Another Flyers first round pick goes bust.

The Philadelphia Flyers have had something of a checkered history when it comes to their high end draft picks as of late, and unfortunately this week we learned that it appears that another one of those high end draft picks has gone bust.

According to multiple reports this week, former Philadelphia Flyers first round pick (22nd overall) at the 2016 National Hockey League Entry Draft German Rubtsov is heading to Europe after failing to secure a contract in the National Hockey League this offseason. Rubtsov was a member of the Florida Panthers organization as he was traded there as part of the Claude Giroux trade, but it would now appear that the Panthers never had any intention of qualifying Rubtsov.

The Rubtsov pick is of course one more leftover of the relatively short-lived Ron Hextall era in Philadelphia and marks yet another questionable high end pick made while the organization was under the leadership of the former Flyers goaltender and general manager. In defense of Hextall it is true that injuries have played a major factor in impacting how many of those picks have turned out, most notably the picks of forward Nolan Patrick at 7th overall in 2017 and forward Jay O'Brien at 19th overall in 2018.

That however has not been the case with Rubtsov and instead it would seem that the Flyers simply swung and missed on the now 24 year old Russian centerman. While Rubtsov could still turn out to be something of a late bloomer, he won't get the chance to showcase that in the NHL this season, and given his inability to crack an NHL roster for any significant length of time since being drafted it seems unlikely that he ever will.

The pick begins to look even worse when you compare it to some of the names the Flyers could have taken a gamble on later in the draft, most notably with Alex DeBrincat being picked a full 17 spots later by the Chicago Blackhawks at 39th overall.

Missing out on those high end draft picks means the Flyers have relatively few talented, low-cost, players that they can insert into their lineup, something that is terrible for a team that has been up against the cap for some time now. If the Flyers hope to right the ship, or even if they want to have the cap room to go after high priced free agents (Johnny Gaudreau anyone?), they will need to develop a better track record at the NHL Draft.