Every year, Elite Prospects releases a ginormous and wonderful list of their top prospects, after months and months of extensive scouting work done by the best in the business. It’s a treat to read through it every year, and I cannot recommend it enough to any fellow draft nerds. Part of their lists, for prospects through the second round, is to give a few NHL comparables for each player if they reach their highest potential.
There were five instances where prospects were likened to current and former Flyers, so let’s dive into those players below.
No. 21 – Sacha Boisvert and Brayden Schenn
Our old pal Brayden Schenn makes an appearance on this list, being likened to the mid-first round projected Sacha Boisvert. Boisvert, who came in at No. 19 on our very own big board, is a strong two-way center from the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
He’s got some flashy tools about him, but he can rip the puck when he has time and space. He deposited 36 goals in the USHL and finished fifth in overall scoring, mostly due to his deceptive shot that can beat goalies from distance. He’s not an overly impressive skater, and has decent size at 6-foot-2 and 179 pounds. He plays that hybrid hard-nosed but skilled style that Schenn was great at in his prime, so he’s an understandable comparison for Boisvert.
No. 24 – Michael Hage and Morgan Frost
Just ahead of Boisvert in USHL scoring? Michael Hage, a center who EP equates to Morgan Frost. If we think back to Frost’s junior years with the Soo Greyhounds, Frost absolutely filled the scoresheet with points, despite it not always being pretty. Frost had a knack for pulling creative plays from out of nowhere, and he still flashes those things (albeit inconsistently) at the NHL level.
With Hage, despite concerns about his top line skating speeds, he finds a way to be deceptive in short bursts. He’s able to operate with little time and space to create offensive chances. But on the flipside, a knock on Hage is that he sometimes lets the play come to him off the puck, becoming passive without the puck on his stick. That’s reminiscent of Frost in a bad way, as Frost’s softer play off the puck has caught the ire of John Tortorella. There’s a promising NHL skillset with Hage, and high junior scorers often find a way to score a bit in the NHL, but there’s work to be done to round out Hage’s game.
No. 53: Henry Mews and Cam York
Coming into the year as a potential late first round pick, Mews stock has fallen into the mid-second round after a draft year in which Mews didn’t flash the high-end potential that was expected. He didn’t demonstrate the dynamic skills needed to deposit significant points at the NHL level, as the physical attributes to his game stalled a bit in his junior season.
Still, Mews found ways to score for the Ottawa 67’s, racking up 61 points in 65 games. Primarily, Mews derived his offense from his hockey IQ – picking smart times to activate on the rush, solid lateral movement at the point, and nifty passes in tight space to teammates. It made Mews a solid-enough point on the powerplay, somewhat similar to Cam York’s power-play effectiveness for the USNTDP in his draft year.
EP projects Mews as a number-four defenseman in the NHL, mostly due to his lack of plus skill. That lack of plus skill is similar to York, despite York showcasing more shut-down abilities than expected in 2023-24. Mews gets knocked on for being unable to kill plays in the defensive zone, and really being unable to body anyone off the puck. That’s going to be tough in the NHL, and could leave him out to dry until he fully grows into an NHL frame.
No. 55 – Ryerson Leenders and Cam Talbot
And we’ve got a goalie comp! And it’s a comp to Flyers great Cam Talbot, who played all of four games in 2018-19 when the Flyers used eight goaltenders in one year.
In all seriousness, a comparison to Cam Talbot is not a bad place to be at if you’re Ryerson Leenders. When Talbot is on, his combination of solid positioning and the athleticism that comes with a 6-foot-4 frame is a pretty good tandem goalie. He’s got an NHL career that most goalies would love to have.
I’m not going to pretend to know how to scout goalies, but by most reports, Leenders is the near-consensus No. 1 goalie in the draft. When he’s on, he is known to play a quiet, boring game that doesn’t rely on outlandish athleticism. He doesn’t need to make flashy saves when he’s playing at his best, because Leenders relies on anticipation and positioning to make his saves.
But, here’s a flashy save anyways, on potential Flyers draft pick Berkly Catton.
No. 60 – Javon Moore and Jakub Voráček
This is an incredible comparison, largely because I love any Voráček content that comes my way. But also, Voráček was a high-end talent at his best, and played a style of game that was almost always fun to watch.
With Moore, there’s a lot of development left for this kid. He comes with an inherent risk as a high schooler in his draft year, even though he deposited nearly two points per game for Minnetonka High (Minnesota). If we think back to the Jay O’Brien pick, there’s just no telling how a guy is going to respond to higher levels of competition in college, even if he has the perceived physical tools now. The book is still out on him, but Moore is a high-risk, high-reward style pick for a team in the 2nd-3rd rounds.
Physically, though, it would be fair for scouts to dream on this kid. Similar to Voráček’s prowess in protecting the puck during his prime, Moore has a budding power forward style game that makes him a tough 1-on-1 matchup. As he gets older and more experienced, the goal is that Moore leverages his strength and skating more. He’ll be a fun prospect to track as he goes into his freshman year at the University of Minnesota.
