Up next in 10
The Philadelphia Flyers will need some physicality on their blue line if Rasmus Ristolainen is traded or injured. Could Hunter McDonald or Ty Murchison be a suitable replacement?
Ryan Gilbert, Steve Jacot, and Jacob Russell discuss what these two defensemen could bring as they continue down Broad Street Hockey's Top 25 Under 25 for Summer 2026.
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0:00
Hello and welcome back to Broad Street
0:03
Hockey's 25 under 25 series here for
0:07
summer 2026.
0:09
I am Ryan Gilbert joined by Steve Jacot
0:11
and Jacob Russell as we talk about a few
0:13
potential Rasmus Ristolainen
0:15
replacements in this video today. You
0:18
know, not going to be top pair top four
0:19
guys, but they can bring the
0:21
physicality.
0:22
How you guys doing today? Jacob, you can
0:24
always bring the physicality.
0:26
>> I you know have been known to to throw a
0:29
shoulder check on a Sunday night for
0:31
sure. I'm doing well.
0:33
You know, I'm just ready to talk about
0:34
some guys who I I
0:36
I think could very well play in a Flyers
0:39
uniform next year if everything goes
0:41
right for them. I mean, I think it's
0:42
they've kind of been passed over the
0:44
David Jiricek of it all. Risto not going
0:46
anywhere. I think those guys have kind
0:48
of been forgotten, but you know, they
0:50
they start good with the fans. I'm this
0:52
is a very good chance they end up with
0:54
the Flyers by the end of the year.
0:56
>> Yeah, and I'll tell you what. I was
0:57
basically the Rasmus Ristolainen of
0:59
floor hockey when I played that. Nobody
1:01
I just decked guys in the corner and
1:03
people say this is floor hockey, sir.
1:05
Don't do that. But yeah, when it comes
1:08
to these two guys that we're going to
1:09
talk about today, there is a very real
1:10
chance they do get a cup of coffee with
1:12
the Flyers or maybe more depending on if
1:14
the Flyers make a mid-season trade
1:16
because Ristolainen can be traded at any
1:18
time. You never know what's going to
1:20
happen with him.
1:21
>> You never know what's going to happen
1:23
with Ristolainen. You never know what's
1:24
going to happen with the Flyers. Make
1:26
sure you check out our friends over at
1:27
FanDuel. They got the Flyers at plus 122
1:30
to make the playoffs after a winning
1:31
around last year. So make sure you check
1:33
that out. And yeah, both these guys
1:35
today are 23 Hunter McDonald and 22
1:39
Tyson on the top 25 under 25 and Tyson
1:44
is 23 years old, McDonald 24 years old.
1:47
So getting a bit older for this list
1:49
here and they both had a cup of coffee
1:51
last year with the Flyers as well with
1:53
Hunter McDonald getting an assist in
1:55
four penalty minutes in the uh game 82
1:58
against the Canadians and Ty Murchison
2:00
getting uh no points but a plus one in
2:03
his three games with the Flyers, I
2:04
believe, in December there. So, what
2:06
let's start with let's start with Hunter
2:08
McDonald. Hunter McDonald, for some
2:10
reason, is this like enigma. Everyone
2:14
like envisions him as being like like
2:16
the next Chris Pronger, like as big as
2:17
Zdeno Chara. He He's 6'4, which is
2:20
shorter than I thought. I thought he was
2:22
at least 6'5, 6'6. He He is heavier at
2:25
what, 240, 236 here as listed on Elite
2:28
Prospects. Um
2:30
has a few years of professional hockey
2:32
under his belt. What What do we think
2:34
here about uh about H Mac?
2:36
>> I mean, I don't know where this hype
2:38
comes from and I'm I'm very unplugged
2:40
from social media these days. I'm not
2:42
nearly as active as I used to be. So, I
2:44
always hear people saying there's so
2:46
much hype around Hunter McDonald. I'm
2:47
like, I don't see any of it. So, I don't
2:50
know where it's coming from. I feel like
2:52
it's self-self-perpetuating hype
2:53
machine. But, at the end of the day,
2:55
apparently, there are people who are
2:57
excited for him. I don't really get it.
