The Flyers added 10 new players to the system this weekend at the NHL Draft, which made Ron Hextall a busy man on Saturday, as the Flyers made nine selections in the final six rounds.
The Flyers drafted seven forwards, two defensemen and a goalie in Buffalo this weekend.
"We’re happy," Hextall said. "Moving into the draft, we knew we’d be heavy with forwards. We ended up that way.
"We wanted speed, we wanted size and we wanted skill. It's not in every player, but we feel like we got all three elements. Some of it is combinations though, like Laberge and [German] Rubtsov and Allison. We're excited about the draft. I'll probably say that every year. You always feel good about it."
Hextall commented on each of his Day 2 picks after the Draft.
On Pascal Laberge: "We see a kid that is a potential top-6 forward. He's got speed, he's got skill, good size. Again, we feel like with the character there's a lot of upside."
On Carter Hart: "Brady Robinson spent time with him in Canada camp within the last couple of weeks. Real impressed with his ability, his work ethic. But probably most importantly, the mental part of it. It's the same as [Felix] Sandstrom last year. It's a big part for a goaltender and he seems to have everything in place."
On Wade Allison: "Didn't expect him to be there. We zeroed in on some bigger bodies later in the draft not knowing if we were going to get a kid like him. He's got speed, he's got size, a real good shot, good intelligence. We feel like he's going to be a real good support player that can play up in your lineup."
On Carsen Twarynski: "Prototypical power forward. We knew we needed to add some size and grit. Our guys all liked him. We really like the kid, terrific character, work ethic and a nice set of skills too. He's not just a bottom-end guy."
On Connor Bunnaman: "Good skill level. Feet need to come a little bit, which I can probably say about a few of these guys. Excited that we got him where we got him. Another guy that fell a little bit."
On Linus Hogberg: "That's our sleeper. His name kept popping up as a late guy, kind of an undervalued guy."
On Tanner Laczynski: "Skill player and we've got four years with him. He's going to Ohio State. As you saw our emphasis was on skill and size and we feel like we filled them both with some of these kids."
On Anthony Salinitri: "Smaller guy, skill forward. You're trying to hit on the skill. Lots of ability and lots of upside. He's not the biggest guy, but to add some skill, we like him."
On David Bernhardt: "Decent-sized guy, good with the puck. A little inconsistent but enough there to grab onto."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
