One area the Philadelphia Flyers still need to address, regardless of a successful playoff push, is the center position. By the sounds of it, they'll be one of many teams queueing up to sign a burgeoning KHL star.
On Monday, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported that north of 15 NHL teams--effectively half the league or more--have interest in Dinamo Minsk center Vitali Pinchuk, who had 31 goals and 66 points in 65 games this season.
And, a few hours later, Daily Faceoff NHL insider Anthony Di Marco added that the Flyers have at least some degree of interest in the 6-foot-3 center, which we can assume places them within Seravalli's group of teams as well.
Pinchuk, 24, has steadily improved each year he's been in the KHL, progressing from zero points in 12 games in 2021-22, to 14 points in 61 games in 2022-23, to 43 points in 66 games last year, to 66 points in 65 games this year.
With Trevor Zegras, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, and Christian Dvorak all in the fold for the foreseeable future, any center the Flyers sign will have to be a meaningful addition.
Pinchuk's rather steady developmental curve bodes well for an NHL future, even if he isn't necessarily a star at the end of the day.
The Flyers, of course, also covet size, as evidenced by many recent draft selections. Jack Berglund, Porter Martone, Spencer Gill, Shane Vansaghi, and Carter Amico are all physical forces who bring other positive traits to the table, be it skating, intangibles, or just raw skill.
Pinchuk, we can safely assume, has the skill, evidenced by his 31-goal explosion this year, and he's plenty big for the NHL.
It helps that the Belarusian pivot has previously played with Flyers goalie prospect Aleksei Kolosov, as well as AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms forward Zayde Wisdom.
If the Flyers need a second opinion to complement the scouting reports they will invariably have in-house, they don't have to go very far to find one.
Now that two trustworthy insiders have come together to virtually guarantee the Flyers' interest, at least to some extend, it's a situation to watch for the fast-approaching NHL offseason.