NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Flyers added a righty-shot defenseman with size in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL draft Thursday.
At 135th overall, they selected Carter Sotheran, a 6-foot-3, 202-pounder who is coming off his first year of major junior hockey.
"He's a big body, another guy that kind of got better and better," Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said after the draft at Bridgestone Arena. "He's got some rawness to him, but he's big, long and rangy. He can defend and he started to add some dimensions to his game in the second half."
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Sotheran was the 71st-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, while EliteProspects.com had him as the 55th-best player in the draft, a spot ahead of the Flyers' first-round pick Oliver Bonk, also a righty-shot blueliner.
With the WHL's Portland Winterhawks, Sotheran recorded 23 points (four goals, 19 assists) and a plus-14 rating over 68 games this season. He just turned 18 years old this week.
"Obviously he has a little longer path to get there," Flahr said, "but for where we got him, we're excited."
