June 24, 2025
Joe Camporeale/Imagn Images
Last summer's NHL Draft stage inside The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The Flyers took a swing after a potential top-six center when they traded for Trevor Zegras on Monday.
They're likely to land on another high-end center prospect with the No. 6 overall pick in the NHL Draft this week, too, but it can be argued that they'll still need way more up the middle or just up front in general.
The 22nd overall pick, courtesy of Colorado, can help with that.
Last week was a look at five defensemen the Flyers could take with the No. 22 pick. Now here are a few centers and wingers who might be available to them with that slot in the order...
Cootes is a downhill skater who can beat a defense cutting in around the corner or even from making a move straight through it. He has a respectable shot, but his real offensive strength is as a playmaker, which especially shines on the power play and, of course, is an area where the Flyers need all the help they can get.
Cootes scored 26 goals and 37 assists as Seattle's captain this past season, and also put up six goals and six assists while captaining Canada at the U18 Worlds.
Listed at 6'0" and 186 pounds, the 18-year-old is the 20th-ranked North American skater of the draft class by NHL Central Scouting.
A powerful winger with a booming shot, Spence is a skater who gets after the puck and is tough to get it from once he has it.
The 18-year-old racked up 32 goals and 41 assists at a plus-10 rating for Erie this past season, and did so as one of the draft class' clear – and pretty dominant – power forwards.
Spence is the 17th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and is listed at 6'1" and 190 pounds. The weight for a prospect of his frame may seem low at face value, but keep in mind that injury did cause him to drop a bit during the season, when he would have otherwise skated at 200 and up.
Spence is committed to Michigan in the NCAA for the 2025-26 season, so if selected, he would at minimum play a freshman year in college first.
Silky hands, crisp passing, and a dangerous shot he can fire away with at any time, Kindel is an opposing goalie's nightmare and projects to be another good pickup as a center prospect in this year's draft.
His size at 5'10" and 180 pounds is a knock against his stock a bit, though, and his skating doesn't quite jump off the page either.
Still, the 18-year-old carries some good hockey sense and high compete all across the ice.
Kindel put up 99 points (35 goals, 64 assists) through 65 games for the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL this past season, and ranks out as the No. 21 North American skater per NHL Central Scouting.
Potter is another undersized center prospect at a listed 5'10" and 172 pounds, but as a January 2007 born entrant, he was a very young freshman at Arizona State this past season who could fly up the ice.
Potter recorded 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 35 games for Year 1 with the Sun Devils, and was also just shy of a point-per-game pace for Team USA at the U18 Worlds (eight points in nine games).
He's the 22nd-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, and should grow into his frame along with rounding out the fast style of pace that he plays with over the next few years.
An excellent passer with a clean view of the ice, Reschny is also in the pool of mid-late round playmaking centers.
Reschny produced 92 points for Victoria this past junior season, and 66 of those were assists while skating at an absurd plus-42 rating. He showed up in the playoffs, too, with 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) through 11 postseason contests.
Like Kindel and Potter, Reschny's size is a bit of a detractor at 5'11" and 180 pounds, but the 18-year-old is headed to the University of North Dakota to play in the NCAA next season, which should force him to get stronger and faster.
Reschny is the 25th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
A big presence, both in play and, well, quite literally.
At 6'6" and 219 pounds, the 18-year-old Prokhorov is very aware of his size, never hesitating to use it to throw out a big hit.
He's not simply a bruiser, though. This kid can play.
Prokhorov scored 20 goals in 43 Russian junior games this past season, consistently crashing the net and using his frame to knock defenders away from the puck, but also flashing some promising skill while he has it, too.
He'd be a longer-term swing, but with three first-round picks to use, you could argue the Flyers can afford to take it.
Remember, too, that the Flyers won't shy away from Russian prospects. They took the bet on Matvei Michkov two summers ago and got him way ahead of schedule, Yegor Zavragin is forming into a top goalie prospect, and maybe there's something to those Maxim Shabanov rumors that have been going around lately.
Prokhorov is the 18th-ranked international skater by NHL Central Scouting approaching the draft.
*H/T to NHL Draft Pros on YouTube, who, as always, crushes it with the film breakdowns during draft season.
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