Up next in 10
The 2026 NHL Draft is coming up and the Philadelphia Flyers have an opportunity to take some uniquely talented defensemen at 21st overall in the first round. We have come up with five specific targets they should have.
READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/5-defensemen-who-could-be-perfect-fits-for-the-flyers-at-21st-overall/
#2026nhldraft #nhl #hockey #flyers #letsgoflyers #philadelphia #sports #philadelphiaflyers
Broad Street Hockey is the top place for independent coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and the hockey world at large.
πΉπ¬π¨π«: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/
π΄π¬πΉπͺπ―: https://broad-street-hockey.myspreadshop.com/
πππππππ: https://open.spotify.com/show/5k5IfqqGTBdJmcqdZ6nF91
πΌππππ: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/broad-street-hockey/id1708766515
πππππππ: https://twitter.com/BroadStHockey
πππππΌπππΌπ: https://www.instagram.com/broadsthockey/
ππππππ: https://www.tiktok.com/@broadsthockey
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:04
The Philadelphia Flyers have a perfect
0:06
opportunity to solidify their blue line
0:07
at the 2026 NHL Draft at 21st overall,
0:10
and here are five examples of defensemen
0:12
that they could target to have that
0:14
happen and to make them so much of a
0:17
better team going forward. Now, hit like
0:19
and subscribe, all that stuff. Broad
0:22
Street Hockey, we're just doing a little
0:23
bit on our own. Read the website, listen
0:25
to the podcast, go to YouTube, you're on
0:28
YouTube, hit the subscribe button, do
0:30
all the bell stuff, whatever, you know
0:31
how you know how it is.
0:33
But anyways, I want to get to straight
0:35
away into this draft because the Flyers
0:37
have been targeting centers a lot with
0:39
their first round picks. We have Joel
0:40
L'Ecuyer, we have Jack Nesbitt, uh even
0:43
a forward like forward Porter Martone,
0:45
again just forward, but they haven't
0:46
taken a defenseman in the first round
0:48
since Oliver Bonk, and then even before
0:49
that was like a while ago.
0:52
But they haven't got like that number
0:54
one, and while this draft is interesting
0:56
cuz there isn't a bonafide number one in
0:59
the entire draft class that
1:01
teams could really see their sure Chase
1:03
Reid can be a solid player,
1:06
stuff like that. There there isn't
1:07
someone that's a a massive massive
1:09
hitter like a Matthew Savoie just last
1:11
year. So, but the Flyer Flyers at 21st
1:13
overall are are an interesting spot, and
1:15
I think there's there are a few
1:16
defensemen that could really they could
1:19
take full advantage of and they should
1:22
target, and it's just dependent on if
1:24
they want to take the swing or not.
1:26
Coming up first is is a right-handed
1:28
defenseman out of Finland that has been
1:30
known more for his defense rather than
1:32
his offense, and that's kind of a a
1:34
familiar thing with Rasmus Ristolainen
1:36
being on the Flyers, but we have Joona
1:38
Luoto right here, and
1:40
he's more so known like we said like a
1:42
stopper. His offense isn't really been
1:44
going. In 29 games, he earned his just
1:46
three assists um in Liiga. So, but he's
1:49
playing against pro competition, so
1:52
there's something to the players that
1:55
are playing in these top European
1:56
divisions and and playing against strong
1:59
and and capable of pros and playing
2:02
against former NHLers and being in the
2:03
locker room with former NHLers and
2:06
learning the systems and how to go that
2:08
the 6'2 205 lb Finnish guy
2:12
has a waste like
2:15
his his projection is to go not as high
2:18
but it is projection is that he's still
2:21
a very solid pro and he's already doing
