More negotiations? How many choices? 5 Flyers Things You Should Know About the 2024 NHL Draft originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
As he builds the Flyers’ rebuild, Danny Briere knows the importance of the NHL Entry Draft.
It is widely considered the best way to acquire and retain top-level talent. And from 2023 to 2025, the Flyers are scheduled to make six first-round selections.
“These are really critical drafts for us when you’re doing a rebuild, especially now in a cap era where it’s really hard to go out and sign free agents,” the Flyers general manager said a little over a week ago. “That’s what we hope will be the foundation for us moving forward.”
Their next two first-rounders are ahead at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. The first round is Friday (7 p.m. ET/ESPN)while rounds 2 to 7 are on Saturday (11:30 a.m. ET/NHL Network).
Like last summer, the Flyers could have up to 10 picks. Briere was involved in the team’s preliminary operation since 2020, but this marks his second as GM. Brent Flahr, who oversees the club’s amateur scouting efforts, is holding his sixth draft with the Flyers as assistant general manager.
“From the first day here, one of the things Dan Hilferty emphasized is that we collaborate on everything,” said Briere. “I need help when it comes to recruiting and I trust our scouts a lot. I think we have one of the best scout teams, led by Brent Flahr. I trust him and his team a lot.”
Let’s look at five things you need to know as the Flyers enter a busy, roster-building period of their offseason.
Any potential trades?
Briere said the Flyers were open for business last offseason and he showed it, putting an aggressive focus on the future. He traded Ivan Provorov three weeks before the draft, Kevin Hayes the day before the draft almost traded Travis Sanheim at the same time and purchased Tony DeAngelo’s contract in July.
Are the Flyers still open for business?
“Yes definitely. It hasn’t changed for us,” Briere said. “We are still looking to acquire assets that will help us in the future. We know where we are as a team. It was incredible what happened last year, playing important games until game 82, even though we lost. But we realize that we are not yet Stanley Cup contenders, we still have a lot of work to do and the future is still what we want.”
Last summer, Briere was really making his mark on the rebuild in his first offseason. Expect him to still be open-minded and creative. He said the Flyers would accept a trade if it made sense.
However, while he will continue to answer calls and look to further complement the future, there’s a good chance he likes his lineup more now than he did a year ago. But if the Flyers subtract again, who could the contenders be?
There is definitely a decision to be made regarding Cam Atkinson’s future (more on that below).
Scott Laughton heard rumors about the last three trade deadlines and he expected them to bounce back as the draft approached.
The Flyers are challenging Joel Farabee to take another step after his career year. Maybe he is a young striker, the club could be on the market because there is a lot of value to it.
There was a moderate commercial buzz surrounding Morgan Frost last season. He’s a center who would be interested, especially considering the Flyers haven’t committed to him long-term, at least not yet.
Rasmus Ristolainen and Nicolas Deslauriers are also names we cannot forget. But both could be more in play later in the season and closer to the deadline. Ristolainen is Coming off an injury-riddled year and Deslauriers no longer have a modified no-trading clause arrive at noon ET on Monday.
When do the Flyers pick?
Here’s a complete breakdown of the Flyers’ 2024 selections:
• Round 1 – No. 12 overall
• Round 1 – #32 overall
• 2nd round – No. 36 overall (CBJ has the option to give up this pick or the 2025 second round)
• 2nd round – #51 overall
• Round 3 – No. 77 overall
• Round 5 – #148 overall
• Round 5 – #150 overall
• Round 6 – No. 173 overall
• Round 6 – #177 overall
• Round 7 – No. 205 overall
More: Leaflets surrounding Michkov with help as important as his arrival
Who are the Flyers’ targets?
We’ve profiled 11 prospects the Flyers could consider with the 12th overall pick:
• 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?
• ‘He’s a special, special hockey player’ – Is Greentree a good fit for the Flyers at No. 12?
Will the Flyers rise or fall?
Briere didn’t rule anything out just over a week ago.
“It’s all on the table for us, we’re looking at all kinds of options,” he said. “When I talk to teams, we don’t get stuck in just one way of trying to move up or back. I know there are teams that have called and said, ‘Look, we want more picks, so we’re looking to go back and get more shots. We have the choices, so this gives us more possibilities to make one or for ourselves.”
According to a Thursday report from Pierre LeBrun on TSN, the Flyers made a “very aggressive field” to the Blue Jackets in an attempt to move up from 12th to 4th place, but were turned away (h/t Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers).
As we noted at the outset, the Flyers have two first-rounders in 2025, which should be a strong crop of prospects. Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones called it “a very important draft.” It will be interesting to see if the Flyers try to acquire more 2025 picks over the next two days or if they use some 2025 picks as trade chips for this draft.
“We’re looking at all kinds of things,” Briere said. “We want to possibly go up with certain choices, we want to go back. Obviously, if we move up, we might have to give up a pick or two, but if the value is worth going up, to give up a pick on the back end to acquire a player or draft a player we really love, we’ll move forward. On the other hand, if there is a group of players that we feel comfortable with, we can try to move. return to acquire more assets, either at the end of the project or next year.”
Could we see an acquisition?
Atkinson’s role diminished last season and he seemed open to a change of scenery in his exit interview. The Flyers are expected to explore the trade route for the veteran winger, but if they don’t find a partner, they could consider buying out the final season of Atkinson’s contract.
Cal Petersen, also with another year left on his contract, is also a buyout candidate.
Sunday is the last day clubs can buy a player.
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