The Philadelphia Flyers first pick is in. Daniel Briere has chosen Maksim Sokolovskii with the first pick after a trade back. He is a big guy who could be the big, punishing defender that this team has sorely lacked since Chris Pronger. It appears he could be a project, but if he pans out the way that they hope, it could end up being a steal.
So who's left? Thanks to Briere trading back from the 21st pick, the Flyers have now have two picks in the second round: the 53rd and the 62nd; roughly the 21st and 30th picks in the round. Who could still be available at that time?
For starters, you can never have too many defenders. Xavier Villeneue is still available. Likely, his size is what kept him out of the 1st round (5'10), but his speed and offensive ability cannot be ignored. Paired up, in the future, with a guy like Sokolovskii, the two could end up being a Kimmo Timmonen-Pronger duo.
Since we are talking big player, Brooks Rogowski is also still on the board. Rogowski is a 6'7" center and just an inch shorter, believe it or not, than Sokolovskii. Can you imagine a scenario where you have these two titans bearing down on you. That would be some fun hockey to watch.
Winger Matias Vanhanen would be an intriguing prospect for the Flyers to look at. He is a left wing sniper from Finland who has scored 21 goals and 66 assists to lead the Everett Silvertips of the WHL. He could be a good compliment to some of our young forwards.
The Penguins drafted Liam Ruck with the 22nd pick. His brother Markus is still available. Liam is more of the pure goal scorer, which is why he was chosen in the first round, but Markus is a bit of a grinder. He'll battle in the corner, set up plays, and do a lot of dirty work. It does look like the Pens are going to try their best to draft him and have kind of a Sedin Brothers thing going on here. If he is available, it might be worth taking him.
Ryder Cali is another center/left winger project who loves to battle for the puck and throw his weight around. He could be the sort of player who the Flyers like because he can play both positions well. He's 6'2" and 218, so he fits the Flyers' physical style right now
Much like defenders, you can never have too many goalies. Tobias Trejbal of the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL looks like one of the top goalies of the draft. In 42 games this season, he posted a 2.12 GAA with a .916 save percentage. While the Flyers have some prospects down below who seem close to coming up, it never hurts to stock the cupboards.
Back to defense, there is a defender out there who combines the speed of Villeneuve with the physical strength, if not size, of Sokolovskii. Ethan MacKenzie, of the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL, scored 22 goals this season with 36 assists. The 19 year old also impressed many on Canada's World Junior tournament team, scoring a goal with four assists in seven games.
Lastly, there is an 18 year old 6'1 Norwegian left winger named Niklas Aaram-Olsen. In two seasons with the Orebro HK junior team, he has scored 43 goals. He projects as a power sniper who will be truly effective when paired up with a solid center and another strong winger on the right (Porter Martone? Matvei Michkov?). Someone like him could be worth taking a chance on.
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