Final Flyers Combine Notes

The Philadelphia Flyers had themselves a busy week at the draft combine, but that’s expected. They have seven picks in the first 50 picks. What else were they going to do?

Lots of news and notes have come out from the combine, and it can be hard to follow. That said, let’s round up everything we’ve heard about what the Flyers did this past week in Buffalo.

Flyers Meetings

With eight picks in the top-70, the Flyers were plenty busy watching and meeting with the top-90 prospects attending the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo.

Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer was in Buffalo and gave us a list of players the Flyers met with.

The Flyers met with trade-up candidate Michael Misa, as well as No. 6 options James Hagens, Porter Martone, Caleb Desnoyers, Brady Martin, Roger McQueen, and Jake O’Brien. They also spoke with Viktor Eklund, Radim Mrtka, and Kashawn Aitcheson, who could be options at No. 6, but are likely trade-up options from the No. 22 pick. Philly also met with Justin Carbonneau, who won’t be considered at No. 6, but will likely be a trade-up from No. 22.

The Flyers also spoke with Logan Hensler, Malcom Spence, Sascha Boumedienne, Blake Fiddler, Shane Vansaghi, Cullen Potter, Josh Ravensbergen, Will Horcoff, and Carter Bear, who are all late-first-round options.

Lastly, they met with Vaclav Nestrasil, Carter Amico, and Haoxi Wang, and Henry Brzustewicz, who are all, in my opinion, second-round options.

One name missing from this list is Jackson Smith, who reportedly caught the Flyers’ eye at the combine, according to Russ Cohen. However, there were no reported meetings between the two sides.

Combine Dinners

In all honesty, combine dinners are not MUCH different than the meetings. Dinners offer the chance to get to know the player in a slightly less formal setting.

While players can meet with as many teams as are interested in them, it’s harder to dine with every team. I would not put too much stock into who dined with whom. However, to contradict myself here, by seeing who the Flyers dined with, you can get a smidge of an idea where they are headed.

For the Flyers, they took Porter Martone, Brady Martin, and Jake O’Brien to dinner.

The team is clearly focusing on forwards with their top pick, which is absolutely necessary.

Combine Winners?

Every year, there are winners and losers at the combine.

Caleb Desnoyers, in my opinion, was the biggest winner. Not only was he able to become one of the most loved personalities at the combine, but he also revealed he played last season with injuries in BOTH of his wrists. That’s right, he led the Q in points despite having two injured wrists. If he was going to before, I don’t see any world where he falls to No. 6 after the draft combine.

Brady Martin is also a big winner. Reports of interest in the player have been circulating for a while now. However, it seems intensified now, as Cam Robinson reports that Utah REALLY likes Martin. Reports were also circulating, suggesting that if you want Martin, he won’t get past Boston at No. 7, so a trade-up is necessary. Since the lottery, Martin went from a borderline second-round pick to now possibly going top-five. That could make Utah a trade-up option for the Flyers as well, if they want to secure their guy.

Will Horcoff, while not really improving his draft stock, had a great combine as well, showing off his physical abilities. Same goes for Shane Vansaghi. Both B1G forwards have floated in that 25-40 range. That won’t change much, but maybe they’re more likely first-rounders now.

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