Rick Nash's.

"He's a big guy like myself, and I think he moves well," Ratcliffe said. "He has that offensive instinct, but he can play well in the defensive zone, too."

Overall, the Flyers took seven forwards (three centers, three left wingers, one right winger), a defenseman and a goalie among their nine selections in the two-day draft.

They sent one of their seventh-round picks to Montreal for a selection in the same round next year. With the selection, the Canadiens took goalie Cayden Primeau, a Voorhees resident and the son of former Flyer Keith.

The Flyers drafted Russian goalie Kirill Ustimenko with their third-round selection (80th overall) in a pick they acquired in the 2015 deal that sent Zac Rinaldo to Boston.

The 6-foot-3, 179-pound Ustimenko was ranked fifth among European goalies by the NHL's Central Scouting. In 27 games with MHK Dynamo last season, he had a 1.74 GAA and .938 save percentage.

"We were surprised he fell there," Hextall said. "Our guys really liked him."

Hextall was also pleasantly surprised to be able to draft left winger Matthew Strome in the fourth round (106th overall). He was ranked as the 44^th-best prospect by Button.

Strome has good bloodlines. The 6-4, 206-pounder is the brother of NHL players Ryan and Dylan, and he scored 34 goals for Hamilton in the Ontario Hockey League last season.

Strome said he would use his drop to the fourth round as a motivation "to prove people wrong."

Hextall said Strome's "skating has to improve. But he's a good hockey player. He's got good size, and he makes plays and can score goals. … He has one deficiency he can really focus on, but we really like where we got him."