The Philadelphia Flyers were open to lots of things ahead of the NHL Draft, but, ultimately, a bold New York Islanders trade offer wasn't enough to pull them away from selecting Porter Martone with the sixth overall pick.
The Islanders, who already drafted stud defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick, received the 16th and 17th overall picks from the Montreal Canadiens in the Noah Dobson trade, and those ultimately became winger Victor Eklund and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson.
Those two picks were reportedly offered to the Flyers, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, but it was a non-starter with Martone on the board.
"With the 16th and 17th picks, I think [Islanders GM Mathieu Darche] definitely offered them to the Predators at five," Friedman said in his latest episode of the "32 Thoughts" podcast.
"I think Philly told them... I think [the Islanders] called and said we'll do this, but Philly's like, nope. I don't even think Philly considered it. I think once Martone was there, Philly was like, 'We're not doing this,' because they really like Martone."
Friedman went on to explain that the Flyers, like the Predators and Utah Mammoth before them, were right to reject the Islanders' approaches based on the value of the picks.
The Islanders, presumably, were after new Boston Bruins center James Hagens at the draft, but dropping that far in the draft would have guaranteed that the Flyers lost out on Martone.
Aitcheson actually would have been a nice add for the Flyers given the start of their prospect pool on the left side of the defense, but Eklund is another small (but very talented, to be fair) winger who would have quickly become redundant in Philadelphia.
Plus, fans have been clamoring for size and skill.
They finally got it in Martone, as the Flyers refused to give into the temptation of trade offers or the allure of a center like Hagens.
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