Up next in 10
The Philadelphia Flyers traded back to select defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii with the 26th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Russian defenseman adds a big body to the Flyers' prospect pool, but was it a big swing or a big mistake by Danny Briere and Keith Jones?
Ryan Gilbert and Jacob Russell discuss that and what else the Flyers could've done in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
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0:00
Hello and welcome to Broad Street
0:03
Hockey. I am Ryan Gilbert alongside
0:06
Jacob Russell here. We've had a few days
0:08
to digest this NHL draft on Friday night
0:10
recording this on Monday evening. The
0:12
Flyers of course traded back to select
0:15
6' 7" defenseman Maxim Sushko with the
0:17
27th
0:19
overall pick. Jacob, we talked a bit on
0:22
Friday before the draft but the Flyers
0:24
potentially taking this defenseman. He
0:26
was mocked to the Flyers a few times.
0:28
What what was going through your head on
0:30
Friday night as this all came down?
0:32
>> So essentially as you walk
0:35
as we're walking through like the the
0:37
teens. Once Dagenais goes at 16 and then
0:42
Ethan Belch goes the pick after at 17 to
0:45
Utah.
0:46
You're like, okay. Those guys
0:49
necessarily weren't Well, Belch was but
0:52
Dagenais, Nikita Grebyonkin, Oskar
0:55
Hemming, Alex Cliche. Those guys were
0:58
more mocked to go a bit further in the
1:02
first round, right? Around where the
1:03
Flyers picked or or just before.
1:05
Um
1:07
So as you're looking at that, then you
1:08
look at Liam Ruck taken by the Penguins,
1:11
JP Hurlbert taken by the Red Wings and
1:13
you're like, okay, these guys are
1:15
they're decent players. They're fringe
1:16
first rounders but they're not
1:18
necessarily guys
1:20
who who I would say um
1:22
are elite in any in any sense of the
1:24
word, you know? I I I don't think
1:25
anybody thought that they were um
1:28
that they're going to be game breakers.
1:30
Um so you you see those guys go and then
1:32
you see
1:34
Morozov go right before the pick before
1:36
the Flyers are scheduled to pick at 21.
1:39
Um
1:40
and it's like, okay, there's still some
1:41
names on the board, you know, Novotny
1:43
was there at that point. Um
1:45
Lagerback Hallen was there and if you
1:47
want to take a swing on some talent, I
1:49
mean, the guy who scored a goal per game
1:51
and then blew his leg up is probably the
1:53
best the best chance you can take. But
1:57
you know, once they make that deal
2:00
to the Sharks, which is a largely a fair
2:02
trade, that's standard trade up value, I
2:05
think. I mean, I don't Nowadays, I don't
2:07
think anyone's getting fleeced in draft
2:09
pick trades. I think they have all the
2:11
the formulas and analytics on those to
2:13
where it's pretty much it's it's pretty
2:15
much a formality. But, they make the
2:16
trade down
2:18
to 27, and at that point I'm like,
2:19
"Okay, I know where they're going." So,
2:21
those six picks after we're just kind of
2:23
dreading like, "Oh god, I don't know
2:25
what they're going to do." And Ryan Lynn
2:27
goes 21 to the Sharks, and you're like,
2:29
"Oh, that could look bad in the future."
2:32
And then, yeah, Sokolov goes at 27. It's
2:34
better
2:35
than if you took him at 21. That's what
2:37
I settled on is like, you know,
2:40
at the very least, you did get other
2:41
assets um for
2:45
trading down, you know, and and you got
2:47
the guy that it seems like they wanted.
2:49
Um Sokolov did jump up draft boards
2:52
leading into um when was it? Thursday or
2:55
Friday? I can't even remember.
2:56
>> Friday. Friday night.
2:57
>> Friday. So, leading Yeah, cuz the second
2:59
round was a Saturday. So, leading into
3:00
Friday, um
3:02
he he jumped up the draft boards, and
3:04
and it seemed like he was going to go in
3:05
the first round, but it is it is one of
3:07
those picks that like
3:08
as a Flyers fan, I don't blame people
3:10
for going like, "Okay, so in the first
3:12
round, you took the 6' 7" defenseman
3:16
from London, and then in the second
3:18
round, you take the guy who's a lifelong
3:20
Flyers fan, and whose dad is friends
3:22
with Bill Meltzer." And it's like,
3:23
"Okay."
3:25
>> It's like, all right.
3:25
>> I I don't even hate the picks
3:26
necessarily. I don't like Sokolov. I
3:28
think I I can't give that more than like
3:30
a C or a C+ in terms of like a
3:32
selection.
3:34
Um and if you catch me on a bad day, I
3:35
could say a lot worse things than that.
3:38
But, the Lyszczarczyk thing is totally
3:40
fine. Like, he he's
3:42
mocked to go around there in the second
3:43
round. It was a complete crapshoot this
3:44
year, but he's fine. It's just you know,
3:47
you're really
3:49
you're playing the hits. You're really
3:50
playing the hits in this draft.
3:52
>> You're you're you're just two big check
3:54
goalies, too, because you have a big
3:55
check goalie that you just found in the
3:57
old my god.
3:58
>> we we we we we love big check goalie
3:59
factory over here now.
4:01
>> Yeah, I guess.
4:01
>> Yeah, it's it's just it's just going
4:03
with the script. Big defense been
4:05
Flyers fan passing on the 5'11 Ryan Lind
4:09
defenseman who goes in your slot. I
4:12
don't think it'll quite be a good look
4:14
back like a Zieve Buium type of thing,
4:15
but that could be what people look to as
4:18
a potential mistake there. But yeah,
4:21
like you said, going through the teens
4:23
there like Command went all the way up
4:24
at 12. He was mocked to the Flyers
4:26
somewhat earlier in earlier mocks there.
