Daily News | Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher backs up his words with actions at the NHL draft
MONTREAL — With their final pick of the 2022 NHL draft, the Flyers veered from the theme of their selections.
Most of the Flyers’ moves in the past year have addressed management’s aspirations to make the team “harder to play against” as well as the need to get bigger and stronger. They signed Rasmus Ristolainen, the 6-4, 220-pound defenseman who leads the team in hits, to a five-year contract extension. They hired John Tortorella, a coach known for his toughness in the locker room and on the ice. And they went big with their first pick of the draft — and then the four picks that followed..
The Flyers also didn’t set out to draft players heading to college, but they ended up with four of them. Flahr isn’t upset about that result, either. Rather than go for the best, more consistent players now, the Flyers went for the players with the chance to become better later. Gauthier did not start out as an elite prospect, but he raised his stock rapidly as the draft drew closer. There were still players with better numbers than Gauthier left at five, but the Flyers see a greater chance for Gauthier to become a game changer.