Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Blake Zielinski walked into his interview with the Flyers on Thursday at the NHL scouting combine and said the first thing general manager Danny Bri\u00e8re<\/a> asked him was whether it felt like home.<\/p>\n Zielinski said the question helped ease his nerves. A native of Berlin, N.J., he grew up a diehard Flyers fan, learning how to play at rinks like Pennsauken Skate Zone and skating for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. He is now preparing for his first NHL development camp by training at Holleydell Ice Arena in Sewell<\/a>.<\/p>\n At one point, the 18-year-old, who is heading to Providence College in the fall, wanted to be ex-captain Claude Giroux. These days, he\u2019s keeping an eye on Travis Konecny<\/a>\u2019s game and told The Inquirer he thinks he was at every Flyers home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cI made it known I was a Philly kid, and kind of understood what it took to play for them, and hopefully they got that message,\u201d he said Saturday after completing the last day of testing, including the dreaded Wingate test, which calculates a player\u2019s anaerobic fitness. Zielinski finished 10th.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Flyers two-round mock draft: What positions could the team address in the NHL draft?<\/a><\/p>\n Now, while one would expect a kid from South Jersey to be a Flyers fan, how about a teenager from Finland? For the record, these days Juho Piiparinen is a Dallas Stars fan because his idol, Miro Heiskanen, plays there, but he grew up liking the Orange and Black.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are pretty legendary,\u201d said Piiparinen, who did meet with the team. \u201cThey\u2019re from Philadelphia, and that was my dad\u2019s favorite team, and I have their hat, too.\u201d<\/p>\n So, how did this all happen? His dad, Jarkko Piiparinen, liked watching in the \u201990s \u201cthe legendary goalie\u201d Ron Hextall, and Eric Lindros, \u201ca big center.\u201d And the 6-foot-3, 203-pound, right-shot defenseman who is strong defensively but is working on developing his offensive game, especially with getting time on the second power-play unit, is someone the team could snag at No. 21 in the first round of the NHL draft. <\/p>\n A teammate of Flyers prospects Max Westerg\u00e5rd and Heikki Ruohonen at the 2026 World Juniors, he\u2019s also keeping an eye on the Flyers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis season, they were in the playoffs, but they couldn\u2019t get so far,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s this big, big Finnish defender, [Rasmus] Ristolainen, and I really like his style, how he plays. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I think it\u2019s an amazing logo, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking a Flyer<\/p>\n Zielinski and Piiparinen were two of the approximately 50 players the Flyers, with only five picks across seven rounds, met with last week. <\/p>\n The Inquirer can confirm the following prospects spoke with the Flyers. Players said the meeting was typically straightforward \u2014 no off-the-wall questions like Montreal is known for \u2014 with one player saying they seemed to want to know he was a good kid. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: How top NHL draft prospects fared at the final day of the NHL combine<\/a><\/p>\n The players are divided by the position where the fitness testing schedule listed them, but keep in mind some wingers can play center, and some centers can play wing. Also note, The Inquirer did not speak to every player who was at the scouting combine. Center Viggo Bj\u00f6rck thinks he met with the Flyers but could not remember exactly.<\/p>\n Centers: R\u016bdolfs B\u0113rzkalns, Ryder Cali, Alexander Command, Maddox Dagenais, Beckett Hamilton, Jack Hextall, Ilia Morozov, Brooks Rogowski, Markus Ruck, Oliver Suvanto, Blake Zielinski<\/p>\n Left wings: Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Ethan Belchetz, Wyatt Cullen, Chase Harrington, JP Hurlbert, Adam Novotn\u00fd, and Victor Plante<\/p>\n Right wings: Jaxon Cover, Elton Hermansson, Simas Ignatavicius, Kayden Lemire, Casey Mutryn, and Liam Ruck<\/p>\n Defense: Tommy Bleyl, Vladim\u00edr Draveck\u00fd, Malte Gustafsson, William H\u00e5kansson, Jayden Kurtz, Ryan Lin, Ben Macbeath, Piiparinen, Timmy Runtso, Maksim Sokolovskii, and Xavier Villeneuve<\/p>\n Goalie: Michal Or\u0161ul\u00e1k and Tobias Trejbal<\/p>\n Family ties<\/p>\n Some players fell in love with the game because their dads played hockey. Plante\u2019s dad, Derek, skated in 450 games, including 12 with the Flyers in 2000-01; he also spent time with the Phantoms in the American Hockey League that season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were always talking about hockey. We love hockey, and everything we do, we compete,\u201d said Plante, who will join his brothers Max and Zam at the University of Minnesota-Duluth \u2014 Max just won the Hobey Baker as men\u2019s college hockey\u2019s best player. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: \u2018I hope I left my legacy there\u2019: Gavin McKenna among the top prospects who spoke at NHL scouting combine<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s raking leaves or shooting pucks or we\u2019re in the backyard playing Wiffle ball or something, we\u2019re always doing something competitive. At the dinner table, definitely a lot of arguments about hockey and stuff, but we\u2019re always having good, clean fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Draveck\u00fd\u2019s dad, also named Vladim\u00edr, is still playing pro hockey in Czechia, and Dagenais\u2019 father, Pierre, played across five NHL seasons, seven AHL seasons, and a handful more in Europe. Cali\u2019s mom, Fiona McLeod, played professionally in Switzerland for several seasons, where she met his dad. <\/p>\n Cullen\u2019s father, Matt, played more than 1,500 NHL games, winning a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and two with Flyers coach Rick Tocchet<\/a> in Pittsburgh. He told The Inquirer that Sidney Crosby would come over to the house and play mini-sticks \u2014 and, yes, Crosby even won at that.<\/p>\n But then there are the players whose parents excelled in other sports.<\/p>\n Tyus Sparks, who did not meet with the Flyers, first skated on a frozen basketball court in Minnesota during a Christmas trip back to his mom\u2019s home state at 2 or 3 years old. He returned to Boise, Idaho, and started playing hockey. How did the family land in Boise? His dad, Nate, was a quarterback at Boise State before suiting up briefly in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Gaudreau family unveils new playground at a school they\u2019ve long called home: \u2018I love how it\u2019s in honor of the boys\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Rogowski was on the path to play baseball, but he is now a 6-7, 236-pound center who will play at Michigan State next September. Baseball runs in the family \u2014 his father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and reached triple A, and the Los Angeles Dodgers selected his uncle Ryan. \u201cThey\u2019re super supportive, but they\u2019re a bit bummed\u201d that the youngest Rogowski, a first baseman, didn\u2019t follow in their path.<\/p>\n Ignatavicius was born in Memphis and grew up in Lithuania. His dad, Mantas, played college basketball at High Point University and then professional basketball overseas. And according to Mutryn, who B\u0113rzkalns called the tough guy he faced in this draft class, his dad, Scott, is more than happy his son didn\u2019t keep the family sport going.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad always made sure we knew how to throw a football, and we played other sports, but he never really wanted us playing football when we were younger,\u201d he said of his dad, who was a QB at Boston College and spent time with the New England Patriots. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Who\u2019ll join the Flyers with the 21st pick? Here are 15 options for Danny Bri\u00e8re and Co. in June\u2019s draft<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s like, there\u2019s no point in third grade playing tackle football, when the helmet weighs half as much as you do. So he\u2019s like, just wait till fifth grade, and it was too late by that point.\u201d<\/p>\n Flyers news and notes<\/p>\n While the draft prospects meet with front office staff and go through the gauntlet of fitness testing, the week in Western New York is also a chance for general managers to chat with each other and agents.