Flyers to draft 11th
Forget about defenseman Seth Jones being a member of the Flyers.
The Flyers did not win the draft lottery _ a.k.a. the Jones Sweepstakes_ Monday night and will still select 11th on June 30.
The last time the Flyers had the 11th overall pick was in 2003, when they chose Jeff Carter.
Colorado won the lottery and will undoubtedly select Jones, who, coincidentally, learned how to skate while growing up in Denver. His father, Popeye, played in the NBA with the Nuggets (among others) and later was an assistant coach with the team.
Florida will pick second. The Panthers had the worst record, but Colorado _ which had the second-worst record _ had the luck on its side.
By scoring a season-ending 2-1 win in Ottawa on Saturday, the Flyers fell from eighth to 11th in the draft.
Chris Pryor, the team's director of hockey operations, said this is a "very deep draft" and that the Flyers will get a high-quality player.
If the Flyers landed a player like the high-scoring Carter, "we'd be ecstatic," Pryor said.
The Flyers have a need on defense, but Pryor said they will select the best player available because "what can be a strength on your team today can be a weakness tomorrow."
Defensemen Darnell Nurse (Donovan McNabb's nephew), Ryan Pulock, Rasmus Ristolainen , Mirco Mueller and Robert Hagg are among the highly rated players who may be available at No. 11.Ditto forwards Sean Monahan, Frederik Gauthier, Hunter Shinkaruk, Valentin Zykov and Elias Lindholm.
"We're excited about who could be there," Pryor said.
Contact Sam Carchidi at scarchidi@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @BroadStBull