Flyers' draft capsules

PITTSBURGH — Paul Holmgren said before flying to Pittsburgh that the Flyers would stick to their list in the 2012 draft. He really meant it.

According to the Flyers' brass, nearly every player they seemed to target in certain rounds was still available by the time they picked. For some teams, that would be a scary proposition, perhaps a sign that you may value players differently than the rest. The Flyers remained confident in their selections, believing they left the Steel City on Saturday with a healthy selection of new prospects to build around.

"I thought, going into the draft, we had a lot of guys identified in certain areas that we had an opportunity to get," Flyers director of hockey operations Chris Pryor said. "If we had to look from the first pick to the last pick, we had guys in each area that we got that we're extremely happy with."

Here's a glimpse into their picks:

SCOTT LAUGHTON

Round: 1st, 20th overall Position: Center

Age: 18 (May 30, 1994) Height: 6-0, Weight: 177 Birthplace: Oakville, Ontario Team: Oshawa (OHL) Skinny: Gritty, two-way player known for his work ethic and willingness to win puck battles ... Models his game after former Flyers captain Mike Richards and Phoenix' Shane Doan ... Ranked 28th by Central Scouting among North American-trained forwards ... Showed offensive upside with 53 points in 64 games after overcoming a slow start and a coaching change in Oshawa ... Scored the gold medal-winning goal for Canada in the Under-18 World Championships in 2011 ... Racked up seven fights and 101 penalty minutes last season ... Not overly big or fleet of foot, but has plenty of room to continue growing. Holmgren says: "We really liked Scott. I've seen him play a couple times. He kind of reminds me a little of Mike Richards and a little of Adam Henrique. He's just a good, solid, hard-nosed, two-way player. You never say never [about making the jump to the NHL next year]. He's a really, really smart player and very competitive. But I would suspect that he's planning on going back to junior. He'll be at our development, coming in on July 8 and we'll start the process."

ANTHONY STOLARZ

Round: 2nd, 45th overall Position: Goaltender

Age: 18 (Jan. 20, 1994) Height: 6-5 Weight: 210 Birthplace: Edison, N.J. Former team: Corpus Christi (NAHL) Committed: Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA) Skinny: Big, athletic goaltender who had the biggest wingspan of any player at the Scouting Combine (81 inches). He also finished in the top 10 in VO2 (lung) capacity ... Finished fourth in Central Scouting rankings among North American-trained goaltenders, up from 20th in the midterm rankings ... Did not have a team to play on last season before attending an open NAHL tryout camp in Albany, where he landed with the Corpus Christi (Texas) Ice Rays. He posted a .920 save percentage on a team that allowed an average of 32 shots per game. Stolarz says: "I think the Combine really helped me. I just tried my hardest and did my best in the interviews. I'm not in any rush, I want to develop in college and we'll see."

SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE

Round: 3rd, 78th overall Position: Defense

Age: 19 (March 20, 1993) Height: 5-11 Weight: 160 Birthplace: Margate, Fla. College: Union College Skinny: Posted more points (22) than all but one freshman defenseman in NCAA last season while leading the Flying Dutchmen to their first-ever Frozen Four ... Ranked as the 148th-best North American-trained skater ... He played on the same defensive unit as Greg Coburn, the younger brother of the Flyers' Braydon Coburn ... Union's first draft pick since 2004. Gostisbehere says: "I was surprised when I saw my name. I jumped off the couch because it's a team that has such great history and so much going for it. They're always a good team. I couldn't be more proud. I'm definitely more of an offensive defenseman, but I'm no slouch on defense, too."

FREDRIC LARSSON

Round: 4th, 111th overall Position: Defense

Age: 17 (July 4, 1994) Height: 6-3 Weight: 172 Birthplace: Karlstad, Sweden Team: Brynas Junior (Sweden) Skinny: Larsson collected four points in 14 games in the "Super Elite" series of Under-20 prospects in Sweden this year ... Decent size at 6-3, but did not finish among 120 best European-trained skaters in rankings.

TAYLOR LEIER

Round: 4th, 117th overall Position: Left wing

Age: 18 (Feb. 15, 1994) Height: 5-10 Weight: 174 Birthplace: Saskatoon, Sask. Team: Portland (WHL) On Twitter: @Leier22 Skinny: Strong rookie season in the Western Hockey League, collecting 37 points (13 goals and 24 assists) in 72 games with the Winterhawks ... Finished third among the team's 17-year-olds in scoring ... Ranked 131st among North American skaters. Leier had two scraps with Portland, according to HockeyFights.com ... Did not attend draft because he was representing Canada in the World Ball Hockey Championships.

REECE WILLCOX

Round: 5th, 141st overall Position: Defense

Age: 18 (March 20, 1994) Height: 6-3 Weight: 184 Birthplace: Surrey, BC Committed: Cornell University Skinny: Dropped a bit in the draft after being ranked 114th in the Central Scouting final rankings ... Known as a finesse defenseman ... Ranked 46th among college hockey draft prospects ... Enrolling in Cornell in the fall as a freshman.

VALERI VASILIEV

Age: 18 (May 31, 1994) Height: 6-1 Weight: 203 Birthplace: Moskva, Russia Team: Spartak Moscow (Russia) Skinny: A worthy value pick for the Flyers, who decided to take the 17th-ranked European ... Stock dropped considerably after a serious shoulder injury limited him to just 17 games last season ... Does not appear to have any relation to 1972 Summit Series star Valeri Vasiliev, who won an Olympic gold medal as a rugged defenseman and watched one slip away to the U.S. in 1980 in Lake Placid ... Though he lacks speed, Vasiliev loves to throw big hits.