2:23
that in Liiga. Like he's just 17, he has
2:25
a lot of runway ahead of him and he
2:29
has doesn't have a lot of offense. He
2:32
hasn't shown it a lot in Liiga but in
2:35
there are some instances of him getting
2:37
in there and it's just dependent on how
2:38
much of a believer you are in that that
2:40
he could be that two-way guy. So
2:42
again, I known as a stopper, known as a
2:45
a kind of punisher, a a really solid
2:48
defensive presence that with poise. Like
2:50
that's probably the strongest word that
2:52
I'll probably use for people RΓ€sΓ€nen is
2:53
that just he's just poised um away or
2:57
with the puck but he his offense has a
2:59
limited ceiling again with just with
3:01
that three assists in pro. But when he
3:03
was loaned down to the under-20 level in
3:05
Finland, he put up 13 points in 15 games
3:08
from the back end. So like
3:09
if you played there all season, he could
3:11
have got a lot more hype as like this
3:13
two-way monster potential and but
3:15
instead he was viewed as responsible
3:17
enough to play in with the pros and play
3:21
um
3:22
with
3:23
Tappara and and get in that that he then
3:27
was able to not have a lot of the
3:29
offense show just because he was in a
3:30
depth role with that team trying to
3:32
actually win hockey games instead of
3:34
develop them. But I I think there's a
3:35
lot of runway. He's just a August 22nd
3:37
birthday, so like there is a lot of
3:38
runway for people RΓ€sΓ€nen and I I would
3:40
not hate it at all if the Flyers took
3:42
him as a real like kind of
3:44
it it sucks to say a Ristolainen
3:45
replacement but someone like that in
3:47
their top four that provides a little
3:48
bit more
3:50
snarl could could just be a defensive
3:53
stopper in that with their um in their
3:56
top four. So we're moving on to Ryan
3:58
Lind, and I think with Ryan Lind it's
4:00
it's just a team
4:03
a
4:06
How do I put this? Like it it it's it's
4:08
an interesting argument for a team to
4:10
take Ryan Lind
4:11
way higher than where he might end up
4:14
going. Um he's just 5' 11.
4:17
He doesn't have this crazy crazy tool
4:20
set um that like he's not like a Lane
4:23
Hutson or anything like that, but he's
4:24
just like he's
4:26
Sorry, I shouldn't say that he's not a
4:28
toolsy player cuz he is. He he's toolsy
4:30
in the way that he's a projectable like
4:31
two-way guy. Um reminds me a lot of like
4:34
honestly what Jamie Drysdale is right
4:35
now, where like his offense isn't
4:37
popping like crazy. Like his offense is
4:39
not I don't think it's as projectable
4:41
into the NHL as others. Um as like a
4:45
Ville Koivunen we'll get to there. But
4:46
like because like Lind has just been
4:48
kind of like coasting a little bit
4:50
playing more like junior style offense
4:51
of like finding open space that would
4:53
not be available in pro hockey at all.
4:55
Um and and I found like with Lind it's
4:58
it's it's a player that I think will
5:01
play in the NHL no matter what, but it's
5:03
just dependent on if he can overcome the
5:05
size and if his coaching staff wants to
5:07
like
5:08
take advantage of
5:10
maybe a team not really like liking him
5:13
that much because he's smaller um
5:16
and scouts kind of seeing that he could
5:19
be like a later round on target. Um
5:21
sorry, not later round, but like later
5:22
in the first round. Cuz I I I think he
5:24
should be a first round pick no matter
5:25
what. Um there's an interesting
5:27
st- uh quote here from the NHL Draft
5:31
Guide from By Elite Prospects. Um this
5:33
is an NHL scout that said this. Um worst
5:35
case scenario you get Dylan DeMelo. Best
5:37
case scenario is something close to Lane
5:38
Hutson.
5:40
Okay.
