After much speculation that the Flyers could be incredibly active at the draft, it’s fair to look back at Day 1 on Friday and feel a little disappointed. The Flyers traded back twice, selected a player in Jett Luchanko that is certainly a gamble and will require a patient development process, and loaded up on draft picks for 2025, setting the stage for a long wait to many future selections.
On top of that, the conditional second-round pick from Columbus in the Ivan Provorov deal last offseason was also deferred to 2025, putting the Flyers on the clock next at 51st overall.
The Flyers have seven total picks as Day 2 begins:
- 2nd Round, 51st Overall (Compensatory Pick)
- 3rd Round, 77th Overall
- 5th Round, 148th Overall (from LA)
- 5th Round, 150th Overall (from VGK)
- 6th Round, 173rd Overall
- 6th Round, 177th Overall (from STL)
- 7th Round, 205th Overall
That leaves a lot of time between picks for the Flyers, who selected 13th overall in the first round and traded away the second first-round pick at 32nd overall.
So what do the Flyers have planned for Day 2? Typically, positional needs start to go away and teams will draft players simply based on how they have them ranked internally. That could mean a healthy balance of centers, wingers, and defensemen with the remaining seven picks.
The Flyers commonly use one of their picks to select a goalie, and with seven selections on Day 2, that feels like a possibility as well.
GM Danny Briere was also wheeling and dealing on Day 1, which could certainly become a key theme to Day 2. The Flyers want to add to their prospect pool, but could it be possible that the Flyers expand on the 13 picks they already have for 2025?
“For us, we still have a lot of picks, some really important picks. The second and third will come really quick,” Briere said. “We have a center, so there’s not really a reason to chase that. I think we can really settle back and see how the board falls and take the best player available.”
Some names still on the board as Day 2 begins include forwards Andrew Basha, Igor Chernyshov, Ryder Ritchie, Teddy Stiga, Nikita Artamonov, Lucas Pettersson, and Tanner Howe, as well as defensemen Charlie Elick, Dominik Badinka, Alfons Freij, Jesse Pulkkinen, Cole Hutson, and Aron Kiviharju.
Top goaltending prospects Ryerson Leenders, Emil Vinni, and Carter George are also still on the board.
The second day of the NHL Draft begins at 11:30 a.m.
