PHILADELPHIA – In PHN’s mock draft, trades are not made, but in real life, the Philadelphia Flyers just might just might think about trading up from the 7th and 29th spots in the NHL Entry Draft in order to try and get the number one overall pick, but like their local counterparts, that won’t be the case (Sorry Chip Kelly). They do, however, have enough draft picks and prospects to give the team a set future. They have seven draft picks inside the top 100 in this years’ draft, which analysts are calling one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. The Flyers already are very set in their organization with great potential at the forward and defensive ranks, respectfully.
But what about at goalie? Not so much, which is why PHN believes they will take one of the best young goaltenders out there with the 29th overall pick. But we’ll get to that a little later on in the program. First off, we need to look at the depth the Flyers have at other positions, then see why they are week at the most crucial one. First up, the forward ranks.
For the Flyers forwards this year one word can sum up their performance: inconsistency. Too many centers and a desperate need for secondary scoring made each game a struggle to stay afloat. Also, several injuries, frequent line changes, and an ability to lose a lead in multiple games kept the team from scoring enough goals. All of this did not come from a lack of effort though.
The top five goal scorers for the season Wayne Simmonds (28), Claude Giroux (25), Jakub Voracek (22), Michael Raffl (21), and Brayden Schenn (18), helped to put points on the board, but they just came up too shy for a spot in the playoffs. Compare to other prospects in the organization, Jason Akeson leads with 23 goals followed by Nick Cousins with 22 goals and Andrew Gordon kept up with 18 goals.
With an abundance of centers and right wingers, and the evident need for secondary scoring, Ron Hextall has several options to make deals on draft day, which, if he does move anyone, he may want to seek out help at the blue line in return.
The Flyers acquired a defensemen while obtaining the 29th pick. The team dumped traffic cone like Braydon Coburn on the Tampa Bay Lighting in exchange for Radko Gudas and their first round pick. Gudas spent most of this past year injured and is looking to make a strong come back this fall. Philly also traded away long standing veteran Kimmo Timonen so he could have one last shot at getting his name on Lord Stanley’s’ Cup, something he was successful in doing. The Flyers defense core looked beat up at times, with Coburn, Andrew MacDonald, and Luke Schenn all sidelined with injuries which led to players like Carlo Colaiacovo and Nick Shultz coming into the line-up after not having played in weeks or months. Mark Streit led the team with 52 points from the blueline while missing only one game. Michael Del Zotto turned out to be the unsung hero on the backend, making strong defensive plays and scoring 10 goals, including 4 game winners. But sadly, that’s where the good news ends for the current Flyers roster.
Nicklas Grossman is most likely on the way out, which will open up cap space for the rising stars in the organization. Three guys in particular stand out, Brandon Manning, Oliver Laurdisen, and Shane Gostisbehere. Manning and Laurdisen both shined with the Flyers late in the season, and were studs with the Phantoms for a majority of 2014-15. The pair combined for 53 points and over 300 penalty minutes. Gostisbehere had an early season debut with the Flyers for 2 games, and afterward had 5 points in 5 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL). Sadly an ACL injury sidelined him for the remained of the season, and we still have to wait to see if he turns out to be the star he should and could be. If not, there is some up and coming stars from the junior level in Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin steam rolling their way to the bigs.
Poor defensive play could be reason enough to give the Flyers and Phantoms goalies a little room to breathe despite how bad their seasons went. After all, both teams were abysmal on the PK this past season. Steve Mason, when he was healthy, was the bright spot between the pipes. “Mase” started 48 games, had a .928 save percentage and 3 shutouts. But thanks to his constant leg injuries throughout the season, the revolving door at goalie was open for business. Ray Emery was everything but spectacular starting 25 games and posting a .894 save percentage. He also gave up an average of 3.06 goals a game, almost a full goal higher then Mason.
For the Phantoms, Rob Zepp split time between Philly and Allentown. He had a record of 5-2 with the Flyers, posting a .888 save percentage. With the Phantoms, he went 21-20 with a .917 save percentage. His back up, Anthony Stolarz, went 9-13 with a .905 save percentage, and his replacement while with the Flyers didn’t do much better. Martin Ouellette, who spent most of the season with the ECHL’s Reading Royals, pulled a 3-2 record with .890 save percentage.
It is appropriate to note that, in the AHL, goals come in bunches, so goalies are usually hung out to dry. Judging by the depth in the system, Zepp would appear to be the likely choice to replace Emery in Philadelphia should he decide to leave for another team. Stolarz still needs a few years to develop, and, while he arguably has one of the coolest Ghostbusters goalie masks ever painted, Ouellette isn’t ready to be a full timer in the AHL.
Blackwood is everything the Flyers could have ever dreamed for. The 6’4” 216 pounder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada looks and plays just like a young Ben Bishop. He’s built to cover a lot of the net, but enjoys coming out to the top of the blue paint to give opposing offenses fits by taking away all of the twine to look at. He stays calm, cool, and collected regardless of the situation, which is a great contrast from water bottle throwing cosmonaut Ilya Bryzgalov.
Blackwood played in 51 games with the Barrie Colts (OHL) this season posting a 33-14 record and a .906 save percentage. It’s also worth a note that while losing both games he Barrie played against the Erie Otters this season by a combined score of 15-8. Top ranked prospect Connor McDavid was only able to score on Blackwood three times. Being able to stare down star players in crunch time is going to be key playing on a team that that goes up against players such as Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, and Tavares on the schedule. Here at PHN we believe that Mackenzie Blackwood could be the perfect fit for the Flyers. Could he be the next Parent or Hextall? No, but he may be damn close.
With that said, PHN strongly believes you will hear the following announcement at draft.
“With the 29th pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers select, from the Barrie Colts, goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.”
With Denise.Mroz@prohockeynews.com
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