5:41
I just said he's not Lane
5:42
Hutson, but okay. Um
5:44
I'm wrong, sorry. Ryan Lind is probably
5:46
someone that NHL guys have probably seen
5:48
40 times in the last few years and kids
5:49
like that get beat up too much. I'm not
5:51
betting against the kid. So like
5:53
yeah, he's been over scouted. He he with
5:55
the Vancouver Giants,
5:57
um, he has just been kind of like
5:59
someone that was projected to go in the
6:01
top 10 or like battle for even like top
6:03
five or like the best defenseman in the
6:04
class before like Chase Reardon and
6:06
Dustin Dustin Rudolph and kind of
6:08
everyone came up and and Albert Smith
6:10
and all that. Um, but like 57 points in
6:12
52 games is not nothing to sniff at in
6:14
the WHL.
6:15
at 21st overall, like if you're getting
6:17
someone even like DeMelo like in your
6:19
worst case scenario, DeMelo's like a top
6:21
four guy that like a lot of analytically
6:23
minded people
6:25
loved because of his defensive ability
6:27
and because he was a solid
6:30
killer of plays but not the most
6:31
offensive guy but he's still mobile and
6:33
that's kind of Lynn's game to a T. Um,
6:36
Lynn has a lot of believers. Lynn has a
6:38
lot of doubters. It's basically
6:41
questionable if the Flyers are one of
6:43
those believers because they view
6:44
themselves as a team needing to get
6:46
bigger.
6:47
But with Lynn, if you're looking at
6:50
something two or three years on the
6:51
road, you don't know what other
6:52
defenseman
6:53
like
6:54
you've got. Um, Cam York could have been
6:56
traded. Jamie Drysdale might be traded.
6:59
Um, and then you you're have you could
7:01
use and you could
7:03
be fine with having someone under 6 ft
7:05
again, um, on that blue line and that
7:07
could be Lynn and probably potentially
7:09
have a better ceiling or even similar to
7:11
those guys. So, um, yeah, it's I think
7:15
it's fitting mold but it's more so
7:20
if they want a bigger presence on the
7:22
back end.
7:23
Sticking with smaller defenseman, um, we
7:25
have Xavier Villeneuve. Xavier
7:27
Villeneuve. Um,
7:28
sorry, my French accent's terrible but
7:31
he's like the most polarizing prospect
7:33
in the entire draft class I feel like.
7:35
There's other players there are like
7:36
scouts that
7:38
view him as a like top 10 pick no matter
7:41
what just because he has shown so much
7:43
skill and like with the certain with the
7:46
like
7:47
coming up of Lane Hudson with Quinn
7:48
Hughes, like they're seeing a lot of the
7:50
traits and the capabilities in
7:53
Villeneuve as those players and those
7:55
players of course like are the some of
7:57
the best players defenseman in the
7:58
world.
8:00
So, to compare a a prospect like
8:02
Villeneuve, like it's it's um
8:05
>> [clears throat]
8:05
>> questionable if he'll reach that
8:06
ceiling, but it's the same identity it's
8:09
the same mentality that you go into that
8:12
pick with that you're getting that
8:13
player in in the late first round. I
8:15
think it's a no-brainer to just go and
8:17
bet on skill. Like
8:18
you're getting a player
8:20
that
8:22
he's either going to not play in the NHL
8:24
at all, he might he not even play a lot
8:26
of pro hockey, he might be more of a
8:29
like KHL All-Star type of player, but
8:33
or he could really hit. Or he he has
8:36
that elite elite skating potential that
8:39
separates from the rest and he has that
8:42
evasion tendency that can overcome his
8:46
height and he's just 5'11. Um again,
8:49
like
8:50
he's not crazy small, he's not Emil
8:52
Andrae at 5'9, but he's still like a a
8:55
slippery kind of player that I think
8:58
projects to the NHL so much better than
9:00
Andrae
9:01
um overall and and
9:03
his stock right now is lower because he
9:05
had a poor playoffs um with uh the
9:07
Armada in the QMJHL, but um
9:12
reports later came out that he had a hip
9:13
injury and that is
9:15
now it understands why he wasn't looking
9:17
so well because skating is such of a big
9:20
part of his game and if he had a hip
9:21
injury, then obviously like it affects
9:22
your movement, it affects your ability
9:23
to pivot, it affects your your stride.
