It’s early June! We are just weeks away from the NHL Entry Draft and the Stanley Cup Finals are currently underway. And for teams like the Flyers, there are a lot of things to work on. Players are being evaluated, free agent lists are probably being compiled, perhaps calls to other teams about potential trades are in the works, and looking at which players to extend. But foremost amongst all of these things is the draft.
The Sporting News did a mock up draft recent. No big surprise, they have Connor Bedard going first to Chicago. After that, they have Anaheim picking up Adam Fantilli. The Flyers are picking seventh in this draft. In this third version of their mock drafts, they have Philadelphia selecting Slovakian scorer Dalibor Dvorsky. This is also not the first time that he has been pegged as a Flyers’ selection.
In their writeup, they said,
"“The Flyers desperately need a future No. 1 center, especially after going with Cutter Gauthier, a wing, at No. 5 in 2022. They get a center this year in Dvorsky. Last year felt like the start of a serious Slovak movement in the NHL, and once again, the country has a top-10 prospect this year. The center brings a strong, well-rounded game and the Flyers would be smart to snag Dvorsky.”"
The player their are referring to in last year’s draft is second overall pick Simon Nemec, drafted by Florida. Nemec, this year, played on Slovakia’s under 20 team and scored a goal after scoring 12 goals and 22 assists for the AHL’s Utica Comets this season as a 19 year old.
Dvorsky scored a goal with two assists in the under 20 tournament this year. He also scored eight goals and five assists in the under 18 tournament earlier this year.
It’s not sure yet where the Flyers are heading. It’s possible that the team will send several representatives to Buffalo for the NHL pre-draft combine in a few weeks. But if Dvorsky is there, he’s probably worth checking out. And if he slips to seventh, he may be someone to heavily consider.