DALLAS - A day after Ron Hextall announced a new three-year extension for Samuel Morin (see story), the Flyers went out and grabbed a guy who could be the Swedish version of Morin, choosing Adam Ginning with the 50th overall selection in the second round of Saturday's NHL draft (see story).
A stay-at-home defenseman, the 6-foot-4 Ginning possesses a lot of the same attributes as the 6-foot-7 Morin - grittiness, toughness, with an ability to protect the net. In fact, Ginning may be more NHL ready than Morin was when he was drafted as an 18-year-old back in 2013; Ginning started his pro hockey career in Sweden at the age of 16.
In some ways, Hextall wasn't expecting Ginning to be available as he described the second round as a "crapshoot" with teams going completely off the board with picks that weren't projected to be in the top 60.
"We like his size. We like his upside," Hextall said of Ginning. "He's a big guy and he moves pretty well for a big guy. He's got solid puck skills and he has the range we need for a solid defensive defenseman."
With Morin looking at a lengthy six-to-nine month recovery from a torn ACL, the organization needed to add a little more muscle within the farm system now that Robert Hagg has joined the Flyers full-time.
"It fell on our list," Hextall said. "We had two guys, two defensemen, and it fell on our list, so it was good the way it worked out for us."
Unlike first-round pick center Jay O'Brien, who wasn't projected to be taken in the first round, many draft experts believed Ginning had first-round potential before slipping to the Flyers midway through Round 2.
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NHL Central Scouting had Ginning listed as the third-rated international defenseman behind only fellow Swedes Rasmus Dahlin, who went No. 1 to the Buffalo Sabres, and Adam Boqvist, taken eighth overall by the Blackhawks.
Ginning has a year remaining on his contract with Linköping HC of the Swedish Hockey League before he can come to North America, which may be to his benefit since his game has been more suited to the smaller NHL-sized rink.
"I'll take it as it comes," Ginning said. "It depends how I play in Sweden now in the upcoming years. We'll see what happens."
More on the 2018 NHL draft
• Flyers' draft shows big year for USA Hockey
• Hextall surprised by Flyers' quiet draft weekend
• With O'Brien, Hextall shows he's 'never' one to be safe
