Piggybacking from the 10th to 6th-ranked prospects in our last post, we take a look at the 5 best prospects within the pipeline of the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of the 2022-23 season.
In our last group of rankings, we went in order, 10) Olle Lycksell, 9) Elliot Desnoyers, 8) Egor Zamula, 7) Samuel Ersson, 6) Ronnie Attard.
5: Emil Andrae
(Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
Quite honestly, it was tough to choose between #7 to #5 because it could go each way. Samuel Ersson plays a different position than both Ronnie Attard and Emil Andrae, and that position can be seen as far more valuable than any other. Ersson also played great in his first 8 games but then tailed off after he succumbed to the curse of the Flyers’ defense.
Attard seems like the most NHL-ready defenseman within the pipeline – even if it’s by a hair on Andrae – with his 17 games of NHL experience mixed in with a full season down in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, you can never sleep on the top flight European leagues for a variety of reasons, none more important than the level of difficulty and who you’re up against on a nightly basis.
Andrae, like most of his fellow countrymen, started his journey in the junior circuits of Swedish Hockey and then finally made his way into the top-flight SHL. Wherever he played in the junior divisions, Andrae racked up the goals and the points with relative ease, scoring 35 goals and 123 points in 140 games across 5+ seasons and within 8 different leagues in the junior circuit.
He made his SHL debut with HV71 in his draft season in 2019-20 but was held without a point in 10 games. In that same year he scored 11 goals and 38 points for HV71 J20 of the J20 SuperElit. The following season, he added 7 assists in 31 games for HV71 before exploding onto the scene in 2021-22 with 9 goals and 33 points in 41 games as a 19/20-year-old in the HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-highest league in Sweden.
Andrae took part in the World Junior Championships for Sweden in 2020-21, recording an assist in 5 games, before captaining his national team the following year to a bronze medal, scoring 4 goals and 8 points in 7 games.
2022-23 was a huge season for Andrae as he not only scored 6 goals and 26 points in 51 games in the SHL with HV71, but he also signed his ELC – after first signing a professional tryout – and played with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before the season ended, scoring 2 goals and 6 points in 10 games.
He may only stand at 5’9” but he is 185 pounds and plays a lot bigger than his size would dictate. He can take the body, he blocks shots, he can quarterback a power play, is a silky smooth skater, and is probably the most skilled defenseman in the pipeline behind Cam York. He ranked first on HV71 in blocked shots, second in power play goals and average time on ice (20:29), third in assists and fourth in hits.
The former 2nd-round pick from the 2020 draft was the 15th-ranked European skater in his draft class and only really slipped due to his 5’9” stature. Look for him to try to make inroads at training camp to make the opening night roster. Worst case if he doesn’t make it straight out of training camp, he will be the first call-up from the Phantoms.
4: Bobby Brink
(Heather Barry Images, LLC)
This is where things got even more difficult because the remaining 4 prospects are very good within their own right, aren’t tabbed as generational or elite so makes none of them stand out more than the rest, but are all tabbed as top-6 forwards or in the case of Cam York, a top-4 defenseman at the very least.
Bobby Brink could very well be the most skilled prospect within the system but injuries cut short what should’ve been a great season for the 22-year-old forward from Minnetonka, Minnesota. The former 2nd round pick from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft – a pick the Flyers eventually got from 2 trades made during the draft – was clearly someone the Flyers coveted as they made a move up to draft him. The Flyers first traded their 11th overall pick to the Arizona Coyotes for pick 14 and 45 and then traded pick 45 and pick 65 – previously belonged to New Jersey – to the Nashville Predators for pick 34, where they selected Brink.
