The Columbus Blue Jackets posted an awesome six minute video this week, filmed right from their draft table during the first eight picks of the 2015 NHL Draft in Florida. It sheds some insight on the Philadelphia Flyers‘ thinking that night.
Of course, the Flyers picked at No. 7 in that draft, taking Ivan Provorov with that pick. The Flyers wanted Provorov and they got their guy. But as the CBJ video shows us, there was a chance for the Flyers to move back two spots to No. 9 while still getting Provorov. They were talking to the Blue Jackets, who had the No. 8 pick, trying to figure out if Provorov would still be on the board had they moved back.
As it turns out, it seems like Provorov would have been on the board at No. 9 had they moved back. The Blue Jackets were set on taking University of Michigan defenseman Zach Werenski with their pick, and were pretty confident they’d get him at No. 8. They had the option to move up at one point too, but felt it wasn’t necessary.
Hextall indicates to Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen that he could have picked up an extra third round pick if he moved back to No. 9, but obviously none of this happened. Maybe Hextall couldn’t read what CBJ was going to do, or maybe he thought San Jose would bait-and-switch, taking Provorov after trading with the Flyers.
Here’s what Kekalainen said as he reported back to his draft table following his chat with Hextall:
He was asking me who we’re going to take. He’s got a chance to move back two spots, they’d [San Jose] give him a third. But I said I’d take our chances because we’ve got two guys we like. I asked him to tell me if it’s a D or a forward and he wouldn’t tell me. … I think he’s fishing because he thinks we’re taking the Finn [Mikko Rantanen].
Here’s the video. Worth the time. Every team should do this.
