The Philadelphia Flyers’ fate was decided on Monday night as the ping-pong balls soared and their series of numbers was not selected.
Announced during the nerve-racking televised event, the Flyers will be picking seventh overall at the upcoming 2023 NHL Entry Draft this June.
OFFICIAL: We will own the 7th overall pick in the 2023 #NHLDraft. #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/YQyr81OTVD
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 9, 2023
The Flyers had a 6.5 percent chance at getting the top selection and “earning” the right to draft young phenom Connor Bedard at first overall. Unfortunately, that did not happen for us and we will have to guess what young teenaged hockey player will be available after six selections, instead of already knowing what will most likely happen.
On the bright side, the Flyers did not move down after having approximately a 40 percent chance at sliding to the eighth or ninth pick. Instead, they are standing pat exactly where they were when the season ended.
This is the first time since 1992 that the Flyers will have back-to-back top-10 selections, when they selected Ryan Sittler at seventh overall, the year after picking Peter Forsberg at sixth.
Outside of Philadelphia, there was not a whole lot of movement either. The only pick to move is the Chicago Blackhawks went from third to first and the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets slid down a pick to second and third, respectively.
Possibly the worst outcome for observers outside of the city of Chicago. This sucks.
On a quick note, who are some players that the Flyers could potentially select at seventh overall? Well there’s electric forward Zach Benson from the WHL, stable Czech center Dalibor Dvorsky, speedy winger Andrew Cristall, and maybe even, if teams want to avoid the risk, Matvei Michkov. No matter who they select, they can’t really go wrong and there are so many exciting players to add to this prospect pool.
The 2023 NHL Entry Draft is taking place in Nashville, Tenn. on June 28 and 29.
