The final day of round-robin play at the 2025 IIHF World Championships features a marquee game in Group A. The Flyers have some more clarity on their 2025 Draft picks but one draft spot remains undetermined. Meanwhile, the Flyers Alumni Association’s free meet-and-greet event is tonight in Conshohocken. Here are your Flyers’ quick hits for May 20, 2025.
World Championships: Sweden vs. Canada
Tournament co-host Team Sweden (6-0-0) takes on Team Canada (5-0-1) on Tuesday in the final day of preliminary round group play at the World Championships. Canada sustained a 2-1 (2-1) loss to Finland via shootout on Monday. Ryan O’Reilly netted Canada’s lone goal, a shorthanded tally, late in the second period. However, Patrik Puistola knotted the score in third period.
During the skills competition, Puistola opened the scoring for Finland. Kent Johnson responded for Canada. Eeli Tolvanen converted the winning attempt in the third round of the five-round shootout. Juuse Saros got the win in goal for the Finns. Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Fleury absorbed the hard-luck loss.
Travis Konecny has posted nine points in six games (3g, 6a). Tyson Foerster has one goal and one assist in four games to date. Additionally, Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim has chipped in one assist and a plus-five rating to date.
Team Sweden was idle on Monday. Samuel Ersson (3-0-0, 0.67 GAA, .961 save percentage, two shutouts) is expected to dress as the backup goaltender against Canada. Jacob Markstrom is expected to start.
2025 Draft: More Clarity on Flyers’ Draft Spots
Slowly but surely, the Flyers’ selection spots in the 2025 NHL Draft are coming into focus. The Flyers benefited from the President’s Trophy winning Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs getting knocked out in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their ousters in the Conference semifinals pushed up the Colorado Avalanche first-round selection the Flyers acquired last year in the Sean Walker trade.
The Flyers now hold the following picks in the first and second rounds of this year’s Draft:
1st round
6th overall: Flyers own 1st round pick after dropping two spots in the lottery
22nd overall: from Colorado
30th to 32nd overall (TBD): Edmonton’s selection acquired for Florida’s 2024 first-rounder last year
2nd round
36th overall: Flyers own 2nd round pick
40th overall: from Edmonton
45th overall: from Columbus
48th overall: from Calgary
It seems unlikely that the Flyers will use all seven of their picks within the top 50. Those assets can be used in trade for a roster player, to move up to select a targeted player or dealt to spread out more assets in future Drafts. In the weeks to come, we will have player profiles and mock drafts.
Jess Rubenstein already laid out a top-17 mock Draft: Part 1 (picks 1 to 5), Part 2 (picks 6 to 10), Part 3 (picks 11 to 17). Jess will continue to lay out a first-round mock as the selection order continues to take shape. Additionally, Russ Cohen of Sportsology and Off the Post will share his own mock with us via content share. Lastly, I will link to my own annual “Meltzer’s Mock Draft” on the PhiladelphiaFlyers.com website.
Update: Flyers Alumni Meet-and-Greet in Conshy
The following Flyers Alumni will attend tonight’s meet-and-greet event at the Great American Pub in Coshohocken (6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT): Paul Holmgren, Brad Marsh, Doug Crossman, Bob “The Hound” Kelly, Jim & Joe Watson. Team Foster will bring the lab puppy future service dog puppy around 7 o’clock.
Reminder: This event has no cover charge. Autographs and photos are also free. The event helps promote the Walk/Run/Ride in Conshohocken (June 22, 2025), celebrates the 51st anniversary of the Flyers’ first Stanley Cup parade, and is also an opportunity to publicly announced the winning name from the Flyers’ fan online poll to name the puppy.
Prospect Pipeline: Phantoms Wrapup
Last Wednesday, Brian Smith and I recorded a Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2025 playoffs wrapup edition of Prospect Pipeline. The Rick Tocchet news broke almost exactly one hour after we finished recording. Consequently, the podcast release was rolled back until yesterday. The 25-minute pod is available below.
Should the Flyers trade up from 6th into the top 3? If so, who would you want to draft?
Hagens