2:59
I've never really seen it. He doesn't
3:01
seem like he's overly punishing. He
3:03
doesn't seem like he's overly smothering
3:06
defensively.
3:07
He seems fine, but like he he seems like
3:10
a third pair at best guy. And I'm not
3:14
particularly excited for him, but if he
3:17
does over-perform and play well, I'm
3:20
certainly open to that. I'm I'm cool
3:22
with that, especially if he can step in
3:23
and maybe if they do trade Ristolainen
3:26
or let Ristolainen go at the end of the
3:28
season, he can provide some of that
3:29
physicality that they'll be losing. But,
3:31
overall, at the end of the day, I'm not
3:33
like
3:34
I don't I don't really understand all
3:36
the Hunter McDonald supposed hype,
3:39
wherever that might be.
3:41
>> It's Keith Jones. I think it's just
3:42
Keith Jones. Keith Jones just likes
3:44
talking about Hunter McDonald. He likes
3:46
I think Keith Jones just for a time
3:49
thought about like what he wanted to get
3:52
for the Flyers and he would look around
3:55
the organization. He didn't have too
3:56
many guys at that point who fit the
3:57
description. He'd be like, "Ah, yeah,
3:59
Hunter McDonald's kind of like what we
4:00
want. He's big." And I you know, I like
4:03
you said, I'm not necessarily
4:06
fully sold on him. I I think he's one of
4:09
those guys where he has the potential to
4:10
be one of those guys where he
4:13
will hit guys. He will be physical, but
4:14
he kind of takes himself out of the play
4:16
in order to do it.
4:18
Um and I don't really love that,
4:19
especially nowadays. I think that's
4:21
something that can get you really picked
4:23
apart at the NHL level. And he's been
4:25
hurt, you know, in in
4:27
some sort of capacity
4:31
going back to like his time in the in
4:34
university and stuff like that. It's not
4:35
like he's been out out all the time,
4:39
but he's not a guy who I would say,
4:42
you know, I I always have the Nick
4:44
Seeler test going. Are you better Do I
4:46
think you're going to be better than
4:47
Nick Seeler? I mean, he's bigger
4:48
[laughter] than Nick Seeler. He's a lot
4:49
bigger than Nick Seeler, but Nick Seeler
4:51
plays like a man who is 6'3", not like a
4:53
man who I think is like 5'11". I think
4:56
Nick Seeler is on the shade under 6 ft.
4:58
But, that's, you know, I I think
5:01
the thing that I always think with a guy
5:02
like Hunter McDonald is
5:04
I want Hunter McDonald when he's 30,
5:07
right? And he's been through a playoff
5:08
war and he's he's battled through
5:10
everything. He's got a little bit of NHL
5:12
experience and you can pick him up for
5:13
$2 million or I guess now it's going to
5:15
be $5 million cuz the cap keeps going up
5:17
every damn year. But, that you know,
5:19
that sort of guy um
5:23
I think is more
5:25
conducive to getting him when he's a vet
5:27
rather than building him up from the
5:29
AHL. I think it's just hard and I don't
5:31
really see what he can bring. Obviously,
5:33
gets the assist in one game. Awesome.
5:35
Get your first point, man. I'm happy
5:37
about that. And and that was a beautiful
5:39
game against the Canadians where the
5:40
kids just tore apart the actual roster
5:43
who of the Montreal Canadians who wanted
5:45
to win that game.
5:46
Um but
5:47
overall his time in Lehigh Valley it's
5:49
been iffy.
5:51
Um, it's been up and down and I don't
5:52
think he's ever really proved himself to
5:54
be better than a guy like Helge Grans,
5:56
right? Um, and and Helge Grans stinks.
5:59
Um, he's not on the [laughter] list.
