Flyers mock draft 3.0: Could another Hextall be wearing Orange and Black soon?

The NHL scouting combine is all done. The pre-draft press conference has concluded, and in one week, the Flyers select the next generation of stars in the 2026 NHL draft.

Determining who they will pick is always a crapshoot, especially this season, as the Orange and Black will pick 21st in the first round. But since the Flyers will be making their picks in Atlantic City, let’s test our luck and roll the dice here in our third mock draft — which will only be two rounds as the Flyers traded away their third-rounder to Toronto on Tuesday.

In our first mock draft, published before the NHL scouting combine, this spot belonged to defenseman Tommy Bleyl. In our second, published post combine, it was center Alexander Command.

In all likelihood, Command will be long gone. Center Ilia Morozov, wingers Wyatt Cullen and Ethan Belchetz, and forward Maddox Dagenais, who, while he can play center — and the Flyers love picking centers in the first round — is projected to be a winger at the NHL level, and all sound like they will be drafted before the Flyers pick, too. Nikita Klepov is also someone who fans should keep an eye on as the Flyers brass travels to Florida to see the right winger and other Gold Star clients in their annual pre-draft camp.

» READ MORE: Flyers draft: Philly loves selecting centers. Is 17-year-old two-way pivot Ilia Morozov the next one to join the organization?

So, the question remains: why not go back to Bleyl, a dynamic offensive defenseman? Yes, the Flyers need help on the power play, and the New York State native is considered a top-tier quarterback; however, as general manager Danny Brière was quick to point out on Tuesday, “right now you might have some needs, but in four years, five years, that need might be different” — and the Flyers desperately need help on the man advantage today.

When asked about the small defensemen available, like the 5-foot-11 Bleyl, assistant general manager Brent Flahr said they need to be dynamic but then glossed over the position: “There are premier forwards at the top of the draft, a grouping of big-time defensemen and then it goes back to forwards.” The Flyers do like 6-7¼ defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii, but taking him at No. 21 feels like a reach more massive than Jett Luchanko in 2023.

So, reading between the lines, it all sounds like the Flyers are keying in on a forward.

With all that — if the Flyers do not trade the pick — let’s go with Jack Hextall, who, for the record, is a distant cousin of Ron Hextall, the former Flyers goalie and general manager. Jack told The Inquirer in Buffalo, N.Y., the two have never met.

This Hextall is a 6½-foot, 195-pound right-shot centerman who is projected to play a middle-six role. The fact he is a righty is intriguing, as Luchanko, Jacob Gaucher, and Cole Knuble, who is more of a winger but can play down the middle, are the only right-handed pivots in the entire organization.

The 18-year-old from Illinois is known for his big motor, a high hockey IQ and compete level, being relentless, and, according to his coach with Youngstown of the United States Hockey League, Ryan Ward, “His brain is off the charts.” All of things the Flyers focus on when drafting, as seen with someone like Denver Barkey.

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

Hextall finished with 58 points in 59 games for the Phantoms (apropos, no?) and had seven points for the winning USA Hockey squad at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

“His bread and butter is how well-rounded he is,” The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer. “The details off the puck, up and under sticks, retrievals, board battles, he’s got pro habits.

“If you talk to the guys in Youngstown, the first thing they say about him is that he’s a pro; this isn’t a junior hockey player, like a lot of these kids are. [He] does everything the right way, no selfishness to his game and he doesn’t cheat for offense.”

One more reason to keep an eye on him: he is heading to Michigan State in September.

Where defenseman Xavier Villeneuve ends up is truly all over the map. He could end up going in the first or second round. As one coach told The Inquirer recently, if a team falls in love with a player, they may try to take them earlier than expected.

The latest mock draft by Corey Pronman, the senior NHL prospects writer for The Athletic, has Villeneuve going to the Flyers in the second round with the 53rd overall pick. It matches the word on the street that his stock has dropped a bit as the 5-10¾, 164-pound blueliner needs to work on his defense and gain strength to accommodate his small stature; however, there is a massive upside to Villeneuve, especially offensively.

The 18-year-old has a good stick, can skate, and dropped 38 points in an injury-plagued season — he had 14 points in 17 playoff games — for Blainville-Boisbriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. He had 143 points in 152 regular-season games across three seasons in “The Q” and had eight points in seven games at last year’s Under-18 Championships for the gold-medal-winning Canadians.

“He’s very dynamic. His first three, four steps are really dynamic. He’s got a great vision,” Armada coach Alexandre Jacques told The Inquirer. “Offensively, he’s seeing things, and he’s able to create things that not too many players are able to do.

“At the offensive blue line, he is really, really, really deceptive, so he’s able to create something out of nothing with his edge [work]. Skating sideways is probably one of his greatest attributes, and he’s good at using [his edge work] to create shooting lanes or to create offensive situations.”

» READ MORE: Flyers draft: Jaxon Cover and Ryder Cali grew up playing roller hockey in the Cayman Islands. Now they will be drafted into the NHL.

Down the road, yes, the expectation is that Villeneuve could help the Flyers power play as the quarterback. And you’d have to think the scouting and player development staffs have been keeping tabs on the Laval, Quebec, native as he was teammates with defenseman Spencer Gill, who is turning pro, with the Armada.

Called an “exciting player to watch” by Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo, Villeneuve brings a hefty comparable in Lane Hutson and is following in his footsteps by joining the Terriers in September.

One other name to keep in mind is Jaxon Cover. Although he does need to work on his skating — something the Flyers do not shy away from — he does have fantastic hands and creativity. A Penn State commit who plays for London of the Ontario Hockey League — the ex-team of Barkey and Oliver Bonk — a lot of his skill set comes from his time on the roller hockey rink while growing up in the Cayman Islands and playing in tournaments across North America before switching to ice hockey when he went to boarding school in Ontario in 2020.

It feels similar to the path of Ty Murchison, a Californian who switched to ice from roller hockey when he was 11 — and neither could stop when they made the switch. Murchison, the Flyers’ fifth-rounder in 2021, made his debut last season and could crack the opening night lineup in the fall.