PHILADELPHIA – Ever since General Manager Ron Hextall took over the reins of the Philadelphia Flyers he had the vison of building the Flyers through the NHL Draft. His time under Dean Lombardi with the Los Angeles Kings provided him with valuable experience on how to build a championship caliber roster in the Salary Cap era. Only the Anaheim Ducks can boast that they had less than half their roster made up of homegrown talent through the draft.
With that vision in mind, Hextall has taken some heat for his patience in an impatient city. He is entering his fifth season as GM and the natives, as if on cue, are getting restless. Hextall has built one of the NHL’s best crop of prospects out of all 31 teams. Still, his critics have come out of the woodwork, especially given the recent success of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Well another NHL Draft approaches and this time around the Flyers will enter the draft with two first round picks at #14 and #19 overall. This is a very deep draft and the Flyers will have a ton of options going into it. Do they move up in the draft? Do they move down? Do they trade one of their picks to get a proven veteran?
The Flyers biggest need in the entire Flyers system are scoring wingers. By the time Philadelphia pick at 14 there should be some very good wingers and solid defensemen left on the board. Goaltending is the usual weak spot on the team but the Flyers are biding their time until their top goaltending prospects are ready and no goalie will be taken this high in the draft.
With the injury to defenseman Sam Morin, the Flyers will have to hope that one of their current prospects such as Philippe Myers make the roster to fill his void considering that Morin was expected to make the roster this year. At least one of their veterans will be trade bait at the draft to help open a roster spot for him.
Again, scoring wingers are the Flyers biggest need, especially on the right side and with Wayne Simmonds becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Last year Hextall started drafting left wingers so unless someone pops out at them at 14 or 19, the Flyers will most likely look at right wing this time around.
If the Flyers look at a defenseman as one of their picks finding one who shoots right handed would be a priority. There are a few in this year’s draft and Bode Wilde is someone that just might be there at 14 or 19. In our mock draft Wilde is still on the board at 14 and as mentioned the Flyers need a right handed defenseman. Winger Serron Noel would be the perfect fit for them at 14.
The bet here is that they have to hope that Noel or someone like him is still there at 19. Our feeling is that Wilde isn’t going to be around at 19 when the Flyers pick again and with Sam Morin’s future with the team in doubt we see the Flyers making the following call at the podium in Dallas.
“With the 14th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft the Philadelphia Flyers select, from the USA development program, Bode Wilde.”
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