2024 NHL draft: Ranking 8 potential top pick targets for the Flyers

As all the excitement of Matvei Michkov’s impending arrival swirls, the next set of stars — and certainly a few players who could skate alongside the Russian phenom — are set to be drafted June 28-29 in Las Vegas at Sphere.

The Flyers will have nine picks, with the possibility of a 10th if the Columbus Blue Jackets opt to send over their second-rounder to complete the Ivan Provorov three-way deal from a year ago following the first round on Friday. Two of the picks will be in the opening round, at No. 12 and No. 32. Will that be where the Flyers pick when the time comes? Stay tuned because the Flyers could be a mover and a shaker.

“We’re open for business,” Danny Brière told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine, which he reiterated at his predraft presser last week. The Flyers general manager is not afraid to make moves, and while some rumors have him jumping up in the draft — the biggest one is up to No. 7 in a swap of players and picks with the Ottawa Senators — he’s also stated he’s fine with moving back.

» READ MORE: Flyers GM Danny Brière confident team is ‘going to get a good player’ in the NHL draft

The big question is, regardless of the slot, who will they pick? Flyers brass have long maintained the idea of drafting the best player available. But they may lean toward a certain position — this team desperately needs center depth — if it’s split between two players.

Regarding the No. 32 pick, which was acquired in the Claude Giroux trade from the recently crowned Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, anything is possible as players fall, teams go off the board, and the pick could be influenced by who the Flyers snag first. The Inquirer and FCHockey are leaning toward the Flyers drafting 6-foot-7 center Dean Letourneau in that slot.

But all eyes are on No. 12 so, with that in mind, The Inquirer ranks the top eight candidates for the Flyers’ first pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Listed by McKeen’s Hockey as the pick, the top pure goal scorer in the draft is an intriguing option for the Flyers. The upside is he puts the puck in the net — often. The downside is that although his U.S. National Team Development Program coach Nick Fohr said he’s been working on it, the 6-foot, 197-pounder’s defensive game is significantly lacking. Do the Flyers need him now that Michkov is coming and they have guys like Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster on the wing in the top six? You can never have enough players who score but his D-zone issues aren’t small. One plus is he does have that competitive fire coach John Tortorella likes.

“I think Cole has some jam to his game; he will finish his checks,” The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer at the scouting combine. “I think he is a competitor — in fact, I know he’s a competitor — but he’s never going to be a two-way winger. He’s not going to be a 200-foot, he’s not going to kill penalties. That’s not who Cole Eiserman is and that’s not what you want him to be either, you want him to play offense and put the puck in the net.”

» READ MORE: Cole Eiserman can flat-out score. Might the Flyers be interested in the first round of the draft?

With a bit of a logjam on the right wing — with Travis Konecny, Michov, Bobby Brink, and Samu Tuomaala — the chance of the Norwegian being selected for this spot is slim. The 6-1, 207-pound teenager has been called a competitor by insiders and offers up that he likes to get under the opposition’s skin.

“Nygård’s very well-rounded,” The Athletic’s Corey Pronman told The Inquirer. “There’s nothing about his game that is really high end but he can skate, he hits hard, he has skill, he can score goals, he makes plays. He’s got good size. There’s no real hole in his game but also there isn’t this really exciting trait in there either. He does project as a top-six winger in the NHL.”

» READ MORE: Norwegian draft prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygård has one trait the Flyers like: Grit

The player Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet took for the Flyers, Parekh put up big numbers this past season in the Ontario Hockey League, leading all defensemen in goals (33) and points (96). At 6-foot, 178 pounds, he was named the Canadian Hockey League’s Defenseman of the Year and led Saginaw to the Memorial Cup championship. He is an always-coveted right-shot who is expected to be a top-four defenseman, and would certainly be in the best player conversation if available.

“Zayne’s the most gifted offensive defenseman in the draft, one of the most gifted offensive defenseman I’ve ever watched and this is my 11th draft doing this. … We’re talking about a special, special player offensively,” Wheeler said. “The question with Zayne has always been, can he defend? He defends almost exclusively with his stick. He’s not a physical, super competitive defender. … He’s never going to be leveling guys in open ice, or fighting, or pushing guys around in front of the net. He’s not that guy, that’s not who he is. He’s going to make plays and create goals as a defenseman.”

