Flyers 2013 draft recap

If nothing else, the Philadelphia Flyers are experts at identifying a need when it comes to draft day. However, it remains to be seen whether the organization can remedy their ills with step 2: developing the talent selected.

On Sunday in Newark, the club made six picks in the seven-round draft, taking four defensemen, along with a relatively unknown winger and a goaltender.

With the 11th pick of the first round in Sunday's draft, Paul Holmgren announced that Samuel Morin from Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is the newest member of the franchise. It was a stunning rise for the young man, who was listed 23rd amongst all North American skaters by Central Scouting.

A 6-foot-6, 200-plus-pound blueliner who has toughness and grit, but needs to work on his skating, the 17-year-old native of Quebec totaled four goals, 16 points and 117 penalty minutes in 46 regular-season games in his second Canadian junior campaign. An injury derailed his season in January.

Morin picked up eight assists in 62 games during his first season with Rimouski in 2011-12, earning him a spot on the Q's All-Rookie squad, and competed for Team Canada at the 2013 Under-18 World Championship, finishing with two points and a plus-six rating in seven games to help Canada win the gold.

He was the fourth of seven defensemen selected in the top 15 picks.

The Orange and Black moved beyond the boundaries of North America for their second pick in Sunday's draft, taking defenseman Robert Hagg from Modo from the Swedish Elite League. Hagg, 18, who stands 6-foot-2 and just over 200 pounds, produced one assist in 27 games last year. He was ranked as the eighth-best European skater by Central Scouting.

It wouldn't be a draft without the Flyers throwing in a genuine head scratcher. With the 72nd selection in Sunday's draft, the club snagged left-handed shooting winger Tyrell Goulbourne from Kelowna of the Western Hockey League.

The 19-year-old Edmonton native totaled 14 goals, 27 points and 135 penalty minutes in 64 games this past season. Over his four-year stint in juniors, the 5-foot-11, 195-pounderhas collected 21 goals, 43 point and 271 PIMs in 145 appearances.

After no selections in the fourth round, the Flyers came up with 18-year-old defenseman Terrance Amorosa, a tall, thin blueliner out of Holderness High School in New Hampshire.

In the sixth round, the club again went the high school route, snagging 6-foot-4, 180-pound netminder Merrick Madsen from Proctor Academy in New Hampshire. He is expected to play for Des Moines in the USHL next season before jumping to Harvard in 2014-15.

The final pick, in the seventh and final round, was 18-year-old defenseman David Drake. Drake played 12 games for Des Moines late last season after being called up from Tier II midget with the Chicago Fury.