PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall once again made the NHL Draft his own personal playground. This time Hextall was armed with two first round picks and slew of top prospects that most teams in the league have become envious of. Saddled with the 14th overall pick the Flyers selected Joel Farabee, and with the 19th overall pick the Flyers selected Jay O’Brien. Farabee is a left winger while O’Brien is a center. Farabee will be attending Boston University while O’Brien will be attending Providence.
Both players are expected to spend at least the next two seasons in college before turning pro but there is a feeling that unless the Flyers have a logjam at their given positions both will see spots on the Flyers roster after only two seasons in college. O’Brien has a slightly tougher chance if only because the Flyers have an abundance of centers that they have already drafted such as: Nolan Patrick, Morgan Frost, German Rubtsov, Pascal Laberge, Connor Bunnaman, Tanner Laczynski, and Mikhail Vorobyov.
In the second round the Flyers drafted Swedish defenseman Adam Ginning who is a stay at home defenseman that could make the Flyers roster sooner rather than later given the injury histories of Sam Morin and Philippe Myers. Being a stay at home defenseman will help his case for a roster spot since the Flyers lack them with more than a few of them on the current roster and in their system. He also served as captain for Team Sweden in the 2018 Under 18 World Junior Championships and is a three-time medalist.
After Ginning the Flyers had no third round pick but in the fourth and fifth rounds Hextall went for need taking two right hand shooting defensemen. From Manhattan Beach, CA John St. Ivany who played in the USHL for Sioux City. The Flyers also selected a teammate of prospect Carter Hart with the Everett Silvertips in the WHL Wyatte Wylie.
Not to leave a goaltender out of the picture the Flyers used their second fifth round pick on Swedish goaltender Samuel Ersson. Rounding out the Flyers picks were two centers Gavin Hain and Marcus Westfalt.
Overall the Flyers went with the usual best player available mentality and you can bet the success or failure of the draft class rests with Farabee, O’Brien, and Ginning. In every draft class you want to come away with at least three prospects that will contribute for several years with two of them being forwards, another a defenseman. We are a long way from the end of this story but at first glance it looks like the Flyers might have accomplished that mission.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on twitter at @Flyersfan22.
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