6:00
He's never really been on the list. Uh,
6:03
he's physical. He will give you some
6:06
penalty minutes.
6:07
I just don't know if he's got that sort
6:10
of X-factor to where you can get excited
6:12
about him physically. Um, I'm
6:14
And he's not a kid anymore, you know,
6:16
he's he's 24 now. He just turned 24 in
6:18
May.
6:19
>> Grown ass man.
6:19
>> You're you're starting to get, you know,
6:21
to the point where if you don't make a
6:23
move this season and you're 25 next
6:26
year, you're just an AHL vet and and
6:29
if you're an AHL vet in the bottom two
6:30
pairs or even the bottom pair, um,
6:34
it's tough, man. It's really tough to
6:35
see you getting anywhere. I mean, it it
6:38
is just the size. It really just starts
6:40
and ends with the size and the
6:41
physicality with him and and I think
6:43
there's a need for that. There's room
6:44
for that, but I just
6:47
I'd rather get a veteran guy who can
6:50
fulfill that role than try to shoehorn
6:53
Hunter McDonald in there and also force
6:55
upon him like you got to be the
6:57
enforcer. You got to get out there and
6:59
and throw the body and stick up for your
7:01
teammates. Like that lends itself to a
7:04
whole bunch of other problems and and
7:06
probably makes it even harder for him to
7:07
play a more simplified game when you're
7:10
asking him to go out there and beat the
7:11
[Β __Β ] out of guys.
7:13
Um,
7:14
maybe he makes a an appearance and
7:17
sticks around, right? Uh, if if Risto
7:19
gets traded, if Nick Seeler even moves
7:22
on, I mean, that seems a little bit uh,
7:24
far-fetched at this point because I
7:26
think everyone likes having Nick Seeler
7:27
around.
7:28
Um, but yeah, like it it's hard to see a
7:31
world where he jumps over even guys like
7:33
Oliver Bonk and David Jiricek at this
7:35
point in in the depth chart and
7:38
you know, even the guy we're about to
7:39
talk about next, right? It's it's uh,
7:43
It's a long shot for for Hunter
7:44
McDonald. He's uh
7:46
He's fine. He's I just see he's like an
7:48
AHL, you know, decent AHL defenseman
7:51
who's big, you know, he just seems to
7:52
suit that level. I don't know.
7:54
>> Yeah, he's fine. Can maybe be a third
7:57
pair guy with like if you put him with
8:00
I don't know, like Bonk. I'm sure
8:01
they've played together at some point in
8:03
AHL.
8:04
>> I forgot the Flyers called him up in uh
8:06
January when Risto was on IR. I think
8:09
just mainly for practice, but
8:10
>> Yeah, he was around.
8:11
>> Yeah, reading this article from uh from
8:13
Maddie ProHockey. Uh McDonald had a
8:16
performance so bad on December 19th uh
8:18
that it bought him a benching for the
8:20
final period of the game and two game
8:21
scratch after that. Uh he did have an
8:23
uptick after that notably uh here Maddie
8:26
writes, but nothing dominant, but she
8:29
does note that you know, Adam Einar and
8:30
Halverson were were both right there and
8:33
you know, they they brought up McDonald
8:35
instead, but looking at McDonald's
8:38
numbers this past season six points all
8:40
assists in 65 games. His career in the
8:44
AHL 147 games four goals 27 points.
8:49
Like I'm looking up
8:50
defenseman that played at least 50 games
8:53
and had few points. Uh Arber Xhekaj had
8:56
four points.
8:56
>> Ooh.
8:57
>> Uh Simon Benoit had six points in 73
8:59
games. Luke Schenn
9:01
had seven points. So like
9:03
Yeah, he's like a Simon Benoit type.
9:05
>> what I'm saying too, right? Those guys
9:07
are all vets. Like they've been around.
