Revisiting the Flyers’ Heavily Criticized 2024 NHL Draft

Buium started his NHL career in the Wild’s first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. He’s been a full-timer this season and has 17 points in 39 games—not bad for a rookie defenseman.

However, the 20-year-old isn’t playing for the Wild anymore. He was arguably the most valuable piece in a trade that brought Quinn Hughes to Minnesota on Dec. 13, pushing them closer toward Stanley Cup contention.

So, what about the Flyers’ side? Luchanko was recently voted by his peers as the second-most NHL-ready player in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), showcasing his development. He has made Team Canada’s lineup for the WJC in both of his post-draft seasons, which is another positive. Finally, while he hasn’t recorded his first point, the 19-year-old center has already played in eight NHL contests.

There is, of course, another side to the story. Luchanko may have impressed Canada’s brass enough to play in back-to-back WJC tournaments, but he’s hardly getting any looks. A top pick in his draft-plus-two season should theoretically be the face of the team, yet he’s an afterthought usage-wise.

Luchanko’s production—and overall impact—in the OHL doesn’t suggest “future superstar,” either. Semi-optimistically, we’re probably looking at a middle-six center here, as opposed to Buium’s elite upside.

Obviously, it’s very early in these two players’ careers. But the team undoubtedly laughing to the bank is Minnesota. The Flyers’ decision helped bring one of the best defensemen in the sport (Hughes) to the State of Hockey.

Trading Back from Pick 32: Genius, or a Mistake?

Thanks to the Claude Giroux trade from March 19, 2022, the Orange and Black had another first-round pick in 2024. Though it was 32^nd overall due to the Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup, there were some great talents on the board.

Instead of making a choice, though, they traded the pick to the Edmonton Oilers. In exchange, they received Edmonton’s first-round pick in 2025, which ended up being 31^st overall (I mean, it’s technically an upgrade!).

At the time, I criticized the Flyers for passing on “great players like Igor Chernyshov, Nikita Artamonov, Cole Hutson, and Aron Kiviharju.” Again, it’s too early to tell definitively, but was the team right to trade back?

The player I was the highest on was Chernyshov (I never thought he’d make it to 32), and he’s been on fire recently. Selected 33^rd overall by the San Jose Sharks, the 20-year-old winger is a man on a mission. Through seven NHL games, he has three goals and five assists, following dominant stints in the OHL and American Hockey League (AHL).

One of hockey’s bigger stories right now is the growing chemistry between Chernyshov and phenom Macklin Celebrini. A seven-game stint is too brief to declare someone a star, but it does appear that the Flyers missed out.

The others haven’t played in the NHL yet, but one of them might not be far away. That’s Hutson, a defenseman who has been putting up Buium-esque numbers at both the college and international levels.

Artamonov, by my approximation, could be a useful top-nine forward. As for Kiviharju, another defenseman, I was a bit too bold on my ranking (he went in the fourth round), but he has NHL upside—Finland’s brass seems to really like him.

The point of this breakdown was to find players whom anyone could have had on their radar. Were the Flyers right to pass them up for an extra 2025 pick?

The 2025 NHL Draft was only a few months ago, so whether they were “right” will be clearer at a later date. But as it stands, things aren’t exactly trending well. Philadelphia traded its 22^nd and 31^st picks to move up to 12^th overall, where center Jack Nesbitt was chosen.

Personally, I graded Nesbitt as a second-round prospect, and I just can’t back down from that assessment. He wasn’t selected for Team Canada’s WJC team, and he has a modest 30 points in 27 games this season in the OHL despite a strong roster around him. There’s potential for more, but the Flyers likely expected a little more out of him.

All in all, the Flyers essentially passed up Buium, Chernyshov, and the 22^nd-overall pick in 2025 for Luchanko and Nesbitt. On paper, general manager Daniel Brière bombed it.

A Bold Day 2: Were the Flyers Ahead of the Game?

The Flyers had an equally bold Day 2. They went off the board in a few instances, so let’s look back.

At 51^st overall, Jack Berglund was the pick, despite The Hockey Writers‘ Peter Baracchini predicting “Berglund is probably not pushing anywhere near the first or even second round.” With Teddy Stiga still available, who I felt should have gone in the first round, they opted for the Swedish centerman.

However, Berglund has shown flashes, especially during international play. To me, he has top-nine center upside—a solid pick at the 51 spot. Stiga is proving to be a great prospect himself, but you could make the argument that the difference is marginal.

The Flyers’ last pick within the top 100 was at 59^th overall, where they chose defenseman Spencer Gill. Although he’s been hurt for almost all of the 2025–26 season, his potential is exciting. The tools are there to become an exceptional NHLer, even if that’s an optimistic projection.

Philadelphia made four other picks: Heikki Ruohonen (107^th), Noah Powell (148^th), Ilya Pautov (173^rd), and Austin Moline (205^th). Later selections rarely have a big impact in the NHL, but that said, this is a decent group.

The Flyers’ Day 2 seems to be aging better than expected, but overall, the critics are right as of now. Brière and the front office didn’t bring their best stuff, and it could cost the team dearly in the long term.