4:29
Ethan Bell says going at 17, I think. I
4:33
was looking more into him today. Utah
4:36
traded up pick 19 and a third-round pick
4:40
to get Bell says. So, who knows if the
4:42
Kings were even willing to trade that
4:44
far down to 21, but you also have to
4:47
like know like Bell says played at
4:50
Windsor. Windsor with with Jack Nesbitt.
4:53
So, like you know the Flyers have a good
4:55
look at him, but like that would have
4:57
been a very casual fan, oh, he could
5:00
have went top 10. He was projected to go
5:01
top 15. Flyers trade up, immediately get
5:04
a B maybe an A A grade for for that move
5:07
if they grab that, but you're not you're
5:09
not grading a draft based off how they
5:11
look right now. And maybe it does look
5:13
like a bad pick. I I really wanted Moroz
5:16
off when he went at 20. I was really
5:18
disappointed, but better for him to go
5:20
at 20 than for him to be there at 21 and
5:23
the Flyers to trade back. I would have
5:24
hated that more. Novotny there at 24,
5:27
you know, Lind like I said, but
5:29
Sokolovsky did seem like the guy and
5:34
the more I think about it, the more I
5:35
like it. Like we talked about it on
5:38
Friday, Brotherly Hockey YouTube
5:39
channel, subscribe there. Um like
5:42
especially with how the draft picks were
5:43
being thrown around this year, there was
5:46
no way you were going to get more than a
5:47
C grade picking in the second half of
5:49
this draft. Unless you somehow traded up
5:51
or got some sort of steal, there was no
5:53
way you were going to get like, oh wow,
5:55
great pick there at 27. But no,
5:57
Sokolovsky, you get the you get the
5:59
extra assets from trading down from from
6:01
21. He's a big defenseman. He came alive
6:05
in the second half of the season there
6:08
for the London Knights. Oh, he's going
6:09
and he's going back to there and then
6:11
the University of Maine for a year in
6:13
2027.
6:15
Uh apparently a lot better in the second
6:17
half. Apparently in the first half like
6:20
there was language issues where he
6:21
didn't even know what like going D to D
6:23
meant, which I can relate to cuz as as a
6:25
tall guy, I have no basketball IQ. But
6:27
but when I'm at playing pickup, people
6:29
try to tell me to do stuff. I'm like, I
6:30
have no idea what that means. I'll stand
6:32
I'll stand on the screen. Yeah, I'll
6:33
stand in the paint and get some rebounds
6:35
and blocks. Like I that's what I do. So
6:36
like, yeah, Sokolovsky,
6:39
he's not going to have a high high
6:40
ceiling. Like he can maybe be a top four
6:43
shutdown defenseman.
6:44
But looking at the Flyers like timeline
6:47
here, they don't really have anyone like
6:49
that in the pipeline.
6:51
Hunter McDonald, I guess could maybe be
6:52
like that, but Sokolovsky's going to
6:55
what? Make his NHL debut maybe three,
6:57
four years, might have finally have an
7:00
impact. So you'll have Sanheim at 33, 30
7:02
34 years old, York 28, Drysdale 25 27,
7:07
28. Um Yurov check maybe comes along,
7:10
maybe you trade for somebody. So like
7:12
you're going to have hopefully Drysdale
7:15
becomes a puck mover, a good puck mover
7:17
that could do a quarterback. You don't
7:18
have really someone like Sokolovsky. If
7:21
the Flyers are competing, you bring him
7:23
in as a third pair shutdown defenseman,
7:26
brings the snarl, throws big hits,
7:28
probably a key penalty killer with with
7:30
a big body, long reach in front. Like
7:32
and that's someone who can immediately
7:34
become a fan favorite. Like like you see
7:36
him, he's like this big goofy guy,
7:37
everyone loves how how tall he is. So
7:40
like you're not just getting another
7:42
Morgan here. You're not like trying to
7:44
to get, I don't know,
7:46
Jack McSkald. You're not taking Jack
7:48
McSkald here because in the name like
7:50
happy enough that they passed on him.
7:51
But, yeah, I'm I'm happy enough as well
7:53
with the Sokolov ski selection.
7:56
>> Yeah, I mean, I just I I do I do think
7:58
you're looking at a very solid floor.
8:03
Um as long as he's able to just skate at
8:06
the NHL speed um and keep up, you know,
8:09
somewhat with with the puck play or the
8:11
play on puck. Um
8:14
not get totally overwhelmed by by NHL
8:17
forecheckers.
8:18
I think he'll be okay.
8:20
I I just
8:22
I don't necessarily know what you're
8:24
hoping he becomes, you know? I'm just
8:27
not really sure if he's a guy
8:30
Like I heard people saying maybe he can
8:32
be a top four guy. I just I don't really
8:34
see it.
8:35
Um and if I do see it, it's the four.
8:38
Like he is the fourth defenseman, not as
8:40
like he's leading a pair, not leading a
8:42
second pair. I just I don't see that in
8:44
him. I don't see that in the NHL now
8:46
where puck moving is only going to
8:47
become more and more of a skill as the
8:50
older big burly defenseman, a lot of
8:52
those guys age out. Like there aren't a
8:54
ton of
8:55
you know, the Vinnie Day Hernais of the
8:56
world don't play. The Simon Benoits are
8:59
throw-ins, right? Um and Sokolov ski's
9:02
bigger than them. He's probably better
9:03
defensively than them. He's not bigger
9:05
than Day Hernais, but um those guys are
9:07
more just there for for the culture and
9:10
for the physic the physicality. I I just
9:13
I don't necessarily see the value in
9:16
drafting a a guy in the first round to
9:19
fulfill that role.
