Flyers deal two first-round picks to move up and take Spitfires' Nesbitt with 12th pick in NHL Draft
Article content
Windsor Spitfires' centre Jack Nesbitt must have made quite the impression.
Article content
With the six-foot-five, 186-pound centre still on the board in Friday's first round of the NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers stepped up big.
Article content
Article content
The Flyers sent a pair of first-round picks – at No. 22 and No. 31 – to the Pittsburgh Penguins to move up to the 12th pick overall and select Nesbitt.
Article content
Article content
'We try not to show our hand and didn't want anybody to know, but you were our guy all along,' Flyers' general manager Daniel Briere said to Nesbitt on the national broadcast. 'This is really, really exciting for all of us.'
Article content
Article content
The 18-year-old Nesbitt was named the most improved player in the Western Conference in the annual OHL coaches poll after make a 46-point offensive improvement from his rookie season. He was fifth in scoring for Windsor with 25 goals and 64 points in 65 games while finished tied for second on the team with 74 penalty minutes.
Article content
'He looks like a Flyer to me,' Philadelphia president of hockey operations Keith Jones said on the national broadcast. 'We're fired up about it. We love the way he plays the game. (Brier) mentioned the grit, he's got some high-end skill to go with that and we think he's just going to develop into an outstanding player for us.'
Article content
Article content
Nesbitt was taken one pick before the Detroit Red Wings selected forward Carter Bear with the 13th pick overall from the Everett Silvertips.
Article content
Nesbitt was the second player selected by the Flyers in the first round with the club grabbing six-foot-three, 204-pound Brampton Steelheads' forward Porter Martone with the sixth pick overall. Nesbitt was the sixth OHL player taken in the first 12 picks of Friday's first round.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
3 London Knights, Aylmer's Cameron Reid chosen in 2025 National Hockey League Draft
After two days and 224 selections, the ice chips have settled following another NHL Draft. Henry Brzustewicz, Aleksei Medvedev and Noah Read of the London Knights and Cameron Reid of Aylmer, Ont., heard their names called at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, which is a regular home of the Emmys, the Grammys and the ESPYs among other major award ceremonies. Story continues below advertisement Night number one saw Reid and Brzustewicz drafted 21st and 31st overall respectively. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Brzustewicz got on of the largest cheers as he went to the host Los Angeles Kings in front of the crowd The two-time OHL champion and Memorial Cup champion Brzustewicz joins London teammate Jared Woolley who was selected by the Kings in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Brzustewicz made plays all over the ice in his second year in the Ontario Hockey League and may have saved his biggest goal of the season for the Memorial Cup tournament when he opened the scoring against the host Rimouski Oceanic in a 3-1 Knights win. Reid is coming off a solid year with the Kitchener Rangers where he was named an alternate captain with the team and recorded 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games. Reid played for Elgin-Middlesex growing up. On day two of the draft, the Vancouver Canucks called the name of London goaltender Aleksei Medvedev in the second round with the 47th overall pick. Medvedev left home in St. Petersburg, Russia at 14 years old and went to live with a family member in Toronto, Ont., with the hope of one day making hockey a career. Story continues below advertisement He shared the Knights crease in the regular season with Austin Elliott as a 17-year old and had a 2.79 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in his rookie season in the OHL. That kind of a performance earned him the F.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy which goes to the OHL rookie with the lowest goals against average. The Anaheim Ducks selected London forward Noah Read in the third round with the 72nd overall pick. Read took full advantage of his opportunities from training camp forward. The St. Catharines, Ont., native came into the season as a 10th round pick with only an outside chance at earning a roster spot on a Knights roster full of returnees. Not only did Read make the team, he became a player who earned more and more ice time as the year went along. He helped to eliminate the Owen Sound Attack with a hat trick in the series-clinching game in the first round of the OHL playoffs. Next up in the draft world in hockey will be the 2025 CHL Import Selection which will take place on Wednesday, June 2. Canadian Hockey League teams are permitted three import picks on their rosters. Story continues below advertisement That marks an increase from two in 2024-25.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Will the Broad Street Bullies be back? Flyers go big at the NHL draft
By the time the Philadelphia Flyers are legitimate contenders again a few years down the road, they could have a lineup that makes the 1970s Broad Street Bullies proud. Five of their eight selections in the NHL draft stand 6-foot-3 or taller, including first-rounders Porter Martone and Jack Nesbitt. They overlooked smaller talent to get a hulking winger in Martone at No. 6 and traded up for Nesbitt, a 6-5 center, with the 12th pick. 'It's a nice bonus that they're both tall and will bring us size, as well,' general manager Daniel Briere said. 'It just kind of worked out that way. It wasn't a plan that we had in mind going into the draft that we wanted to get bigger. It just happened that way.' Philadelphia's second-rounders were 6-6, 232-pound defenseman Carter Amico and a trio of nice-sized forwards: Jack Murtagh, Shane Vansaghi and Matthew Gard. Murtagh described himself as 'a high-end workhorse.' Their second fifth-round pick, Luke Vlooswyk, called himself 'a big defensive, defenseman.' He said Gard, a teammate with the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels, is 'a big kid like me.' Bulking up the prospect pool makes sense for the Flyers, who have a lot of smaller talent in the system, from budding star Matvei Michkov already on the roster to 2024 first-rounder Jett Luchanko, who played four games for them last season. They also just traded for 6-foot center Trevor Zegras and could use some size in their not-too-distant future. Bloodlines After William Horcoff, whose dad Shawn spent 15 seasons in the NHL, went 24th to Pittsburgh in the first round, Day 2 of the draft was full of the sons and nephews of retired players hearing their names called. It started with Seattle trading up to get Blake Fiddler, son of Vernon, early in the second round. Eric Nilson, son of Marcus, went a handful of picks later to Anaheim. There were more familiar names picked in the third round: Artyom Gonchar, nephew of 2009 Stanley Cup champion Sergei Gonchar, to the New York Rangers, and Blake Vanek, son of Thomas, to Ottawa. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Italian history After Simon Wang became the highest-ranked China-born NHL draft pick when San Jose chose him at No. 33, Matous Jan Kucharcik made some Italian hockey history. Taken by Buffalo 103rd, Kucharcik is a Czech national but became the fourth player born in Italy to be selected. ___ AP NHL:
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Simon Wang makes history as highest-drafted Chinese player in NHL
LOS ANGELES – Simon Wang is still only 17 years old. The journey that brought him to Peacock Theater on Saturday morning had already been long and winding. Then he made history. The San Jose Sharks chose the defenceman from the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals with the first pick of the NHL draft's second round, making the six-foot-six, 222-pound Wang the highest-selected Chinese player in the league at No. 33 overall. 'Unreal moment for my family, for hockey (in) China,' Wang said as he sported his new team's teal threads. 'Dream-come-true moment. Trying to soak it in.' The teenager started playing hockey in Beijing at age four, but his family decided he needed more competition to develop after speaking with a friend already in Canada. Wang moved to the Toronto area in 2019, and after returning home during the COVID-19 pandemic, returned to Ontario and enrolled in a private school. Wang's mother, Willa, then bought a junior-A team in Brantford, Ont., and relocated it to Nobleton — roughly 125 kilometres away — where her son started to flourish. The two other Chinese-born players drafted to the NHL are 2024 Winnipeg Jets fourth-round pick Kevin He and 2015 New York Islanders sixth-rounder Andong Song. 'I'm just getting started,' said Wang, who's committed to eventually attending Boston University in the NCAA. 'I never really knew this game, how it's supposed to be played until 14. I'm always the underdog. Always have distance to catch up. I still have hunger in me, still have to drive that I've got to get better every single day to catch up. 'That's why I'm probably one of the most unique guys in the draft class.' Wang started this season in junior-A before signing on in the OHL with the Generals, where he put up two assists in 32 games as he continued to grow into his body and learn the sport. Now he's set a new draft benchmark. 'Definitely special,' Wang said. 'I hope I've inspired a lot of kids back home, and hopefully one day my record gets broken — someone goes in the first round, maybe top-10. That's probably the ultimate goal for Chinese hockey. 'There'll definitely be someone that is going to make a huge impact on the game.' It could very well be Wang. DECENTRALIZED DRAFT The league's first-ever decentralized draft in a non-pandemic scenario — similar to the NFL and NBA, where teams make selections off-site — continued with the Montreal Canadiens trading up to get Alexander Zharovsky at No. 34. The six-foot-one, 163-pound Russian winger had 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points across 45 games for Ufa on his country's junior circuit this past season. The Vancouver Canucks took goaltender Alexei Medvedev of the OHL's London Knights at No. 47. The Russian went 22-8-2 with a .912 save percentage and 2.79 goal-against average for the Memorial Cup champions. The Calgary Flames picked centre Theo Stockselius at No. 54. The six-foot-three, 196-pound centre put up 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) in 40 games in 2024-25 for Djurgardens' developmental team in Sweden. The Toronto Maple Leafs made their first pick in the draft with the final selection of the second round, taking Tinus Luc Koblar, also out of the Swedish junior league at No 64. The Norwegian centre had 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 43 games for Leksands in 2024-25. The Ottawa Senators made a trade with the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the day, acquiring defenceman Jordan Spence for a third-round pick this year and a 2026 sixth-rounder. The Detroit Red Wings made the day's biggest splash, acquiring John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks for fellow goaltender Petr Mrazek, a second-round pick in 2027 and a fourth-rounder in 2026. Saturday's third round saw Vancouver take centre Kieren Dervin (No. 65), Montreal grab centre Hayden Paupanekis (No. 69), and Calgary go with defenceman Maceo Phillips (No. 80) before Montreal took blueliner Bryce Pickford (No. 81) and goaltender Arseni Radkov (No. 82). Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The Edmonton Oilers made their first pick of 2025 at No. 83 with winger Tommy Lafreniere. The Leafs then selected Tyler Hopkins at No. 86. The centre from Campbellville, Ont. — just outside Toronto — grew up a fan of both the team and captain Auston Matthews. 'To wear this jersey, I can't even describe the feeling,' said the 18-year-old. 'That was the ultimate dream.' The Winnipeg Jets took centre Owen Martin (No. 92) and Ottawa chose winger Blake Vanek (No. 93) to close out the third round. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2025.
