The time has come. The 2025 NHL Draft is here. The big question now is, "Who will the Flyers select" at the sixth, twenty-second, and thirty-first overall selections tonight, barring a trade up or down, of course.
And of course, we can't discount that. There are rumors that some of the teams in the top five would like to drop. There are also rumors that the LA Kings may want to trade back to gain more picks in this year's draft.
Because of this, nothing is guaranteed. Everything is all conjecture. All it takes is for one team to do something unexpected, and everyone's mock picks can be thrown into the trash. Heck, even if you do a Google search on NHL mock drafts, you'll get about four or five picks for the first pick. Then, once you get past selection No. 10, everything is kinda scrambled up depending on which writer is writing the column.
With that in mind, let's look at likely choices for the Flyers with each of their first picks. Before we continue, we can say that most likely, Matthew Schaefer and Mike Misa are gone.
The 6th Overall Pick
One of the fun things in looking at draft prospect rankings is who starts to rise and who slides back. A few weeks ago, Anton Frondell and Victor Eklund both seemed to be right in the range of where the Flyers would pick. The top two European skaters would be a steal. However, they have been steadily rising in mock drafts, with Frondell going as high as second or third. This means someone has to fall back. Caleb Desnoyers, Jake O'Brien, and Radim Mrtka seem to be those slipping back. Defender Kashawn Aitcheson and left winger Lynden Lakovic have also seen their stock rise and have gotten into the top 10 in some mocks.
Most likely, the Flyers will select a center. In that case, a selection of Desnoyers, Frondell, or O'Brien would be a welcome pick to most fans. Mrtka might be another fine selection if the Flyers want to take a swing at a defender.
The 22nd Overall Pick
This is where things get interesting. Some mocks have Aitcheson available, while others have him long gone. Carter Bear, Brady Martin, and Joshua Ravensbergen have all been mocked between 10 and 25.
I still think it is hard to see the Flyers going back-to-back centers to start this draft. However, Bear would be a lot of fun to see play and could do some fun things. So would Jack Nesbitt if he is available. However, if a left winger like Lakokvic or Malcolm Spence is there or if Ravensbergen is not selected and the Flyers are worried he may not survive the first round, he could be chosen here too. A defender like Logan Hensler also makes a lot of sense here.
The 32nd Overall Pick
In their latest mock draft, Yahoo Sports has the Flyers selecting three centers. Those are all decent players, but the Flyers have other holes to fill. I would conjecture that at least one of the three picks will be a center; perhaps two. The other first-round pick could end up becoming a defender, left winger, or possibly goalie. Right wing is not as big a deal since the Flyers already employ several of them. This is why I don't think Porter Martone is really on their radar despite his abilities.
Again, Ravensbergen could slip to here, too, depending on what mock you read. A sleeper pick like Cullen Potter or Milton Gästrin could be selected, as could Cameron Schmidt, a prolific scorer, but stands at 5'7".
You also have to keep in mind that the Flyers will be picking again shortly in the second round with picks at #36 and #40 right around the corner. They may be willing to take some chances on someone knowing they could let a pick slide down a few spots and they could still be on the board.
We'll see where the Flyers go tonight. There will probably be lots of surprises. You hope that with three selections, the Flyers can find someone who can help turn this franchise around.