9:09
They I mean Xhekaj I mean he's a more of
9:12
a vet than than McDonald at the NHL
9:13
level, but we know what he's there to
9:15
do. It's not not put the puck in the
9:17
net.
9:17
>> Having an unpronounceable name.
9:18
>> Well, that's what that's what McDonald
9:20
that's what McDonald will do, too,
9:21
though.
9:22
>> I just don't think he's got that same
9:23
sort of fear factor. I don't think he's
9:25
ever had that.
9:26
>> I don't think he has that and uh guess
9:28
what? On those on those numbers not
9:30
loving it.
9:31
And one thing as of recording this, he
9:33
doesn't have a contract, which is
9:35
extremely weird. He's a restricted agent
9:37
here. We're recording this on July 27th.
9:40
>> love him that much.
9:41
>> what is the issue here? Like like is it
9:44
the player side? Is he just
9:46
been at the cottage for for for too
9:48
long? It's it's it's interesting that
9:50
>> Maybe he doesn't actually belong in this
9:52
top 25. Who's to say?
9:54
>> Maybe not.
9:55
>> Yeah, I think I think there's definitely
9:57
some guys I would have put ahead of
9:59
McDonald.
10:00
Uh
10:01
I I just don't see I've never seen it.
10:03
I've never seen it with him. I just
10:05
don't really know
10:07
why you'd even bother putting I this
10:09
just sounds harsh, but why you even
10:11
bother putting development resources
10:12
into a guy who like what is his
10:14
appreciable skill?
10:15
>> Honestly, I I would have put Kolosov in
10:17
the top 25.
10:18
>> Yeah, at least Kolosov's played in the
10:20
NHL and you can see him being the third
10:22
goalie. He's probably the third goalie
10:23
this year again.
10:25
Um at least for right now. Maybe they
10:26
just trade for somebody during the
10:28
season, but he's going to probably play
10:29
at least a couple games. And if he gets
10:32
hot, yeah, he'd be back. He'd be back
10:34
with the Flyers. I mean
10:35
I don't see a world where McDonald is
10:38
able to leapfrog unless there's like
10:39
three injuries on defense, which at that
10:41
point you're screwed, but
10:44
I think it's just like
10:46
Yining and and and Grans are old. They
10:48
have they've had their times to like try
10:51
and break in the lineup and they didn't.
10:53
So give McDonald a chance. That makes
10:55
sense. That's an obvious progression,
10:58
but
10:59
I I you know, I just don't I don't think
11:02
there's much left to explore there
11:03
really. He'd really have to show me
11:05
something in the next season to make him
11:08
worthwhile and they've got seven eight
11:11
guys. Like you're not even talking about
11:12
Benoit. Like Benoit will fit in
11:14
somewhere. He will He's an NHL player.
11:17
Um he'll play probably the Juulsen role
11:20
um now this season. So
11:23
what does he do better than Simon
11:24
Benoit? At least Simon Benoit can be bad
11:26
at the NHL level and like Nages is bad
11:28
at the AHL level.
11:30
>> That's true.
11:31
>> Yeah, and you were and given how Takit
11:33
likes having, you know, left-handed guys
11:35
on the left side and right hand on the
11:36
right side, you would need injuries to
11:39
at least two of Sanheim, York, Seeler,
11:43
Benoit,
11:44
and a guy like Ty Murchison who is who
11:47
we're talking about here today. He got
11:48
three games in the NHL last year,
11:51
December 9th, 11th, and 13th. Flyers got
11:54
points in all three games. One win, an
11:56
overtime loss, and a shootout loss.
11:58
Averaged 15 minutes a night. Uh got one
12:00
shot on goal in that span. Had a total
12:04
of five hits there. May have just hit uh
12:06
Steve's camera.
12:07
>> My ring light went flying, so
12:09
>> elbowed Steve's camera right in the
12:11
face.
12:11
>> to deal with the shadows instead.
12:13
>> Yeah.
