Flyers fall to the No. 6 pick after more NHL draft lottery misfortune
The Flyers dropped the maximum two spots as their worst-case scenario played out in Monday’s lottery.
The hockey gods can be cruel. Despite finishing with the fourth-worst record, the Flyers dropped to the sixth slot in the 2025 NHL draft after Monday’s lottery played out in nightmare fashion for the Orange and Black.
It all unfolded on ESPN, with the NHL holding the ping-pong ball selection live for all to see for the first time in the lottery’s 30-year history. The scene was dramatic, and the tension was palpable, even through the TV screen, as each ball popped up and the number was read.
Ball by ball, teams were knocked off the list. The Flyers were one of the handful of teams still standing for the first pick when the last ball was selected. In fact, they had the joint-highest live odds at 18.2%. They just needed a four or a six to pop up, but instead it went the New York Islanders’ way. Close but no cigar.
The Islanders and Utah Hockey Club jumped over the Flyers by winning the first and second lotteries, respectively. New York moved up from 10th to No. 1. Meanwhile, Utah was 14th entering the lottery and won the second draw, but since it can only move up a maximum of 10 slots, it slid into the Flyers’ fourth spot. That left the San Jose Sharks to slot in at No. 2, the Chicago Blackhawks at No. 3, and the Nashville Predators at No. 5.
The Flyers have selected sixth three times before, taking Bob Currier in 1969, Behn Wilson in 1978, and Peter Forsberg in 1991. Currier never played in the NHL. Wilson, a defenseman from Toronto, represented the Flyers in the 1981 NHL All-Star Game and was fourth in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s best rookie in 1978-79.
Forsberg was famously part of the deal to acquire Eric Lindros from Quebec. The Swede went on to win the Calder Trophy in 1995, the Hart Trophy in 2003, and two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche. Named one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players in 2018, he signed as a free agent with the Flyers in August 2005 and played in 100 games with the team that drafted him in the twilight of his career.
Philly entered the NHL draft lottery with the fourth-best odds after finishing with a 33-39-10 record and 76 points. Although they tied with the Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken on points, the Flyers had just 21 regulation wins, giving them the tiebreaker and the fourth-worst record. The Flyers had a 9.5% chance of being selected in each of Monday’s lottery draws.
Regardless of the initial disappointment, the pick still gives the Flyers a chance to add another blue-chip prospect to their pipeline as they keep building for the future. They should still find a player, potentially an eventual top-two center, who will fit in nicely alongside the likes of Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim.
Unlike previous years, the 2025 NHL draft is decentralized. It will be held at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater, while teams will stay back in their home cities to strategize and make selections. The expectation is that it will work similarly to the NFL draft, where first-round picks go on stage to pose with the league’s commissioner, in the NHL’s case, Gary Bettman.
The first round will be held Friday, June 27 (7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN+) and Rounds 2-7 on Saturday, June 28 (noon, NHL Network, ESPN+).
Of course, a lot can happen between now and then — trade, anyone? But as of today, Flyers general manager Danny Brière and assistant general manager Brent Flahr will have the opportunity to draft at least 11 players, with seven coming in the top 48.
» READ MORE: The Flyers are poised to land a top-10 draft pick. Here are six center prospects they could target.
Aside from the No. 6 pick, the Flyers will have two more opportunities to pick a player in the first round. They have the Colorado Avalanche’s first-rounder from last year’s Sean Walker trade, as well as Edmonton’s first for trading pick No. 32 to the Oilers at last year’s draft. Colorado’s elimination on Saturday ensures the Flyers’ second first-round pick will now fall between 22 and 25. Edmonton plays the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, and its slot will be determined once the Oilers are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This season, Matthew Schaefer, a 6-foot-1, left-shot defenseman who hasn’t played since he suffered a broken collarbone at the World Juniors, is expected to go No. 1. Saginaw Spirit center Michael Misa is also likely to be a top-2 pick. Centers James Hagens (Boston College), Anton Frondell (Sweden’s Djurgårdens), and Caleb Desnoyers (Moncton), the brother of Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers, and winger Porter Martone (Brampton), are among the other top prospects in the 2025 class.