Flyers mock draft: Sizing up their three first-round picks and adding help at center

Like a locomotive, things are moving this offseason.

As of Friday, the Flyers have their new head coach in Rick Tocchet, and all eyes now are focused squarely on what’s next.

The NHL draft is June 27-28, and the Flyers hold a whopping 11 picks, including three in the first round. They have their pick at No. 6 after falling two spots in the draft lottery, as well as the Colorado Avalanche’s first-rounder from the Sean Walker trade and the Edmonton Oilers’ pick from a swap in last year’s opening round.

With the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs wrapped up, the Flyers know where two of their three first-round picks will fall and have a rough estimate of the third. The Avalanche-turned-Flyers pick is No. 22, and the Oilers will be between 30 and 32, depending on which of the four remaining teams, including Edmonton, advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

So now that the dust is somewhat settled, which prospects should the Flyers pick? Here is The Inquirer’s first mock draft for the Flyers:

Let’s say the top five is, in some order, Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens, Porter Martone, and Anton Frondell. That leaves Caleb Desnoyers as the next best player available. If he is there, the Flyers should take him. Assistant general manager Brent Flahr, who runs the draft, never shies from the best player available, and it doesn’t hurt that Desnoyers plays the position the team is starving for — center. And he’s someone with whom they’re familiar.

The younger brother of Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers, the 18-year-old also brings something else the Flyers need: size at 6-foot-2 and 178 pounds. This season for Moncton of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, Desnoyers potted 35 goals and 84 points in 56 regular-season games and was just named the QMJHL’s playoff MVP with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 19 games. A two-way center with solid playmaking abilities, Desnoyers is known for his “high compete” — a Flyers trademark — and wins at everything he does.

» READ MORE: Q&A: New Flyers coach Rick Tocchet talks systems and strategies, his ideas for fixing the power play, and more

He and his Wildcats are heading to the Memorial Cup, the CHL’s final tournament, as the QMJHL’s representative. They’ll face off against Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and London of the Ontario Hockey League; was also, the projected top pick in next year’s draft, and Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League; and Rimouski, the host and Flyers prospect Spencer Gill’s squad.

There will come a time, maybe sooner rather than later, when the Flyers will move on from Rasmus Ristolainen. Maybe, after the hiring of Tocchet, the playoffs aren’t far behind, and if that is to be, the Flyers will need size on the blue line. Fiddler, the son of former NHLer Vernon Fiddler, is a huge (6-4) right-shot defenseman who can skate but also has an edge.

This past season, the native of Frisco, Texas, had 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists) in 64 regular-season games and an assist in seven playoff games for Edmonton of the WHL. He was also impressive at the U18 World Championship, with two goals and three points in seven games for the bronze medal-winning United States.

A teammate of Ty Murchison at Arizona State, Potter also comes with a strong pedigree as his mother, Jenny Potter, helped the U.S. win its first gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. The younger Potter has been credited by draft experts as the best-skating forward in the class, and the left winger would bring an exciting dynamic to the Flyers, who are strong on the right side. The one knock? He is 5-foot-10.

But, as a young freshman (he didn’t turn 18 until Jan. 10), Potter had 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 35 games in a tough National Collegiate Hockey Conference that included NCAA semifinalists Western Michigan and Denver. He added another eight points (four goals, four assists) in seven games for the U.S. at the U18 World Championship, which Flyers general manager Danny Brière and his staff attended.

» READ MORE: Hiring Rick Tocchet shows the Flyers know who they are and how far they have to go.