12:13
>> But but Murchison is a guy that I would
12:15
see in the NHL before McDonald, and the
12:18
Flyers have already shown that. Throw
12:20
throwing him in there for uh three
12:21
games.
12:22
>> Yeah, I mean, I never really heard of Ty
12:26
Murchison [laughter] before they called
12:27
him up. That was one of those guys
12:29
they called him up and I'm like, "Who's
12:31
Ty Murchison? Did they auto-generate him
12:33
from an EA NHL game?" I don't know. But
12:37
he came up and he looked all right. He
12:38
looked like he belonged, which is I
12:40
think the minimum you can ask for from a
12:43
guy in that situation. And if he can
12:45
come up and essentially be like a
12:46
seventh defenseman for this team or a
12:48
bottom pairing guy, that's a win. I'm
12:50
perfectly okay with that.
12:52
>> Yeah, I'm a lot higher on on Murchison
12:54
than I am on McDonald. He's kind of the
12:56
flip side of it, right? You give up a
12:57
little bit of height, a little bit of
12:58
weight in Murchison. I think he's what,
13:00
6'2" rather McDonald's is 6'4" and and a
13:03
beefy guy.
13:05
Um
13:05
but yeah, even Murchison coming up, he
13:07
was playing with Noah Juulsen before he
13:09
became a playoff hero, right? So he was
13:12
playing with Noah Juulsen um for just
13:15
over 35 minutes or just under 36
13:18
minutes, rather.
13:19
Um you look at the Juulsen uh the
13:22
Juulsen-Murchison pairing, expected
13:23
goals for of of 50%. Small sample size,
13:26
of course. But then you look at the
13:28
JuruΕ‘ and Yining pairing, which have 34
13:31
minutes, they expect a goals for of 20%,
13:33
which is actually almost impossible
13:36
realistically for NHL players to do
13:38
that. Like that's by far the worst of
13:40
anybody that the Flyers have put out
13:41
there this year
13:42
or last year rather.
13:44
And yeah, Murchison has stepped in in
13:46
the time where the Flyers need them and
13:47
he acquitted himself really well.
13:50
Um he did get hurt last year
13:52
unfortunately. I think we've all said it
13:53
along. They call it an an upper body
13:55
injury because they call everything an
13:57
upper or lower body injury, but I think
13:58
we've settled on a shoulder a shoulder
14:00
injury was what kept him out. Probably
14:01
separated shoulder or something like
14:03
that.
14:04
Um
14:05
what was that in in February?
14:07
Um
14:07
well, in January January and he was
14:09
ruled out in February for the rest of
14:11
the season. So
14:12
>> He came in, was like mildly exciting by
14:15
not being terrible, and then he was out.
14:17
So it was like okay, there goes that.
14:19
Yeah.
14:20
>> Yeah, I think he's a guy who fits the
14:23
seventh defenseman role a little bit
14:25
more than someone like like McDonald and
14:28
while he isn't going to be somebody kind
14:31
of like McDonald as well who's playing
14:33
and penciled in on the team, I can see a
14:35
decent camp for Ty Murchison like
14:37
getting him
14:38
maybe not even the seventh defense role,
14:40
but the eighth defense role, you know,
14:42
he he comes up in in terms of an injury,
14:44
sits on the bench and you know, if Yere
14:46
Check has another David Yere Check
14:49
season and I'm sure Rick Tocchet is
14:50
going to be
14:52
watching him with a magnifying glass if
14:53
he does get in the lineup. I could see
14:55
Murchison being the guy to come in, play
14:57
third pair and I I kind of you know, he
14:59
kind of has had a steady hand when he
15:00
was there. He didn't look as overwhelmed
15:03
as McDonald did at some points, you
15:04
know, even in the AHL. And I think
15:07
there's a bit more puck moving potential
15:09
there. He is still physical and he's got
15:11
a little bit of speed. He's got a little
15:13
bit
15:14
of foot speed for a guy
15:16
who isn't necessarily, you know, a stud
15:18
offensively. So I I do like I do like
15:21
Merch and I think as long as he's
15:23
healthy coming into next year, um he'll
15:25
start with the Phantoms for sure. I
15:27
think there was a chance maybe if he had
15:28
a decent rest of the season with the
15:30
Flyers that would get a cup of coffee
15:31
here and there. He might have might have
15:33
been able to stick if he had a good camp
15:35
this year, but I think he'll start with
15:36
the Phantoms, and I think there's a
15:37
chance that he could come up in in in uh
15:41
in case of an injury and and you know,
15:43
play a bit of a role. I I kind of like
15:45
him as as a potential safety valve on
15:48
the back end.
