Very early, the Philadelphia Flyers‘ 2023 NHL Entry Draft is looking like a home run. With a potential superstar talent in Matvei Michkov, a potential starting netminder in Yegor Zavragin, and two possible middle-of-the-lineup players in Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey among a couple of other potential NHLers in goaltender Carson Bjarnason and winger Alex Ciernik, the Flyers seemingly did well with nearly all of their picks.
One of the less-talked-about players from that class, though, is 6-foot-3, 198-pound defenseman Carter Sotheran. Selected in the fifth round at 135th overall, he is showing signs of being an under-the-radar NHL-level talent. Just 18 years old, he could be a valuable player for the Flyers in the future if he continues his progression.
Sotheran’s Ice Time Limitations Not Stopping Him
Even though he is an NHL draft pick on a Western Hockey League (WHL) team full of teenagers, Sotheran isn’t getting first-pairing ice time. In fact, he doesn’t even get regular power-play usage. His team, the Portland Winterhawks, has arguably one of the best rosters in the entire Canadian Hockey League (CHL), so he has to make his rather low ice time for an NHL prospect work.
In the regular season, Sotheran had a solid 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points in 66 contests. His plus-46 rating is a legitimate testament to his strengths. Despite not having first-pairing ice time most of the time, the Winterhawks are a worse team when he is off the ice than when he is on it. There have been instances when the second he goes to the bench, his team allows a goal. His opponents simply do not score on him.
With six other NHL draft picks on the Winterhawks (including potential stars such as Nate Danielson and Luca Cagnoni), it would ordinarily be hard for him to make a difference, but he absolutely has. In Portland’s contest in Game 1 of the postseason on March 29, Sotheran took over, scoring a goal to tie the game in the third period and drawing an assist with a great pass on the goal to give them a third-period lead. With another assist in Game 2 on March 30, he helped give the Winterhawks a 2-0 series lead.
What Makes Sotheran Special
Aside from just the stats, why is Sotheran a special player? Why could the NHL be in his future?
Despite his size, Sotheran is a pretty skilled offensive player. It’s not often he gets the puck as he is usually the first player to peel back defensively when a change of position occurs or is about to, but when he gets the puck on his stick, good things happen. When he has the puck on the rush, he has the skill to deke past defensemen, the shot to beat a goaltender, and the passing ability to fling it across the ice to set up a great chance.
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Against the Seattle Thunderbirds late in his 2023-24 campaign, he chose the “do it yourself” option, deking past a defender and scoring a pretty wraparound goal. If teams aren’t careful, that’s what he can do.
And, remember, Sotheran is a pretty big player. His skating ability is fairly solid for his size, yet he tends to shine in transition. For a late-round draft pick who is still just a teenager, that’s a very good skill set to have.
As mentioned, Sotheran is usually Portland’s go-to blueliner for defensive situations. He has rushes against him fairly often, but surrenders nothing in the process. He picks and chooses his battles regarding when to pinch offensively versus play defensively, but he usually wins that battle no matter what it is. Really, he is the perfect two-way defender in that way — and a smart one, too.
At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a major weakness in Sotheran’s game. Although he is playing against players his age, he does tend to overwhelm his opponents with his size from time to time. He’s a great hitter, which is something not all CHL athletes take advantage of. Some of the bigger players in junior hockey don’t use their size effectively, but he is an exception to that.
Sotheran could be a steady defender for the Orange and Black in the future. He might not have apparent first-pairing upside at this point, but it does seem he could flourish in a third- or even a second-pairing role down the line if he really takes his game up a notch.
How Sotheran Could Slot Into the Flyers’ Lineup
Since the Flyers are early in their rebuilding process, they don’t exactly have the pipeline required to be a contender in the near future. They still have some good pieces, though. Looking at the Flyers’ younger defensemen (23 years old and under), what might a future core of defensemen look like?
| Left Defenseman | Right Defenseman |
| Cam York | Jamie Drysdale |
| Emil Andrae | Oliver Bonk |
| Hunter McDonald | Carter Sotheran |
Ideally, the Flyers would acquire one or two defenders down the line to add to this core. So, likely, Sotheran might be fighting an uphill battle to be a regular for Philadelphia considering they have two good, young right-handed defensemen already in Jamie Drysdale and Bonk.
However, Sotheran could end up winning over the Flyers’ coaching staff. He plays such a solid game that it would be hard for any coach to actively dislike him. He has the full package to make almost any coach happy, hence why he could be a long-time NHLer. Hopefully, that can be for the Flyers.
