The Flyers moved back from No. 21 to No. 27 in the first round of the 2026 NHL draft, then used the pick on Maksim Sokolovskii, a 6-foot-7¼, 240-pound left-shot defenseman from London of the Ontario Hockey League. The deal brought Philadelphia two extra picks, and it left the club with a player it had targeted for weeks.
That pursuit mattered because the Flyers had been higher on Sokolovskii than many around the draft. They were linked to him at the NHL scouting combine in early June, and several media outlets had them taking him at No. 21 before the draft even began. In the end, the team still got its man, just later and with more assets in hand.
Sokolovskii is the kind of prospect teams talk themselves into because his tools are obvious before his game is polished. Mike Taylor said he skates like he’s 5-foot-8, and a skating coach brought in by the Atlantic Hockey Academy could not believe how good his edgework was for a player that size. Scott Wheeler’s view was simpler: when someone is huge and can skate, NHL scouts tend to perk up. That is the bet here, and it is not a subtle one.
The Flyers also saw something sturdier than raw tools. Sokolovskii calls himself a shut-down defenseman who likes to hit, and Jeff Marek has described him as the hardest hitter in the draft class. Some observers have even compared his physicality and nastiness to Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins. Danny Brière said the Flyers called London after the pick and praised the Knights as one of the better organizations in the CHL, the kind of place that can keep a player on track while the rough edges get sanded down.
That is where the risk sits. The Flyers passed on flashier names to take a defenseman whose game still needs work, and they did it knowing some mock drafts had him going at No. 20 or No. 21. If Sokolovskii does not turn those rare tools into reliable NHL play, the move down will look costly no matter how many extra picks came back in the trade. If he does, it will look like the sort of hard-to-find swing teams rarely get the chance to make.
For now, the path is clear. Sokolovskii will return to the Knights in September, then head to the University of Maine for the following season. His game improved as the season went on in London, which is what the Flyers needed to see, but the real test starts when he has to turn that late-season progress into something more permanent.