» READ MORE: The Flyers are weighing their options in the NHL draft. Scout Mark Greig describes the grind.

In his June 17 draft, TSN’s director of scouting Craig Button tapped Sennecke as the guy. That was before the addition of Michkov, and so, like Brandsegg-Nygård, he would be up against that right-wing logjam. Listed at 6-3 and 182 pounds, he’s a top-end skater — Elite Prospects calls him “an ankle-breaking winger” — who had 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 63 regular-season games in 2023-24 for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. According to FCHockey’s 2024 NHL draft guide, “He’s a talented offensive winger and multifaceted offensive threat with above-average shooting, puck control, and playmaking ability.”

» READ MORE: At No. 32, defenseman Harrison Brunicke has one intangible John Tortorella is looking for

Do the Flyers take the son of Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla? He notched 84 points (47 goals, 37 assists) in 64 regular-season games for the Rockets in the Western Hockey League before adding another six goals and 12 points for the gold-medal-winning Canadians at the U18 World Championship.

“Highly competitive player, fantastic puck skills, fantastic shot, a guy who can drive play,” Pronman said in Western New York. “A really good player. I think the concern with Tij will be, even though he’s bulky, obviously comes from really good genes, his dad was built like a truck and this guy is really built too. But he’s like 5-foot-11 ½; that might concern teams a little bit. He’s a winger [but] some think he could be a center going long term.”

Bleacher Report and Pronman each have the Flyers taking the Finn in their mock draft and ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie has him ranked as the 12th best on her final big board. This past season, as a 17-year-old, he recorded 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games while playing in Finland’s top professional league. The one knock on him is his size at 5-foot-11 and 189 pounds.

“He is excellent defensively and I think that’s going to go a long way for him in terms of sticking as a center,” Wheeler said. “Helenius is a very detail-oriented, intelligent player — like, that’s the bread and butter of this game, is the details defensively, stick lifts, little steals. … He’s a legit prospect. … Just a very, very smart, intelligent, intelligent center.”

» READ MORE: Konsta Helenius is a battle-tested young playmaker, but there are some questions

FloHockey’s Chris Peters and NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale each see the Flyers going for the big (6-3, 202 pounds), right-shot blueliner who has the rare combination of high-end offense in a defenseman. He scored the most goals by a defenseman in the WHL (30), showcased some highlight-reel skills, and brought some snarl for the Hitmen — a team the Flyers got Travis Sanheim and Egor Zamula from.

“I think he’s going to be a really good two-way player as a pro — he wasn’t as a junior — but I think, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical, skates well enough, and he has a lot of offensive abilities. I think you can take that combination of traits and turn that into an excellent two-way defenseman as a pro. I think he has total upside,” Pronman said. “I think he won’t be there at 12. He’s, to me, a top-five player in this draft; I don’t think a lot of the league views him that way. I love him though, and if he’s there at 12 I think you run up to the podium and you take him and you worry about the other issues later.”

» READ MORE: Carter Yakemchuk, a scoring blueliner with grit, is on the Flyers’ radar

The consensus pick. TSN’s Bob McKenzie has him ranked No. 12 on his final big board. Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis, Wheeler, NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, and The Inquirer think the Flyers select the high-end talent of Catton. As stated, the Flyers need center depth and they need talent, and Catton is a someone who can match Michkov pound-for-pound. Like a bunch of prospects on this list, he’s under 6-foot (5-10, 175) so there are questions about whether he can play center in the NHL. But the Hockey Canada U18 captain is agile, quick on his feet, creative, strong on his stick, and has a high hockey IQ.

“He’s a pure sort of skill, playmaking type. I believe, because of the way that he skates that he can play center in the NHL. And the reason I believe that is because you want, when guys skate like that, you want them getting the puck lower in the offensive zone so that they can create exits, so that they can build speed through the neutral zone,” Wheeler said. “It’s a lot harder for him to play his game if he’s standing on the wall, accepting a pass vs. getting a pass with his feet moving below the dots and then kind of wheeling up ice. So that’s kind of how I view him is, you want him getting as many touches as you can when you play that style and when you skate like he does.”

» READ MORE: Prospect Berkly Catton may not be big, but ‘my brain is bigger.’ And he can score.