The Philadelphia Flyers have three first-round picks at the 2025 NHL Draft. Now, should they aim to get a defenseman with that middle selection?
Mar 29, 2025; Toledo, OH, USA; Boston University defenseman Sascha Boumedienne (78) skates with the puck in the second period against the Cornell at Huntington Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
On our recent Consensus Top 32 ranking podcast as we approach the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, we discussed one of the most intriguing parts of this draft – how the 20s and 30s of this draft are going to play out.
There’s a ton of quality forwards that begin to blend together in both our evaluations and the larger public scouting world. There’s the bevy of Swedish forwards in the 20th-32nd overall range (Gästrin, Ihs-Wozniak, Hillström, Nilson), a swath of similar USNTDP forwards (Horcoff, Murtagh, Moore, McKinney), and a few others who are in this area of the draft. But, there’s not a ton of defensemen in this range, as after the pair of Sascha Boumedienne and Blake Fiddler, a massive drop off occurs until the middle of the second round.
Logically, there’s a severe lack of defenseman supply in this draft, and probably quite a few teams looking to draft a defenseman in this range. In the recent mock draft from The Athletic, only nine defensemen were picked in the top 32, including one defenseman (Henry Brzustewicz at No. 28) that feels like a first-round reach. Who knows if that’s actually going to be the distribution of defensemen and forwards on draft day, but there’s no question that there is a real discrepancy here.
With that being said, if the Flyers are to make all three of their first round picks on June 27, we really should not be surprised to see a defenseman’s name at No. 22. There’s not a huge drop-off in forwards between No. 22 and No. 31/32, but there’s a theoretically large gap between defensemen tiers. In addition, with four second rounders, the Flyers will have plenty of chances to take similarly skilled forwards with picks in the 30s and 40s. Of course, if there’s a forward the Flyers would be dying to get their hands on at 22, they should take the best player available. But, there’s certainly a strong case to be made that the No. 22 pick should be a defenseman, if we consider the short supply of higher-tier defensemen in this class.
So let’s dive into the potential candidates at No. 22, and what a selection of each could mean for the Flyers’ overall drafting philosophy.
Unlikely, but still a chance
Logan Hensler, University of Wisconsin
Hensler is probably the fourth defenseman taken in this draft, although there are some massive fans of Cameron Reid and Kashawn Aitcheson. Radim Mrtka, the hulking Czech defenseman of the Seattle Thunderbirds, seems like a lock to be No. 2 off the board on defense, while Jackson Smith seems to have the inside track on being the third. Hensler, though, seems like a pretty safe selection who plays a translatable pro game already in college. Since he went to Wisconsin as a younger defenseman already, he’s been exposed to a more pro-like style against tougher competition in college. He may not have thrived on a counting stats basis (12 points in 32 games), but Hensler settled in nicely in Wisconsin’s defense. That’s likely going to endear him to some team in the mid-teens, as they will be keenly aware that good defenders are few and far between in this draft. For reference, Hensler would be a slam-dunk pick at No. 22 if he somehow got to Philadelphia, and wouldn’t be a bad trade up candidate either.
Kashawn Aitcheson, Barrie Colts
It’s easy to picture Aitcheson going slightly higher than he probably should in this draft class, considering his brand of mean and brutal hockey. He’s admittedly so much fun to watch, and while it’s tough to know how high of an offensive impact he’s going to have at the NHL level, it’s undoubtedly a great spectacle to watch Aitcheson throw a clean hit on an attacking forward. Honestly, Aitcheson’s a player that it’s easy to imagine Keith Jones and other older hockey men salivating over, so again: possible trade up candidate here if he doesn’t fall to 22. We just don’t expect him to make it much past the 12-15 range.
The Oliver Bonk tier
Blake Fiddler, Edmonton Oil Kings
There’s one guy in this tier, and he’s in this tier for two reasons. For one, Fiddler might be the safest defenseman to project to the NHL in the entire first round, similar to the way Oliver Bonk was perceived in 2023.
Secondly, Fiddler’s the defenseman that feels most like a Flyer, considering what we know the Flyers value and what we can discern from their past drafting philosophy. If the Flyers take a riskier, swing pick at No. 6 (like how Michkov was perceived as a massive risk in 2023), Fiddler might be the Bonk-like safe pick to balance things out. Fiddler’s a strong skating, reliable right handed defenseman with size, and has a relatively easy to project floor as a No. 4 or 5 in the NHL. He’s not necessarily a mean defenseman, but he uses his size well to disrupt play and doesn’t shy away from physicality. That’s an archetype that most NHL teams can work with, and reminds us a little bit of how scouts described Oliver Bonk heading into his draft year. Fiddler feels pretty likely to be there at No. 22 as well, at the tail end of a run on defenseman that’s likely to start in the mid-teens. If the Flyers want him, it’ll probably have to be at No. 22 too, as the Edmonton pick is going to be too late for a player like Fiddler.
Riskier, upside pick at 22
Cameron Reid, Kitchener Rangers
Reid’s kinda all over the place in mock drafts, with some having Reid as the third defensemen off the board (behind Schaefer/Mrtka) in this class, and some having him at the tail end of the first round. In terms of his talent, Reid’s skating on the backend is only exceeded this year by projected No. 1 Matthew Schaefer, and he has an offensive ceiling that probably slots him a second-pair puck mover. That’s a fun player to have, and given the Elite Prospects comparison to Cam York, Cameron Reid might just be a higher-offensive ceiling version of York. The Flyers like his archetype, so we’ll see if they’d move on Reid if he was at 22.
Sascha Boumedienne, Boston University
Boumedienne is probably the odds-on favorite to be the final defenseman taken in the first round, and we wonder if he even should be a first-round talent in this draft. He’s had his strong moments and largely treaded water at Boston University in his underage freshman season, but Boumedienne has had prime opportunity to shine as the forefront Swedish defenseman of the cycle. He’s been largely good in those showings, but we’re not sure if he’s a first-round grade in most other drafts. There’s a real supply problem with defensemen, and Boumedienne might be more of a commodity as a result of that. He’d be a pretty good pick at No. 32, but picking him at No. 22 feels like a minor reach.
Pure reaches, even at 32
Haoxi Wang, Kurban Limatov, Henry Brzustewicz
This is the tier of defenseman that we would begin to question why the Flyers are using a first rounder on the player. They each have some major deficiencies and question marks, considerably more than an already questionable Boumedienne. For Wang, he’s a big physical defenseman that skates pretty well for a 6-foot-5 guy, but he has such a long development curve waiting for him in the years ahead. Both Wang and Limatov are projects, as the latter is stuck in the Russian MHL/KHL for the foreseeable future and is really raw in his offensive tools. And finally, for Bruzustewicz, there’s a real lack of upside. He’s played on a really deep London team in his junior career, and while he’s been solid as a second-pair guy on the blueline (behind Oliver Bonk and Sam Dickinson), he’s been difficult to evaluate. All signs indicate that he could be a third-pair guy, but he would really not be an inspiring pick in this range.
No matter which direction the Flyers go, it’ll be really interesting to see if the Flyers value a defenseman in this tier of players, or if it’s imperative that they expend at least one of their high picks on a blueliner.
