With the 174th overall selection in this year’s draft, the Philadelphia Flyers have taken center Gavin Hain. The 5’11”, 194-pound native from Grand Rapids, Minnesota ended up 104th on Central Scouting’s final rankings after he was ranked 85th on their mid-term rankings. He is the third forward the Flyers have selected in this draft and the first one since the opening round.
Hain registered 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 61 games for the U.S. National U-18 team, as well as 18 points in 25 games for the USNTDP Juniors team in the USHL. The pivot also had a goal in seven games for U.S.A. at the U-18 World Junior Championship.
Chris Dilks from SBN College Hockey had this to say about Hain back in February
“Similar to former high school teammate Mitchell Mattson, Hain is a good example of why scouts want to push players to play in better leagues. I don’t think staying in Grand Rapids would have changed the trajectory of Hain’s career in any appreciable way. But if he had stayed and dominated in HS again, odds are he might have been a second or third round pick. Playing with the NTDP this year against much faster competition, Hain’s skating ability has kept him from being able to use his terrific shot as much, making him a less effective player, and probably pushing him into the later rounds of the draft. Playing up doesn’t necessarily make a player better, but it does make them easier to evaluate.”
Hain did rack up points in high school. As captain of Grand Rapids High during the 2016-17 campaign, Hain scored 24 goals and had 24 assists in 24 games. Hain also posted a high point total during the 2014-15 season, when he had 67 goals and 119 points in 52 games for Grand Rapids’ AA Bantam team.
Watching the highlight package below, Hain’s terrific shot is evident. He also shows a capability to get to the dirty areas to put home plays that his teammates have created.
Hain is committed to the University of North Dakota for the 2018-19 campaign.
The Flyers’ next selection was at 190, but for the second year in a row they have traded their seventh-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for their seventh-round pick.
