Philadelphia Flyers To Pick 13th Overall In 2021 NHL Draft
The Philadelphia Flyers will own the 13th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, which begins July 23rd and will be held in a virtual format like last year’s draft. Teams will communicate via videoconferencing and commissioner Gary Bettman will announce the first 32 picks in the draft remotely from the NHL Network’s studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly will announce the rest of the picks for Rounds 2 through 7.
The Flyers originally owned the 14th pick in the draft but due to the league’s penalties against the Arizona Coyotes for violating the NHL’s combine testing policy, which included them stripping the Coyotes of their first round pick in the draft, the Flyers moved up one spot.
Philadelphia only maintained a 1.8% percent chance of winning the first overall pick and a 2.0% chance of winning the second overall pick, which now belong to the Buffalo Sabres and Seattle Kraken, respectively.
The Flyers own seven picks in the draft and here’s how they stack up at the moment:
1st Round – 13th
2nd Round – 45th
3rd Round – 77th
4th Round – 109th
5th Round – 153rd (from Washington via Vegas)
6th Round – 173rd
7th Round – 205th
The Montreal Canadiens own the Flyers’ original 5th round pick, as the Flyers traded it away last season to the Canadiens at the 2020 trade deadline for Nate Thompson. Philadelphia was able to trade back into the 5th round by trading Michael Raffl to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline and received the Vegas Golden Knights’ 5th-rounder in exchange. The Capitals originally acquired the pick when they traded away Chandler Stephenson to the Golden Knights in December 2019.
Now the Flyers are on the clock and have a multitude of options with their pick. They could sit tight and use the pick at 13 to add to their prospect pool. There’s also a possibility that they could trade away the pick in a deal for some much needed help along the blueline. Defensemen such as Seth Jones and Mattias Ekholm are names that have been dangled in trade rumors and the Flyers are obvious suitors for their services.
It will be interesting to see what general manager Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers end up doing next month when the draft rolls around, as all eyes will be on them in what should be a very eventful offseason for the Orange and Black.