Forward Thinking: Hextall targeting forward in first round of Draft

The Flyers didn't strike gold despite the 6.5 percent chance. The Connor McDavid sweepstakes was won by the Edmonton Oilers. With that, the Flyers held their draft slot with the seventh overall pick.

Despite the disappointment of losing out on what everyone believes is the next face of hockey, GM Ron Hextall isn't disappointed with the pick.

"When you look at it, we're at seven, and you never know if we'd moved back to eight what player wouldn't have been there," Hextall said. "So we'll take seven and we'll get a good player there."

The Flyers will not be working magic to aquire the top couple of slots in the Draft. The Oilers have already said they will keep the top pick and the Sabres, who fell to second overall, were tanking toward the end of the season in hopes of McDavid. They will likely get Jack Eichel as the consolation prize.

So with little room to move up, the Flyers will likely keep the pick and their other first-round pick coming from Tampa Bay to gain two of the Top-30 picks in one of the deepest draft classes in years.

Hextall said he wasn't opposed to taking a defenseman despite a strong group of young defensive prospects already working their way up to the NHL, but at the same time, is targeting a forward.

"I think we have more forwards coming than people think, but just the same, I agree with you guys that we're heavier on defense than we are up front," Hextall said. "I think our weakest position on our depth chart is probably in net, so we’ve got to keep that in mind too. In saying that, at 7, there's a lot of forwards this year. So there’s certainly a good chance we'll take a forward.

"If there's a defenseman on the board and a forward and we have them really close, we would probably lean towards the forward. But until the names fall really, you don’t really know. We'll have our list and we'll be prepared, and we'll make a decision at that point."

It is an organization that prides itself on playoff appearances and Stanley Cup runs. It is the goal every season. But if there ever was a season to get a Top-10 pick due to struggles as opposed to trading an asset for a top draft prospect, it was this one. There is a chance that instant help could be on the way for the Flyers at seven.

"I think I've seen most of the top 12 players out there. There's a lot of good players in this draft," Hextall said. "There really is. It's going to be one of those that when we look back in a few years, there's going to be a lot of really good players coming out of the first round.

"There's a good number this year that if they're not ready to play, they're going to be close. I hate to say, but there's certainly more than one or two."

Hextall says he has his list. All we can do is speculate to who is on that list and how soon we'll be seeing them after draft day. 

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.