9:20
And and like you said, when they trade
9:22
back from 21 and Laine goes, I'm like,
9:25
"Oh, Laine's a better defenseman than
9:26
Sokolov ski is." And then you see Novák
9:28
going, you're like, "Well, Novák is a
9:30
very good power forward. He's the second
9:31
best power power forward in the draft."
9:32
I would say behind Balcers.
9:35
Um
9:36
and even a guy, you know, I I looked at
9:38
the guys who were drafted behind um
9:41
Sokolov ski, like Pippa Rion in 6 3 2,
9:45
something. Like, he's not a small guy.
9:47
Like, you know, you could have taken
9:49
him. He's a lot more projected there and
9:51
I think you're banking on
9:53
there's there's just more puck moving
9:55
ability there and I think you can learn
9:56
how to be a big gnarly defenseman. I
9:59
don't know if you can learn how to move
10:00
the puck at an NHL level when you can't
10:02
really do it in the OHL. I mean, you can
10:04
he can do it. It's just not great. And
10:07
you know, scoring eight points with
10:09
London, I didn't even know they could do
10:10
that
10:11
if you play enough. And and it's not,
10:13
again, like it's not it's his first
10:16
year. He's obviously very raw.
10:18
Um there there like you said, there were
10:20
some things that came out post draft um
10:22
that kind of made it seem like he's a
10:24
work in progress and I'm sure he is. Um
10:26
but
10:27
I look at a lot of the guys who went
10:29
behind him and around him and I'm like I
10:31
I see
10:34
you can probably envision guys like
10:37
Blayle and and Pippa Rionen and Xavier
10:39
Villeneuve even going down into the
10:41
second round there. They weren't going
10:42
to take
10:43
Well, Blayle was on the board. I mean,
10:45
there was there was some interest in him
10:46
at least from the Flyers' perspective,
10:48
but Villeneuve was never going to get
10:49
taken by the Flyers.
10:50
Um but it it does go to show you like I
10:53
don't it it it's one of those things you
10:55
draft for archetype. Like, you don't
10:57
have that guy on defense and you need to
10:59
get that guy, but the problem is by the
11:01
time that guy is ready for the NHL, it's
11:02
going to be 2029.
11:04
Yeah, you know, like it's going to
11:06
straight He'll probably play two years
11:07
in He'll play two years in college
11:08
minimum.
11:09
And he'll play next year with the
11:10
Knights. That's three years.
11:12
And then he'll probably go to the AHL.
11:13
>> Yeah, then he'll need some some pro time
11:15
and then, you know, maybe by maybe by
11:17
2030, 2031, you can you can you can have
11:20
him as like a second pair of guy at
11:21
best.
11:22
>> So, Oliver Bonk might play next year. If
11:24
you're going to compare him to a
11:25
different guy who was drafted in the
11:26
first round as a London Knights
11:27
defenseman, he's at a pretty quick
11:29
development cycle and I and that was the
11:31
issue with Bonk actually when he was
11:33
taken is that there was nothing that he
11:34
was he didn't excel at one specific
11:36
thing. He's not an offensive defenseman.
11:38
He's he's a puck mover, but it's it's
11:41
you know, everybody's a puck mover. If
11:42
you're under 6'5, you have to be a puck
11:44
mover. That's what I'm that's kind of
11:45
what I'm getting at also, right? Like
11:47
it it's not
11:49
when you look at a guy like Bonk who
11:51
really pushed
11:52
to start his pro career once he was
11:55
drafted by the Flyers and looks like
11:57
he's, you know, his audition last year
11:59
he went about as good as as anyone could
12:00
have hoped and and now he'll probably at
12:03
least compete for a roster spot this
12:05
season.
12:06
Sokolov's he's not going to bring you
12:07
that. He's not going to get anywhere
12:08
close. I I would be shocked if he shows
12:11
up
12:12
on the Phantoms before like 2028
12:15
2029 and it's it's just you're really
12:18
projecting
12:20
a long way out.
12:22
Um and and
12:24
Drysdale, York, these guys will be in
12:26
their primes when Sokolov's he's ready.
12:28
Like they'll be in their physical prime,
12:29
but like a guy like Sanheim probably be
12:31
past it. You know, the Konecny's of the
12:33
world will probably be done. You'll
12:34
probably have to get rid of those guys.
12:35
It'll be there will be by the time
12:37
Sokolov's he uh
12:39
makes the NHL, there will have been a
12:41
substantial amount of turnover on the
12:43
roster.
12:44
So, that's
12:46
my
12:48
philosophy is like you can find that guy
12:51
when you need him, you know? You can
12:53
find the big guy to sign, the Logan
12:55
Stanley's of the world. I I think you
12:57
can because I don't think this is a guy
13:00
who you're going to be looking at and
13:01
saying
13:04
"Oh, maybe you know, he he just scored
13:06
30 points with Maine randomly. He's got
13:08
25 assists." Like out of nowhere. It
13:11
just it seems a little far-fetched to me
13:13
for a first-round pick, but in a draft
13:16
like this, you know, number 32
13:19
uh Jackson
13:20
Cover Cover
13:22
Whatever. Whatever. He he wasn't even
13:23
playing. He was playing like
13:25
like roller hockey until he was like 17.
