With just over a week to go before the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, the phone lines are heating up for Chuck Fletcher.
The Philadelphia Flyers hold the fifth pick in the first round — a valuable asset.
“Teams are calling. ‘Would you trade out of five?'” said the Flyers’ GM during a media conference on Wednesday. “Sure. You always say sure. I don’t know if you always mean it, but you want to hear what they have to say.
“That’s the fun part of it for us, at least — exploring what may be there. But history tells you that usually, you make the pick.”
Fletcher’s right. In the last five years, just four top-10 picks have been traded. All were part of multi-player packages.
- 2021 – Vancouver Canucks trade No. 9 to Arizona Coyotes as part of draft-day acquisition of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland
- 2020 – San Jose Sharks trade No. 3 to Ottawa Senators as part of 2018 Erik Karlsson deal
- 2019 – Ottawa Senators trade No. 4 to Colorado Avalanche as part of 2017 Matt Duchene deal
- 2018 – none
- 2017 – Arizona Coyotes trade No. 7 to New York Rangers as part of draft-day acquisition of Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan
The Price Of A Pick
“What type of price would you want to move back from five?” mused Fletcher, acknowledging that if a trade happens at all, it’s more likely to be moving down than moving up. “Is there even a price and if so, what price? I think that might be more relevant than what it would take to get to one.”
The Flyers dealt away their second-round pick last summer, as part of Shayne Gostisbehere‘s trade to the Arizona Coyotes. Is there a desire to get back into that round?
“Yeah, definitely,” Fletcher acknowledged, but with a caveat. “I think the priority is making sure we do well with our first pick.
“If we can still get a great first-round pick and find a way to get a second-round pick or to get another player or get another prospect or something, sure. But I think that’s secondary to actually looking at the top end of the draft.”
Top Five In Flux
As for who might be the best fit at No. 5, Fletcher is keeping an open mind.Â
“We could use everything,” he said. “We could use a center, a wing, a defenseman…”
“In reality, there’s obviously a grouping of players a lot of you guys are aware of,” said assistant general manager Brent Flahr about the talent at the top of the draft rankings. “We have some guys higher than others, but we’re at the mercy of the teams in front of us a little bit. We have a couple players targeted that we’re hopeful are there at five. And if that’s the case, then we’ll make that decision.
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Slafkovsky The New No. 1?
On Tuesday, Bob McKenzie of TSN released his final draft ranking. It’s a list compiled from polling 10 NHL scouts, and that’s the only factor. It’s not a mock draft, and McKenzie’s own feelings don’t come into play.
McKenzie’s list been notoriously accurate over the years, particularly when it comes to the first-overall pick. So he caused quite a stir when he moved Slovak power forward Juraj Slafkovsky from No. 5 to No. 1 in his final ranking for 2022.
Bob McKenzie has never predicted the first overall pick incorrectly. 🤔
📸 @puckempire IG pic.twitter.com/9jrboQFNHM
— Kyle Cannillo (@KyleCannillo) June 28, 2022
McKenzie did make it clear that the margin between Slafkovsky and presumptive No. 1 Shane Wright is extremely narrow — five of his 10 scouts put Slafkovsky at No. 1, while four had Wright and one went with center Logan Cooley from the U.S. National Team Development Program.
Flahr confirmed that the draft order is currently in flux around the league.
“I talked to a lot of my counterparts,” he said. “There’s a lot of differing opinions at the top end of the draft. It’s not as much of a consensus as some media think, but I think you see the general names.”
In addition to Slafkovsky and Wright, McKenzie has Cooley ranked at No. 3, followed by Slovak defenseman Simon Nemec at four, NTDP power forward Cutter Gauthier at five, and big Czech blueliner David Jiricek at No. 6.
The four teams currently set to pick above Philadelphia next Thursday are the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes and Seattle Kraken.
At minimum, two of those players will still be on the board when the time comes for Fletcher and Flahr to make their pick.
Farabee and Ellis Injury Updates
It wouldn’t be a Flyers media conference without questions on injured players.
Last Friday, the club announced the forward Joel Farabee will be sidelined for three to four months after undergoing disc replacement surgery in his cervical (neck) region. Last year, Jack Eichel became the first NHL player to undergo this procedure, and Chicago’s Tyler Johnson followed.
Farabee’s injury happened very recently, during one of his first offseason training workouts. “He was warming up with light weights on the bench press and he felt, he called it a pinch, some kind of pinching sensation in his neck area,” Fletcher explained. “Extremely unfortunate and unlucky for him, but I think we moved as quickly as we could, once we knew he had issues.”
Farabee’s timeline should have him ready to return around the beginning of next season. But Fletcher is more concerned about making sure the 22-year-old comes back in peak form than about whether he’s in the opening-night lineup.
“I’m not 100% sure yet how quickly he can get into getting stronger,” Fletcher said, “really working on not just his upper body but his lower body as well and building some strength to help him become a little bit more durable.
“He plays hard — he’s a fearless kid. So that’s certainly an important part of the rehab. It’s not just getting him healthy, but how can we get him stronger?”
For Ryan Ellis, there’s cautious optimism, but his future remains murky.
“He’s certainly improved since the end of the season,” Fletcher said, reiterating that Ellis’s issue is multi-faceted. “He’s certainly further along now than he was a month ago or two months ago.
“In saying that, the bulk of his rehab is still ahead of him. He’s starting to intensify, his off-ice workouts and it’s going well, but there’s several more steps to go before he gets on the ice.
“It’s still difficult, if not impossible, to predict where it will be in two or three months. The last month has been encouraging, but there’s still more work to do.”