TUESDAY QUICK HITS

* Want to get a sense of just how much the Flyers' farm system has improved in the last four years? Yesterday I glanced at the Future Watch Zone section of The Hockey News' 2010-11 Yearbook to see who they rated as the Flyers' top 10 prospects.

Here was THN's top 10:

1) Jon Kalinski LW
2) David Laliberte RW
3) Kevin Marshall D
4) Joonas Lehtivuori D
5) Andreas Nödl RW
6) Michael Chaput C
7) Patrick Maroon LW
8) Marc-Andre Bourdon D
9) Simon Bertilsson D
10) Joacim Eriksson G

Move ahead one year from these rankings. Having acquired the first-round 2011 pick they used on the selection of Sean Couturier and after acquiring Brayden Schenn (ranked as LA's top prospect in the 2010-11 THN Yearbook), the Flyers added two players to the system that by far dwarfed the upsides of anyone on the list.

Now move ahead to 2014. The Flyers have actually held onto most their picks in recent years. A lack of retained picks was a big part of the reason why the pickings were so slim four years ago. The current top 10 prospect list would look something like this (give or take a ranking spot here and there):

1) Scott Laughton C
2) Samuel Morin D
3) Shayne Gostisbehere D
4) Travis Sanheim D
5) Anthony Stolarz G
6) Robert Hägg D
7) Jason Akeson F (would be ranked higher strictly as the most NHL-ready prospect)
8) Taylor Leier LW
9) Mark Alt D
10) Nicolas Aube-Kubel C/W

Beyond this top-10 group, the system has the likes of Nick Cousins, Petr Straka, several promising 2014 Draft selections (Mark Friedman, Oskar Lindblom, Radel Fazleev, and the already signed Jesper Pettersson), KHL defenseman Valeri Vasiliev, collegiate defenseman prospect Reece Willcox, two-way collegiate forward Michael Parks and several others who would have been considered top 10 prospects when compared with the group THN ranked at similar points in their careers four years ago.

There is still room for improvement in the farm system, of course. But the prospect pipeline in 2014 is immensely better than the state of the system in 2010.

* Now a member of the San Jose Sharks, former Flyers left winger Tye McGinn celebrates his 24th birthday today.

* Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the untimely passing of former Flyers goaltender Michel "Bunny" Larocque at the age of 40. Best known as the Montreal Canadiens longtime backup to Hall of Famer Ken Dryden, Larocque spent a brief stint in Philadelphia during the 1982-83 season. Appearing in only two games, Larocque was the backup to rookie Pelle Lindbergh after coming over from Toronto in exchange for Rick St. Croix.

While with Montreal, Larocque collected four Stanley Cup rings as Dryden's backup. After his playing career ended in 1985, Bunny became the general manager of the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres, where he won the QMJHL Executive of the Year award for the 1989–90 season. He was named vice president of the QMJHL in 1991 and still held the position at time of his death the following year. Brain cancer claimed his life on July 29, 1992.

* Today in Flyers history: On this day in 1991, the Flyers traded forward Mike Bullard to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a third-round pick in the 1993 draft. Philadelphia used the pick to select Czech forward Vaclav Prospal, who went on to play 1,108 games in the NHL and record 765 points. Over two stints with the Flyers, Prospal dressed in 77 games and logged 14 goals, 33 assists and 47 points.

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