In his draft year he scored 35 goals and 68 points in just 43 games for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. He also scored 3 goals and 6 points in 5 games for both the U.S. National U18 team and the USA U18 at the WJC-18. After committing to the University of Denver in the NCAA, Brink scored 11 goals and 24 points in 28 games in 2019-20, then followed that up with 2 goals and 11 points in 15 games in 2020-21, and then exploded with 14 goals and 57 points in 41 games while being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
He was named Forward of the Year in 2019 in the USHL, made the All-USHL First Team in 2019, then made the All-NCHC Rookie Team in 2020, the All-NCHC First team in 2020, and then was named the NCHC Player of the Year, NCHC Forward of the Year, and as an AHCA West First Team All-American in 2022. Brink also won the gold medal for the USA at the WJC in 2021 and bronze at the U18 in 2019.
Brink earned himself a spot on both teams in the World Junior Championships in 2019-20 and 2020-21, first scoring 1 goal and an assist in 5 games before scoring 2 goals and 6 assists in 7 games the following year. He signed his ELC with the Flyers after his collegiate season ended and chipped in with 4 helpers in 10 games. He was expected to at least compete for a spot heading into training camp but had to undergo off-season hip surgery at the end of July, which was to put him on the mend for 5-6 months.
Brink was activated off IR in January and then loaned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Considering how much time he had missed, there was no real chance that he was going to be called up to the big club and that was only accentuated with the Phantoms’ playoff push. The Flyers were hesitant on calling anybody up unless it was absolutely vital, which is why we only saw Tyson Foerster for 8 games, Elliot Desnoyers for 4 games, Ronnie Attard for 2 games, and Adam Ginning for 1.
Brink shined brightly in his first season with the Phantoms and scored 12 goals and 28 points in just 41 games, before chipping in with an assist in 3 games in the playoffs. The 5’8” winger is looking to make severe inroads this summer and heading into training camp and should be vying for what should be one of a few open spots in the lineup. If his hip keeps up, there is a good chance we see Brink start the season with the big club.
3: Cam York
(Heather Barry Images, LLC)
The one with the most NHL experience comes in at number 3 in Cam York. Many will remember his draft selection as the anti-climatic one where it sounded like Chuck Fletcher was going to call on Cole Caufield. Instead of the diminutive scoring winger, the Flyers went for the defenseman in York.
He was the 12th-ranked North American skater behind Jack Hughes, Bowen Byram, Kirby Dach, Alex Turcotte, Dylan Cozens, Trevor Zegras, Arthur Kaliyev, Cole Caufield, Matthew Boldy, Peyton Krebs, and Thomas Harley. He was selected before only Caufield (15), Krebs (17), and Kaliyev (33). He was a very offensive-minded defenseman but also had the defensive tools to be able to shed the notion that he was just a one-trick pony.
Nevertheless he stacked up points wherever he played. For the USNTDP Juniors in 2017-18 he scored 3 goals and 14 points as a rookie, added 5 goals and 25 points for the U.S. National U17 Team, and 3 goals and 13 points in 21 games for the U.S. National U18 Team. The following season he scored 7 goals and 33 points in just 28 games for the USNTDP Juniors and 14 goals and 65 points in 63 games for the U.S. National U18 Team.
He committed to the University of Michigan the following season and in only 2 years, he amassed 9 goals and 36 points in 54 games, including 20 points in just 24 games in 2020-21. He also played 8 games with the Phantoms that season with 5 points in 8 games, and also got his first taste with the Flyers. York captained the American team at the World Juniors that season as well, scoring 6 points in 7 games en route to the gold medal.
He split his time in 2021-22 with the Phantoms and the Flyers, scoring 2 goals and 12 points in 34 games for the former and 3 goals and 10 points in 30 games with the latter. He was expected to make the team out of training camp in 2022-23 but was cut almost immediately after John Tortorella didn’t like what he saw. He encouraged him to master his craft in the minors and he scored 13 points in 20 games before getting the call up to the big leagues again. He finished the season with 2 goals and 20 points in 54 games, played top pair minutes, and quarterbacked the power play.