13:28
>> I I I have to kind of go back on that go
13:31
back against you saying like you can
13:32
just find a big guy like cuz you can
13:33
find a 6 3 6 4 defenseman, but like
13:36
those extra 3 in like the extra he he he
13:38
probably has some sort of stick
13:40
exception exception rule like how Chara
13:42
could have a longer stick like you can't
13:44
find those those big big defenseman and
13:46
you bring up Logan Stanley. Does he have
13:48
I don't know if he's a free agent now,
13:49
but he was
13:51
he was traded that this trade deadline.
13:53
The Sabres traded Isaac Ratcliffe, Jacob
13:55
Bryson, a second round pick and a
13:57
conditional fourth round pick for Logan
13:59
Stanley and Luke Schenn.
14:00
>> Like
14:01
>> that's not an it's insignificant amount
14:04
to get this guy like a Logan Stanley and
14:06
a washed up Luke Schenn. Like you can't
14:09
just find this big of a defenseman. Like
14:11
it's and you know what? It's it's tough.
14:13
People have the Sam Morin flashbacks uh
14:15
you know, next Chris Pronger and and all
14:17
that stuff, but
14:19
it it is interesting because he's not
14:21
going to make the NHL until 20 the the
14:24
2030s.
14:25
>> And who knows?
14:26
>> Like is Danny Briere still and Keith
14:28
Jones going to still be around by that
14:29
point? Like hopefully they are.
14:31
Hopefully everything goes well and we do
14:33
have you know, maybe a York Drysdale top
14:35
pair. Maybe you can get a
14:36
Sanheim-Sokolov second pair like maybe
14:38
if everything goes well, but
14:41
that's why I'm torn. Like I know Charlie
14:42
O'Connor PHLY friend of the show he
14:44
said, you know, this is this is a big
14:45
swing by the Flyers taking Sokolov. Like
14:48
it's not a safe pick.
14:50
And I don't know where I fall on that
14:52
because you know what? He he has
14:54
probably high potential to become an an
14:56
NHLer as long as he stays healthy. Like
14:59
even Sam Morin didn't stay healthy and
15:00
he played in the NHL as as both a
15:03
defenseman and a winger there for some
15:05
reason.
15:06
>> Me and me and me and Steve were talking
15:08
about Phil Myers. Phil Myers just hung
15:09
around. He never learned how to get
15:11
physical at all or really play the power
15:14
play. Nothing that we thought he could
15:16
do did he ever end up doing and he's
15:17
he's still playing in the
15:19
>> up there in Toronto. Yeah. And and
15:20
Sokolov
15:21
Sokolov you know he he has that style.
15:23
Like you you see the highlights against
15:25
Brady Martin, you see you see the fight
15:27
highlights that I think we posted on
15:29
Broad Street Hockey socials. Like he's
15:31
going to be that guy that that's tough
15:32
to play against. That even if he is a
15:34
third pair of defenseman that plays
15:36
12-15 minutes a night, he's going to be
15:38
a guy that teams are afraid to go in the
15:41
corner against. And you do need those
15:42
guys. The Flyers are lacking that. Not
15:45
saying they're going to get him in the
15:47
next few years, but when they are
15:49
hopefully in that bucket of teams that
15:52
could win a Stanley Cup, he's ready to
15:54
come up as a 23-24 year old and play
15:57
that role. So
15:59
And you know what? Maybe it is a big
16:00
swing because he he can get better than
16:03
that. Like I can't imagine he's a top
16:05
pair defenseman, but he could be a
16:07
number four with a puck mover like a
16:09
Sokolov Drysdale, Sokolov Bonk, like
16:12
something like that could end up
16:13
working.
16:14
>> Yeah, like Sokolov and Bonk, that like
16:16
the London connection. I don't think
16:18
they played together. I think they're a
16:20
couple years apart, so I don't think
16:22
they played together obviously, but
16:24
that you know, like that sort of pair
16:26
where you put them with a smaller guy,
16:27
you put them with a little bit more of
16:29
offensively minded guy. Like that works.
16:31
That would be a thing that that
16:33
that could happen. But I look at a guy
16:34
like Tyler Myers who's been around for
16:36
decades at this point.
16:40
You know, Tyler Myers was an eighth
16:42
overall pick.
16:43
>> Yeah.
16:43
>> You know? Sorry, 12th.
16:45
So that's that guy they thought had
16:47
everything. He had the complete package.
16:49
It you know, and and this guy has a lot
16:52
of holes in his game.
16:54
Um a lot of holes that
16:56
despite his size,
16:59
I don't know if he's necessarily um
17:02
going to fill them
17:04
to the point where you can you can
17:05
reasonably expect him to to play
17:10
more than 20 minutes a night. No. More
17:13
than 22 minutes a night. Like it just So
17:15
that's what I'm looking at. I think
17:16
you're looking at a guy who's almost
17:18
like
17:19
you're looking at trying to grow your
17:21
own wristo at a certain point, right?
17:23
And And again, wristo was a top-10 pick.
17:25
He wasn't He wasn't a late riser on
17:27
draft week, right? So, that's what
17:30
worries me about this. But at the same
17:31
time,
17:33
if there was an archetype of a player
17:35
that you wanted to get at that pick,
17:38
that's the one that the Flyers probably
17:40
needed the most because they don't need
17:42
a 3C. Um they don't need a
17:44
12W potentially. Like even a guy like
17:47
Command, like people were excited about
17:49
Command and I I
17:51
I like him as a player, especially if he
17:53
sticks at center, which is questionable.
