Andrew Basha just feels like a Philadelphia Flyer

As we just saw with our previously ranked prospect Aron Kiviharju, sometimes a lot of attention can bring down your stock and have scouts pick away at your game if you aren’t growing at an expected rate. But for other players, a whole lot of attention during their draft year causes them to really take advantage of the spotlight and excel in this crucial opportunity to go from someone not really thought of as a first-round prospect, to one that should certainly be taken in the first 30 picks. The latter is the case when it comes to winger Andrew Basha.

There are already two stars on Basha’s Medicine Hat Tigers team. Scouts would come to really get a keen eye on top prospect Cayden Lindstrom and then 2026 projected first-overall talent Gavin McKenna (who is an absolute freak at just 16 years old). But then, Basha would come along and provide enough substance to make the trip really worth it, even when Lindstrom was out with his late-season injury and he was relied upon to be a top-level forward for a very good WHL team.

Basha is essentially a high-energy winger who previously used that energy in a supporting role for Medicine Hat — checking high and breaking up plays — but has now turned on the offensive switch to make even a larger impact. He feels like a type of prospect that teams love to have no matter what — if they hit their ceiling, they turn into a top-line winger that can play in all situations, if they don’t quite hit it, they can still be a decent bottom-six winger if they develop that side of his game.

Pre-draft rankings

No. 24 by Bob McKenzie (TSN)
No. 18 by Elite Prospects
No. 38 by Chris Peters (FloHockey)
No. 29 by Scott Wheeler (The Athletic)

Statistics

What’s there to like?

When it comes to Basha, all you really need to do is watch a couple of highlights to like him as a prospect. He is almost perfect as someone who can just instantly be super into as a winger with high potential.

Basha is dynamic and electric in all the sense of those words when it comes to the sport of ice hockey. He regularly takes on one-on-one challenges with defensemen in juniors and can be super-duper flashy if he wants to. And obviously, he produced enough to warrant any hype.

When it comes to this dude, it’s really all about speed and seeing the ice quicker than anyone not on his team.

This segment is sort of short, and it’s really because the upside is pretty straightforward. He can dip and dangle a whole lot on the ice and his speed and hockey sense can keep up with each other at the WHL level extremely well. It’s really all about a fast-paced game when it comes to Basha, but when he doesn’t have the speed advantage over the other players, how will that pan out?

What’s not to like?

Where Basha does not excel and trying to project him into the NHL is much more interesting than anything else. Sure, he can go through players like they don’t exist because of his awareness on the ice and just being quicker than everyone, but we have seen that countless times over the years from a whole lot of prospects. They use the advantage they have over their peers in junior, but can they really make it all come together at the professional level? Essentially, will Basha become a Mitch Marner or a Nic Petan?

Because as Will Scouch mentioned in the video up above, Basha has been seen to be a little too fancy and try the flashier individual play than something a little bit simpler that won’t get the headlines or the built-in hype.

Basha will need to excel in some other areas of his offensive game that doesn’t require just being able to outmaneuver defenders and if that means being just a solid, middle-six winger who might score 20 goals once in the NHL, then so be it. His ceiling can be very high if he adapts, but if he doesn’t, then there is concern that he just won’t be able to crack a lineup if he wants to continue doing junior-hockey moves when everyone is just as fast.

How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?

Ultimately, as we have all been repeating ad nauseum, the Philadelphia Flyers need top-end talent and should take a couple swings. When it comes to Basha, there is certainly a path forward where he becomes a quasi-successor to someone like Travis Konecny. He is a high-energy winger who can add new areas to his game to really make him way more well-rounded. There is a world where Basha is an NHL’s team first-line left-winger and with his electrifying skill while potentially having a grounded game (if he develops it) it just feels like there is already a Philadelphia Flyer in there.

And while the Flyers definitely need more centers and defensemen, they are also kind of shallow on the left wing. In the NHL, Joel Farabee is really the team’s only natural left wing and in the prospect pool, that sole job is Denver Barkey’s. Beyond those two, there isn’t really high-end potential on the left side (unless you really love Alex Bump) so the Flyers could always use someone like Basha as a prospect.

Could the Flyers actually get him?

This is tricky and it really depends on how other teams view Basha as a prospect, and if they want to buy into the potential or make a larger swing. A team can easily fall in love with the 18-year-old from Calgary and not be there for when the Flyers take their second trip to the stage on June 28.

But, we know that the Flyers won’t be taking him with the 12th overall pick, so it really all depends how the following 19 selections pan out. One could easily see — especially if they go with a defenseman with their first pick — taking Basha at 31 or 32.