15:50
>> And just reading way too much into those
15:52
three games. One was against the Sharks,
15:54
and then against the Golden Knights, and
15:55
against the Hurricanes. All three at
15:56
home, so you know, Tocket was able to
15:58
get the matchups that he wanted and
16:00
whatnot, but looking you know, not out
16:02
of place against the Stanley Cup final
16:04
teams is definitely a good start for
16:06
Merzlikins. Yeah, probably the
16:08
seventh and eighth guy maybe if someone
16:10
gets hurt, but
16:11
similar to McDonald, not going to put up
16:13
a ton of points. Six points in 29 games
16:16
last year. Uh played four years at
16:18
Arizona State. Topped out at seven
16:20
points in two of those seasons. So, just
16:23
a defensive defenseman, generate some
16:24
defense there just like Nick Grossman.
16:27
>> Yeah, and for an emergency call-up guy,
16:28
it's a good guy to have because if you
16:31
don't want to jerk Bonk around just
16:33
bringing him back up and sending him
16:34
down and all that, which I understand
16:36
from a development standpoint not
16:37
wanting to do that. We're all excited
16:39
for Bonk, but when I want Bonk up here,
16:41
I want Bonk to stay here. Merzlikins is
16:44
a nice guy if you just need a guy to
16:45
step in for a game or two. Perfect guy
16:47
for that.
16:48
>> Yeah, and I think that's that's going to
16:50
be what he works to his benefit. He is
16:52
going to be it probably be a one-to-one
16:53
battle between him and McDonald for that
16:55
sort of role.
16:56
Um I don't even know if they'll need him
16:58
at all. Like I assume somebody will get
16:59
injured on defense. Risto just he just
17:02
he will. It'll happen eventually. Um
17:04
Simon Benoit, yeah, it could it's just a
17:07
matter of how long he gets hurt. Um but
17:09
Simon Benoit is not necessarily I mean,
17:11
he'll probably play We said this about
17:13
Juulsen. I said remember talking to
17:14
Juulsen about this with Juulsen last
17:16
year, and he'll play. He'll just play.
17:17
I'm not going to be that naive again.
17:19
He'll play, but
17:21
I don't think he's like a guy you want
17:23
to play all 82. So, if they want to give
17:25
Merchants in a run in case of an injury,
17:28
I think he's going to have he's going to
17:30
have the inside track right now given
17:32
how he played before his injury.
17:35
Hopefully, he comes back and and it
17:36
doesn't affect him too much. He's a guy
17:37
who's physical, upper body injury like
17:39
that, throwing a hit, getting hurt.
17:41
It could give you a little bit of
17:42
hesitancy, but I I
17:44
I believe in his ability to bounce back
17:46
and I I liked him with the Flyers in his
17:48
short cup of coffee, so.
17:50
>> Yeah, it wouldn't be surprising at all
17:52
if we see both of these guys in in the
17:54
NHL this season. Merchants, I think
17:55
definitely has the inside track over
17:58
McDonald. Similar to Bonk, they're going
17:59
to want him playing full-time in the AHL
18:02
until they prove they're ready, if ever
18:04
for McDonald, to make the jump to the
18:06
NHL.
18:08
All right, I think that's going to do it
18:10
here for this discussion on Hunter
18:13
McDonald and Ty Merchants. Make sure you
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