It perhaps goes without saying that the Chuck Fletcher era was a disappointment for the Philadelphia Flyers and their fans. As GM, he gave out bad contracts and swung and missed on several major trades, while also at crucial times not being aggressive enough (IE: making no real replacement for D Matt Niskanen after his retirement and not trading LW James van Riemsdyk at the 2023 trade deadline prior to his contract expiry). That said, as has been pointed out in some other op-eds on/evaluations of the Fletcher years, a general manager’s tenure cannot be fully evaluated until his draft picks fully develop (naturally, Fletcher still deserves criticism for his poor performance in charge of the front office, but irrespective of that, this element deserves examination). Of course a big deal has been made about the development of 2022 fifth overall pick C/LW Cutter Gauthier – and for good reason. The Boston College Eagle has already shown great promise in the NCAA and playing against pros in the World Championships. However, one possible interesting pick to watch was at the extreme other end of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in round seven. Could this be the diamond in the rough? Let us take a look at the profile of RW/C Alexis Gendron, taken at 220th overall in 2022 (interestingly enough, with the pick acquired in the trade for Tony DeAngelo).

There was perhaps a bit of an odd feeling amongst the heads involved when the discussion came around regarding whether or not the Flyers should select scout Martin Gendron’s son. Naturally, the elder Gendron recused himself from the conversation, and the pick did end up occurring in the final round. The staff had a good feeling about this choice based off of the evaluations provided and since then, we have been provided with reasons to think that those feelings might be validated. This past season, Gendron was second in the QMJHL in goals with a whopping 55 in 63 games while splitting time between the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Gatineau Olympiques (mind you, the leader, Alexandre Doucet, scored 58 in 70 games played with the Val-d’or Foreurs and Halifax Mooseheads, therefore entailing that Gendron’s GPG was higher). At present, Gendron’s NHLer probability sits at only 33% according to Byron Bader’s HockeyProspecting model. However, those raw offensive numbers for the shoot-first player/finishing specialist Quebecer are indicative of a player with fantastic goal scoring potential that is beginning to be realized and his current highest-end comparable comes in the form of a full dev (at present) comparison of recent Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault, a star producer in Bader’s model. We should keep an eye on Gendron as he continues to develop after the signing of his ELC on July 25th.

There is an additional element to this narrative. As pointed out by Mike Johnston on Sportsnet, Fletcher did select one of the biggest draft steals in recent memory/perhaps in NHL history by way of picking LW Kirill Kaprizov at 135th overall in round five of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft during his time as the general manager of the Minnesota Wild. Kaprizov was discovered by their scouting staff by a fluke, or perhaps a cosmic accident. Since coming over to the NHL from the KHL in the 2020-21 season (during which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy for best rookie), Kaprizov has averaged over a point-per-game, has a 108 point season to his name, and posted back-to-back 40+ goal campaigns. None of this is to say that Gendron’s ceiling is this high, nor gloss over the fact that Fletcher has a spotty history in the drafting department (examine his 2017 class for an example of the depths of disappointment his selections can go to). What all this does demonstrate, however, is there is a precedent for great unrecognized talent being found by Fletcher in the later rounds, and that Gendron is trending in a direction that lends himself to being a high value pick relative to his extremely late selection. Though some may have said “Oh, yeah, give us the Cup right now” sarcastically in response to his ELC, Gendron proved to be one of the CHL’s most elite goal scorers in the lead-up to that deal, and he just may be a surprise to many. We should watch with eagerness as he continues to grow and see if he can have a place in the future for the Flyers organization that is currently in an intensive rebuild and looking towards tomorrow.