Philadelphia Flyers
Injuries Aside, Many First-Round Draft Picks Have Crippled Flyers
Earlier this week, German Rubtsov, 24, officially joined a line of first-round busts for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Rubtsov, who was sent to Florida late last season as part of the Claude Giroux deal, signed with Spartak Moskva in Russia’s KHL after not being tendered a qualifying offer from the Panthers.
As general manager of the Flyers and presiding over the draft from 2014 to 2018, Ron Hextall made some shrewd selections after the first round, including Carter Hart (second round, 2016), Oskar Lindblom (fifth round, 2014), Noah Cates (fifth round, 2017), and Ivan Fedotov (seventh round, 2015).
But with his first-rounders, well, many of them were disasters — and it has sent the Flyers waaaaaaaay back because of it.
Granted, injuries played a factor in several of the prospects not developing close to their expectations. But the bottom line is that too many of the No. 1 picks didn’t cut it.
Here are Hextall’s first-rounders for the Philadelphia Flyers and my grades for them at the moment:
2014: Travis Sanheim, defenseman, No. 17 overall.
Comment: Sanheim finally showed consistency in the second half of last season and is a solid second-pair defenseman. At No. 25 overall that year, Boston picked David Pastrnak, who has turned into a superstar.
Grade: B.
2015: Ivan Provorov, defenseman, No. 7 overall.
Comment: A No. 7 overall pick should be able to be the top guy on the first pairing. Provorov has been a good player, but he struggled being the lead guy unless he has had a high-quality partner. At No. 10 in the 2015 draft, Colorado took right winger Miko Rantanen, a prolific scorer.
Grade: B.
.@NHLFlyers announced today they hired Ian McKeown for the newly created position of Vice President, Athlete Performance and Wellness, according to GM Chuck Fletcher.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) August 25, 2022
2015: Travis Konecny, RW, No. 24 overall.
Comment: Like Provorov, Konecny has been a good player but hasn’t taken the next step to stardom. After three straight years with 24 goals, he has regressed over the last two seasons.
Grade: B-minus.
2016: German Rubtsov, center, No. 22 overall.
Comment: Injuries hindered him, but he struggled mightily with the Phantoms, scoring a total of four goals in his last 79 games for Lehigh Valley. At No. 39 in 2016, Chicago took a scoring machine named Alex DeBrincat.
Grade: F.
2017: Nolan Patrick, center, No. 2 overall.
Comment: Through no fault of his own, head injuries have prevented him from being the dominating player the Flyers (and many other NHL GMs) expected to see. Now with Vegas, Patrick could miss the entire 2022-23 season. Many other players taken after Patrick have become noteworthy, including Cale Makar (No. 4 overall), Miro Heiskanen (No. 3), Elias Pettersson (No. 5), and Nick Suzuki (No. 13).
Grade: F.
2017: Morgan Frost, center, No. 27 overall.
Comment: It’s way too early to call Frost a bust, and he has shown flashes of looking like an important contributor. But overall, he was below average in 55 games last season and needs to play with more assertiveness and confidence. Frost, who dominated the junior level, has 23 points in 77 NHL games. So far, 13 players drafted after him have been more productive.
Grade: D. (This could change, of course, as Frost has a make-or-break season in 2022-23.)
2018: Joel Farabee, LW, 14th overall.
Comment: One of Hextall’s best picks, Farabee plays a strong two-way game and is trying to bounce back after having neck surgery. This draft selection is a keeper.
Grade: B-plus.
2018: Jay O’Brien, center, 19th overall.
Comment: Injuries have slowed him down, and he is in his senior year at Boston University after undergoing offseason hip surgery. Maybe he’ll bloom into a big-time player. Maybe. But his inability to stay healthy is a concern. The Flyers bypassed defenseman K’Andre Miller — he was selected three picks later by the Rangers — and instead chose O’Brien.
Grade: D-plus.
Bottom line
In a salary cap world, you can’t miss on a first-round pick, especially those in the early or middle part of the opening round.
The Flyers have had too many players who turned into duds. They also have had bad luck with injuries, especially Patrick and Samuel Morin, a towering defenseman who was taken in the first round (11th overall) of the 2013 draft under GM Paul Holmgren.
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Sam, your positivity is nice. You’re being generous again. Hexy made “shrewd” picks? Maybe the spell checker changed your words without your approval. Unfortunately, Oskar Lindblom (fifth round, 2014), Noah Cates (fifth round, 2017), and Ivan Fedotov (seventh round, 2015) really have not blossomed into much.
I hope Oscar does somewhere else. I hope Fedotov gets out of the Arctic.
And I hope Cates can produce.
Hey, for where he was picked, Lindblom is MUCH better than most fifth rounders and, if not for his cancer battle, would have been a top-six player on the Flyers. Fedotov has loads of promise, and Cates was very good in a short stint with the Flyers last season. Yes, he is still a work in progress, but I like his potential. .
