Philadelphia Flyers’ 2026 NHL Draft Grades

General manager Daniel Brière has completed his fourth NHL Entry Draft with the Philadelphia Flyers. How did he do?

Round 1, Pick 27: Maksim Sokolovskii, D, London Knights (OHL)

The Flyers traded back six spots to select the guy they reportedly had atop their board at No. 21: Maksim Sokolovskii, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound defenseman. For their trouble, they acquired picks 62 and 120—expanding their total 2026 draft choices from four to six.

But prospect guru Scott Wheeler showed no mercy. He named the Flyers one of the “losers” of the first round (from ‘Winners and losers from 2026 NHL Draft first round: Sharks bolster impressive young core,’ The Athletic, June 27, 2026). Sokolovskii ranked 73^rd on Wheeler’s board.

To the Flyers’ credit, hitting on first-rounders in this range is half luck anyway. It sounds bad on paper to reach 46 spots for a defenseman whose outlier trait is size, but nobody can predict the future with 100% accuracy. While I think Mathis Preston would have been an exciting choice here, another small winger isn’t exactly an organizational need—a left-shot defenseman is.

Getting into Sokolovskii’s game, which I clipped two periods of below, he’s a big defenseman who skates well for his size. The long-term outlook here is a guy who can retrieve pucks (he’s still working on this, in my opinion) and be a nuisance off the rush and in the defensive zone.

He’s pretty raw at this stage, but he has several years of development ahead. Take a player like Esa Lindell, considered to be one of the best shutdown defenders in the NHL. He was not seen that way at the draft. “Lindell is a bit of a work in progress defensively, but there is some intriguing potential, and he does have NHL size,” said The Scouting Report.

Even with the potential for development, you have to consider trade value here. Part of the reason why the Flyers haven’t been in advanced discussions for star players on the market is that the trading teams want young talent. But outside of Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov—non-starters in a deal for Philadelphia—what else is there to offer? Sokolovskii, thus, is a risky bet.

Grade: D

Round 2, Pick 53: Brek Liske, D, Everett Silvertips (WHL)

With the Flyers’ second pick, they took a well-rounded defenseman out of the Western Hockey League (WHL): Brek Liske. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-shot defender followed a 24-point regular season with four goals and 13 assists in 18 playoff contests.

But I wouldn’t necessarily call Liske a potential high-end producer. He can move and is comfortable with the puck on his stick, which are important skills for defensemen. The projection here is a versatile bottom-pairing player, though his development will probably hinge on puck-moving.

Grade: C

Round 2, Pick 62: Martin Psohlavec, G, HC Energie Karlovy Vary U20 (Extraliga Junioru)

I don’t really watch goalies, and especially not ones from overseas, so forgive me if my knowledge is a bit limited on Martin Psohlavec. That said, despite only being ranked 17^th among international netminders by NHL Central Scouting, the numbers are decent. He had a .928 save percentage, a 1.90 goals-against average, 36 wins, and 11 shutouts in 50 total games in Czechia’s top junior league. He also had a strong U18 World Championship.

No mock draft had Psohlavec going this high, but goalies are probably the most boom-or-bust position in the draft. So, I’ll give this one a perfectly average “C” grade—he could be a stud, or he may never play an NHL game. Perhaps it’s somewhere in the middle.

Grade: C

Round 4, Pick 120: Marek Sklenička, G, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

The Flyers doubled down on goalies, interestingly, taking Marek Sklenička of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.

Now, goaltenders aren’t my cup of tea when it comes to prospect analysis, but the 17-year-old rookie showed some quality stuff in my eyes. He had good positioning, moved well, and challenged shooters. In the regular season and the playoffs, he recorded a .903 save percentage, a 3.26 goals-against average, 21 wins, and three shutouts in 46 games.

Grade: C

Round 5, Pick 136: KJ Sauer, C, Andover High (USHS-MN)

KJ Sauer, the Flyers’ only forward of this draft class, is a 6-foot-3, 203-pound center from Minnesota. He recorded 25 points in 15 games at Andover High, and, later in the season, recorded five points in five games in the United States Hockey League (USHL) before registering a single goal in eight playoff contests.

This is a player I was able to get some viewings of, fortunately. He’s at his best along the boards and in the net front, and he’s scrappy post-whistle. Elite Prospects had him ranked 128^th, so this is a fair pick in this range. In general, though, it’s hard to reach on a fifth-rounder.

Grade: C

Round 7, Pick 213: Max Laatikainen, D, Kiekko-Espoo (U20 SM-Sarja)

This is another one that I’ll have to pivot to the scouts on—I don’t have access to Finnish league footage. Max Laatikainen, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound right-shot defenseman, scored three goals and added eight assists in 22 games at the junior level, and had two more assists in six Liiga contests (Finland’s top pro league).

The 17-year-old’s featured report by Elite Prospects reads, “Laatikainen’s big calling cards have always been his poise and his skating ability. He’s not particularly explosive, but makes up for it with sheer smoothness, being one of the more effortless skaters Finland has produced recently” (from ‘2026 NHL Draft Guide,’ Elite Prospects, June 2, 2026). He was one day too old for the 2027 NHL Draft.

Grade: B

Overall, you probably won’t find a single public scout who liked the Flyers’ draft. I’m not a huge fan, either. But with years of development ahead, we’ll just have to see.