2019: Fletcher’s first pick for the Flyers was Cam York at 14th overall. The 21 year old defender shows some promise and could make the big club full time this upcoming year. Second rounder Bobby Brink has shown promise at the NHL level. Third rounder Ronnie Attard has done the same at Western Michigan and looks reliable enough at the NHL level thus far, but he may need AHL seasoning.
As for the other picks, fourth rounder Mason Millman is still in the minors, being demoted to the ECHL. Sixth rounder Egor Serdyuk is in the KHL, sixth round goalie Roddy Ross is playing college in Saskatchewan, and seventh rounder Bryce Brodzinski is playing for Univ. of Minnesota.
Overall Score: Incomplete, but leaning C+
2020: With the 23rd overall pick, the Flyers selected Tyson Foerster. His development has been hampered by a broken collarbone, shoulder surgery and the COVID pandemic. Still, the Flyers seem big on him. Second rounder Emil Andrae is a scoring defender who is lighting it up in Sweden.
Zayde Wisdom, a fourth rounder, is playing in the OHL. Elliot Desnoyers, a fifth rounder, scored 43 goals this past year in the Quebec Major Junior hockey league. Sixth rounder Connor McClennon scored 81 points this year, to lead all Flyers minor leaguers, but failed to sign this offseason.
Overall Score: Incomplete, but leaning C+
2021: The Flyers did not have a first round pick because of the Rasmus Ristolainen trade.
Samu Tuomaala is a top rated winger the Flyers picked in the second round. Their third round pick is Belarussian goalie, Alexei Kolosov. The other picks, Brian Zanetti, Ty Murchison, Ethan Samson, and Owen McLaughlin have all played well enough in their respective junior leagues.
Overall Score: Incomplete.
It’s hard to judge the three Flyers classes as COVID has kind of screwed up everything. A lot of young players lost time from not playing. But so far, the draft classes look to be fairly decent. And if Foerster turns out to be a good forward and York turns into a steady contributor on defense, it might work out for the Flyers. Some of the lower round picks, like Desonyers and McLaughlin, really look like they may have something to offer the big club.
As for Fletcher’s time in Minnesota, the results are less than promising. If you average out the scores, he clocks in at a C- overall. The selections of Dumba, Kaprisov, and Ek were solid. Keumper and Haula were outstanding late round picks. A few of these picks, like Tuch, are okay players at best. But there are several drafts that couldn’t even deliver a bottom line depth piece at forward or defense. That is frightening.
Hopefully history plays out well and his picks for the Flyers turns out well. With the state of the team now, they can’t afford a “so-so” draft.