Flyers GM Jumped off his couch during Controversial Draft Lottery

Ron Hextall, legendary Flyers goalie and the current General Manager in Philadelphia spoke with media following the NHL Draft Lottery on April 29th.

“I jumped off my couch, almost like we won a big game,” Hextall said of his reaction when the Flyers jumped from the 13th pick to 2nd overall.

“I just got back from Europe. I sat down on my couch and watched it,” Hextall couldn’t be happier with the Flyers’ good fortune, “It’s huge for our organization. I think everybody knows, obviously, that the top end of the draft is good. We felt actually pretty good about 13. We’ve done a lot of homework about that and felt pretty good about that, but we feel a lot better at 2”.

“It’s going to be huge to draft a top player that high,” continued Hextall. “We just barely missed the playoffs and you get down to 2 somehow, so it was great for our organization. I know our people are excited about it.”

Despite the apparent lack of an obvious franchise player at the top of the draft this season, Hextall isn’t disappointed at it stating, “[The Draft is] not as clear cut maybe as it’s been in past years, but our scouting staff feels it’s a pretty good draft”.

The NHL Entry Draft will be held in Chicago on June 23 and 24^th. Hextall and the Flyers have 11 picks across seven rounds, with two picks in the third round and three picks in the fourth round.

There should be plenty of young potential in the organization come the start of the next NHL season.