Flyers Lose Rights to Prospect Anthony Salinitri

The Flyers on Friday opted to not sign 2016 sixth-round draft pick Anthony Salinitri by the 5 p.m. deadline.

Salinitri, 20, can re-enter the NHL draft or elect for free agency and if he fails to find a taker, he can return to the Sarnia Sting (OHL) for an overage season.

A former teammate of Flyers winger Travis Konecny, Salinitri failed to develop in major junior at the pace required to earn an entry-level contract as a sixth-round pick (172nd overall).

The 5-foot-11, 182-pound forward produced 58 points in 67 games in 2017-18, or the same exact output he had in 2016-17 in one more game.

Sixth-round picks have a far steeper mountain to climb to the NHL and Salinitri, an undersized prospect, could not consistently generate enough in the OHL for Flyers general manager Ron Hextall to sign him.

Salinitri was part of a busy 2016 draft for the Flyers, who selected 10 players. Five prospects have signed their ELCs - German Rubtsov, Carter Hart, Pascal Laberge, Connor Bunnaman and Carsen Twarynski. Two remain in college as Wade Allison will return to Western Michigan University for his junior campaign and Tanner Laczynski decided to stay at Ohio State University for another year. Linus Högberg and David Bernhardt remain in Sweden.

The Flyers may soon see some payoff from that draft as Hart, Rubtsov, Bunnaman and Twarynski all turn pro in 2018-19. The door cannot fully be shut on Hart and Rubtsov in the NHL next season, though both are unlikely.

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Hart is a special player who may force Hextall's hand in training camp (see story). The Flyers enter this summer with a hole at third-line center and Rubtsov figures to be in the mix during camp if Hextall does not sign a free agent.

During his end-of-season news conference, Hextall expressed interest in bringing Valtteri Filppula back but it was lukewarm. It appears the Flyers will explore the market before committing to Filppula.

Hextall could decide his in-house options are better than paying the market value for a third-line player. The Flyers could put their faith in Scott Laughton to jump from fourth-line center to 3C. Then there are the kids. The names to watch are Rubtsov, Mikhail Vorobyev and Morgan Frost should Hextall want a training camp competition for a bottom-six center spot. The Flyers will likely prefer bringing in a veteran center, though.

Just last year, the Flyers made a similar decision with 2015 fourth-round pick Samuel Dove-McFalls as they did with Salinitri. Hextall did not sign Dove-McFalls, who returned to the QMJHL for an overage season in 2017-18.

With a 50 contract limit, Hextall didn't see enough from Dove-McFalls in 2016-17 or Salinitri in 2017-18 to sign them. The Flyers currently have 38 contracts on the books for 2018-19.

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