At 18-20-5, nobody would blame the Philadelphia Flyers if they began shifting their focus to the 2025 NHL Draft. They have their own first- and second-round picks as well as two in each round that didn’t originally belong to them. This puts them at six picks in the first two rounds. With so much capital to use, what might their approach be? More importantly, who might they take with their top pick?
The Flyers have a glaring problem at the center position. That much is obvious. In their last draft class, they passed up on the star upside of defenseman Zeev Buium, who is having another incredible season in college, presumably to address that issue. But taking Jett Luchanko, a potential star in his own right, at 13th overall is almost surely not where they’ll stop. Will the Flyers take who they perceive as the best center on the board with their first choice, or will they take the player with the most overall upside (assuming the answer isn’t the same person)?
Flyers Could Be Looking at a Bottom-10 Finish (But Not Bottom Five)
The Flyers find themselves with the seventh-worst record in the NHL by points percentage (.477), and they’ve been trending downward in the standings. This is despite a very good expected goal share since Dec. 1 (57.34% per Natural Stat Trick), highlighting their goaltending woes.
At the same time, we can expect the Flyers to improve down the stretch. Notable is their record against playoff teams versus non-playoff teams—the distinction is evident. When facing teams currently set to make the postseason, Philadelphia is 6-14-5. When facing clubs on the outside, though, they’re 12-6-0.
As you can tell, the Flyers have faced more of the former. With a “softer” schedule coming, they’re likely to get back in the win column more often than not when those matchups occur. They seem to be too good for the basement but not talented enough to truly make a push for the playoffs—a paradox that has cursed the franchise for over a decade at this point.
The 2025 NHL Draft is strong at the very top, with Porter Martone, James Hagens, Michael Misa, and Matthew Schaefer each having a case as the No. 1 choice in the class. While those four aren’t necessarily guaranteed to go off the board before anyone else, the talent pool seemingly drops off a tad after them. There are still some intriguing names, to be clear, but not quite franchise-altering ones.
Looking at the Flyers’ Best Center Options
Unless they get lucky in the draft lottery or completely implode, it’s safe to say that the Flyers won’t have either Hagens or Misa to choose from; the top-two centermen in the class. Even Anton Frondell, who was seen in the same light as the aforementioned but started his season off slow and injured, is rebounding. The Flyers’ dearth down the middle is clear, but the likely outcome is that they won’t have an obvious choice to fix it by the time June 26 comes along. So, the question is, what are their other options?
Caleb Desnoyers
Let’s start with Caleb Desnoyers, the younger brother of Elliot (a fifth-round pick by Philadelphia in 2020). This would be far from a nepotism-based selection, though, as the 17-year-old Desnoyers has been one of the best players the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) has had to offer in the 2024-25 campaign. With 23 goals and 32 assists for 55 points in 33 games, he’s on the best point-per-game pace (1.67) of a draft-eligible QMJHL player since Alexis Lafreniere back in 2019-20 (2.15).
Desnoyers, while not a significant riser, has made a case for a top-10 selection that he maybe hadn’t before. I’ve only watched him a couple of times, admittedly, but he’s a player whose impact largely comes with his decision-making. He doesn’t exactly blow you away with skill like most other top prospects in junior leagues, but he wins his minutes at a very high level.
Roger McQueen
Roger McQueen is one that would probably give Flyers fans in particular some pause. Tell me where you’ve heard this before: using a top pick on a center with size from the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) who ran into some big injury trouble in his draft year (out since Oct. 11). McQueen is not a carbon copy of Nolan Patrick, whose injuries were chronic, but it’s at least worth mentioning.
McQueen uses his 6-foot-5, 192-pound frame pretty well when it comes to offense, and his size in particular might make clubs completely disregard missing an enormous chunk of his draft year. He was probably hovering around a fifth- to seventh-overall projection by most analysts before he ran into health troubles, but he may fall outside of that range. Returning to an elite level after missing that much time may be a challenge, and risers could surpass him.
There’s a chance that McQueen isn’t on the Flyers’ board anyway. But with his perceived offensive upside, they may seize the opportunity if he sticks around for a bit.
Carter Bear
While he has frequently lined up on the left wing for the Everett Silvertips this season, Carter Bear seems like he has what it takes to play the center position. He’s a fascinating player in this draft class, putting up 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points in 33 WHL contests. He’s operating at around the point-per-game pace of Berkly Catton last season (1.71), who went eighth overall in the 2024 NHL Draft.
A highly productive player with power and skill, Bear could be something special at the NHL level. However, since he has been used on the wing more, he actually may apply to the “best player available” group rather than the “take a center by default” one. Speaking of which, let’s look at that.
Is Taking the Best Player Available the Best Course of Action?
The center talent objectively kind of dies off after these three (if you’re including Bear), so those might be the options they’re limited to unless they see something in players like Brady Martin, Jake O’Brien, and Ivan Ryabkin. That’d be in more of the “reach” territory, with all due respect, and kind of the counterpoint to taking a center for the sake of it. A standings turnaround, which is plausible, could necessitate exploring options like the ones just listed.
Related: 2025 NHL Draft: Baracchini’s Top 64 January Rankings
There aren’t just centers on the board for the Flyers to take. Victor Eklund, while listed as a winger, is putting up some remarkable statistics (15 points in 24 games) in Sweden’s second-best professional league (HockeyAllsvenskan). He’s an elite talent in this class who may surpass all but Martone, Hagens, Misa, and Schaefer depending on who you ask. Is it worth skipping out on a player like this, assuming he’s available for the Flyers, just because of his position?
The same can be asked about defensemen Jackson Smith and Cameron Reid (both left shots), who have star potential, in my eyes. They could add a lot to the Flyers’ future blue line, but does their position disqualify them from being taken entirely? Will the Orange and Black pass on their talent regardless of the players on the board purely because they’re defensemen?
Sure, the Flyers have a lot of them, but certainly, they’d be laughed at today had they defended taking Patrick over someone like Cale Makar in 2017 by saying “We had young talents like Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Shayne Gostisbehere, Samuel Morin, Philippe Myers, and more on the blue line—that’d be a waste!” It’s not quite that dramatic, but you get the point.
So, what will the Flyers do? Should they be taking a center by any means possible, shoring up their depth down the middle and taking that much-needed step toward being a contender? On the flip side, would it be better that they take the best player on the board, whether a center or not? The answer to this question really is a matter of opinion (especially since some may think McQueen is the best player listed), and can definitely vary based on where they finish in the standings.
