(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
For so much of the week, the buildup to the NHL Draft was more interesting than the actual plotline of events that kicked off Friday night's first round.
There was speculation the Flyers could trade the second pick for a package of picks from Vegas. There was speculation that the Flyers were extremely concerned with Nolan Patrick's injury history and may change their plans with the No. 2 pick. Ultimately, that was all just fuel for the rumor mill.
Nico Hischier went first overall to the Devils and Patrick went to the Flyers, one of the two scenarios expected out of draft night.
Then came the surprise of the night. The Flyers traded back into the first round, getting the 27th overall pick from the St. Louis Blues. The cost was not a package of 2017 draft picks, but forward Brayden Schenn. The Flyers also got forward Jori Lehtera and a conditional first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. The Flyers then used the 27th pick to select Morgan Frost, a forward from Sault Ste. Marie.
So why do a deal centered around your second-highest scorer from a season ago?
"It was a deal that made sense," GM Ron Hextall said. "We got a couple more really good young players today and we're excited about both. Whenever you trade a player, it's always hard. Brayden played well for us. He played hard for us. My job is to do what I feel is best for the franchise and that's what it was."
Obviously, Hextall is a fan of acquiring draft picks with the potential to make an impact. He added a first round pick this season, and unless the St. Louis Blues finish with a Top-10 pick, he should have an additional first-round pick in 2018. There's nothing wrong with that.
The deal takes a turn when looking at the players. Schenn was a big part of the Flyers offense with 25 goals and a power-play finisher. Yes, he struggled at even strength. Of his 25 goals, 17 were on the power play. Of his 55 points, 28 were on the power play. That gives Schenn just eight goals and 27 points at even strength.
But when you look at Lehtera's season, the Flyers didn't upgrade in current talent. Lehtera had a down season, scoring just seven goals and 22 points to follow up a season where he had nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points. In his rookie season, Lehtera scored 14 goals and had 44 points, more of the production the Flyers would like to get out of him.
But Lehtera is more of an in-between player. His offensive production from last season resembles that of a fourth-liner. His ice time, an average of 15 minutes last season, is what second and third-line players are playing. For the Flyers to sacrifice almost 20 more goals for a player four years old and coming off the worst season of his NHL career isn't something to like about this deal.
Add in that Frost, who the Flyers took 27th, was projected as more of a second or third-round pick, and suddenly it looks as if the Flyers have reached and not only with a first-round pick, but with two quality scoring wingers on the board in Klim Kostin and Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen was selected 30th by Nashville and Kostin went to St. Louis with the 31st pick, acquired in a second trade with Pittsburgh.
So why Frost when there appeared to be better options?
"There's very few guys where your whole staff really likes a guy. Our whole staff likes this guy," Hextall said. "He's an extremely intelligent player. That's his No. 1 asset. He's smart, reads the ice well. He's got a very deft touch handling the puck. Good two-way player. Showed up good in the testing. We believe he's a kid with an awful lot of upside. He dissects the game better than most players."
While potential may be high on Frost and the Flyers did already get Patrick, you do start to circle back to the reason the Flyers should not have entertained the idea of trading the second overall pick in the first place.
This is a season where the Flyers needed to start to turn the corner on following the development trail. This is a season where the Flyers defensive group is possibly expected to feature four recent draft picks — Ivan Provorov, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sam Morin and Robert Hagg — with other recent picks like Travis Sanheim and undrafted free agent Philippe Myers making noise as well. This is also a season where the addition of a player like Patrick in addition to 2015 fifth-round pick Oskar Lindblom could be the start of the transition for the offense in getting younger.
When you considered that Schenn was a part of the top-six among the Flyers forwards already, it made it easier to slot Patrick and Lindblom safely into the next three, along with Travis Konecny, and have three strong lines with the potential to even build a strong fourth line. You could see the potential of this team starting to form.
With Schenn's absence, the Flyers don't lose much outside of the power play. Schenn's power play points total accounted for far too much of his offense to be a top-line player and Schenn was a minus-13 in the 2016-17 season as well, so perhaps it doesn't hurt the Flyers at even strength. Perhaps adding a player like Lehtera can be a boost to the penalty kill and the bottom-six, though expensive with a $4.7 million cap hit.
By opening up a roster spot in trading Schenn, a few things appear to be evident.
The Flyers pretty much have to complete a deal and re-sign Jordan Weal to both fill the void in the lineup and the potential scoring.
The Flyers get some cap relief, about $400,000 difference, with Lehtera's contract instead of Schenn's. What that may do is provide just enough extra cap space to either sign a veteran goalie they are looking to add or be what gets Weal's deal to the finish line. It was reported that the Flyers and Weal had agreed on the term and not the money in the latest update on negotiations.
And finally, it pretty much solidifies that the Flyers roster can add Patrick and/or Lindblom in October. Throw in the team re-signing Weal, and the Flyers will need to account for Schenn's 25 goals (or more) in these three players, one with barely half a season of regular play and two rookies, certainly a lot to ask for a team that should have aspirations of making the playoffs.
For now, we can make all the paper roster charts and line combinations we want, as the Flyers move forward with another day of draft picks to make and more of the future to construct. Then it will be on to free agency, development camps, and eventually training camps to really see how the roster plays out.
But on a day that started out with so much hoopla over Patrick and the No. 2 pick, all went as relatively planned and expected, before a trade shook up the Flyers immediate future and turned it into one interesting night.
Podcast
