June 22, 2026
Thomas Lovelock/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Markus Ruck (Canada, No. 10) is a playmaking center who scored a ton of points with his brother, Liam, in Medicine Hat this past junior season.
The NHL Draft begins this Friday, after weeks of prep, analysis, and speculation for all 32 teams.
The Flyers, thanks to their playoff breakthrough, hold the 21st overall pick, and even though that makes it harder to uncover potential star-level talent, general manager Danny Brière still hopes the organization will be able to strike gold as they continue to try to add to their prospect pipeline.
But, again, picking that far down on the board makes it tough, especially when there are 20 other selections ahead that can drastically dictate who might be left by the time the Flyers actually are on the clock.
The past several weeks have brought on looks at waves of prospects that the Flyers could be interested in with the 21st pick – see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Here's a look at six more before Friday to round out the list...
Liam Ruck is a pure goal-scoring winger who has a good sense for slipping into open ice and then firing away with a quick and accurate shot the second the puck reaches his stick.
The 18-year-old scored 45 goals and 104 points for Medicine Hat this past season, and did it by constantly hovering around the net with a readiness to shoot from anywhere, sometimes without even making a handle to settle the puck.
But he had the shot to get away with that, which often caught goalies on their heels.
Ruck doesn't just sit and wait for the puck to come to him at the net front, though.
He cycles around and keeps his feet chopping, he reads the play, and he tries to get into an open spot with a lane to pass it through.
Ruck can get down the wall on an offensive rush, too, and will battle in the corners after a puck, even if he isn't always going to win the strength battle – at a listed 6'0" and 174 pounds.
He's an involved player – he makes it impossible to ignore the No. 12 in Medicine Hat orange moving everywhere in front of the net – and he's a player looking to score and finish plays.
Ruck's highlights, via HSD Prospects on YouTube:
But there is a bit of a slight catch: Liam's twin brother Markus, who will also be in the 2026 draft, is his regular center, and the thought is out there that if a team drafts one, they might have to draft the other.
Granted, Markus Ruck, Liam's twin, wouldn't be a bad prospect to pick up either, especially at center, which is still an ongoing area of need for the Flyers.
Where Liam is the scorer, Markus is the playmaker, driving the puck down the middle of the ice and controlling it in the offensive zone with passing that always puts the puck where it needs to be.
Markus can definitely put the puck in the back of the net himself, too. He scored 21 goals this past junior season, but with 87 assists for 108 points total through 68 games, that kind of line makes it clear that he excels far more at moving the puck around – with the benefit of a lifelong chemistry developed alongside his brother.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin are who immediately come to mind when thinking of the Ruck twins, albeit not to that level of stardom that the Sedins were when they were drafted back-to-back by Vancouver in 1999 and then throughout their careers.
But if getting one Ruck warrants drafting the other, a deal could be made to potentially swing both in the 20s. Or a team like the Flyers can roll the dice on a still pretty sound gamble that either prospect will still manage to be good on his own.
Markus's highlights, via HSD Prospects:
Nordmark is a projected late first-rounder, but his tape points to him maybe having much higher of a ceiling than most realized until late in the draft process.
The 18-year-old winger scored 14 goals and 38 points through 25 games this past season for Djurgårdens in Swedish juniors, then went on a 6-goal and 23-point tear through an 11-game playoff run.
Nordmark uses his 6'2" frame to his advantage in shielding the puck from oncoming checkers, yet has the handling to keep the puck in close to his body, with the heads-up vision to thread a silky pass to an open man across the ice.
He can step into a shot when he has one, too, but his ability to move and control the puck are his biggest selling points approaching this Friday.
Looking at the Flyers' roster and pipeline construction now, the organization has developed a preference toward stronger two-way forwards who can maybe surprise you with their offensive prowess, mostly in the mold of Tyson Foerster.
Nordmark fits into that mold at the ground floor, and much like Foerster, he could end up a skater who starts putting up some more appealing offensive stats, so long as he keeps handling and passing the puck like he's been.
Nordmark's hlighlights, via Prospect Shifts:
Hermansson turned 18 in February, but by then, he was already playing in Sweden's second-tier of pro hockey (Allsvenskan) and on the way to an 11-goal, 21-point rookie campaign through 38 games.
Hermansson brings decent size for a winger at 6'1" and 183 pounds, but he's a riskier play for a scoring find late in the first round, where his means of producing often come from sitting at sharper angles parallel to the goal line and further out from the actual play.
Hermansson's highlights, via Prospect Shifts:
A Czech prospect who jumped over to Canadian juniors with Peterborough for this past season, Novotny is a strong two-way wing at 6'1" and 205 pounds, with a pretty impressive shot firing away from the left side.
The 18-year-old scored 34 goals and 65 points through 58 OHL games, and when he takes the puck in with space, he's going to pick his spot and zip the puck straight past the goalie.
Novonty's highlights, via FloHockey:
A speedster and one of the younger prospects in the draft class (he won't turn 18 until July 21), Preston can fly down the ice with the hands and the vision to match to make plays happen.
Preston is a bit of an undersized winger at 5'11" and 176 pounds, but he makes up for it with his quick skating and even quicker moves to create an opening, which makes it look like he's always a step or two ahead of his opponent, or at the least, can blaze right by them.
Between Spokane and then Vancouver, where he was traded to back in January, Preston racked up 18 goals and 44 points through 46 junior games at a minus-9 rating.
The numbers themselves don't particularly impress, but the toolkit, headlined by Preston's excellent skating, is the big sell on him, which could stand to really flourish into more outright production in his plus-one year.
The Flyers really prioritized size with last year's draft, but maybe they can afford to take a bet on some speed, especially since the whole league just saw Carolina win the Stanley Cup with it.
Preston's highlights, via Prospect Shifts:
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