New Front Office Has Successful First Draft
It's summertime. Baseball is now in full swing, and hockey is working its way through its off-season. So it wouldn't be right to talk about hockey without baseball analogies and one thing we can say for sure right now about the Flyers' 2023 draft is that the new front office absolutely swung for the fences, and given where each newly selected prospect was chosen in the draft and where they currently sit in their development, the contact on the swing was hard. Whether that contact was enough for a grand slam, a home run, a ground-rule double, or a sac fly will have to wait a couple of years at the very least to know for sure.
But let's talk about how this draft could be considered a grand slam, what makes it a home run, what turns it into a ground-rule double, and what would deem it a sac fly.
Grand Slam:
If Matvei Michkov and Oliver Bonk hit their ceiling, Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin develop anywhere close to their respected ceilings, Denver Barkey can prove the nay-sayers wrong and come even remotely close to his ceiling, Cole Knuble managed to hit his ceiling, and proves drafting him a year late was worth it, and Alex Ciernik hits his ceiling this draft would most likely be deemed a grand slam. If any of the remaining three draftees in Carter Sotheran, Ryan MacPherson, or Matteo Mann can prove the scouts wrong, this draft would be an undeniable grand slam.
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Of course, if Matvei Michkov alone hits his ceiling because of his superstar potential, most might just deem this a grand slam regardless of what the other 9 prospects do.
Home Run:
Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk, and either Carson Bjarnason or Egor Zavragin as well as Denver Barkey all hit their projected ceilings it's got to be considered a home run.
On the other hand, if Michkov and Bonk are the only two that hit their ceiling, some may still deem this a home run just given how little 'high-end talent' the Flyers have.
Ground Rule Double:
If Michkov, Bonk, Barkey, and Knuble are the only ones that hit their ceilings the draft doesn't look as strong, but because the two first rounders come out of it it's still a decent draft so it fits into the ground rule double scenario.
Sac Fly:
It's hard to imagine a scenario that doesn't include Michkov anywhere in it, but this is hockey and as I stated in my last article Russia is unpredictable, so if Michkov fails to develop or something else happens that prevents him from getting to the NHL, and all the Flyers get out of this draft is Bonk, Barkey, and/or Ciernik the draft still produced something so it's not a strikeout, but it's also a far cry from the grand slam or home run scenario everyone is hoping for.
It'll be a few years before we know just which scenario fans can truly look forward to, but for now, we can hope and dream of the grand slam scenario (even if it's the version that only has Michkov hitting his ceiling).
| POLL | ||
30 JUIN | 45 ANSWERS New Front Office Has Successful First Draft Most are hoping for the grand slam, but which scenario do you think will play out? | ||
| Grand Slam | 18 | 40 % |
| Home Run | 14 | 31.1 % |
| Ground Rule Double | 5 | 11.1 % |
| Sac Fly | 8 | 17.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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