NHL Prospect Watch: Philadelphia Flyers
Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
Today, we check out a trio of players looking to battle their way to the City of Brotherly Love.
Carson Bjarnason
Netminder Carson Bjarnason has pulled on three different jerseys in a matter of months- the Brandon Wheat Kings’ black and gold, Philadelphia orange and Hockey Canada’s red and black at the World Junior Summer Showcase. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound puck stopper posted a career-best season with a 24-17-4-1 record, a 3.01 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts. Bjarnason made 30 more saves on 20 occasions in 2023-24, highlighted by a 36-save shutout against Lethbridge in October and a 45-save outing against the regular-season champion Saskatoon Blades in March. The 19-year-old earned a nod as a member of the WHL East Division Second All-Star Team and snagged an invite to Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team Camp after attending Philadelphia Flyers development camp. Selected 51st overall in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Bjarnason put pen to paper on a three-year, entry-level deal with Philadelphia in September. Per the Flyers, the Carberry, Man. product will return to the WHL for the 2024-25 season.
👀Carson Bjarnason at @HockeyCanada's World Junior Summer Selection camp! https://t.co/YPd6Sm7wKb
— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) July 30, 2024
Ethan Samson
Two-time WHL B.C. Division All-Star Ethan Samson dove into his first season of professional hockey with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2023-24. The blueliner picked up his first pro point with an assist against the Springfield Thunderbirds in October but scored a trio of goals in the new year, totaling three goals and nine assists for 12 points in 63 games. A 6-foot-3, 183-pound right-shot defenceman, Samson was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He followed it up with two years as an alternate captain and captain for the Prince George Cougars while establishing himself as a weapon at both ends of the ice. Over four seasons with the Cats, the North Delta, B.C. product lit the lamp 36 times and racked up 86 assists for 122 points in 211 games, notably leading Prince George to the second round of the WHL Playoffs for the first time in 16 years.
You know how Samson rolls!🔥#LVvsWBS | #OurValleyOurHome pic.twitter.com/mKrADiIQvP
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) March 30, 2024
Carter Sotheran
Sotheran joined forces with Bjaranason at Canada’s National Junior Team Camp and World Junior Summer Showcase. The 19-year-old is fresh off of a career-best year and a run to the WHL Championship Series with the Portland Winterhawks. A 6-foot-3, 198-pound defenceman, Sotheran potted 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points in 66 regular-season tilts in 2023-24. His +46 rating was second among all WHL defencemen. The impressive showing continued in the postseason, where the Sanford, Man. native tacked on another four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 14 matches, highlighted by a five-game point streak and a two-goal, one-assist outing in Game 3 against the Everett Silvertips. He missed the Championship Series with an upper-body injury, a defensive loss that sorely hurt the Winterhawks, who would be swept by the Champion Moose Jaw Warriors. The end of the season stung but served as a testament to Sotheran’s effectiveness on the blue line. Philadelphia selected Sotheran with the 135th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Carter Sotheran goes 🔝🧀!#WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/MXtXjvtY0q
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) April 16, 2024
