some notes on prospects from athletic
seems pretty accurate i agree with most of whats said cant wait to see how they do this season
Cam York isn’t far away from the NHL. After a strong-but-not-exceptional freshman season at the University of Michigan, York took a significant step forward in 2020-21, establishing himself as an all-situations force for the Wolverines and captaining Team USA to a gold medal at the World Junior Championships.
It’s not that he made major adjustments to his game — he was just a little bit stronger, a little bit quicker, a little bit more in control of the game with and without the puck. So it wasn’t a major shock when York chose to turn pro, even appearing in three NHL games before the Flyers’ season came to a close. Though the addition of veteran Keith Yandle to the Philadelphia blue line makes York’s path to earn a lineup spot for Game 1 more challenging, he will still be given a legitimate chance to make the big club out of camp.
York’s floor has always been high. A player with his combination of hockey sense, puck skills and skating ability is highly unlikely to be an outright bust. The bigger question is regarding his ceiling. Aside from the occasional wrap-around goal, York isn’t the most dynamic defenseman — he succeeds primarily because of his attention to detail and ability to do all of the little things right on the ice. For York to reach his NHL ceiling (likely that of a strong No. 2/3 defenseman on a team’s depth chart), it’ll be a result of those strengths made a cerebral puck mover who drives play at even strength and proves to be a high-end facilitator on a top power-play unit, while using his wits and guile to overcome his lack of ideal size while defending.
But even in a worst-case scenario, it’s difficult to see York turning out to be anything less than a solid sheltered third-pair defenseman capable of providing PP2 value. It’s that combination of strong upside and low downside — in addition to his proximity to the NHL — that makes York the Flyers’ top prospect. — O’Connor
With a bit better luck, Morgan Frost would already be an established NHL player by now.
In an organization with less forward depth, Frost likely would have stuck at the NHL level in 2019-20. And if a fluky shoulder injury hadn’t spoiled his 2020-21 campaign before it even really began, Frost was staring at a golden opportunity to seize a full-time lineup spot with even just decent play, given the early-season injury to Sean Couturier and the year-long struggles of Nolan Patrick. There’s an alternate universe where Frost is entering his draft-plus-five season as a clear-cut, quality NHL forward.
But that’s not the world we live in. Frost still has much to prove in the wake of a lost season, which was ruined by a separated shoulder and the ensuing surgery to repair it. The strengths of Frost’s game are all still there — high-end offensive creativity, vision, hockey sense and a strong on-ice work rate. The weaknesses, of course, remain as well — he’s never going to be the strongest physically, his game can lack pace at times and he’ll never be confused for a defensive stalwart. But no forward in Philadelphia’s prospect pool possesses the scoring upside of Frost, and if he can produce points at a high level, those weaknesses will quickly fade into the background.
After missing nearly all of 2020-21, Frost might be hard-pressed to win an NHL job right out of camp, though he’ll certainly be given the chance to do so, assuming he’s fully cleared from his shoulder rehabilitation come the third week of September when training camp begins. But the 3C spot in Philadelphia is still just sitting there, waiting for Frost to claim it at some point during the 2021-22 season. He possesses more than enough natural talent to seize and run with it; now, it’s just a matter of whether he actually will. — O’Connor
Despite coming into last season off of surgery to address multiple fractured vertebrae, there was much hype for rangy Russian blueliner Egor Zamula. The excitement was understandable; before his injury, he had dazzled at the 2020 world juniors and was in the midst of a second straight season as one of the premier defensemen in the CHL.
As a result, some Flyers fans watching from afar might have been disappointed with his offensive output in 2020-21 — just six points in 25 AHL games. However, there’s much more to hockey than points, especially for a blueliner. While he was the youngest regular on the Phantoms defense, his overall game was comfortably the most mature. With Zamula on the ice, goalies rarely had to face high-end chances and his low point total belied his passing ability. It was no surprise that when his chance came for a two-game NHL cup of coffee, Zamula impressed and avoided major errors.
The size, speed and skills are all there for Zamula, in addition to some snarl. He could very well develop into a second-pairing NHLer in the very near future. — Appleyard
No one in the hockey world questions the quality of Tyson Foerster’s shot.
Few prospects in the game right now possess the kind of natural ability to light the lamp that Foerster has. Whether it be his one-timer, his wrister or even his slapshot, Foerster combines accuracy, velocity and deception to be an absolute nightmare for opposing goalies. Add in the kind of high-quality hockey sense that allows him to innately recognize where he needs to be in order to deploy his shot — and the size necessary to battle his way there — and it’s tough to imagine Foerster not developing into a 30-goal scorer at the NHL level, right?
But then there’s his skating.
The only reason Foerster slipped to the back-half of the first round in 2020 was that the scouting world was divided on whether his underwhelming skating would prevent him from taking full advantage of all of his other natural gifts. Their concerns are warranted — Foerster’s stride is choppy and his top gear is underwhelming at best. It’s legitimately possible that it will prove to be his fatal flaw and prevent him from being much more than a depth piece with a great shot at the highest level of hockey.
