Nine players the Flyers could target with the 21st pick of the 2026 NHL draft

The first round of the 2026 NHL draft is just hours away, and the Flyers are scheduled to pick at No. 21.

Who will be there, before general manager Danny Brière’s turn to face the camera and announce the pick, is anyone’s guess. With the expectation that prospects like Wyatt Cullen, Ryan Lin, and Alexander Command — who really does scream Flyer more than anyone on this list — will be long gone, here are nine players (in alphabetical order) they could take in the first round.

With Lin expected to be gone, Bleyl is the next man up among defensemen under-6-feet tall. He has been labeled as the player not enough people are talking about by FloHockey’s NHL draft and prospects analyst Chris Peters on Flyers Gameday Central’s draft preview show. NHL.com’s Mike Morreale and USA Today have Bleyl as the pick at 21 for the Flyers.

Listed at 5-foot-11¼, 170 pounds, the 18-year-old just put up one of the best rookie seasons by a defenseman in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League history with 81 points in 63 regular-season games — breaking a record that stood for 48 years — led the “Q” in assists (68), was named the top defensive rookie, and finished third in playoff scoring (28 points).

A self-described two-way defenseman who has good feet, pretty good hockey IQ and is feisty, the New York native came from the same Mid Fairfield program as Trevor Zegras and is headed to a Flyers favorite, Michigan State, in 2027 alongside 2025 draft pick Matthew Gard, who committed on Thursday.

Flyers draft preview

• Flyers Q&A: Danny Brière on the NHL draft
• 15 options for the Flyers at No. 21
• Brent Flahr on the Flyers’ draft strategy at 21 and more
• Jaxon Cover and Ryder Cali: From the Cayman Islands to the NHL
• Is 17-year-old Ilia Morozov the Flyers' next center?
• Alexander Command feels in sync with Philly. Will he be there at 21?
• Jack Hextall brings way more than a famous last name
• Does Maddox Dagenais' Flyers connections make him a shoo-in at 21?
• Four defensemen to keep an eye on at No. 21

Why is Dagenais potentially the guy?

The Flyers like Canadians, with 13 of Brière’s draft picks coming from Canada. He is over 6-feet — officially 6-3¾ and 198 pounds — and the Flyers have drafted 17 out of 26 players under the GM at that line of demarcation.

He has pedigree, as his dad Pierre played in the NHL, and the Remparts forward, who can play center and wing — Brière has mentioned versatility being important — skated alongside Flyers prospect Nathan Quinn. And his GM in Québec is none other than Simon Gagné, so you know the Flyers have checked in on him.

Dagenais was No. 2 on the Remparts with 62 points (30 goals, 32 assists) in 62 regular-season games and tied for No. 1 in power-play points (25) with Quinn, the Flyers’ 2025 sixth-rounder. A lefty who played the right side, he’s a high-volume shot-taker, can win in the faceoff circle and loves to throw a reverse hit with Gagné saying it reminded him of his ex-Flyers teammate, Peter Forsberg.

A distant cousin of former Flyers goalie and GM Ron Hextall, this Hextall is a 6-0½ inch, 195-pound right-shot centerman who netted 58 points in 59 games for (ironically) the Phantoms last season and is off to Michigan State to play with Flyers prospect Shane Vansaghi in the fall.

The 18-year-old from Illinois is known for his big motor, high hockey IQ, attention to detail, being relentless and already has pro habits. All of that sounds like everything the Flyers typically look for and Philly has done their homework on Hextall, who was one of the best forwards for the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup winning Americans with seven points, including three in the championship game.

» READ MORE: Who will the Flyers draft? Will Danny Brière make a big trade? Is someone’s job at risk? Highlights from our Reddit AMA.

“Jack has always cared about the whole ice in all three zones. He prides himself on being a trustworthy go-to guy for his coaches,” Youngstown coach Ryan Ward said. “He wants to thrive in all situations, whether that be a shutdown defensive situation or being on the ice when we need to score a goal. So he’s a very mature player for his age.”

The 6-0, 190 pound left winger, who can play center, is coming off an impressive season where he won the Rookie of the Year award in the Western Hockey League after posting 97 points (42 goals, 55 assists) in 68 regular-season games. Hurlbert wore an “A” for the Blazers and said at the NHL scouting combine that he is an offensive-minded forward who can anticipate plays, has an accurate and deceptive shot, can freeze defenders, and is “dangerous” whether at five-on-five or on the power play.

“JP is a super offensive hockey player, and he’s really focused on scoring, and he’s good at it,” Nick Fohr, his coach at the U.S. National Team Development Program two seasons ago, told The Inquirer. “ … He’s a really good hockey player, and he’s driven to score. He loves to score, he loves to be around things offensively, and that’s really where he thrives, and where he’s at his best.”

