It's rare that a sports franchise gets the opportunity to make a draft pick that requires no guesswork. The Flyers are in that position this year.
They have the No. 2 pick in the NHL draft, held on June 23 in Chicago, and because there are two players - centers Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier - who have separated themselves from the rest of this year's class, the Flyers actually have it easier than the team picking first, the New Jersey Devils. The Devils have to weigh Patrick's recent injury history, Hischier's relatively quick rise as a prospect, the size advantage that Patrick (6-foot-3, 198 pounds) has over Hischier (6-0, 179), their upbringings, their intangibles, their preferences in energy-drink brands, everything.