The Flyers made a minor transaction on Wednesday, but it is a transaction with local ties. The orange and black acquired Evan Barratt, a left handed defender from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defender Cooper Zech.
Barratt is a local kid. He grew up in Bristol and played in the Flyers local hockey leagues around the Delaware Valley. He played on two US National Hockey Teams in 2015-16 (Under 17) and 2016-17 (Under 18). After graduating high school, he took his hockey talents to the University of Pennsylvania. For three years, he played for the Quakers and scored 39 goals in three seasons.
He was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft; two rounds before the Flyers took Noah Cates. For the last two years, he has played for Chicago’s AHL affiliate, the Rockford Ice Hogs. He has struggled to score while at the AHL level, scoring five goals in his first year. Last year, he did post 14 goals and 28 points. It is improvement, but he could do better.
Barratt stands at six feet tall and just shy of 200 lbs. He is rated as an above average skater with a great hockey mind. However, he has struggled in the past with a “pass first mentality”. Throughout his collegiate and minor league career, he has been encouraged to trust his instincts and shoot the puck more. Many of the scouting reports say that he has a high ceiling and could become a top-6 forward if he can put it all together.
For Zech, his time as a Flyer is over. He was an undrafted free agent who broke in with the Providence Bruins in 2018-19. During the COVID pandemic, he played in the Slovak League. He returned to the states and to the Bruins. He signed with the Flyers in 2021.
Zech is 5’9″ and 161 lbs; kind of smallish for a blueliner. A small defender can make waves in the NHL if they can score. Unfortunately for him, he scored just one goal and 10 assists last year in Lehigh Valley.
Perhaps a change of scenery is what both players need. And if the rash of injuries keep hitting the Flyers, maybe we’ll see Barratt playing for his hometown team soon enough.