As long as the pre-draft process goes as planned, the Flyers will likely select either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier with the second pick of the 2017 NHL Draft. Both centers, either player should help address a major need for the Orange and Black moving forward.
Of the two, Patrick, a 6’3”, 198-pound forward who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings, has some history with current Flyers. Specifically, he played with arguably the most important Flyer moving forward: defenseman Ivan Provorov.
Patrick shared the ice with Provorov in Brandon for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, winning the WHL and advancing to the Memorial Cup (Canadian junior hockey’s Final Four). And in an interview with Sirius XM, Patrick mentioned that Provorov shot him a text after the Flyers had their lottery luck.
“I’ve thought about it a bit,” Patrick said of where he’ll end up. “I’ve got buddies, John Quenneville, who’s with Jersey, played some games there, and obviously Ivan Provorov in Philly. So, they sent me a text after they saw the lottery there and said it would be fun to get back together.”
Quenneville also played for those Brandon Wheat Kings teams.
Patrick battled injuries throughout his career, but he’ll fit right in here in Philly he now says that he is 100 percent healthy. Patrick underwent sports hernia surgery last July and upper-body injuries limited him to 33 games in 2016-17.
“I’m 100 percent healthy now,” Patrick said. “I think for me, not many people really know what happened with my injury and stuff like that. So, for me it was kind of just staying positive and getting through it.
“I’m confident I can play a full season without getting injured. I did it last year and played 110 games or something like that. And so I’m confident in my abilities.”
In 163 games for the Wheat Kings (who once had a goaltender named Ron Hextall), Patrick had 205 points (92 goals, 113 assists) in 163 career games.
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