With straight face, Flyers' Hextall says he is considering all options with No. 2 pick

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, whose team has the No. 2 overall pick in Friday's NHL draft in Chicago, knows centers Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier are universally regarded as the top two choices, not necessarily in that order.

And though it would be shocking if the Flyers didn't pick one of those two players, Hextall made it sound as if he was considering all options.

He said it with a straight face, too.

"Look at past drafts," he said during a news conference at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Friday. "Have you ever looked at those re-drafts five years later? You have a guy who goes 20th who should have gone second. You have to be really careful going by public opinion. You have to pick what you think is the best player. Even though it might not be popular at that time. And I'm not hinting anything there."

Added Hextall: "If you feel strongly about a player being better (who is) maybe rated fifth and he should be rated third. If you feel better about taking him, take him….That's why we have scouts. Otherwise you might as well just take all the other opinions and build our list on that."

Hextall was asked if he disagreed with the consensus No. 1 and 2 picks?
"No, I'm not saying that," he said. "I'm saying you have to be really careful with going with public opinion in the draft."

Hextall reiterated he expects to make the selection - after New Jersey has the No. 1 choice - but that he is still listening to trade offers for the pick.

The Flyers have 11 selections in the seven-round draft. Their picks, barring trades, are at 2, 44, 75, 80, 106, 107, 108, 137, 168, 196 and 197.

"People talk about this draft and say it's not a very good draft. They're wrong," Hextall said. "It's a good draft. It's not maybe what the last two were, but the last two were bumpers. So this is a good draft."

Hextall said in a "perfect world," he would select seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie, "assuming we make all our picks."

Hextall and some of his staff have spent a lot of time with Hischier and Patrick.

"We had dinner with both of them. And we met with them at the combine," he said. "So we got more information on those two than some other guys. There were some other guys we had more time with, too. You are just trying to get to know them, get to know every kid in the draft. You defer to your area scouts on a lot of guys."

Before the Flyers drafted Ivan Provorov in 2015, "we were unsure about something physically" and set up a meeting with the defenseman, Hextall said.  "It was one of those things where you've got to do your due diligence. We got him in here and it was fine. Certain things you do with certain players. Spend a little more time with some players than you do with others. And it's hard again because you don't know who is gonna go. You get into second and third rounds, it's pretty hard to spend an awful lot of time with 50-60 kids."

Hextall said it's imperative to know what kind of person he is drafting.

"You get a player and here's his ceiling right here, and you say, "Is he gonna hit that ceiling?' It is usually the person that is going to dictate whether the player is gonna hit a ceiling. What's his character like? If he has high-end character, a hard worker, he is probably going to hit his ceiling. If he is not, that's the stuff you want to find out… The problem is, they are 17-year-olds and are gonna make mistakes. They're gonna do stupid things and you're going to sift through whether it's a kid you don't like his character or he just made a mistake. It's hard."

Hextall said he would be "naïve" to think you can totally figure a player out over the course of a dinner, but when "you do all your homework on certain players, you kind of put the dinner together with it."

He said Patrick and Hischier "both should be top NHL players" down the road.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

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