17:55
But um
17:58
the the They don't necessarily need a
18:00
guy like that right now. They have so
18:01
many wingers. So, like, you know, the
18:04
the the guys like who went after, like,
18:06
the Hurlburts of the world, Novak's
18:09
different cuz he's a power forward, but
18:10
like I'm not crying about missing out on
18:12
Jack Eichel, like you said, right? Or
18:13
even Suvanto. Rogalski is kind of the
18:16
same thing but on forward, right? Um
18:18
Chase Harrington, like I don't like
18:20
these guys that much. Casey Mutryn's
18:21
fine. But I don't think any of these
18:23
guys are necessarily they they have huge
18:25
huge ceilings. So,
18:27
the the way that I've looked at it now,
18:30
you look at the guys who were taken
18:32
after Sokolovski, I don't love a ton of
18:34
them, especially once you get into the
18:35
second round. The second round, I
18:37
wouldn't have picked any of those guys
18:38
over him, really. Maybe Shiloh cuz I
18:40
like Shiloh, but I don't think he's
18:41
necessarily
18:43
going to be, you know, amazing. Mattias
18:45
Pettersson, again, they're just not
18:46
going to take these guys. They're just
18:47
not going to. You got to cast it out of
18:48
your mind. They're just not going to
18:49
take those guys. So,
18:52
for what it is,
18:53
it's fine, you know, it's a C. I I hate
18:56
giving draft grades. Draft grades are
18:57
kind of stupid because you don't know
18:58
how the players Yeah. You don't know how
18:59
the players are going to play, you know,
19:02
right? That's it's You can't
19:04
do it off of, you know, the the scouting
19:06
reports and and guys playing in the U20
19:08
national and stuff. Um but
19:12
you I I just I don't see
19:15
um, the super upside with him. And I
19:18
think yeah, like like Charlie said, it's
19:20
a swing on a guy who you you better done
19:23
your research on, which to be fair to
19:24
the Flyers, they have a lot of channels,
19:27
you know, going through London and
19:29
>> Yeah.
19:30
>> as much as people maybe want to, you
19:32
know, make fun of the Hunters and Dave
19:34
and Dale and Mark, you know, running the
19:36
show over there, like it's a pro team.
19:38
Those guys normally do know who the
19:40
NHLers are. So, I
19:42
I do trust them to some extent. They've
19:44
made a ton of them. Um, and and, you
19:46
know, they saw Nikita Zadorov. That's
19:48
what everyone's talking about. Hopefully
19:49
you can just dream that he's going to be
19:51
the Flyers Nikita Zadorov. And if And
19:52
you think of it like that,
19:54
sounds pretty good.
19:55
>> Yeah. Yeah.
19:55
>> Especially with who was left over.
19:57
>> Yeah, like there's no one else you
19:58
wanted to take
20:00
that one after him. Like Ryan Lynn, I
20:02
think is going to be the big one because
20:04
that's the pick you traded and he goes
20:06
to San Jose. And he goes to San Jose,
20:08
where San Jose is going to have just an
20:10
absolute wagon with them getting
20:13
Stenberg and Verhaeghe there as well.
20:15
And they have Dickinson already. Like,
20:17
but I think the guy that that I probably
20:20
wanted them to to trade up for was Ethan
20:22
Belch. Like, just looking at what he is,
20:24
6'5 power forward, going to Michigan
20:28
State. Doesn't have the ceiling of a of
20:31
a Porter Martone, obviously, but like
20:32
you could see him being like a second
20:35
line, third line guy, front of the power
20:38
play. Like everyone had him ranked top
20:40
15. Elite Prospects had him nine. Craig
20:43
Button had him 12. Peters had him 12.
20:45
Like, who knows if the Kings and Flyers
20:48
could have came together there on a
20:49
trade because, you never know, but like
20:51
that's something where I just wonder if
20:54
the Flyers ever tried for that. And
20:56
that's
20:57
him and Lynn, I think are the are the
20:59
two people that the Flyers prospect
21:02
haters are going to try to compare them
21:04
to. Like Luchenko versus Luchenko versus
21:06
Bouyam and Cam York versus Caufield and
21:11
what is it Bonk versus Gay Perrault is
21:13
that another one people try to people
21:14
try to throw in there as well.
21:15
>> Did Gay Perrault go after Bonk?
21:17
>> I think so. I think so.
21:19
>> Yeah, well, we all know, you know,
21:21
there's there's a ton of examples of all
21:22
these guys who the Flyers have taken and
21:25
like the Cam York thing is not bad. It's
21:27
not a bad pick. Cam York's been good. He
21:29
scored the biggest goal in the last 10
21:30
years or whatever.
21:32
But yeah, Cole Caufield is pretty good.
21:34
Um
21:36
Yeah, so it was Perrault. Yeah, you're
21:37
correct.
21:38
Um
21:41
It's tough because I look at a guy like
21:42
Lynn and I can see how he would be
21:45
a really good, you know, a really good
21:46
hockey player at the NHL level. If he
21:49
fills out, if he's got the tools there.
21:52
Plays at a speed, but you're drafting a
21:54
guy who is very similar to guys you
21:56
already have in York and Drysdale. Um
21:59
and Bonk even, you know, I think Bonk
22:01
and him are not too dissimilar. So
22:04
I get it. It makes It makes sense, but
22:07
yeah, you you
22:10
It's It's going to be tough because it's
22:12
going to take so long for him to develop
22:14
and so long for him to actually like
22:17
bear fruit that some of these guys might
22:18
start popping up in the years before
22:20
that. And you know, I a guy like
22:23
Belshaw, I mean he's he's good. He's
22:25
very good. He's probably the best power
22:26
forward in this draft. That's what he
22:27
was was billed as coming in.
