‘He’s a special, special hockey player’ – Is Greentree a good fit for the Flyers at No. 12? originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Despite making it through most of the 2023-24 season, the Flyers still have a rebuilding mentality. The club’s decision-makers know there is a need for more talent and that the early draft remains the best way to acquire it.
“The majority of it still needs to be done through our young guys, especially through the draft,” general manager Danny Briere said in April.
The Flyers will have a good opportunity to boost their future when the 2024 NHL Draft arrives June 28-29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The first round is Friday at 7pm ET, while rounds 2 through 7 take place on Saturday starting at 11:30am ET.
Like last summer, the Flyers could have up to 10 picks, including two first-round picks. Barring a negotiation, they will make their best overall selection at 12th position. Briere believes the Flyers “can get a very talented player” at that position.
In the first round of the 2023 draft, the Flyers attacked Matvei Michkov in the 7th position It is grabbed Oliver Bonk in 22nd place. They should also have two 2025 first-round picks.
Ahead of the 2024 draft, we broke down the targets for the Flyers at 12th.
To finish:
Liam Greentree
Position: Extreme
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 215
Photos: Left
Team: Windsor Spitfires
Scouting Report
Greentree is a strong, multi-faceted playmaker who can be a nightmare to cover. He has a knack for putting himself or a teammate in position to score because of his ability to beat defenders with a variety of moves.
Leading the Spitfires in every major offensive category, Greentree has 90 points (36 goals, 54 assists) in 64 games this season. He had 12 games of three or more points, including a six-point performance that featured a hat trick.
“The obvious size, strength and shooting ability, but the fact that he takes the puck to the net, he creates scoring chances and gets the puck in that goal area more often,” said the general manager and vice-president. Windsor president of hockey operations, Bill. Bowler said last Saturday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Over the course of a game, over a season, he’s very good at generating attacks.”
Not even two weeks after his 18th birthday, the Spitfires named Greentree captain.
“He’s such a good guy, down to earth, extremely humble,” Bowler said. “You wouldn’t know if he’s a first-round NHLer or a draftee by the way he carries himself and his demeanor. Once the game starts, he’s a special, special hockey player. in the same way. … It’s unheard of for you to name a captain at that age, but he deserves it.
There are some concerns with Greentree’s skating, particularly his acceleration. With much less time and space in the NHL, he will have to improve his explosiveness.
“To play in the National Hockey League and excel, Liam needs to work on everything,” Bowler said. “Skating is sometimes the visual, it doesn’t seem as fluid as others, but the reality is that Liam gets where he wants to go. There’s no doubt he can improve on that, but my God, there’s nothing there that suggests he’s not going to continue to excel at the next level, I think he’s only going to get better because of the length, the size, the strength.”
He worked on that area of his game with Windsor skating coach Kathy McLlwain and others.
“That’s the other beauty of Liam, we’ve talked about his character, he’s always trying to improve,” Bowler said. “Whatever you see now, a few years from now will be even better.”
Greentree is the 14th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and considered the 15th best prospect in the draft by EliteProspects. with. TSN’s Bob McKenzie places him in 18th place overall, while TSN Craig Button placed him in 23rd place.
Adjustment with leaflets
When you watch Greentree, you see Jamie Benn at his game. Both are wings with size, skill and intelligence. The Flyers wouldn’t mind adding a player like that to their system. They wanted more advantages and Greentree has that.
A mix of Greentree, Michkov and Tyson Foerster would give the Flyers three 22-and-under wings with 30-goal potential. And the Flyers also have 25-and-under wings like Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, Noah Cates and Bobby Brink already impacting their rebuild, along with Foerster.
Could the Flyers have a center or defenseman at the top of their roster who is still available at No. 12? This is definitely possible. But if he’s still there, Greentree should give the Flyers a good decision to make.
More targets
• Flyers should like Helenius, ‘one of the draft’s biggest talents’
• Flyer draft target Catton has ‘ingredients’ to be top-tier center
• Flyers could have shot Yakemchuk, a defender with ‘rare combination’
• Flyers draft target Iginla has impressive NHL pedigree and ‘very high ceiling’
• Eiserman, ‘the best scorer in this draft’, an option for the Flyers?
• ‘The complete package’ Connelly has an interesting draft for Flyers
• With no real flaws in his game, Jiricek is an option for the Flyers at No. 12
• Is Brandsegg-Nygard close to pro-ready and a possibility for the Flyers?
• Sennecke, a big winger ready to ‘explode offensively’, will be on the Flyers’ radar
• Should Boisvert, a future ‘impact center,’ catch the Flyers’ attention?
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