Report: Flyers elect not to sign 2018 first-round pick Jay O’Brien
O'Brien, 23, just wrapped up his senior season at Boston University and now will become a free agent. The Flyers will receive a future second-round pick as compensation.
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Five years after the Flyers selected him with the 19th overall pick, Jay O’Brien’s time in Philadelphia looks to be over before it ever got started.
According to a Sportsnet report, the Flyers have decided not to sign O’Brien following the completion of his fourth NCAA season. They will receive a second-round pick (No. 51 overall) in likely the 2024 draft (there is a path where it could be a 2023 selection) as compensation for not signing the 23-year-old.
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O’Brien was picked in the first round in 2018 out of Thayer Academy in Massachusetts by former general manager Ron Hextall. He was selected five spots after the Flyers selected Joel Farabee. The then 18-year-old center was viewed as an upside play and was considered a bit of reach by Hextall and the Flyers. O’Brien was ranked the No. 32 prospect at the time by NHL Central Scouting at the time.
Following the draft, O’Brien enrolled at Providence College. The center struggled with injuries and scored just two goals and had three assists in 25 games as a freshman. That same season at Boston University, Farabee scored 17 goals and 19 points in 37 games.
After their freshman seasons, Farabee signed with the Flyers while O’Brien took a year away from college hockey to play in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for the Penticton Vees. After a big season there, he transferred to Boston University.
O’Brien went on to play three seasons at BU and wore an “A” this past season. He tallied 26 goals and 44 assists in 79 career games with the Terriers. This year, he helped BU to the NCAA semifinals, scoring a goal in Thursday’s season-ending loss to Minnesota. O’Brien scored eight goals and had 32 points in 39 games this season.
The Flyers had to decide whether to sign O’Brien to an entry-level contract by Aug. 15. Two front-office regimes removed from Hextall, the Flyers decided it would be better to recoup a second-round pick and keep an open contract spot than to sign O’Brien to an entry-level deal. The Flyers previously traded their 2024 second-rounder to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Tony DeAngelo deal.
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Injuries likely also played a role in the decision not to sign O’Brien. The native of Higham, Mass., dealt with shoulder and concussion injuries in 2018-19, and underwent hip surgery last June after missing 11 games during his junior campaign with the Terriers.
While the 6-foot, 188-pound O’Brien was a key player for BU this past season, the Flyers never saw the development or offensive progression they had hoped for when they took a chance on him in the first round in 2018. O’Brien, who will be looking to latch on with an NHL team, now becomes a free agent.