After the Philadelphia Flyers signed restricted free agent Jackson Cates, they are reportedly not extending an entry-level contract to defenseman, Jack St. Ivany. The 23 year-old prospect, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by former general manager Ron Hextall, joins fellow prospects in Matthew Strome, Kirill Ustimenko, and Maksim Sushko as players who didn’t receive contracts earlier last month; all also former Ron Hextall draft picks. The Flyers had until Monday to get a contract done with St. Ivany as he now becomes a draft-related unrestricted free agent.
Jack St. Ivany was drafted in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which has provided the Flyers with only one NHL talent in Joel Farabee. Farabee has played in 170 games since being drafted and has scored 45 goals and 93 points. Whereas the rest of the Flyers’ 2018 draft class have either not yet made an appearance in the NHL or have not received entry-level contracts. Jay O’Brien was their second selection in the first round, followed by second round pick Adam Ginning, fifth round selections in Wyatte Wylie and Samuel Ersson, a sixth round selection in Gavin Hain, and seventh round pick Marcus Westfalt.
The Manhattan Beach, California native stands at 6’3″ and 201 pounds, played his pre-draft hockey in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede, and accumulated 7 goals and 46 points in 106 games, including a 36 point output in his draft year. He then committed to Yale University for 2 years, where he scored 7 goals and 30 points in 62 games, before heading over to Boston College for the last 2 seasons where he suited up in 53 games and added 30 points.
It seems that the Flyers had to let him go due to an abundance of defensemen in the pipeline that are ahead of him, and they only have so many contracts to dish out. Not only do the Flyers have Cam York ready to make some noise this year at the NHL level, but they also have Ronnie Attard who played some meaningful hockey last year, the captain of the current Swedish World Junior team in Emil Andrae, Egor Zamula, Adam Ginning, Cooper Zech, Mason Millman, and Linus Hogberg, who was tendered with a qualifying offer but has yet to sign a contract.