9:26
So,
9:27
it basically like he could drop a lot
9:31
and it is
9:35
it's questionable if like the Flyers are
9:37
maybe even too high to take that risk.
9:39
Say if they had 21 and something like 32
9:42
or or even like the like 35th overall
9:44
pick, then maybe Villeneuve like if he's
9:46
there on draft day, too, then they just
9:49
like immediately take that swing after
9:50
going with like a safer pick.
9:52
Um a safer like big center or something
9:54
with 21. That might make more sense, but
9:57
it it just like the Flyers are in a
9:58
position where I think they still need
10:00
to take a swing and they still
10:03
need to take risk with their picks. And
10:04
if they don't get don't nail down this
10:07
pick, it's whatever. Like it it's it's
10:09
it's they have
10:11
built a pretty good team that just made
10:12
the playoffs. So, why not try out for
10:15
Villeneuve
10:17
to maybe make this team in 3 years after
10:19
he's going to BU. And that's the other
10:21
thing is that like the Lane Hutson, the
10:23
Cole Hutson, he's following the exact
10:24
same path. He's got He went to juniors
10:26
and then and then he's going down to
10:29
uh well, those two were at the
10:30
development program, but still like
10:32
then he's going to BU, the exact program
10:34
that those Hutson brothers went to.
10:36
If they don't know how to carve out a a
10:38
very good NHL player at a out of a
10:41
5-foot-11 hypermobile, hyperskilled,
10:44
hyperoffensive, slippery defenseman,
10:48
then they don't like then they just suck
10:50
at their job and and it wasn't up to
10:52
them. It was more so the Hutsons doing
10:53
it themselves, and I don't think that's
10:55
the case. I think they had a lot of
10:56
assistance from the development staff
10:58
over at BU.
10:59
Um and with the the Habs and the Caps,
11:01
like it's
11:03
I I I I just think that the Flyers need
11:05
that exact player right now, and if if
11:08
you're telling me in 3 years that they
11:09
could get like what the Caps are going
11:11
to be entering the season with Cole
11:13
Hutson and and and the Habs again, I'm
11:16
not saying he's Lane Hutson. I'm not
11:17
saying anything like that. But it's just
11:19
like a player that
11:21
fits that mold that I feel like
11:24
the Flyers should just take advantage
11:25
of.
11:26
Another player that fits that mold is
11:27
Tommy Bligh. Like
11:29
he's my fourth option at 21. And and
11:31
he's a little bit like I think he's
11:34
less exciting than Villeneuve.
11:36
Villeneuve's on the left side, Blaydes
11:37
on the right side and
11:39
but he still possesses like incredibly
11:42
like fast straight-ahead skater,
11:44
probably the best of the draft, quick
11:46
reads, um
11:49
offensive power play quarterback for
11:50
Moncton in the QMJHL this past year,
11:52
like just a monster that kind of came
11:54
on. Um he's American, was playing high
11:57
school prep and then and then he made
11:59
the leap into the QMJHL with Moncton,
12:01
um
12:02
out of this new CHL and this NCAA rules.
