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Quick Hits: Draft Preview Series, Panthers, 32nd Pick |
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Quick Hits: June 25, 2024
1) Congratulations go out to the Florida Panthers for winning the first Stanley Cup championship in their 30-year history. On Monday night, the Panthers held off the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in Game 7. Oilers captain Connor McDavid became the first skater from a team that did not win the Cup to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP since Flyers Hall of Fame right wing Reggie Leach won it in 1976 on the strength of his NHL record 19 goals during the playoffs.
Specific congrats go out to former Flyers players Sergei Bobrovsky, Anthony Stolarz and Nick Cousins, especially to Stolarz. I know one very special young person from this area who has been in and out of the Ronald McDonald House and Childrens' Hospital who is no doubt over the moon at the Cup Final result. She is a huge Stolie fan, and Anthony has stayed in contact with the family even though he no longer plays in Philly).
Congratulations also go out to Panthers head coach Paul Maurice (a good guy and someone who, as a player, was originally a Flyers draftee) and to general manager Bill Zito. Zito, then the assistant general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets and GM of the AHL's Cleveland Monsters, interviewed with the Flyers for the GM job in 2019 very shortly before Philly hired Chuck Fletcher.
Zito has always a rare eye for talent missed by others. As an agent, he first made his mark by identifying under-the-radar players who were late-round NHL Draftees or undrafted players and then convincing them to hire him as their NHL agent. He specialized in particular in players who were playing in Finland. His early clients included goalie Tim Thomas, defenseman Brian Rafalski, defenseman Ray Giroux, defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Ville Leino.
Eventually, NHL teams started to gain interest in seeing if Zito would "switch sides" from being a player agent to working in hockey management. That led to the opportunity in Columbus, where he assembled a Calder Cup winning Cleveland Monsters team as the de facto GM while assisting the Blue Jackets then-GM Jarmo Kekäläinen at the NHL level. The next step up from there was to become an NHL GM. He now has back-to-back Eastern Conference championships and the 2023-24 Stanley Cup to show for it.
While most people think of the blockbuster trade that brought Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers -- or obtaining Claude Giroux from the Flyers as a rental in 2022 in exchange for Owen Tippett and the Panthers' 2024 first-round Draft pick -- there are different moves that stand out more to me.
In 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning declined to extend a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Carter Verhaeghe, making him an unrestricted free agent. Zito and the Panthers pounced immediately, signing Verhaeghe to a two-year deal at a $1 million cap hit. It was absolute steal of a deal. Verhaeghe, who earned a three-year extension that runs through next season, has gone on to have back-to-back 70-plus point seasons (including 42-goal and 34-goal campaigns) with three straight strong playoff runs. One of the Game 7 heroes for Florida last night, Verhaeghe finished this year's playoffs with 11 goals and 21 points.
To me, what has thus far Zito apart from many other GMs is his ability to identify players like Rafalski, Thomas, Timonen, and Verhaeghe before others catch on. Anyone could see that Tkachuk -- who was already a star in Calgary -- would be an impact player for a team that acquired him. But Zito had the boldness to trade a few big pieces to get the deal done.
I think the Flyers are in good hands with Danny Briere. And it's hard not to like Chuck Fletcher a person. In fairness, Fletcher was also the victim of some truly horrid luck as GM (such as Nolan Patrick's and Ryan Ellis' respective health issues) and he obtained Tippett and a first-round pick from Florida for Giroux even when working with the disadvantage of Giroux ONLY being willing to accept a trade to the Panthers. But there were also some costly miscalculations by Chuck after the 2019-20 season and trying in vain to recreate that year. He held on for too long to James van Riemsdyk when the Flyers had a mid-December to mid-January surge in 2022-23 and ended up with nothing in return.
Right now at least, it's hard NOT to look at what Florida has done the past few years and wonder when and how Philly will get to that place (also keeping in mind that Florida already had Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad in place before Zito arrived). Playing the what-if game is human nature, but it will also drive you nuts.
2) With Florida winning the Stanley Cup, the Flyers hold the 32nd and final pick of the first round in the 2024 Entry Draft. That's in addition to the Flyers' own pick (12th overall). The Flyers appear to be doing due diligence on possibilities to move up and/or make NHL roster trade(s) over Draft weekend. Philly has two first-round picks in next year's Draft and several second-rounders between this year's Draft and next. So there are some assets they could try to leverage.
3) On PhiladelphiaFlyers.com yesterday, I took a look at top centers (beyond Macklin Celebrini) and center-wing swingmen in this year's Draft pool. Today, there's a look at wingers. Tomorrow, the series concludes with a look at top defense prospects.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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