The missteps are depressing. I attribute much of this to Chris Pronger’s injury. It revealed how barren of talent the Flyers farm was–particularly blueliners. Homer tried patchwork solutions–moving JVR for Schenn, trading for Grossmann, the offer sheet for Weber, and drafting Morin was another reaction to it. Swing and a miss.
So then Hextall works to bolster the defense and, as your article correctly points out, he whiffed too much. We can talk about Makar, but there’s no feasible world where the Flyers would have drafted him–regardless of what Clarke says. Flyers had drafted Morin, Hagg, Sanheim, Ghost, and Provorov, and there was word that Phil Myers was legit. Adding another blueliner when the Flyers had a shot at a top center…Hextall made the right move with the knowledge available.
The better scenario would have been if the Flyers didn’t win the lottery. They wouldn’t have been in that position, and they probably would have drafted Suzuki and kept Schenn and been a better team for it.
I also think the underperforming of a lot of these Flyers prospects has more to do with how the organization develops talent. Couturier was designated at a 3rd-line shut down center until Hakstol gave him a shot. Few years wasted there. I remember how Patrick Sharp blossomed once he was no longer wearing orange and black. I suspect Konecny and Provorov would likewise improve on other teams. Goes back to Flyers emphasizing two-way play at the expense of other parts of the game.
Good stuff.
We could give fletch incompletes because he trades so many away. His drafts have yet to prove to be better.
Well said by all. Inability to draft and develop are 2 of the 3 biggest contributors to the Flyers current situation..
A retool in lieu of a rebuild is the 3rd.
The way Hextall and Pryor developed players opposed to this current group does is night and day. So many highly regarded prospects and like 80% end up being misses. All the people that follow and rank teams etc and they ALL were wrong about so many players? How does that happen? Every prospect and nhlers all have regressed. NOT ABLE TO DEVELOP ANYTHING. UGH
Sam, how is that team on the other side of the Commonwealth (u know… the one we love to hate), strike draft gold no matter who and when they draft… while we draft Projects who mostly will never be NHL-ready?
Please tell me: how is this acceptable? How can we fail year after year and be ok with this? Does anyone of a higher authority (above Dave and Valerie) have a pulse?
The Pens better be careful. It could be only a matter of time when Hextall ruins their long-term strategy and success (come to think of it, that may not be a bad thing).
Maybe if the Flyers were more interested in not living in the past might their fortunes change. Quit showing clips of the 70s on the jumbotron, it’s ancient history! Change the culture and come into the present. Fast and talented is the game and 4 lines are required. I question if Torts is capable of changing Flyer culture. And they will get no sympathy from the Metro Division.
The elephant(s) in the room, Bob Clarke, Paul Holmgren and Dave Scott! The players that are drafted all have a certain signature. Muckers and grinders and the ones they think are “scoring talents” are light weights and are injury prone.
Well said, Mr. Smith. All that ex-Flyer dead weight in the Front Office needs to be eradicated. They’ve played a very proactive role running this team into the ground… and are never held accountable for their actions.
Long overdue changes in the Front Office are way overdue. The question: will someone of a higher authority have the stones to do what needs to be done?
Fat chance of that ever happening.
Except that Clarke and Holmgren aren’t making any actual business decisions. They are really check collectors as stipulated in Snider’s Will and overall deal with Comcast Spectacor. They “Advise” but neither one was present at the draft, and Clarke spends 90% of his time in FL. Hextall ignored Clarke’s advice of not drafting Patrick. Homer from what I’m told hasn’t really been involved in anything other than general gatherings. Dave Scott however, has no business being involved in hockey. He even said during his introductory press conference is that “I’m not a hockey guy.” But he’s the CEO of the Flyers lol. But this show is 100% ran by Scott and Fletcher. Homer and Clarke needed to go and they’re gone but at least their teams were playoff teams and watchable. Since they have left, this organization has taken 50 steps backwards.
The Flyers problems Originate in the Front Office. PERIOD. You can talk about the Coaches; Injuries; Players; etc, but until they get people in the Front Office that actually KNOW what they’re doing Personnel and Cap wise; it will always be the the same old song and dance. IF things dont change in that regard; Flyer Fans and pundits will be having the same discussions 10 YEARS from now. GUARANTEED.
Well said. If they make those long overdue changes Off the Ice, then the product On the Ice may improve. Wishful thinking I know, but I’m trying to be positive here
Sam,
Do you think it could be the player development within the organization? Why are these draft picks so high and then become such a bust with the orange and black? Other teams draft picks end up starting right away or even taken a few years but start producing. Haven’t seen that since G or Gagne. Thoughts????
I agree with you, Joe. The player development has been lacking for years.