The first round of the 2024 NHL Draft has come and gone and the Philadelphia Flyers were busy.
The Flyers traded down and selected high-energy center Jett Luchanko at 13th overall, passing on defenseman Zeev Buium — then general manager Danny Briere had to explain why they didn’t go for the consensus top available pick. And then with 32nd overall ready, they moved it to the Edmonton Oilers for a top-12 protected 2025 first-round pick. Just foregoing making a second first-round selection to now have three picks in next year’s first round.
Additionally (yes things kept happening), the Flyers were informed that the Columbus Blue Jackets will be keeping their second-round selection at 36th overall, and giving the Flyers their 2025 second-rounder. So, essentially the Flyers went from having four picks in the first two rounds, to just two.
With that being said, the pressure to really nail their first pick of the second day of the Draft is so crucial. Instead of potentially getting a faller out of the first at 36th overall and then making a second, second-round pick, all they will have to really make another swing with a well-known player is 51st overall.
So, we should probably learn some names and check out some guys that our Flyers could potentially draft with that pick, given that they prefer their defensemen to be big and potentially opt for taking a center.
Jesse Pulkkinen, LHD
What if I told you that there is a 6-foot-6, left-handed defenseman who is highly skilled in just about every area of the game of hockey except one? That seems pretty damn good for a second-round pick. Well, that one attribute is skating and that defenseman is Finnish giant Jesse Pulkkinen.
Pulkkinen feels like a player that either teams can fall in love with or will absolutely let another team take a chance on. He is an overager, having already passed through the Draft once, but managed to absolutely dominate junior hockey and play the majority of his games in the Liiga. In the Under-20 league over there, Pulkkinen scored 11 goals and 28 points in 18 games. He is a defenseman, guys. The dude has the skill to take advantage of the weaker competition so it earned him more experience in the top division and scored two goals and eight points in 29 games. Still, those are numbers you would probably be happy with from a post-Draft season from a late-round pick; now he’s earned potentially a second-round selection.
This guy just has creativity oozing out of every pore and the confidence to pull off some moves. Essentially, if we want to paint him with really broad strokes, he is an overage Carter Yakemchuk — extremely talented offensively but his skating is something that needs to be vastly improved.
We know the Flyers don’t mind a project when it comes to improving someone’s skating. That is likely the most improvable aspect of someone’s game, so if Pulkkinen can become an average skater at the NHL level, it feels like he can find some solid success that is worth betting on.
Luke Misa, C
Misa is just a solid option of a pick. He is a strong center who projects to be a sturdy two-way player as he reaches the professional level and would rather make a play than finish it.
No team could really go wrong with selecting a center like Misa in the second round. The only downside to his game is that he isn’t the most physical player, but is still tenacious in puck retrievals and re-gaining possession for his team, but maybe not in the most projectable way since he is still just 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds.
But just like the Flyers’ first selection Luchanko, Misa plays his best hockey when it’s at a high pace and he can do the dirty work to set up his teammates for success. He might not reach the same heights as Luchanko can, but Misa is just a solid bet to be at least a middle-six center who can have a strong transition game and work his butt off.
Just a solid, solid pick especially considering the positional need.
Ryder Ritchie, RW
Okay, we broke our rule about being realistic that the Flyers would prefer a centerman or a big defenseman with this pick, but it feels like a classic Draft Steal to potentially have winger Ryder Ritchie falling deep into the second round.
Coming out of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, Ritchie is an interesting prospect. What scouts have viewed him as is a plus shooter, with some very good puckhandling and overall puck skills, and he can read the game fairly well. But, the main concern is his lack of physicality and his skating is just average. So, essentially, he isn’t the ultra-skilled and fast wingers that typically make their way into the NHL — he has all the skills to make it but he doesn’t skate well enough to make up for his lack of bite.
If somehow he can become more mobile, this is a player right here. That is the one flaw. Everything else about Ritchie’s game feels complete and projectable. He can fill out his 6-foot frame to make all the flashiest plays you have ever seen, but he just needs to crank up the pace and there you have it.
Lucas Pettersson, C
Pettersson should be gone by 51st overall, but we can dream just for a little bit. The left-handed, 5-foot-11 center feels like one of the more projectable centermen still available after the first round. He can play a strong two-way game but has flashes of high-end skill at the same time.
Through 44 games in the Swedish junior league, Pettersson scored 27 goals and 57 points, as he continued to utilize his five-tool package and, as the 2024 Elite Prospects Draft Guide mentions, a high-pace attitude.
“Pace is the MoDo centre’s defining dimension, and it goes both ways. Where most skaters his age rely on straight-line speed to leave defenders in their dust, Pettersson constantly keeps opponents guessing, working a sophisticated delay game to create space for himself and connect with trailing options. If the defenceman steps up, he explodes against their momentum and into soft ice for a scoring chance. It isn’t just a scoring tool either. Pettersson’s skating paired with a motor that never stops and high-level reads allows him to close on opponents as they go in for puck retrievals and generate steals like a veritable pickpocket.”
It just feels like overall, Pettersson can work out to be a very sturdy center for a very good team. He doesn’t have any major flaws and should be taken somewhere in the second round. You have to think the Flyers are licking their chops thinking about him at pick No. 51, if he is there.
Tarin Smith, LHD
In a similar vein to Jesse Pulkkinen, Everett Silvertips blueliner Tarin Smith is another defenseman that isn’t as mobile as a top prospect should be, but has so many other tools that should earn him a very solid look in the second round.
Smith is just so interesting as a prospect. He feels like a true, high-end swing on a player who, if you fix their skating, can suddenly become a top-four defenseman that can lead a power play and score roughly a point for every two games. Like, all you need to do is watch a couple plays and soon you’ll be really wanting this dude and understand why he needs to work on his skating.
It is junior hockey, so he can get away with not-so-great skating and be able to weave through an entire team as a defenseman. But that flash could quickly dim into almost complete darkness at the higher levels of the game if he doesn’t figure out how to move his feet more effectively.
Smith just is so interesting if a team with the right development staff in place can figure him out. He’s not small, either– okay, he’s not as big as Pulkkinen — so the Flyers might not have an issue with betting on his pure, raw talent to become an electric offensive defenseman.
This feels like a swing for the fences that sometimes feels right. If the Flyers still had two second-rounders this year, maybe we could project Smith being one of their picks, but it probably becomes less likely now with just one more pick before the third round.
Hopefully we get some answers as to what Danny Briere and his staff are thinking of targeting as we make our ways through Day 2 of the Draft.