A native of Texas, the 18-year-old thought he had a good meeting with the Flyers and is off to the University of Michigan with prospect Jack Nesbitt in the fall.

Born in Florida and raised in Russia, Klepov posted 97 points in 67 games, with 38 points on the power play and three short-handed goals for Saginaw this past season. Bound for Michigan State in the fall, he was named the Ontario Hockey League’s Rookie of the Year and was the first newbie to lead the league in scoring since future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane.

“You don’t lead the OHL in scoring by accident,” The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer of Klepov, who represents the U.S. internationally and will turn 18 on Saturday. “Extremely, extremely talented player with the puck. He’ll work, too; he’ll go and get it back. He’s average size, so average size wingers can often linger.

“ … And if you’re looking for a top six guy in the second half of the first round, there’s not going to be a lot of guys who you can say his projection is as a top six guy. Nikita is one of those guys with his playmaking. ”

TSN’s Todd Button, who has a pretty good knack for making picks, has the Flyers taking the 17-year-old Morozov in his latest mock draft.

Morozov, a two-way center 6-2¾, 205 pounds who is smart, competitive, and physical, just wrapped up his freshman year at Miami (Ohio) in which he started as the youngest player in men’s college hockey. Morozov, who won’t turn 18 until August, started off quickly but cooled off and finished with eight goals — three on the power play and one short-handed — and 20 points in 36 games, helping the school go from a three-win season to 18.

» READ MORE: Flyers draft: Tommy Bleyl, Ryan Lin, and Xavier Villeneuve are smaller defensemen. Will they get passed over by Philly?

“Thought there was a maturity there, certainly the size and strength, but we still feel like he’s really scratching the surface, even strength wise,” RedHawks coach Anthony Noreen told The Inquirer. “ … And I think, for me, that’s kind of what’s most exciting about him, this kid is just always taking a monumental leap every summer, and we really feel he’s going to continue to do that.”

Pro Hockey Group’s Jason Bukala has the Flyers picking Novotný at No. 21, citing his goal scoring abilities. At 6-1 and 200 pounds, the winger, who played the entire season in Peterborough, led his team in goals (34) and points (65), and finished second and tied for fourth in the OHL with 278 shots on goal and eight game-winners, respectively.

A standout at World Juniors, the power forward, who has speed and a strong work ethic, had three assists and a tournament-high 34 shots on goal in seven games for the silver-medal winning Czechia.

“Well-rounded. I think I am versatile, and I can play those different roles,” he said when asked to describe his game at the combine. “That’s maybe something that can help me in the future to make it to the NHL 100%. I think my speed is a weapon too. … And also one-on-one battles, I think I’m very strong in them.”

ESPN, NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, Wheeler, and Sportsnet’s draft guru Sam Cosentino all have Sokolovskii as the guy. In Western New York at the combine, the word going around was that the Flyers were very high on him but it does make one stop and pause slightly as the Flyers are known make unexpected picks, like Nesbitt or Jett Luchanko.

But there are several reasons why this makes sense, starting with the fact that he plays for London, the same team the Flyers drafted Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk. There’s the sheer size — 6-7¼, 240 pounds — that the Flyers also go for, having drafted fellow giants like the 6-5 Gard, Nesbitt, Carter Amico, and Luke Vlooswyk last year. Sokolovskii, who has a late birthday, is turning 18 in July.

And he’s a raw and a project — the Flyers staff loves projects — who needs to work on his puck play. But he does not need to work on his skating and that’s the key here. “When you’re huge, and you can skate, that’s often all that you need for NHL scouts to sort of perk up and start to pay attention,” Wheeler said in Buffalo.

» READ MORE: The NHL draft is next for the Flyers. Here’s what Danny Brière and Brent Flahr said about their strategy.

Despite turning 17 last Sept. 3 — quick reminder, players like Luchanko and Spencer Gill were later birthdays — Suvanto spent the majority of the past season skating for Tappara in Liiga, the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. He was a kid among men, skating in the middle-six, and notched two goals and 11 points in 48 games.

A 6-3, 213 pound two-way center, who draws comparisons to the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, the fellow Finn considers himself a “big guy who can battle, can win some battles, can protect the puck” and has “OK game-reading skills, [and] can predict place before that happens.” Suvanto, who was Elite Prospect’s Cam Robinson’s pick for the Flyers in his final mock draft, does want to work on his offensive game and be a bigger threat in the offensive zone.

Suvanto played with Flyers prospects Heikki Ruohonen and Max Westergård at World Juniors, where he played on a defensive-minded line. And the drum-playing, lefty-shooting center who hails from the same hometown as Rasmus Ristolainen, knows a thing or two about Philly: “Obviously, Rocky is from that city,” he said at the combine. “ … Big rivalry with the Penguins. … They got Trevor Zegras, good talented player, a lot of young great players so I think they’ve got good future ahead of them.”