Oliver Moore, player linked to Flyers in draft, would bring superior speed

The potentially biggest moment of the Flyers’ offseason is less than two weeks away.

On May 8, the NHL will hold its draft lottery. As the seventh-worst team in the league, the Flyers have a 6.5 percent chance to win the lottery.

Tankathon.com, which tracks all things draft, has the Flyers selecting speedy center Oliver Moore with the seventh pick. A major asterisk is needed for clarification: The selection is based on the Flyers remaining at No. 7. And anything can happen in a lottery.

Moore on the rise

Moore is a 5-foot-11, 176-pounder from Mounds View, Minn., just north of the Twin Cities. Moore has committed to play at the University of Minnesota in the fall. He is a lefty shooter.

He came into the year as a likely first-round pick and, according to scouts, he is now a likely top-10 pick.

“I think my skating ability is probably my biggest strength, separating from defensemen and using that to my advantage,” Moore told therinklive.com.

Moore, who also ran track in high school, knows he has areas of improvement. “Continuing to develop situational awareness, develop my down-low game, my defensive game, those three things are probably really the biggest,” he told therinklive.

In 2022-23, Moore played an elite schedule. He scored 30 goals and 41 assists in 57 games for the U.S. National U18 Team. He played 23 games for the US National Team Development Program, scoring eight goals and 17 assists in 23 games.

Moore currently plays for the USA U18 “A” team. He has four goals and two assists in four games. He scored a goal in yesterday’s 10-0 victory over host Switzerland in the U18 World Championships.

Moore is known for his speed, passing ability and dedication to playing a two-way game. Two skaters ranked ahead of Moore by the TSN’s Bob McKenzie are on the U18 team — center Will Smith, of Lexington, Mass., and center Ryan Leonard, of Amherst, Mass.

They are McKenzie’s three highest-ranked Americans.

In an interview with eprinkside.com, Moore said Detroit’s Dylan Larkin is a player to whom he is comparable.

“He is an elite skater, is exceptional in defending the neutral zone and a great support in the defensive/offensive zone and has an underrated shot,” Austin Garret, of Smaht Scouting, said about Moore.

“My only gripe with Moore is his [penchant] for attacking the zone at his top speed at all times.”

Another writer likes Moore’s mindset.

“Moore is a high-paced thinker who changes speeds, alters angles and moves the puck into high danger areas with regularity, said Tony Ferrari, of The Hockey Writers.

Here are Moore’s rankings by some of the draft experts:

Consolidated Ranking: 8th best skater
Eliteprospects.com: 6
FCHockey: 13
Daily Faceoff: 7
The Hockey News: 14
TSN/Bob McKenzie: 11
McKeen’s Hockey: 12
TSN/Craig Button: 14
NHL Central Scouting: 8
Sportsnet: 16
Draft Prospects Hockey: 20
Smart Scouting: 7

The Flyers, in a serious rebuild, need to hit a home run with their first-round pick. Maybe a grand slam.