22:30
Flyers don't necessarily need a winger.
22:32
Um but
22:35
I would say that if you're looking at
22:38
the forward group in the same way you
22:40
look at the D
22:42
having a big winger is something that
22:44
you don't necessarily have besides
22:45
Martone who is not your prototypical big
22:47
winger. He's more than that. He seems
22:49
like he's more than that at least,
22:50
right? At very least he's going to be a
22:51
big winger. Um you need a few heavy guys
22:55
on forward getting on the forecheck.
22:57
Same Same reason you have Sokolov on the
22:59
back end. It's just make the, you know,
23:01
have
23:02
a guy who dumps the puck into the corner
23:05
and flies after it and and the defense
23:07
is is always peeking over their
23:08
shoulders, right? That's That's what he
23:10
would have brought and he'll probably be
23:12
in the NHL way earlier than Sokolov
23:15
will, right?
23:16
So,
23:17
a lot of these guys it's not going to
23:20
really
23:22
you're not going to be able to know
23:23
until Sokolov sings or swims, but
23:27
there were other options that would have
23:29
made sense and were a lot more chalk and
23:31
I think have a way more
23:36
appealing ceiling
23:38
to actually push you forward as a team.
23:41
Um, but again, you
23:43
he is a wild card. Like if it does all
23:45
turn out for him, he will be, you know,
23:48
like you said, a very unique player. Um,
23:52
and
23:54
there's there's definitely going to be
23:56
some trying times there. I I don't think
23:59
he'll go to college and look amazing
24:01
whenever he does go. I mean, depends
24:02
what London's like. Maybe he Maybe he
24:04
learns to speak English a little better
24:06
and now he's just, you know, screaming
24:07
all over the ice and and, you know, he's
24:09
some like
24:11
leader of men, right? I could see that
24:12
happening, but
24:14
it's uh, you know,
24:16
it's one of those weird ones where I I
24:19
don't love it. I don't love it,
24:20
especially when you trade back from 21.
24:22
You know, the Novotny thing. I think
24:24
Novotny would have been really, really
24:25
good. He's one of those guys, you know,
24:28
another one like Belshes. I mean, you
24:30
could go one way or the other with those
24:31
two, right? And
24:33
I think a lot of people thought that he
24:35
was even,
24:36
you know, approaching
24:38
Ethan Belshes. So,
24:40
you know, it's not like you're passing
24:42
on um,
24:43
Hurlbut or Hextall or Suvanto, even.
24:47
Nikita Klyopov, like guys you didn't
24:48
necessarily need and who are
24:51
maybe they do something important at the
24:53
NHL level, maybe they don't.
24:54
Um, there are a couple guys there who I
24:57
think could have really raised the
25:01
the ceiling of the prospect pool, but
25:04
you got to have guys to fill roles, and
25:06
that's a guy who you want to fill the
25:08
roles. I I just
25:10
not having a power play quarterback at
25:12
all, but also
25:14
um
25:16
essentially writing off drafting any
25:17
more small defensemen is kind of like, I
25:20
don't know how I feel about it. I know
25:21
you can just sign a power play
25:22
quarterback, but again, I would like to
25:24
say I would like to go back to like
25:27
I think it's easier to sign a 6-6 guy on
25:29
D than it is to find a power play
25:31
quarterback who actually does it well,
25:34
because apparently everyone wants John
25:36
Carlson.
25:37
Um, so it's going to be hard to get him.
25:39
Werenski is not coming to Philadelphia.
25:40
I don't know why we're all getting hyped
25:42
up about it. He does not want to come.
25:43
>> Hey, we got plenty of content to come
25:44
about Zach Werenski. Make sure you check
25:45
out Broad Street Hockey.com and YouTube
25:47
channel for that. We got content to
25:49
come, Jacob. You can't you can't can't
25:50
can't can't pour cold water on it just
25:52
yet.
25:52
>> I'm hating.
25:53
>> But to your point to your point of of
25:55
finding, you know, a 6-6 6-5 defenseman
25:58
here.
25:59
Uh, there were two active defensemen
26:00
last year that were 6-8.
26:03
Um, there were six more that were 6-7.
26:05
And then a total of 21 were 6-6 or
26:08
taller.
26:09
Uh, 6-5 or taller total of 37. 6-4 or
26:12
taller including Rasmus Ristolainen, a
26:15
total of 76. So like you can't just find
26:19
those guys. You can't teach size. It's
26:21
you know, it's it's a it's a joke like
26:23
you can't. Like you can't. And the
26:24
Flyers are definitely taking a swing on
26:26
that, because as you said, Ryan Lynn
26:28
probably a safer guy to to bring in
26:30
there.
26:31
Um, even like Ethan Belch. He he's going
26:34
to be my my guy from this, because
26:36
>> Yeah, you seem to like him.
26:37
>> Yeah, I I mean it's just he was going in
26:39
the top 10 potentially. Look you look at
26:41
the Flyers have a bunch of wingers now,
26:43
but they're going to trade at least one
26:45
of them for a center. Konecny's going to
26:47
be
26:48
33 by the time Belch could have made an
26:51
impact, you know.
26:53
You know, Matvei Michkov top six even if
26:55
he's a third line guy. You get this big
26:58
6'5 forward there, but
27:01
Yeah, yeah. That NHL draft draft grades
27:04
just exist basically. It's an event
27:06
where people can push their narrative.
27:09
If you're already negative, you're going
27:10
to be negative. If you're already
27:11
positive, you're going to be like, all
27:12
right, we'll we'll see what happens. But
27:13
if you're if you're in the middle, you
27:15
can overreact either way. That's what's
27:17
what's fun about it. That's what's fun.
