Philadelphia Flyers: Canadian Junior Prospects Continue To Impress

Most of the Philadelphia Flyers prospects playing in Canada have continued to excel with their respective teams.

If one thing’s been certain for the Philadelphia Flyers through these past few years, it’s whenever the NHL team is performing poorly; fans can always look to their prospect pool to cheer themselves up. Even with the Morgan Frost’s and Joel Farabee’s of the world currently playing in the AHL, the Flyers still have plenty of talent playing well all over the globe, including the Canadian Junior Hockey Leagues. So, to help get that horrific loss to the Edmonton Oilers out of your mind, let’s take a look at a couple of Flyers CHL prospects, shall we?

Beginning with the most notable, former first-rounder Jay O’Brien has continued to stand out for the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).  The soon to be 20-year-old forward has netted 22 points (8 Goals, 14 Assists) in 13 games so far, keeping his point-per-game (PPG) pace at well over one. He leads everyone on the Vees in total scoring, with the next highest scorer possessing 17 points, and sits third in the league as well.

While it’s true that O’Brien should be dominating the BCHL competition, as he’s among the older players in the league, I’m still happy to see him nearly meeting expectations. I’d like to see his PPG number rise to two as the season goes on, but won’t be wholly upset if he continues to hover around the 1.5-1.7 mark.

The Egor’s are also standing out in the CHL. Egor “Don’t Call Me Yegor” Zamula and Egor Serdyuk, like O’Brien, are scoring at over a PPG rate in their third and second seasons in the Canadian Juniors. Zamula, who shined for the Flyers during Rookie and Training Camp, has posted ten points (4 Goals, 6 Assists) in seven games in the WHL while Serdyuk has just as many points in one more game played in the QMJHL.

Both rank in the Top 3 on their teams’ in total points, and Zamula is tied for second among all WHL defensemen in that category, too.  Though we may not see Serdyuk in Philadelphia or Lehigh Valley for another year or two, Zamula should 100% be with the Phantoms in 2020-21, as he doesn’t really have much more to prove at the junior level.

Wrapping up with the final three, Wyatte Wylie, Roddy Ross, and Mason Millman have taken small steps back following solid starts to their 2019-20 campaigns. After potting six points in his first six games with the Everett Silvertips, Wylie’s netted just one in his last three. He did break a two-game scoring drought in his previous contest, though, which could be a sign that he’s returning to form.

As for Ross, he’s had a rough go of it between the crease for the Seattle Thunderbirds since his 50 save outing to begin 2019-20, allowing at least three goals in three of his last four games. Like Wylie, Ross was able to turn it around in his previous start against the Silvertips, earning third-star honors with a 24 save performance. Everett did end up with the win in overtime, but Ross going save-for-save with fellow 2019 draft pick Dustin Wolf was promising to see.

Millman, who’s thought to be more of a project on the blueline, has just one point in 11 games with the Saginaw Spirit, going pointless in his last eight games with the club. I wouldn’t be too worried, though, especially with the depth the Flyers have in their farm system defensively.