Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Flyers getting younger, but don't dare call it rebuilding

Trading Brayden Schenn means rookie Oskar Lindblom could end up as a top-six winger.

Sweden’s Oskar Lindblom celebrates scoring against Slovakia during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Sweden’s Oskar Lindblom celebrates scoring against Slovakia during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.Read moreRONI REKOMAA

CHICAGO — Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is betting on the future, plain and simple.

Oh, he isn't exactly throwing in the towel on the 2017-18 season, but he clearly views it as a rebuilding year.

Right?

Hextall almost choked at the suggestion.

When you run a professional sports team, as Hextall does, you want to wash out a person's mouth with soap if they use the dreaded r-word.

"We're getting younger, but rebuild? Absolutely not," Hextall said forcefully after the two-day draft ended Saturday at the United Center. "We have young players, and at some point here we have to open up opportunities for them to play. … We feel we have some young players who, if they're not ready, they're close. But rebuild? Absolutely not. Methodically getting younger? Yes."

By trading Brayden Schenn, one of the few Flyers forwards who was a dependable scorer the last two years, Hextall opened a top-six spot for a young left winger (hello, Oskar Lindblom) and improved his already strong farm system.

Coach Dave Hakstol said he envisions a lot of Schenn's minutes "going to a young player or two or three. … Not only guys that are new to us this year, but even a guy like Travis Konecny. Guys like that can benefit from more minutes."

Schenn, whose 17 power-play goals were tied for the most in the NHL last season, struggled in five-on- five play. He was sent to St. Louis for two first-round picks and Jori Lehtera, a veteran center with a $4.7 million cap hit — or about $671,000 for each of the seven goals he scored last season.
St. Louis couldn't wait to unload Lehtera's contract, which has two years remaining. Schenn has three years left on a deal that has an annual $5.13 million cap hit.

The Flyers finished 20th out of 30 teams in scoring last season and, even with expected increased production from Konecny (11 goals last year) and Shayne Gostisbehere (seven), among others, it won't be easy to replace Schenn's 25 goals.

It also won't be easy finding ice time for so many centers. The Flyers now have seven, so you may see a player move to wing, or a couple demoted to the Phantoms. One of the centers with a good chance to stick is Nolan Patrick, who was taken No. 2 overall by the Flyers in Friday's first round. Sending him back to juniors would seem to be counter-productive, and Patrick will be given a chance to make the team in training camp.

"He's impressive. A great physical package," said Hakstol, who has watched video of Patrick and met him at the draft. "He's obviously a great two-way player who makes plays."

Patrick is close friends with Schenn, who was dealt the same night the 18-year-old center became a Flyer.

The most favorable part of the Schenn trade was the first-round conditional pick the Flyers will get in 2018 because it looks like a strong draft class. If St. Louis gets a top-10 pick, it has the option of keeping it and deferring the traded pick to 2019. If that happens, the Flyers would also get a third-rounder in 2020.

With the first-round selection (27th overall) the Flyers received from the Blues this year, they grabbed center Morgan Frost. That raised some eyebrows because, based on numerous scouting reports, there was a decent chance Frost would have been available with the No. 44 overall pick the Flyers had Saturday. But the Flyers made some shrewd selections on the second day of the draft, during which their best picks were 6-foot-6 Isaac Ratcliffe and 6-4 Matthew Strome, high-scoring left wingers who are the definition of a power forward.

As for next season, the Flyers could have as many six rookies in their lineup. Lehtera, a three-year veteran, also seems like he has a spot based on Hextall's comments.

St. Louis needed to free cap space and insisted the 6-2, 210-pound Lehtera be part of the deal. His production has dipped in each of his seasons (from 14 goals to nine to seven, and from 44 points to 34 to 22) but Hextall believes he will bounce back.

"He's a big player. We like his two-way game," Hextall said. "In saying that, he didn't have a great year last year, and he has to get himself in tip-top shape in training camp. I talked to his agent today. … He's committed himself. He's been working out for three weeks and has a skating coach for the first time."

Lehtera figures to move to wing. He played up and down the lineup with the Blues.

"Somebody may have to move to another position," Hakstol said. "That has to play out over time."

Hextall said he was still trying to re-sign winger Jordan Weal, who can become an unrestricted free agent Saturday.

"He's a free agent. I can't grab him by the throat" and make him accept the Flyers' offer, Hextall said. "He has choices."

Weal, Hextall hopes, will be an important part of the Flyers' rebuilding plans, uh, I mean .. Let's see. Let's call it their Young Retooling Movement.