The Philadelphia Flyers stocked up heavily for the 2025 NHL Draft. In addition to picking sixth overall, they’ll have two other selections in the first round (location to be determined) and four in the second (officially 36th, 40th, 45th, and 48th). The first-round choices, courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers, won’t have a set position until the latter is eliminated from the postseason or wins the Stanley Cup. However, each second-round pick is locked in—the Orange and Black will have seven top-50 draft picks at their disposal.
Related: THW’s 2025 NHL Draft Guide
In my premiere Flyers mock draft, you may notice two traits prevalent in almost all of the players taken—skill and compete. By their own admission, talent is a need for the organization, and there have been instances of the team playing “soft.” Keep those ideas in mind as we tackle seven picks, some of which may or may not be traded away.
Mocking NHL Draft Picks 1-5
To have an idea of whom the Flyers might take at No. 6, we’ll have to outline the opening five selections of the class. Take a look at how that might shake out below.
- New York Islanders select: Matthew Schaefer
- San Jose Sharks select: Michael Misa
- Chicago Blackhawks select: Anton Frondell
- Utah Mammoth select: Caleb Desnoyers
- Nashville Predators select: James Hagens
This is somewhat of a doomsday scenario for a center-needy Flyers team. With four of them already off the board, they have a choice: pivot to the superstar-upside winger, or take what’s left of the talent down the middle. Here, I have them doing the former.
6. Porter Martone, RW, Brampton Steelheads (OHL)
Instead of taking their position of need, the Flyers take the best player available. No, Porter Martone is not a center. However, he’s a big power forward with some of the most skill in the class. Philadelphia would be hard-pressed to pass on his combination of size and talent, two traits that have largely eluded them during their rebuild.
Martone’s 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists) led a very strong Brampton Steelheads team. Despite being in his draft year and missing 11 games, he finished the season tied for seventh in Ontario Hockey League (OHL) point-scoring.
One of the reasons Martone was able to excel was due to his superior playmaking ability—it’s one of the best in this class. His vision and puck control are strengths, and he has great hands, too. Though he’s more of a distributor, Martone has a cannon of a shot at his disposal. He’s not the best skater, and his transition game is so-so, but his offensive skill set is dynamic.
This is something the Flyers need more of—skilled players. Martone’s talent is what makes him a consideration for the Orange and Black, even though right-wingers are far from a position of need. But what could put him over the top at this spot is his power game.
At 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds, Martone would add much-needed size to the Flyers’ top six. Better yet, it’s not just for show. While I don’t think he was a dominating physical presence regarding puck battles in his 2024–25 campaign, he showed some serious upside in that department. He’s a player who can out-muscle his foes along the boards and set up brilliant scoring chances as a result.
If the Flyers want a hard worker with an endless set of tools, Martone is their guy. He’s not a finished project, but the potential is very exciting.
Colorado’s First-Round Pick: Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
If Edmonton reaches the Western Conference Final in these playoffs, the Flyers’ next first-round pick will be from Colorado. Assuming Braeden Cootes is still on the board at this spot, there’s reason to believe that the team would be glad to take him. There are a few intriguing centermen around this range, but the Seattle Thunderbirds’ youngster has traits that could go a long way in Philadelphia.
Related: Red Wings Mock Draft 1.0: Detroit Picks 13th
Cootes’ numbers don’t exactly jump off the page for a potential first-round forward out of the Western Hockey League (WHL), with 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points in 60 games. However, he led a low-scoring Thunderbirds offense in points. Furthermore, in the under-18 World Junior Championship (U18 WJC), his 12 points ranked first on a Canadian team that captured a gold medal.
While the production is more eye-opening when you take a closer look, that wouldn’t be the main reason the Flyers like him. Rather, it’s the traits he possesses that helped him achieve those numbers. For starters, he gets involved in the forecheck, retrieving pucks and battling along the walls. At 6-feet and 183 pounds, Cootes isn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he throws his weight around when necessary.
Additionally, one of Cootes’ strengths is his play in transition. He’s a solid play-driver in this way, getting rushes started and being an elite creator of space. For a late first-round pick, this would be an excellent choice—he blends skill with compete, projecting as a middle-six center at the NHL level.
Trade: Edmonton First-Round Pick, Philadelphia Second-Round Pick for Marco Rossi
Rumors have been flying around the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi for some time now. Those talks got sparked again following the team’s first-round exit to the Vegas Golden Knights, where the 23-year-old center was demoted to fourth-line minutes for the entire series. This was despite a promising regular season in which he accumulated 24 goals and 36 assists for a career-high 60 points in 82 games.
Related: 3 Restricted Free Agents Flyers Should Offer Sheet in 2025 Offseason
Though Rossi himself didn’t badmouth the team for gashing his ice time, it seems like the writing’s on the wall. A restricted free agent this summer, the 2025 NHL Draft is a likely time for him to get dealt, if at all. With an abundance of draft capital, the Flyers can accommodate a Wild club without a top-50 pick in this class. In this case, Minnesota gets two of them: a first-round pick via the Oilers and the Flyers’ own 36th-overall selection.
Perhaps the Wild are bigger fans of an NHL-ready player, but a first- and second-round pick is still a decent haul. As for the Flyers, Rossi’s 5-foot-9 stature does nothing to improve their grit, but his skill and smarts could be invaluable. While his size and the possibility of a long-term contract make Rossi a risky buy, nobody’s ever won playing safe.
Proposing a trade is always going to be semi-outlandish territory, but there’s reason to believe the young Minnesota center is on the Flyers’ radar. With an excess of draft picks, they can reasonably outbid Rossi’s other suitors.