12:05
Um and then he just kind of exploded and
12:08
then he's actually he was committed to
12:10
Michigan State, but he's delaying his
12:12
commitment another year and he's staying
12:14
with Moncton for his draft plus one
12:15
season, which isn't the best. I I would
12:17
probably rather, if I was taking him,
12:20
him go to college right away and and
12:23
have two years there and then see what
12:26
happens and and see if he can really pop
12:28
off. Um
12:31
just delaying it might like it kind of
12:33
is whatever, but but I I I like I like
12:36
Blaydes. I I think he's a
12:44
He's a similar like style player in that
12:46
Villeneuve like where it's just like
12:49
a lot of it is
12:51
his offense is like created by his
12:53
skating, but with Villeneuve like I I I
12:55
see more of a projectability to the NHL
12:57
just because of a lot of his offense
13:01
is more tied to
13:03
his
13:04
mobility in short and small spaces,
13:07
um with quick hands and and ability to
13:10
maneuver. With Blaydes I see more of
13:12
like a straight-ahead like I'm going to
13:14
brush up the ice end to end um or walk
13:17
the blue line and do that. Like it's
13:18
less of like uh a deceptive play, it's
13:21
less of a I'm going to get around the
13:24
fact that I'm smaller.
13:27
I see in Blaydes more of like
13:29
more of a risk just because he's smaller
13:31
in playing junior style offense and it's
13:34
just like I haven't Some plays I see him
13:37
make it's like you're not doing that in
13:38
pro at all. Like
13:40
or or in college or or anywhere in
13:43
Europe or anything like that.
13:45
Um you're going to get like completely
13:47
stopped by a defenseman that knows more
13:50
than a
13:51
future Quebecois
13:53
real estate agent or something like
13:55
that.
13:56
So
13:57
that's like I I I think I'd rather have
13:59
Blayol but Blayol if if
14:01
the Flyers went with him I'd be
14:02
surprised.
14:04
Um
14:04
but I think he's still someone that they
14:06
should target ultimately just because of
14:08
the upside is just so so massive there.
14:11
And the final defenseman is is not any
14:13
of the type of players like a Lynn,
14:15
Villeneuve, or Blayol. I think it's um a
14:18
player that
14:19
I've seen mocked a lot later. I've seen
14:22
ranked a lot lower. But watching him
14:25
I've just seen
14:27
him his the possibility of him turning
14:30
pro and just immediately just
14:33
becoming this like monster
14:36
Niklas Hjalmarsson type. Um and that's
14:39
William Wallinder.
14:40
Out of the Sweden, a left-handed
14:42
defenseman.
14:43
Uh he's massive at 6'5. So again,
14:46
Flyers, I'm I'm talking right to you
14:48
Keith Jones. I'm talking right to you
14:50
Brent Flahr who who wants the bigger
14:52
blue line. Um I'm talking about this guy
14:56
started his season playing the majority
14:58
of the games already in the SHL with
14:59
LuleΓ₯
15:00
LuleΓ₯ or Lulay, I don't know.
15:03
Um went to the World Juniors, played
15:04
with on a gold medal team with Jack
15:06
Berglund. Um and then he went to was
15:10
eventually loaned to HockeyAllsvenskan
15:12
for a couple months be 10 before then
15:14
eventually returning to pro.
15:16
Still pro but not the second division
15:18
um in the SHL. So he finished his season
15:20
in SHL which is good.
15:22
So it was just like he was
15:24
always playing in a pressured filled
15:26
environment
15:27
pro level or at World Juniors.
15:30
Um
15:31
won't get much offense from he has four
15:32
points in six games in the Allsvenskan.
15:35
So like
15:36
you're playing second tier hockey and
15:39
and like the best prospects have like
15:42
exploded at that level before like
15:44
you've seen Liam Γhgren and Noel Γstlund
15:47
um that level recently like
15:50
kind of go crazy.
