The 2026 NHL Draft on Friday night at KeyBank Center marked a life-changing moment as 32 prospects achieved their dreams of hearing their names called, shaking hands with Commissioner Gary Bettman, and donning the jersey of the organization that believed in them.
When the time came for the Philadelphia Flyers to announce their newest addition with the 21st overall pick, they decided to ship the selection over to the San Jose Sharks. In return, the Flyers acquired the 27th, 62nd, and 120th pick in this year’s draft. After the next six selections were made, the Flyers were back on the clock. Philadelphia submitted their pick and continued their recent drafting trend by going for size.
The Flyers went with left-handed defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii in the first round, and he is enormous in stature. The 17-year-old from Petropavlovsk, Russia is listed at 6-foot-7 and 238 pounds.
Sokolovskii netted a pair of goals and recorded eight points with a +9 rating across 49 games, including the playoffs, for the London Knights during his first season in the Ontario Hockey League. His style of play is more equipped, revolving around the physical aspect as his offensive upside isn’t quite there and may never be, but at the very least teams need keep their head up when he’s on the ice. Sokolovskii can and will run the opposition over and that fear factor alone can give him the edge especially a battle along the boards or retrieving the puck in the corners.
“We don’t expect him to be the next big point producer. We see him as a big, physical force. A defenseman that’s going to be tough to face,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said.
Sokolovskii’s draft stock had him ranked 22nd by Elite Prospects, 36th by Daily Faceoff, and TSN’s Craig Button placing him at 60th overall. Brière admitted it was a bit of a risk to trade back with Sokolovskii still available, but adding two picks as draft capital plus the level of confidence he had that the giant d-man would remain an option on the draft board was worth the gamble.
The type of player in comparison to Sokolovskii would be a Nikita Zadorov or Jamie Oleksiak: a mean, physical, and hard-hitting defenseman.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but there’s things that you can’t teach and things that you can’t change. He’s still going to be 6-foot-7 two years from now and the internal physicalness that he has as well is something you can’t really teach. That’s something that comes naturally to him… the progression that we saw this season leads us to believe that he’ll be able to make it to the NHL,” Brière mentioned with the hopes of Sokolovskii becoming a top-4 defenseman in Philadelphia.
By sticking to the strategy of drafting big bodies, the Flyers added Sokolovskii to their system as yet another larger-sized prospect alongside Porter Martone, Jack Nesbitt, and Matthew Gard up front with Carter Amico, Spencer Gill, and David Jiříček tending the blue line.
The selection of Sokolovskii marked the second year out of the last four drafts where the Flyers drafted some Knights alumni (Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk in 2023). Sokolovskii will return to the OHL this coming season and is committed to the University of Maine in the NCAA for the 2027-28 season.
Philadelphia possessed the option to capitalize on other defensive talent in Ryan Lin, Tommy Bleyl, and Xavier Villeneuve, but Brière wanted size and eluded them. He also was never going to make the flashy move which an exceeded number of Flyers fans hoped for during the draft.
“I know there’s some people out there complaining that we’re not making the big move yet, but it’s got to be the right thing to do… it’s not because other teams are making moves that we have to make moves. We have an up and coming and young team that’s trending in the right direction. We’re going to make moves when it’s time.”
Sokolovskii became the fourth player in franchise history selected 27th overall by the Orange and Black, joining Morgan Frost (2017), Jeff Woywitka (2001), and Scott Mellanby (1984).
The historical track record for the 27th slot hasn’t been too kind as a majority of the 15 latest players selected in that position prior to 2026 haven’t necessarily made an impactful splash:
– 2025: Lynden Lakovic
– 2024: Marek Vanacker
– 2023: Calum Ritchie
– 2022: Filip Bystedt
– 2021: Zachary L’Heureux
– 2020: Jacob Perreault
– 2019: Nolan Foote
– 2018: Nicolas Beaudin
– 2017: Morgan Frost
– 2016: Brett Howden
– 2015: Jacob Larsson
– 2014: Nikolay Goldobin
– 2013: Marko Dano
– 2012: Henrik Samuelsson
– 2011: Vladislav Namestnikov
While the recent list hasn’t been too kind to those chosen at pick 27, the most notable selections at this spot remain Joe Nieuwendyk (1985), John Carlson (2008), and the previously mentioned Mellanby.
Looking ahead to Day 2 of the draft, the Flyers currently possess five remaining picks:
– 2nd Round: 53rd overall
– 2nd Round: 62nd overall (acquired in San Jose trade)
– 4th Round: 120th overall (acquired in San Jose trade)
– 5th Round: 136th overall (acquired in Thursday’s trade with Florida that sent Garnet Hathaway to the Panthers)
– 7th Round: 213th overall
Brière expressed an interest in a puck-moving defenseman or a top-end goalie as some of the clubs’ desires but noted if someone falls in the second round that’s on the Flyers’ list, he wouldn’t be afraid to strike. With the later round picks, Brière wants to target what he views as needs for Philadelphia, but time will tell.
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