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we\u2019ve heard about the Flyers:<\/p>\n Obviously, Dylan Larkin requesting a trade<\/a> out of Detroit was the hottest topic after it broke Thursday. Multiple sources have confirmed to The Inquirer that the Flyers are interested in the top-tier center, and they do think they have the assets \u2014 speculation is that the Red Wings will want a young center and a combination of NHL players, picks and prospects in return \u2014\u00a0but does he want to come to Philly? The Detroit Free Press<\/a> reported Monday that he submitted a three-team list of where he\u2019d like to go; the Flyers were not one of them. And, at almost 30, does he fit the Flyers\u2019 timeline?<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Mike Sielski: The Flyers are interested in star center Dylan Larkin. Can Danny Bri\u00e8re get him?<\/a><\/p>\n John Carlson is a name that has been tossed around as a perfect fit for the Flyers, specifically to help the power play. The Anaheim Ducks are currently on the clock to try to re-sign the defenseman whom they acquired at the trade deadline. He would prefer to come back east if that does not happen. However, at 36, he also wants to win another Cup before his career is done, and the Flyers are not in a position to do so next season. Could there still be a match?<\/p>\n The chatter that a contract extension has already been all but inked may have been a little premature for goalie Dan Vlada\u0159. Both sides want to get it done, but it doesn\u2019t sound like anything is set in stone. They met this past week to get the ball rolling and, as a reminder, Vlada\u0159 cannot sign until July 1.<\/p>\n Bri\u00e8re was also spotted chatting with Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill. Shane Wright has been a hot topic these days as a possible solution to the Flyers\u2019 need at center, as has Matty Beniers. But multiple reports have indicated that the ask for Wright, a 22-year-old center, is high and there is no indication that Beniers is available.<\/p>\n Breakaways<\/p>\n Hermansson\u2019s older brother, Simon, a former hockey player, was the leading man for \u201cThe Bachelor\u201d in Sweden in 2019 (check out his picture on Elite Prospects for proof<\/a>). The younger Hermansson did not watch and, if given the option, he would not go on the show today. \u2026 The Montreal Canadiens upped their game of weird questions by making prospects decide how far back they wanted to throw a puck into a garbage can. Don\u2019t recall a single player saying they got it in the basket. Like last year, they asked players what animal are they on the ice? Lemire had the best answer: \u201cI\u2019m a grizzly bear on the ice. I like to be that horse, that big body, and yeah, can\u2019t really stop a grizzly bear going top speed.\u201d Montreal also asked questions like, what type of boot would you be, would you kill someone you\u2019re in the desert with if they had the only water bottle, and if you were the captain of a destroyer during World War II and had to sink a submarine but it meant killing 10 of your crew members who fell overboard, what would you do? \u201cOh, I killed them,\u201d revealed Gustafsson. \u2026 Asked Suvanto what he knows about Philadelphia, \u201cObviously, Rocky is from that city. \u2026 Big rivalry with the Penguins. \u2026 they got Trevor Zegras<\/a>, good talented player, a lot of young great players so I think they\u2019ve got good future ahead of them.\u201d He\u2019ll also listen to Linkin Park\u2019s \u201cBleed It Out\u201d before games. \u2026 How did Or\u0161ul\u00e1k become a goalie? \u201cI hated skating.\u201d \u2026 Asked Macbeath if he sees some comparisons between himself and Travis Sanheim<\/a>, who also played for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League: \u201cYeah, I can see it. Elite skater, too.\u201d He\u2019s off to Denver in September. \u2026 Villeneuve played competitive soccer as a midfielder growing up and thinks it has helped with his footwork and how he sees the game. \u2026 Sam Reinhart\u2019s ears must have been ringing Saturday as several players said he was either a comparable, like Hurlbert and Liam Ruck, or, when asked what is one skill they would want to take from an NHL player, like Hermansson saying he wanted his shot. Of course, several players would steal Connor McDavid\u2019s speed. Aaram-Olsen said he\u2019d steal Tom Wilson\u2019s fighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Blake Zielinski walked into his interview with the Flyers on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[300586,385,99],"class_list":["post-693154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-flyers-nhl-draft-blake-zielinski-jarkko-piiparinen","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}