15:52
Um
15:53
so
15:54
yeah, he's not an offensive player, but
15:56
he is a player that I think is just like
15:58
his defense is so predictable and his
16:00
his mobility and um
16:03
there are some room for improvement like
16:05
his actual play with the puck
16:07
doesn't have the best hands or anything
16:08
like that. Um but he's just like that
16:10
type of defenseman that I see every
16:13
Stanley Cup contender want at the trade
16:15
deadline. I'm not saying the Flyers
16:16
should draft this guy just to then
16:17
eventually trade him. But he's like
16:20
the ideal
16:22
guy that you add in as a number four, a
16:25
number three on a very on a decent team,
16:27
a number five on a very very good team
16:30
that just immediately locks in your blue
16:31
line and just like takes them to the
16:32
next level and takes them deep in the
16:34
playoffs. And I think it's just a team
16:38
So rather a player that just like it
16:40
just makes sense for the Flyers to
16:41
target at this point that if you see him
16:43
as a long-term partner for Drysdale or
16:46
even just like a a potential Ristolainen
16:48
replacement down the road a we're
16:50
talking about a number five that plays
16:53
really well next to David JiΕΓΔek and
16:55
while he explodes offensively and and
16:56
just partners well with him and get two
16:58
giants on the back end like there
17:00
there's a world where they see HΓ₯kansson
17:02
as
17:04
a really really solid bet and I think
17:07
that
17:09
again at 21
17:11
some might say it's a reach
17:12
I would be completely fine with it. Um
17:15
they don't
17:16
they seem to not want the smaller
17:18
defensemen. So, if they're going for
17:19
big, people Ryanan or Hakanson are very
17:22
good options at that level.
17:24
Um
17:26
If they're taking defensemen, and even
17:27
if they get Hakanson at 53 later in the
17:29
second round, I think that's a steal.
17:31
That's That's a potential great great
17:33
pick.
17:34
But at 21, I I I could totally
17:36
understand it, and I'd probably be
17:37
tooting his horn a whole lot um on this
17:39
channel just immediately after they take
17:41
him. So, um that's I think the round up
17:44
of the five guys that I kind of could
17:45
see the Flyers taking, um or at least I
17:48
want them to target. I don't see them
17:50
loving the smaller guys just because
17:53
they're small. But
17:56
like Brent Flahr said um in the press
17:58
availa- press availability just on
18:01
Tuesday that
18:03
if they are a smaller defenseman, you
18:05
have to be dynamic. You have to have an
18:07
insane skill, and I think someone like
18:09
Villeneuve has that. So, whether that
18:12
was like a smoke screen by them or like
18:15
them kind of tooting like little hinting
18:17
at what their pick is, I
18:19
I don't think it was, but
18:22
um crazier things happened, and I think
18:24
that it is just ultimately going to be
18:27
very interesting if they take a
18:28
defenseman and what road they go down.
18:30
Um I think [clears throat]
18:32
if we're talking about
18:34
team fit
18:36
and potential and what they like
18:40
and everything,
18:44
I could see them taking people Ryanan,
18:46
honestly. They need more help on the
18:48
left side for some reason. They've just
18:49
taken a right-hand defenseman a lot, but
18:51
people Ryanan I think is is more
18:53
projectable than Hakanson overall as a
18:55
two-way guy.
18:56
And
18:59
yeah, he just fits what the Flyers want.
19:01
He's They're not going to I I don't
19:03
think they're going to take a small guy.
19:04
I think Ryan Ellis is so good, too.
19:06
But it's just like it it's hard to see
19:08
the Flyers be like, "I want that guy."
19:10
And I could see us
19:11
having half of our blue line under 6 ft.
19:14
I don't think that's going to happen
19:15
unfortunately in Philadelphia, but
19:17
um crazier things have happened. Maybe
19:18
they'll just go back on their word a
19:19
little bit. Um but that's it.
19:21
Please like and subscribe this video. Um
19:23
just doing this little thing over here.
19:24
We'll have a lot of draft content around
19:26
the draft, but just this is just leading
19:27
up to it.
19:28
Um thinking about names and this exact
19:30
article I wrote over at
19:31
broadstreethockey.com. So read that and
19:33
subscribe over there for just five bucks
19:35
a month you get all of access to all of
19:37
our articles and ad-free and everything
19:39
like that and it's uh a great place to
19:41
hang out and talk with Flyers fans. Um
19:44
and this is too, I guess.
19:46
BSH forever.
19:47
>> [music]
#Sports