I still consider him a prospect even with 87 games under his belt across 3 different seasons. He is obviously the most NHL-ready of the bunch, he should be a mainstay on the back end for years to come, could become the top unit quarterback depending on Tony DeAngelo’s availability, and will look to improve on his first 20-point season – in just 54 NHL games.
2: Cutter Gauthier
(Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Cutter Gauthier finished his draft season as the 3rd-ranked North American skater, after being ranked 6th midseason. Many had him falling out of the top-10 until the very last week before the draft, when TSN’s Bob McKenzie had him going top-10 with the stipulation that someone between picks 5-8 are going to take a risk on him if he could play both wing and centre.
The top-4 went as expected with Juraj Slafkovský, Šimon Nemec, Logan Cooley, and Shane Wright all being selected – but not in the order many were expecting. That left the 5th overall spot to the Flyers with either Gauthier or David Jiřiček to choose from. While many wanted the defenseman from the Czech Republic, the Flyers took their chances with Gauthier who stands to be a very good power forward for years to come.
In 2020-21, he scored 12 goals and 21 points in 32 games for the USNTDP Juniors and 20 goals and 37 points in 44 games for the U.S. National U17 Team. In his draft season, the following year, he scored 19 goals and 28 points in 22 games for the USNTDP Juniors and 34 goals and 65 points in just 54 games for the U.S. National U18 Team. After committing to Boston College last year, Gauthier scored 16 goals and 37 points in 32 games, while also chipping in with 4 goals and 10 points in 7 games for the Americans at the World Juniors.
The 19-year-old stands in at 6’2” and 195 pounds, has already had conversations with Daniel Brière and the Flyers on his next steps, and is going to head back to college for another season to marinate and take over the collegiate circuit. That was expected however since there was no need for him to make the leap to the NHL just yet, but the Flyers have a really good talent in Gauthier if he continues his development as a power forward. Cutter can play both wing and centre, was always good defensively, has stepped up offensively in the last few years, is a grinder in the corners and along the boards, and can play the walls on the power play with a great shot to boot.
1: Tyson Foerster
(Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Tyson Foerster gets the number one nod as the top prospect due to a very good season – both in the minors and up with the Flyers. Foerster was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with the 23rd overall pick after being the 21st ranked North American skater. He jumped up from being the 41st-ranked North American skater and his shot was heard around the world, which is why the Flyers jumped out of their seats to select him in the first round.
Foerster was afforded the luxury to play in the AHL during the 2020-21 season due to the CHL season being cancelled because of COVID. Since you’re only allowed to play in the AHL if you’re 20 years or older – if you played in a North American junior league – Foerster and many others were given an exemption that season and were also given the chance the following year as well.
He only spent 2+ seasons with the Barrie Colts of the OHL, but scored 36 goals and 80 in 62 games in his draft season to catch the eye of the Flyers’ brass – a huge leap from his 10 goals and 23 points in 64 games the year prior. His 2021-22 season was split between the Phantoms and Colts due to injury, but he scored 3 points in 9 games in the AHL before chipping in with 6 goals and 11 points in 13 games in the OHL.
He dealt with his fair share of injuries with the Phantoms in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, but his rookie year in 2020-21 saw him score 10 goals and 17 points in just 24 games. Fully healthy and raring to go, Foerster won gold for Team Canada at the summer rendition of the 2022 World Juniors, where he chipped in with 3 goals and 6 points.
He was given full rein in the minors in 2022-23 and he led the team in points with 48, while chipping in with 20 goals in just 66 games. He also scored 2 goals and 3 points in 3 playoff games against the Charlotte Checkers.
He was given an 8-game stint with the Flyers and scored 3 goals and 7 points. He impressed so much that head coach John Tortorella was beaming ear-to-ear about his play, his game, and his improvements from game 1 to game 8.
He was electric, he was noticeable, and it may have only been 8 games, but he put his stamp of approval on the team in short order.
Tortorella isn’t one to have locks heading into the new season, but there’s no way Foerster doesn’t make the big club out of training camp unless an injury comes in the way.