27:18
So
27:18
>> I I I view it in a certain light as well
27:20
because I wasn't on board with the
27:22
Luchentko pick and I was not on board
27:23
with the Nesbitt trade up and then pick
27:25
really at the time.
27:27
Um and it's easy to say now cuz it seems
27:29
like I've
27:31
not been proven right because those guys
27:32
are still very young and they can still
27:34
be very good hockey players, but it it
27:36
does look like there's a lot more
27:38
seasoning that's needed on both of them
27:39
before they can really be NHL
27:41
contributors.
27:42
And I look at this
27:44
um
27:46
especially with him being from London
27:48
and it just seems like the easiest thing
27:50
they could have done. Like we don't have
27:51
to think about it. We're taking the big
27:52
guy. If he's just bad, well, we took the
27:55
big guy. And and another thing I wanted
27:57
to posit to you. In four years, would
27:59
you rather have whatever Sokolov is or
28:01
35-year-old Nikita Zadorov for like two
28:04
years?
28:06
For a contention window. And and like
28:08
veteran Nikita Zadorov.
28:09
>> But what if
28:10
>> That's what I'm
28:11
>> But what if Sokolov becomes Zadorov and
28:14
you have 10 years of him?
28:16
>> That's great. No, if he becomes Zadorov,
28:17
I'll I'll never say a bad thing about
28:19
this pick again. I just I didn't hear
28:20
that comparison until much later in the
28:23
year, which makes sense. He got better
28:25
as the year went on. But I didn't really
28:27
see that.
28:29
>> If you could trade this pick for an IOU,
28:32
a big a big defenseman when you're in
28:34
the contention window.
28:36
>> Well, I uh
28:38
>> Essentially.
28:39
>> It depends on like the vet.
28:40
>> Well, assuming Zadorov like ages well
28:43
and all that stuff and like
28:45
>> You know, that's I I and I'm not saying
28:47
that like one-for-one. You'd also be
28:49
getting a Ryan Lynn or a Novotny if you
28:51
stayed. That's the other thing, right?
28:53
It's like that's
28:55
and I don't know how good those guys
28:57
will be, but it's the combination of
28:59
those two things. I don't think you
29:00
necessarily needed to jump out the
29:03
out the roof to to get Sokalovsky. And
29:05
they did trade up for him, so it's not
29:07
like
29:08
you know, you they they it's damage
29:09
limitation even if you hated hated hated
29:11
the pick. And honestly,
29:13
I don't know how many of the guys in the
29:15
late first round early second are even
29:17
going to play in the NHL. The the back
29:19
half of that first round and the rest of
29:21
that draft it teams didn't want to pick
29:24
anybody. Teams wanted to trade the
29:25
picks.
29:26
It didn't seem like a strong draft. Ty
29:29
Emberson got on for weeks leading
29:32
up to it and then he still went what
29:33
like 10? Like 11, yeah. 11, yeah. Right?
29:36
Like Wyatt Kalynuk jumped
29:39
you know, from the end of the first
29:40
round to to the
29:42
the uh what is it? The the 10 spot in
29:45
like a span of a month and a half it
29:46
seemed, right? Um same with Command.
29:49
Like it's just whoever
29:51
these teams liked and it didn't seem
29:53
like anyone really liked anybody. Uh so
29:56
if you're not drafting within the top 15
29:58
in this draft, I think we said it
29:59
before, it's it's tough to find a guy
30:00
who's really going to be like a slam
30:02
dunk NHL contributor top six top four
30:05
guy.
30:06
Um even some other guys,
30:09
you know, like Oskar Hamming, Nikita
30:11
Klyukvin, I don't know if he'll score at
30:13
the NHL level and if he's not, then he's
30:15
not really that good.
30:18
Savanto Daigneault, they could just be
30:20
bottom six guys. I think that's probably
30:22
what they'll end up being.
30:24
But
30:25
you know, I I
30:27
at the same time I think you
30:29
it's just the way it's just the way the
30:31
Flyers do things that pisses me off
30:33
because we talked about it too. I wasn't
30:35
going to bring it up, but but even
30:36
Lischynski in the second round, even Bre
30:38
Bre Bre Bre Brecht big Brecht
30:40
>> big Brecht
30:41
>> big Brecht Lischynski um
30:43
you know, you you draft a guy who was a
30:45
massive Flyers fan. Like I It was It was
30:47
hilarious how I how I found out about it
30:49
cuz I looked at Liskie. I was like, "Oh,
30:50
that's fun. I don't know why they did
30:51
that. That's such a That's a kind of a
30:53
random name to to pull out here,
30:55
especially when you already took a
30:56
defenseman." And then you see all the
30:57
pictures of him with the foam fingers.
30:58
I'm like, "Oh my god, of course." He
31:00
seemed like they took the Western
31:02
Canadian me.
31:04
Like they took the Was he Manitoba boy?
31:06
I think he's Manitoba.
31:07
>> Yeah. But like he's he's also like a
31:09
late riser like like he Yeah.
31:12
He's like a bottom six He doesn't do
31:14
anything
31:15
>> He's a good player. I'm not Like that's
31:17
a good pick.
