Skip to content
Flyers
Link copied to clipboard

Flyers can cash in on Carter trade with strong No. 8 pick tonight

ST. PAUL, Minn. - For nearly 2 years, the Flyers' farm system has been consistently ranked at the bottom of the NHL. As recently as March, The Hockey News placed the Flyers 30th of 30 teams for viable prospects.

James van Riemsdyk is one of nine Flyers first round picks since 2000 playing in the NHL. (Kiichiro Sato/AP)
James van Riemsdyk is one of nine Flyers first round picks since 2000 playing in the NHL. (Kiichiro Sato/AP)Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. - For nearly 2 years, the Flyers' farm system has been consistently ranked at the bottom of the NHL. As recently as March, The Hockey News placed the Flyers 30th of 30 teams for viable prospects.

A panel of 18 scouts gave the organizational depth chart a C-minus grade, the lowest in the NHL.

They haven't had a first-round pick since 2008. Like the Phillies, the Flyers mortgaged a lot of their future to make a run at a championship.

That organizational philosophy changed in a big way yesterday, namely when the Flyers acquired the No. 8 overall pick from Columbus in the trade for Jeff Carter, virtually assuring that the Flyers will leave the Xcel Energy Center tonight after the first round with a solid prospect. Before yesterday, the Flyers' first pick at this weekend's draft was in the third round, No. 84 overall.

"Our scouts are excited," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "It's the first time we've picked in the first round in a long time. I think we're very well prepared. We may even interview a few guys that perhaps we didn't get at the combine in Toronto a few weeks back, or reinterview guys."

The Flyers also acquired Columbus' third-round pick (No. 68 overall) in the Carter deal. In addition, they have two picks in the fourth round (Nos. 116 and 118 from Tampa Bay), along with one in each of the sixth (176th) and seventh (206th) rounds.

Although Holmgren said this is not a particularly deep draft, he called the prospects "fairly decent" earlier this week.

"There are a lot of good players, and I think there are some players that, if they are drafted on the right team, they will have the chance to play right away," Holmgren said. "I think that's a good thing."

Holmgren said the Flyers were open to drafting the best player available, regardless of position, but could probably use a little help on defense.

"We have a couple of older guys on the back end, Kimmo [Timonen] and Chris [Pronger]," Holmgren said, "but we do have some guys that are fairly young."

Truthfully, they lack an NHL-ready prospect at almost every position in Adirondack. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson played a few games this season, but was sent down after a shaky performance and was not used in the playoffs.

Holmgren said the best players are available within the top 17 picks, after which there is a big drop-off.

"When you get going to 17 or 18, you're probably looking at . . . who knows, you might get the same player after 45 or 50," he said. "It's just that much of a crapshoot."

If there is one thing that is Holmgren's strong suit, it would be the draft. Every single one of the Flyers' first-round picks since 2000 - Justin Williams (now in Los Angeles), Jeff Woywitka (Dallas), Joni Pitkanen (Carolina), Carter, Mike Richards, Steve Downie (Tampa Bay), Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, and Luca Sbisa (Anaheim) - is playing in the NHL.

Even without a pick until the third round while the NHL Combine went on in Toronto earlier this month, the Flyers still did their due diligence and interviewed and scoped out a slew of potential candidates. That preparation will pay off tonight, as the Flyers will not need to rely on finding diamonds in the rough with undrafted free agents to try and fill out their depth chart.

"The lack of draft picks," Holmgren said, "has probably, I don't want to say set us back, but would make the outside looking at us think that way."

Not anymore. *