What scouts are saying

He’s a good but not great skater (his skating has come a long way in the last 2-3 years) who gets off the mark quickly and attacks in short bursts but isn’t a burner. And while he has excellent hands, he doesn’t hold onto the puck too long (a common problem for players with his skill set), instead using a two-touch shot or a quick handle into a deft pass back against the grain to make the majority of his plays on the puck. His patience then becomes a utility rather than a crutch, only going to it when he needs to and relying on quick reads the rest of the time. He’s also an extremely competitive player and kid who has a real willingness to forecheck, play through bumps and fight for positioning and possession, with skill and tenaciousness in the dirty areas. He also plays the game with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and can get under guys’ skin. He makes plays under sticks and through feet and into space, he thrives moving off the puck in and out of give-and-gos, and he has legitimate skill. Once the cream of the crop is gone in this draft, he’s right there in that next cluster for me in the late-first/second round. I’ve really liked watching him play.
Scott Wheeler, The Athletic

I go back and forth on Basha almost every month. In terms of raw, pure pace, skill, and quickness, Basha might be right up at the top of the class. The issues lie with the issues commonplace with undersized forwards. When he has space to play with or a lane to exploit, he’s magic. Some of the most impressive single sequences I have seen from any player this year have come from Basha. The rest of the time though, it’s easy to miss Basha for stretches. He isn’t much of a physical factor with or without the puck, and his offensive creation metrics trail many players in my first round in aggregate. That said, Basha is an electric player. He’s quick to accelerate, quick with his hands, and uses quick thinking to jump the puck into open space and pierce through defenses. When it works, it’s awesome, but Basha will need time to gain some physical resilience on the puck under heavy pressure and find ways to strip puck and get off the boards a bit better. There’s a ton of upside for a flashy creative complementary playmaker in a top six, but there likely isn’t a bottom six NHL player you fall back on if things don’t break right.
Will Scouch, scouching.ca

Andrew Basha is a lot of fun. Basha is first and foremost an offensive catalyst, leading to a successful season where he was third among WHL eligibles in points. Basha is an entry machine. He’s equal parts quick and agile with a burning top speed to blow by neutral zone checkers. This quickness, along with a tight puckhandle, allows him to slip through the offensive zone to avoid pressure and create lanes for himself. Basha’s tendency to constantly funnel to and arrive at the net also lets him make use of his swift, hard and accurate snapshot or to slap home rebounds and tap-ins.

Outside of his skating, Basha’s best attribute is his playmaking. No matter how fast he’s chugging along, Basha’s head is always up, maintaining his keen awareness for where his teammates are to make deceptive and timely slot passes. Especially with his speed, Basha has some checking upside, but at the moment he is not much of a defensive stalwart. His defensive game isn’t porous, and his checking game isn’t uninvolved, but Basha is clearly an offensively-focused player and will require a mentality shift to unlock defensive upside. Overall, Basha projects as a high-end top-nine transporter and playmaker, with a strong checking game to fall back on if the skill doesn’t carry him to his offensive upside.
Luke Sweeney, DobberProspects

Welcome to the poll…

Next on the list is probably the third-best player from over in Russia for this draft class, celebral winger Nikita Artamonov.

Artamonov has dropped significantly for me since January after watching him a few more times. I respect the heck out of the work rate and the smarts he brings to the table. He’s selfless, times passes well, has good vision, even under pressure along the boards, is one of the most involved transition players I’ve tracked this year in both directions for a forward, and driving good results there. Why the drop? Well, I love the kid, but there isn’t a ton of projectable consistent offense there that makes me think he’s anything more than a workhorse complimentary energy player down an NHL lineup. His shot selection leaned heavily in the wrong direction, he had low pass volumes, lower in threatening areas, very low rates of shot assists, even when factoring in how often Nizhny Novgorod was getting pummeled and wasn’t producing a ton of offense. Artamonov is a player where the whole time you think “this is pretty great” but that next “and then what happens” when it comes to offense just falls short far more often than it comes together. I still have him ranked above consensus it seems, and I think he’d be a great pickup if he’s a 2nd rounder, especially because I do believe there’s potential for more. As of right now, he’s a very admirable worker who drives efficient results in transition and some solid defensive numbers but lacks consistent offensive output that scouts may be looking for.
Will Scouch, scouching.ca

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Previously on the draft board:

BSH 2024 Community Draft Board, No. 22: Andrew Basha

Pre-draft rankings

Talking Points