31:18
>> It's just so Flyers. But just to wrap
31:20
things up on Sokolov, and I hate this
31:22
argument, but like he's going to have
31:24
value around the league. Like he's going
31:25
to have value around the league. Like
31:26
that That that's one thing So like oh,
31:29
there's a
31:30
like a Flyers traded a a 13th overall
31:32
pick for Risto. The Flyers could
31:33
probably get a first round pick for
31:35
Sokolov
31:36
in a few years if if they have to. Like
31:37
I I and I hate that being like, "Oh, the
31:39
contract's okay cuz they can get rid of
31:41
it. The
31:42
The pick is okay because they can trade
31:43
him down the road." But like
31:45
it's it's whatever. And like you said,
31:47
he's going to play in the NHL. He'll
31:49
He'll He'll get NHL games. So he'll be a
31:50
third pair guy. If anything, he'll be
31:52
like an enforcer that comes in as the
31:54
seventh defenseman. Like that's fine.
31:56
That's fine. Like whatever. So
31:59
it's it's as it is with most most
32:01
drafts, it's just it's wait and see.
32:03
>> Yeah, I It's one of those things I don't
32:05
really even know
32:07
where
32:10
I don't even know where to land on it,
32:11
you know? I don't want to hate on the
32:12
pick because I get what they're doing
32:14
and I get why they would want him.
32:17
I get
32:19
what need he fills, and I get that he's
32:20
going to be valuable in the future.
32:23
Um
32:24
but if you took
32:26
um
32:27
tall Nick Seeler
32:29
but without the random
32:31
uh SEAL Team Six takeover where he goes
32:34
and snipes one goal a year.
32:36
Um
32:38
I don't know if it's worth it, but maybe
32:39
in a weak draft it is. Maybe in a weak
32:41
draft that's you take the guy you think
32:44
is just going to play in the NHL rather
32:46
than the guy who's going to maybe like
32:48
in 2% chance and one out of 100
32:52
realities he's a he's a top six forward.
32:55
Maybe that's maybe that's more prudent.
32:57
Maybe it'll end up working. I don't want
32:59
to you know down the pick because he
33:02
he's so raw and I I you won't know until
33:05
he plays in the pros at the very least.
33:07
But it's it is a swing. It's it's a
33:09
swing and it's going to be
33:12
very interesting to watch how he
33:14
develops because we could be looking at
33:16
it in a very different light um
33:18
a couple of years down the line.
33:20
>> Exactly. Even even next year like if if
33:22
he keeps this keeps this growth going in
33:23
the second half into next year and and
33:26
we'll watch we'll watch some uh there's
33:28
some shift by shift videos out there.
33:29
There's 10 minutes of Maxim Sushko hits
33:31
so we'll uh we'll do some watch alongs
33:33
for that over the summer as as the
33:35
content dries up. But uh Jacob any
33:37
anything else here before we uh close
33:39
this one out?
33:40
>> I feel like I was being very negative
33:41
this pod. I was I was just down on the
33:43
pod down on the pod.
33:44
>> Usually usually I'm usually I'm the
33:45
negative one
33:47
based on the comments.
33:48
>> Apparently. Um yeah, I it's uh it's a
33:52
very Flyers draft and that's what
33:54
probably rubs me the wrong way is you
33:56
can kind of look at all their picks and
33:57
you can see if you wanted to be negative
34:00
and just look at it from the simplest
34:02
simplest simplest way like first round
34:05
pick tall Russian guy who played for
34:06
London and someone said he was Nikita
34:08
Zadorov.
34:09
Pick him up. Second round pick. All
34:11
right, we're picking the guy as a Flyers
34:13
fan.
34:14
Third round pick.
34:16
Second second round pick. Big Czech
34:18
goalie. Third round pick. Another big
34:20
Czech goalie. You know, it's just kind
34:21
of like okay.
34:23
All right. If you wanted to be negative
34:24
you could totally view that pattern as
34:26
like we are
34:28
low hanging fruit. We're just picking
34:29
the low hanging fruit.
34:31
They didn't think this draft was or the
34:33
position that their pick was in or this
34:36
draft in general, they didn't think it
34:37
was so high value that they really had
34:40
to lock in and and do the due diligence,
34:43
which obviously they do. That's why they
34:44
have a whole scouting department, GMs,
34:46
and
34:47
all those guys who do all that do all
34:49
that work. But if you want to be
34:50
negative, you could look at it like they
34:52
just went lowest common denominator and
34:54
took the guys that were the easiest to
34:55
take and and were the most seamless,
34:57
right? Fit in the organization. Um but
35:00
if you want to be positive,
35:02
they got a guy who would die for the
35:04
Flyers. They got a guy who would kill
35:06
people for the Flyers, and they got two
35:08
guys to like, I don't know, be
35:11
Dan Vladar's understudies and they can
35:12
all speak Czech in the corner of Dev
35:14
Camp together or something, I don't
35:15
know. So, we'll have to see how it goes,
35:17
but
35:19
>> Yeah, uh good good summation there by uh
35:21
Jacob. As always, fantastic points by uh
35:23
by Jacob here on
35:24
YouTube. Check his Check out his uh his
35:27
old channel at JR Varsity Sports on
35:29
YouTube. Uh keep it locked here on Broad
35:31
Street Hockey on YouTube. Like,
35:33
subscribe, comment, let us know what you
35:35
thought about Sokolov and the
35:36
draft. We'll be going live for the BSH
35:39
podcast on Tuesday sometime. And then we
35:41
got July 1st on Wednesday, so uh we'll
35:43
be going live for that. Uh hopefully the
35:45
Flyers do something besides extend uh
35:48
Dan Vladar. So, yeah, appreciate all
35:49
your support. Everything goes to the
35:52
people you see here on on the videos, to
35:54
people you see writing on the website,
35:55
so appreciate all of that. Uh follow us
35:58
on socials, and until next time, thanks
36:01
for watching.
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