Undoubtedly, the strength of the Philadelphia Flyers and the future of the organization lies in their expansive prospect pool, which has grown quite large in recent seasons and became one of the best in the NHL.

The center position is, of course, still seen as a weakness for the Flyers, even after the allocation of three first-round picks to select Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt in back-to-back years.

In a new prospect tier list ranking by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, with review and some input from scouts and personnel around the league, the two Flyers prospects didn't even make the cut of the top 150 prospects in the NHL right now.

Luchanko and Nesbitt, as well as Alex Bump, were in the group of players who "were considered or generated some conversation but ultimately didn’t get enough love for Tier 5C projections," and that group still features some good talents, such as Luca Cagnoni, Sandis Vilmanis, Quentin Musty, Lenni Hameenaho, and Maveric Lamoureux.

In any case, the Flyers have a projected future superstar, contrary to popular belief, in the eyes of Wheeler and his caddy of NHL scouts and execs.

Flyers' Martone draws comparisons to Rantanen, Robertson

Porter Martone is the highest-ranked Flyers youngster on this list, and for good reason. The 19-year-old dominated the NCAA with 25 goals, 25 assists, and 50 points in just 35 games last season, then jumped on the proverbial moving train that was the Flyers in the middle of their playoff push.

The 2025 No. 6 overall pick was a star off rip, scoring four goals, six assists, and 10 points in nine regular season games, then added five more points in 10 playoff games.

"Martone's excellent freshman year and, maybe even more importantly, his strong play in the NHL at the end of the regular season in particular, really sold the league on his status as one of the game's future top power forwards," Wheeler wrote.

"Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson, who are both Tier 2 wingers in Player Tiers this year, feel like attainable — if a little lofty — projections for Martone."

Martone isn't quite as dynamic as Rantanen, but his style of play and strengths closely resemble both of the 100-point wingers.

He's not a center, no, but the Carolina Hurricanes just proved that you can win a Stanley Cup without one of the five best centers in the NHL.

If Martone can even approach the heights Rantanen and Robertson have reached in their careers, the Flyers are going to be in a really good spot going forward.

Only Ivar Stenberg, Gavin McKenna, Lane Hutson, Leo Carlsson, Connor Bedard, Matthew Schaefer, and Macklin Celebrini ranked higher on Wheeler's tier list.

The Michkov of it all

Michkov was the Flyers' best player to end the regular season. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images)

Somewhat surprisingly, Matvei Michkov, still just 21 years old, is included in the ranking, though he dropped a full tier from 2B to 3B from this time last year.

Wheeler notes that his NHL peers are aligning themselves more with Rick Tocchet's side of this coin: that Michkov will have to iron out the defensive kinks and fitness issues before knighting the Russian phenom as a future star player in the league.

But, again, with all the negativity and publicity around Michkov last year, he still finished the year with 20 goals and 51 points and led the Flyers in scoring after the Olympic break.

"If those [flaws] persist evaluators won't even care if he becomes an 80-point version of that player, because he won't be viewed as a winning player," Wheeler said of Michkov.

It's not to say that hockey people are wrong or fans are wrong, but that is just how people in and around the game see Michkov right now, and Tocchet, as a former player and current coach, is one of those people.

Fortunately, it seems as though Michkov took the 2025-26 season to heart throughout the summer, and the Flyers have recognized his efforts ahead of the start of training camp.

The fruits this ultimately bears still remain to be seen.

The best of the rest

Because Luchanko and Nesbitt (and Maksim Sokolovskii) didn't make the cut, things drop off for the Flyers from here.

The next tier a Flyers prospect appears in is way down in 5B, which is above only 5C on the remainder of the list.

Goalie Egor Zavragin, who is still highly regarded by the Flyers after a trying season the organization does not put on him, clocks in at 5B for Wheeler. A tier-5 goalie is considered an "above-average starter," which is still a very good outcome for the Flyers.

Don't sleep on Denver Barkey heading into the 2026-27 season. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images)

Marek Sklenicka, Carson Bjarnason, and Martin Psohlavec still have time to develop and get their names on the radar to make this list, and Dan Vladar, Joseph Woll, and Aleksei Kolosov can buy the above prospects time to become ripe for NHL action.

Ankle-biter forward Denver Barkey complements Martone and Michkov at 5C, making the ranking after being left off last year on the heels of an improbably successful first year playing pro hockey in the Flyers organization.

We can expect Barkey to become a full-time NHLer moving forward.

Most interestingly, and to round out the list, defensemen Oliver Bonk and David Jiricek rank right next to each other at the bottom of the 5C tier, with Wheeler questioning Bonk's true upside as a player and not whether or not he'll become an NHLer.

As for Jiricek, Wheeler, like the Flyers, acknowledges that the talent and tools are there, but the end result has not. The 22-year-old is now playing for his third organization in four years since being drafted in 2022.

"David Jiricek is an AHL player at this point, I don’t see him being on this list," a scout told Wheeler.

Jiricek badly needs to fix his skating, reads, and defending in open space to reach his full potential as an NHL defenseman, and the Flyers will likely want him to unleash his physicality more, too, for a 6-foot-4 body.

That said, the Flyers also know that Jiricek can aid their 32nd-ranked power play, and given that the Czech rearguard is no longer waivers-exempt, Jiricek will probably be given every opportunity to prove himself and make an impact.

Luca Cagnoni

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