Flyers hope to climb in draft lottery

The Philadelphia Flyers will find out in Tuesday’s draft lottery where they will select in the first-round on July 7.

They had the NHL’s fourth-worst record, and, because of the parameters, can draft as high as  No. 1 and as low as No. 6 in the opening round — or anywhere in between those two spots.

The lottery will be telecast on ESPN starting at 6:30, though the ping-pong balls aren’t expected to be dropped until 7.

There will be two lotteries — one for the top pick, the other for the No. 2 selection. A team can only jump a maximum of 10 spots.

The Flyers have a 9.5% chance of getting the top pick. Here is a look at the NHL teams’ odds at landing in a specific round, per tankathon.com:

Odds of winning #NHL lottery Tuesday, per https://t.co/bOl50ELNuL. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/MaecbBnTVb

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) May 9, 2022

According to draft experts, center Shane Wright is the consensus No. 1 overall selection, but the next five spots have a differing of opinions.

Philly, of course, needs help as soon as possible. And since defensemen generally take longer to develop, they are expected to choose a forward.

After Wright, center Logan Cooley, fast-rising left winger Juraj Slafkovsky, center Matthew Savoie, and right winger Joakim Kemmel are some of the forwards believed to be high on the Philadelphia Flyers’ radar.

If they surprisingly went for a defensemen, righthander Simon Nemec could be their choice, if available.

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The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Wright had 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists) in 63 games with Kingston in the Ontario Hockey League this season. He has drawn comparisons to Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews.

Cooley (5-10, 180), a Pittsburgh native, starred for the U.S. development program and is committed to the University of Minnesota.

Slafkovsky has raised his stock considerably in Finland’s top professional league and by being named the the MVP of the Beijing Olympics, where he scored seven goals in seven games and helped Slovakia win bronze, its first-ever medal.

The 6-4, 218-pound Slafkovsky, 18, could be NHL-ready in the fall — another feature that could make him attractive to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here are some of the mock drafts:

Craig Button/TSN: 1. C Shane Wright; 2. C Logan Cooley; 3. LW Juraj Slafkovsky; 4. RHD Simon Nemec; 5. RW Joakim Kemell; 6. C/LW Cutter Gauthier.

Bob McKenzie/TSN: 1. Wright; 2. Cooley; 3. Kemmel; 4. C Matthew Savoie; 5. LW Slafkovsky; 6. LW Ivan Miroshnichenko.

McKeen’s Hockey: 1. Wright; 2. Nemec; 3. Savoie; 4. Cooley; 5. RW Danila Yurov; 6. Kemell.

Elite Prospects: 1. Wright; 2. RHD David Jiricek; 3. Nemec; 4. C/RW Frank Nazar; 5. Cooley; 6. Slafkovsky.

Tankaton.com: 1. Wright; 2. Slafkovsky; 3. Nemec; 4. Cooley; 5. Savoie; 6. Kemell.

NHL Central Scouting (North America only): 1. Wright; 2. Cooley; 3. Gauthier; 4. Savoie; 5. C Conor Geekie; 6. LHD Pavel Mintyukov.

NHL Central Scouting (Europe only): 1. Slafkovsky; 2. Kemell; 3. Nemec; 4. Jiricek; 5. C Marco Kasper; 6. RW Jonathan Lekkerimaki.