But Foerster is making progress in this area, as he showcased at Flyers development camp last week. And he also proved last season that he could thrive in the AHL as a 19-year old despite his skating limitations — a very good sign for his ability to do the same in the NHL one day. Foerster isn’t a sure thing but any means, but he has the plausible upside to develop into the type of sniper winger that every NHL team covets and his progress over the last year increases optimism that he just might get there. — O’Connor
If Bobby Brink had come into the 2019 NHL Draft universally viewed as a prospect with even average skating, he would have likely been a top-15 pick. As it was, the undersized winger fell to the Flyers at No. 34. Since then, he has worked diligently on his skating to the point that at the 2021 World Juniors against the best players his age, the Minnesotan routinely crossed defensemen over in-tight and found space in high-danger areas on his way to six points in seven games. He will likely never be a “burner” in a straight line, but skating is no longer a problem for him.
That being said, his truncated 2020-21 NCAA season was slightly disappointing on the scoreboard. Just two goals and 11 points in 15 games was certainly less than most expected out of the talented right winger. However, there is context: Denver was a low-scoring team where not one player reached the point-per-game plateau, and aside from Brink himself, they had very few players who could create high-end chances for their teammates. Brink’s combination of high-end IQ, intensity, soft hands, a good shot and great passing means that he still has the potential to be a legitimate top-six winger down the line. — Appleyard
Sometimes, low-floor/high-ceiling prospects actually hit their ceilings, and right now, Wade Allison stands poised to do just that. Even before suffering multiple injuries at Western Michigan, the big right winger was a divisive prospect, with fans citing his shooting ability, offensive instincts and power forward potential, and skeptics arguing that he lacked the skating ability and hockey sense to be more than a decent AHLer. A breakout sophomore season was then halted by a torn ACL, which took longer than expected to heal and raised further questions as to whether Allison would ever make it.
But then, Allison finally got healthy. And given his first crack at the AHL, he tore it up with nine points in his first 10 games and a 57.5 percent Corsi For Percentage, per PhancyStats. It earned him a quick call-up to the Flyers, and he didn’t disappoint, bringing his physicality and plus shot to a team in desperate need of both. It’s not an overstatement to say that in his 14 NHL games, he was one of the most consistently impressive Flyers players on the ice — period.
Allison has already made a strong case via his 2020-21 NHL audition that he’s ready for the big show, and that his skills are likely to translate to the highest level of hockey. Now, it’s a matter of whether he can secure a full-time job in the team’s top-nine out of camp, and pick up right where he left off. If so, Allison has the potential to be this generation’s Scott Hartnell — a play-driving, goal-scoring wrecking ball of a winger who doesn’t play a pretty style but is undeniably effective where it counts. — O’Connor
Andrae oozes talent — the Swedish defenseman can pass, he can shoot, he can stickhandle. He loves stepping up at the blue line, and while he is undersized, Andrae relishes the physical aspects of the game.
Despite his gifts, 2020-21 was not the easiest year for him as he stepped up to the pro level full-time. After a brilliant SHL preseason, he also flashed his ability in the regular season but was inconsistent to the point he was eventually loaned out to hometown team Västerviks IK in the Allsvenskan. However, there is an argument to be made that some veteran HV71 defensemen were more worthy of demotion, and it did seem at times that Andrae was almost trying “too hard” to impress a coach who seemed to punish him for every mistake.
This season, with HV71 relegated from the SHL, he has the ability to be one of the better defensemen in the Allsvenskan. But he needs to clean up the mistakes that have sometimes snowballed in his pro career so far. Trying to force passes and being too aggressive defensively burned him too often in 2020-21. If he can iron out those kinks and continue to improve his skating, he could be a good second pairing NHLer. — Appleyard
Ersson stands as one of the most under-the-radar goalie prospects in the NHL. In 2018-19, he had one of the best seasons ever for a draft-plus-one European goalie, winning Allsvenskan MVP at 19, shining in the WJC for Sweden and making his senior national team debut. He was even better in 2020-21. He should have been in the SHL MVP race after single-handedly keeping an awful Brynäs team in the SHL. His .911 save percentage in the regular season might not seem “special,” but his veteran backup could only manage .880, and his team faced higher shot quality against than any other in the league. Statistically, Ersson was worth a goal per game for his team. And he stood even taller during the relegation, posting a .949 save percentage to ensure that Brynäs remained in Sweden’s top league.
Not only does the Falun native have an almost perfect technical game and an efficiency of movement that most NHL goalies would be jealous of, but is also extremely strong mentally. He rarely gets into ruts, never gives up on plays and inspires confidence from his defensemen. Expect him to be pushing for the Flyers backup spot in the very near future. — Appleyard
Opposing view: It’s not that I’m low on Ersson — I see him as clearly the Flyers’ best goaltender prospect and expect him to separate himself from his competition for that title at the AHL level this season. It’s just that until he proves that his game will translate to North America, I hesitate to rank him with the organization’s top skating prospects, giving the extra volatility of the netminder position. If he shows he can thrive over here despite lacking high-end athleticism for the position, I’ll start considering him a borderline top-five prospect in the Philadelphia system, but I’m not quite there yet. — O’Connor
This post was edited by dragoneth on Sep 7 2021 04:19pm