40. Kurban Limatov, LD, MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)
The set of tools Kurban Limatov possesses is pretty fascinating. He’s extremely mobile, can lay the body, and has a large 6-foot-3, 198-pound frame. He most accurately fits the description of a two-way player, but there’s some development to be had at both ends of the ice. With the Orange and Black drafting out of Russia back-to-back since Daniel Brière became the general manager, going 3-for-3 on a raw but high-potential defender like Limatov would be welcomed.
Limatov recorded eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in a 46-game campaign for MHK Dynamo Moscow, which was above average but far from an outlier for MHL defenders. Though the production wasn’t exactly terrific, he’s got end-to-end skating ability and can seriously dance in the offensive zone. Interestingly, THW’s Russian expert Alessandro Seren Rosso sees more upside in Limatov’s defensive game at the next level, as noted in the prospect profile linked in this section’s opening sentence.
That’s not such a crazy idea, all things considered. His tools could be more useful in a shutdown role, defending the rush using his skating and long stick, while using his strength to fend off opposing attackers in the defensive zone. He’s still a bit raw in this area, as he can be a bit too aggressive at times, but the tools are there.
The Flyers helped veteran defenders Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen find their shutdown game within the last couple of seasons alone. It’s possible that Philadelphia would be an ideal destination for Limatov to reach his ceiling.
45. Pyotr Andreyanov, G, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (MHL)
Even though the Flyers’ 19-year-old goaltending prospect Egor Zavragin had a stellar campaign in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) this season, it’s never a bad idea to get another body between the pipes. Here, the Orange and Black select NHL Central Scouting’s top international netminder, Pyotr Andreyanov.
Related: Flyers 2024-25 Post-WJC Prospect Ranking: Top 15
The 6-foot-2, 207-pound Andreyanov put up incredible numbers in Russian juniors. Across 37 games, he had a 1.75 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage, along with a 23–6–6 record. We know the Flyers have at least had their eyes on him, as he’s teammates with Ilya Pautov, who Philadelphia selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
What makes Andreyanov special is his athleticism, much like Zavragin. The 18-year-old is as agile as they come, but he’s still learning how to be less sporadic in the crease. He’s also a good puck-tracker.
Up next for Andreyanov will be a taste of professional action in Russia. If he can excel against men in the VHL (Russia’s second-tier pro league) and the KHL, he may be the real deal. However, we won’t know how he handles more challenging competition until 2025–26 and beyond. Considering Aleksei Kolosov’s uncertain status with the team moving forward, the Flyers may explore the boom-or-bust goalie position in the 2025 NHL Draft.
48. Theo Stockselius, C, Djurgårdens IF J20 (Nationell)
Lastly, Theo Stockselius is a continuation of the “skill and compete” theme I outlined. He’s got encouraging size at 6-foot-3 and 183 pounds, and put up impressive point totals in Sweden’s top junior league. The 17-year-old engages in puck battles, has good vision, and exhibits two-way upside.
As Flyers fans saw with Oskar Lindblom, a cancer diagnosis can be a devastating setback for a player, even if they “beat” the awful disease. That’s what Stockselius had to endure at the age of 14. His story is a must-read.
While he didn’t have standout numbers at the U18 WJC, with five points in seven games, Stockselius recorded 22 goals and 29 assists for 51 points in 40 regular-season contests in J20 Nationell. In the playoffs, he had eight goals and as many assists in just nine games. Djurgårdens IF’s roster was stacked with talent in 2024–25, including draft-eligible forwards Eric Nilson and Arvid Drott, but Stockselius outscored both of them (38 and 36 regular-season points, respectively).
Stockselius has more to unlock defensively, but his offensive game is strong. He’s more of a playmaker, but scored on over 20% of his shots in both the regular season and the playoffs. While that could be argued as more of a luck-based outcome, he shot at over a 20% clip at the U18 level, too. Putting it all together is his competitiveness, where he gets involved in the forecheck. As THW’s Peter Baracchini noted in his prospect profile of the young Swede, some added strength could go a long way. He’d be a great pick for the Flyers.
Flyers’ Long-Term Depth Chart
That was a lot. To give a better idea of what the Flyers’ roster would look like in the event these moves did take place, below is an outline of their potential long-term forward corps after this two-round mock draft.
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Matvei Michkov | Marco Rossi | Porter Martone |
| Tyson Foerster | Jett Luchanko | Travis Konecny |
| Alex Bump | Braeden Cootes | Owen Tippett |
| Denver Barkey | Theo Stockselius | Bobby Brink |
Names like Sean Couturier, Noah Cates, Jakob Pelletier, and others are omitted, but that’s what the team would more or less be rolling with. The likeliest player to make the immediate jump is Martone, though he’s probably best suited to develop for another season.
Next up is the defense. Almost nothing changed here, but nonetheless, I put that group in a table, as well.
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Travis Sanheim | Jamie Drysdale |
| Cam York | Spencer Gill |
| Emil Andrae | Oliver Bonk |
| Kurban Limatov | Ethan Samson |
The defense seems to be more of a long-term project. There are some solid names in there, but the team still lacks a franchise player on the back end.
Finally, the goaltenders. Kolosov’s future is a bit murky, as noted, but he’s included anyway.
| Goaltenders |
| Egor Zavragin |
| Aleksei Kolosov |
| Carson Bjarnason |
| Pyotr Andreyanov |
The Flyers’ 2025 NHL Draft, which will take place from June 27–28, is one to look out for. Possessing seven of the first 50 selections, everything’s poised to come up orange one way or another. Whether there’s a big trade or the team uses all of their picks, it’ll be a two-day event to circle on the calendar.
