What to expect from Karsen Dorwart with the Flyers

The Flyers have signed NCAA free agent Karsen Dorwart and he will be making his NHL debut Saturday. Here’s what to expect from the center, from a prospect expert.

For a team well out of the playoffs like the Philadelphia Flyers are, this time of year is just about looking ahead. Nothing really to grasp about what we see from the NHL regulars, as they themselves are already focusing on their summer and what training camp can look like. But as well as the faces we know and admire, there are the classic late-season additions and the Flyers get to have Karsen Dorwart make his NHL debut with the club this Saturday in Montreal.

Dorwart was signed to his two-year, entry-level contract as an undrafted NCAA free agent earlier but has been establishing himself with the team on practices during this light week in Philadelphia. The 22-year-old center from Michigan State has some exciting tools, but we turned to prospect expert Will Scouch of scouching.ca to get his opinion on the player after watching some tape of Dorwart’s.

“I think a bottom-six role, if he is an NHL player, is probably where he is going to be,” Will said. “I think that the best things that I picked up about him was the puck protection and his ability to play under pressure. I can see why the Flyers signed him. He just finds a way to get pucks through pressure, get pucks down low — things that are not flashy but are really effective. As a college player, I can definitely see how — he is not the most amazing skater, he is not the most amazing shooter, he’s not a Denver Barkey-type — but I can see why a player like him would take a few years in college to get to where he is now. Where I think strength training comes in a lot, and just drills of protecting pucks along the boards and putting your body in between opponents and the puck.

“I was watching him and he was playing with Shane Vensaghi a little bit. And Vensaghi is a guy who has a little bit more pace in his game and a little bit more pure physical, raw energy. But I think Dorwart complements that with resilience and he’s just a guy that gets his butt in the way. That’s the type of guy I saw there a lot of the time. I’ll be very curious to see how he does in a little bit of an NHL spurt, but he didn’t strike mas like ‘Oh my God, this guy is a huge pickup for an NHL team.’ But compared to the other NCAA guys that have signed so far in this season, he’s definitely one of the more intriguing ones.”

For more details about what this prospect expert sees in the newest Flyer, watch the full chat on the Broad Street Hockey YouTube channel: