{"id":79010,"date":"2025-06-17T22:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T22:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/79010\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T22:06:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T22:06:23","slug":"flyers-future-power-play-qb-6-foot-4-defenseman-has-offensive-punch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/79010\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers’ future power play QB? 6-foot-4 defenseman has \u2018offensive punch’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flyers’ future power play QB? 6-foot-4 defenseman has \u2018offensive punch’<\/a> originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n

The 2025 NHL draft is a huge one for the Flyers\u2019 rebuild.<\/p>\n

Not only does Danny Briere have a lot of high-round picks at his disposal, but he also could be creative in how he uses them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are all kinds of possibilities here,\u201d the Flyers\u2019 general manager said in April<\/a>. \u201cI think it\u2019s really exciting going into it. It\u2019s powerful to have so many picks like that. I think a lot of teams will be wanting to have discussions with us to make some things happen \u2014 teams that don\u2019t have picks or teams that want to tweak things.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s a busy time for the Flyers leading up to the draft, which will be held June 27-28. The first round is Friday at 7 p.m. ET, while Rounds 2-7 are Saturday starting at noon ET.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are really good players in this draft,\u201d TSN director of scouting Craig Button<\/a> said May 27 in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. \u201cMaybe people say it\u2019s not a good draft; I\u2019m not buying it. I think this draft has got lots of good players.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Flyers are slotted to make 11 picks, including three first-rounders and four second-rounders. Their first-round selections will come at No. 6 (own pick)<\/a>, No. 22 (Sean Walker trade)<\/a> and either No. 31 or 32 (Oilers trade)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Before the draft arrives, we\u2019re breaking down first-round targets for the Flyers.<\/p>\n

Next up:<\/p>\n

Jackson Smith<\/p>\n

Position: Defenseman
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 199
Shoots: Left
Team: Tri-City<\/p>\n

Scouting report<\/p>\n

Smith is that modern defenseman who is super fun to watch. He skates and handles the puck like a forward, darting up the ice and carving through coverages with all kinds of maneuvers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think teams will gravitate toward him just for the simple fact that the style he plays is the style that\u2019s being played in the NHL, where are a number of players are having success at that,\u201d Dan Marr, the vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said last Wednesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. \u201cSo he\u2019s definitely offensively wired. He\u2019s a D-man that likes to have the green light, so that when there\u2019s an opportunity, he can skate and lead a rush with the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fueled by that ability and confidence, Smith put up 54 points (11 goals, 43 assists) in 68 regular-season games for the 2024-25 Americans. He had a plus-2 rating on a team that had a minus-34 goal differential and led all WHL defensemen in overtime goals with three. He also just turned 18 years old last month.<\/p>\n

As the 13th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting<\/a>, Smith has the key ingredients to be a team\u2019s power play quarterback in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has got a really good game at the offensive blue line,\u201d Marr, who worked in scouting and player development for over 20 years, said. \u201cPower plays today are so important to teams, so I just think because he brings an offensive punch, he has got some size and his skating is good, teams are going to find him appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 2025 IIHF U-18 World Junior Championship that ended last month, Smith recorded four goals, an assist, 17 shots and a plus-7 rating in seven games for gold-winning Team Canada.<\/p>\n

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Just like any offensive-minded blueliner, Smith will have to eventually prove he can defend against pros and be reliable enough in his own zone. What helps his case is that he has the size to do it.<\/p>\n

EliteProspects.com<\/a> has Smith pegged as the sixth-best player in the draft, while Button has him at No. 12<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to say that he\u2019s not responsible defensively, but all these young D-men, all of them have to learn how to play defense in the National Hockey League,\u201d Marr said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s teachable. What\u2019s harder to teach is the offensive game that he brings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jackson<\/p>\n

(Rembrandt Rivas Photography\/Tri-City Americans)<\/p>\n

Fit with Flyers<\/p>\n

Centers are prevalent toward the front of this draft and the Flyers should have a decent shot at landing one. But if their top names go off the board, perhaps Smith will be high on their list as the second-best defenseman in the class.<\/p>\n

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Cam York and Emil Andrae, two of the Flyers\u2019 young lefty shots, don\u2019t have a ton of length, so Smith would add some size there down the road. His potential to run the point should be intriguing; the Flyers have sported an NHL-worst 13.7 power play percentage over the last four seasons combined.<\/p>\n

But Smith may end up being somewhat of a reach for the Flyers at No. 6 and gone before they\u2019re back on the clock at No. 22.<\/p>\n

More targets<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hagens is \u2018Matt Duchene type of player\u2019 who could be on Flyers\u2019 radar at No. 6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Flyers would probably love if Barkov-like prospect is available at No. 6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2018Fascinating,\u2019 6-foot-5 center has tons of intrigue for Flyers at No. 6<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2022 Younger brother of Flyers prospect is \u2018complete\u2019 center and option at No. 6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2018David Krejci-like\u2019 center with plenty of upside would give Flyers good decision<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Could a 6-foot-6, \u2018just blossoming\u2019 defenseman be a fit for Flyers at No. 6?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Will Flyers grab prospect with \u2018really, really unique\u2019 combination at No. 6?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Reschny\u2019s performance vs. 2024 top prospect should have Flyers\u2019 eye in first round<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Flyers could have three shots at \u2018dynamic, explosive skater\u2019 on the wing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Finding another Foerster? Flyers may have one if they draft Bear in first round<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Martone would offer Flyers \u2018pretty complete package\u2019 if he\u2019s there at No. 6<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flyers’ future power play QB? 6-foot-4 defenseman has \u2018offensive punch’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia The 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[4187,6089,2588,772,1468,5,471,2876,4,1693,1467,56,5205,6949,2589],"class_list":{"0":"post-79010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-cam-york","9":"tag-craig-button","10":"tag-danny-briere","11":"tag-emil-andrae","12":"tag-flyers","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-jackson-smith","15":"tag-matt-duchene","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-nhl-central-scouting","18":"tag-philadelphia","19":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","20":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","21":"tag-sean-walker","22":"tag-the-flyers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114700981617149600","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}