Flyers Should Follow Rangers Example with Draft Picks

In light of the recent news that general manager Paul Holmgren was content giving up two draft picks for New Jersey Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner, I thought it would be worth looking at how Atlantic Division rivals the New York Rangers have fared with their youngsters compared to the Flyers. Here’s a heads up- it’s a bit depressing.

It’s no secret that the Adirondack Phantoms are abysmal. Tim McManus of the Post Star remarked recently that a modest goal at this point of their season would be to just try to end above 0.500. The Flyers organization thought that an influx of youngsters, both drafted and otherwise, would reinvigorate their farm system at the beginning of the season.

The problem is that few of these youngsters have ever really achieved success at the junior level. They are all (for the most part) starting at the beginner level of the AHL. To develop into future NHL stars, they will need good coaching, veteran leadership, and at least a few teammates their age who can teach them how to be successful.

As a result, our best forward Phantom prospect is arguably Eric Wellwood, simply because he played in three games this season and didn’t “suck.” The rest look like they will either never make it to the NHL or will do fine as temporary replacements or fourth-liners. Prospect Brendan Ranford, selected 209th of 210 by the Flyers this past year, is likely the best hope we have of another top six forward in the making.

The Rangers, meanwhile, have had a staggering amount of injuries this season and yet remain right in the playoff hunt. When Marion Gaborik, Vaclav Prospal, captain Chris Drury and others were scratches, the Rangers called on as many as SIX rookies to fill the gap- Derek Stepan, Dale Weise, Ryan Mcdonagh, Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, Evgeny Grachev, and Michael Sauer. While not flawless in their rookie seasons, many of these kids will serve as future quality players in the top 9 forward positions or top defensive pairs.

Of those mentioned above, Stepan was captain of the 2009 Canadian World Junior Championship team. Fellow Rangers prospect Chris Kreider fought against him with Team USA, who beat Canada 6-5 in a huge upset.  Kreider also scored two goals this year in the 4-2 win against Sweden in the bronze medal match.

The sole Flyers prospect in the whole tournament was Swedish defenseman Simon Bertilsson, who saw limited ice time due to the fact that he is always injured.

Zuccarello competed with Finland in the 2010 Olympics. I hear that’s a pretty big tournament.

There’s something to be said for the fact that the Flyers have consistently held the approach of building teams through free agency and have made it to the playoffs 15 out of the last 16 years. As frustrating as Holmgren can be, Flyers fans have never been so frustrated as to hold “Fire the GM” rallies the way that Rangers fans have against Glen Sather.

It would just be nice to know that we have our own youth movement that we could rely on instead of giving away draft picks in an attempt to claim “that missing piece” is a 35 year-old on the decline.

Sometimes I imagine that if the NHL Board of Governors meetings were held at strip clubs, Holmgren would “make it rain” draft picks. It’s a depressing thought, but probably not that far from the truth.