Flyers 2023 Draft Recap 2023-09-11 Flyers 2023 Draft Recap In advance of draft day the Flyers made a decision to look at options of moving out of the first round to acquire additional picks in the 2023 draft. There were a couple of interesting options but the Montreal deal offered the highest 2nd round pick in a range where we knew we could draft a quality prospect with high potential. Trade Draft selections: Lukas Dragicevic (D) EHE Draft position: 43rd NHL Draft position: 57th Dragicevic was one of the top-scoring defensemen in the WHL this season and was a first-team All-Star in the US division of the WHL. He’s emerged as one of the top Canadian defensemen in his age group despite being a cut from Canada’s U18 team this summer, although he was part of their U18 team the previous spring as a 16-year-old and was their best defenseman at the 2023 U18 worlds. We really like the skills and offensive upside with hopes that he play as a top-4 D who runs the PP. Roman Kantserov (D) EHE Draft position: 52nd NHL Draft position: 44th Kantserov is undersized at 5-foot-9, but has a lot of other traits that make you think he will score as a pro. He skates and plays with pace and can generate a lot of controlled entries. Size is a concern, however, we love the skill level. The hope is he gets some time at the KHL level this season and transitions over to NA in the near future. Danny Nelson (C) EHE Draft position: 64th NHL Draft position: 49th Nelson has an intriguing skill yet … he has size, can skate, has good puck skills and can shoot the puck well. His work ethic is good, he has some physicality even if for a big guy I wish he was even harder. There is a lot of talent within the player and could develop in any number of ways. It will be interesting to watch how the Islanders manage the development. Ultimately, there’s a case that he has a lot of room to develop, especially given how young he is relative to the draft class and the big jump in competition he made year over year. Ryan McAllister (C) EHE Draft position: 68th NHL Draft position: Undrafted An undrafted late-bloomer with dynamic offensive instincts. McAllister finished the season as the 6th highest scorer in the NCAA with 49 points and then signed for the Florida Panthers where he put up 5 points in 4 games with Charlotte Checkers. His average frame and skating may hold him back at the NHL but he has scored buckets of points at every level so far. Aram Minnetian (D) EHE Draft position: 71st NHL Draft position: 57th Minnetian was a top-four defenseman for the U.S. NTDP this season, and is committed to Boston College for the upcoming season. He is a defenseman with a good amount of offensive talent. He’s a very strong skater who can jump up into attacks and push the pace like a pro. Yegor Zavragin (G) EHE Draft position 125th NHL Draft position: 87th Zavragin has been the top goalie for the 2005-born age group in Russia for several years. He is an intelligent goalie with decent size. He is extremely young in the 2023 draft class so the hope is that he continues to grow in stature as a goalie. A big factor in this selection is how the well the real life Flyers have drafted goalies in recent years.
