Philadelphia Flyers: College Prospects To Watch This Upcoming Year

The Philadelphia Flyers will have a fair amount of college prospects to keep tabs on when the 2019-20 campaign gets underway.

It’s been known for a while now that the Philadelphia Flyers have a pretty deep prospect pool at their disposal. General Manager and Team President Chuck Fletcher did an admirable job of acquiring NHL caliber players through trades without having to cough up any of the young talents currently in the system. He also added to the pipeline during the 2019 NHL Entry Draft in June, bringing in seven new faces to the organization.

A couple of days ago, I looked at a couple of names who could shine with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this upcoming season, and now, I’ll dive into which college prospects you should monitor during the 2019-20 season. The players will range from incoming first-year students who were selected in this past draft to juniors and seniors who’ve been in the system for a more extended period of time. Putting that aside, let’s talk NCAA, shall we?

The first prospect, or in this case prospects, to follow in the coming year are 2019 First, Second, Third, and Seventh Round picks Cam York, Bobby Brink, Ronald Attard, and Bryce Brodzinski. York and Brink recently took part in the World Junior Summer Showcase and found success during the event, with York posting three points and Brink scoring one in three games. Both should have substantial roles for the Universities of Michigan and Denver in hopes of earning the National Championship for their schools next season.

In Attard’s case, he’ll enter the NCAA ranks following three seasons in the USHL compared to York and Brink’s two. It’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts to the ways of the collegiate league after breaking out with a 64 point campaign for the Tri-City Storm in 2018-19. The NCAA is obviously tougher to play in, and Attard won’t be able to rely on his 6’3, 207-pound frame as much when facing the opposition.

I’m slightly more intrigued by how Brodzinski will perform, though. The later-round selection flat-out dominated Minnesota’s United States High School League last year, netting 76 points in 23 games for Blaine High which helped him win the Mr. Hockey award as the best high school player in his state. He also impressed during the Flyers Development Camp in late-June, flashing his offensive skill set during the scrimmages.

While Brodzynski briefly played in the USHL once his USHS season ended, it still won’t be easy for him to get accustomed to Division I competition after spending most of his time playing in high school. That’s a reasonably significant jump, but if Brodzinski can produce right away, the Flyers could be looking at a steal on their hands.

Another name to watch is forward Wade Allison. Allison would probably be with the Phantoms this year had he not suffered an ACL tear in January of 2018 but opted to go back to school, instead. The 2016 Second Rounder said that it’s taken longer than he expected to recover from the injury and that’s he played at 50% of his usual ability this past season.

Even with not feeling 100%, Allison still scored 15 points (8 Goals, 7 Assists) in 22 games during the 2018-19 year, which is somewhat remarkable given the fact that he wasn’t completely healthy. The 22-year-old winger started to look like himself at Dev Camp, and if that continues, Allison should have a monster season for Western Michigan next year, where he’ll be teammates with Attard.

Lastly, Wyatt Kalnyuk should shine in a leadership role with Wisconsin. After posting 25 points in 37 games in back-to-back seasons, the 2017 Seventh Round pick will be captain of the Badgers team this coming fall. Leading the way for a Wisconsin squad consisting of top prospects like Cole Caufield, Alex Turcotte, and returning players such as K’Andre Miller and Dylan Holloway gives Kalnyuk a plethora of talent to play alongside and should see his offensive point-total grow because of it.

The Flyers will have ten prospects skating in the NCAA next year, and some will likely find themselves competing in the Frozen Four tournament in April of 2020.