When a sports draft happens, the dreams of all the young men who are selected are realized. They have spent their childhood and teenage years hoping and working for this moment. Their athletic abilities and prowess have caught the attention of a sports team, and now they will have the chance to play their beloved game professionally.
However, that is not always the reality. Many of the guys taken in the NFL draft won't make it past training camp and are lucky to get placed on the practice squad. Few people are taken in the NBA draft, and only a small handful become regular players. In the NHL and MLB drafts, 99% of the players don't make the majors right away and, instead, toil in the minor leagues. Only a small portion of them will ever reach the NHL. Check here for every player the Flyers drafted and how few reached the NHL.
While it is nothing personal, teams will move on from prospects that are just not working out. The Flyers cut ties with three of them on Monday morning. Jacob Pelletier never truly got his chance to prove himself. He's looking a lot like a first-round bust that the Flyers took a chance on a tried to help out; much like Kieffer Bellows a few years ago.
The Flyers also let two prospects go which were Elliot Desnoyers and Zayde Wisdom. To be fair, it's not like it wasn't expected, as both had been in the Flyers' system since 2020. Olle Lycksell also became a free agent and moved on Tuesday as well.
Elliot Desnoyers
Perhaps it's a good thing that the Flyers weren't able to draft his brother, Caleb, as it might have made things a bit awkward. His older brother just didn't cut it. He burst onto the scene in 2022-23 in his first season with the Phantoms.
He had previously played for the Halifax Mooseheads of the OMJHL and had an awesome final season with 42 goals and 44 assists in 61 games. He carried that over to the Phantoms with a 23-goal, 21-assist performance. The fifth-round pick was so impressive, he got a late-season call-up and appeared in four games. He was a player on the rise in the system.
Then....poof! The scoring stopped. He scored just six goals in 2023-34 and then only five this past season. If he was injured, he didn't tell anyone. The scoring flair was gone. It's a shame because the Flyers could use a young, speedy left winger. It just won't be him.
Zayde Wisdom
Unlike Desnoyers, Wisdom never got the chance to appear for the Flyers. The 2020 fourth-round pick was never much of a scoring threat, but he possessed a high hockey IQ and was projected to become a bottom-six forward. His biggest issue was trying to stay healthy. He faced injury after injury in his career with the Phantoms. As the injuries mounted, his development slowed.
Interestingly enough, he had the best season of his professional career this past season. He scored 13 goals with 19 assists. He's also still young enough. He'll be 23 on July 7th. The thing is, he plays right wing. On a team that is bursting at the seams with right-wingers, he's like eighth or ninth on the depth chart right now. He's not going to make it here. There is a good chance another team could take a chance on him as a depth forward, but it won't be Philly.
With Desnoyers and Wisdom cut, only Emil Andrae and Tyson Foerster remain from the 2020 draft class. We wish both Desnoyers and Wisdom the best of luck as they move forward.
Olle Lycksell
Olle Lycksell can hardly be called a prospect anymore, as he's been up and down with the Flyers over the last three seasons. The 2017 sixth-round prospect was not re-signed by the Flyers and became a free agent.
Despite performing well with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it never really translated well enough to the Flyers. Maybe he wasn't utilized right by his coaches, or maybe it's him.
During the first day of free agency, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Ottawa Senators. His departure from the team leaves Noah Cates as the lone Flyer left from the 2017 draft class.