The NHL negotiates player transfer agreements separately with each different European national hockey federation. Meanwhile, when drafting a player affiliated with a European league or team, the time period a National Hockey League team holds his NHL rights varies by league.
Sounds complicated? It is. However, from the point of view of Flyers' fans, all that really matters is where a given prospect is playing and how long Philadelphia retains his NHL rights.
2025 Draft
Max Westergård (LW, Frölunda HC, SHL): A Finn playing in Sweden, the Flyers drafted Westergård in the fifth round (132nd overall) of the 2025 Draft. He will turn 18 years old on September 3. Although he's on the smaller end of "average sized" (5-foot-11, 168 pounds), Westergård is a high motor player. He finished last season in Swedens' top pro league, dressing in 11 SHL playoff games (one goal, three points).
Westergård attended the Flyers' 2025 Development Camp before heading back home. Later, he dressed for Team Finland at the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, playing a lower lineup role. Although making the 2025-26 World Junior Championship roster may be tough, he's a good candidate for 2026-27 if he continues to develop as hoped.
Once the 2025-26 Swedish regular season starts. Westergård is likely to split time between the Frölunda J20 team in the top junior league and the men's team in the Swedish Hockey League.
2024 Draft
Jack Berglund (C, Färjestad BK, SHL): The Flyers' 2024 second-round pick (51st) overall is coming off an outstanding 2025 Summer Showcase tournament for Team Sweden (four goals and seven points in five games). He's nearly a lock for the next World Junior Championship.
The big center (6-foot-4, 192 pounds) made the Junior Crowns national team roster last year, but an injury in a pre-tournament exhibition game sidelined him. He's fully healthy now.
Berglund turned 19 on April 10. He's already played in a combined 25 SHL games for Färjestad over the past two seasons. Last year, he split the campaign between the Färjestad men's pro team in SHL, the J20 junior squad, and a loan to minor league pro (Allsvenskan) team BIK Karlskoga. This season, he hopes to see an expanded SHL role.
Berglund plays a responsible two-way game. The two question marks about him in his draft year -- the probable reasons he was a second-round pick instead of a first-round selection -- were his skating and his offensive ceiling.
The Swede may never be an "artistic" skater but he gets from Point A to Point B. He's worked hard in refining his skating. It's no more of a long-range concern for him than former Flyer Oskar Lindblom's skating was in his developmental years in Sweden and the AHL.
In terms of his offensive upside, Berglund answered some critics with his play at the Summer Showcase. Three of his four tallies were "greasy" goals scored near the net -- the kind that translate well to North American hockey. The other goal was a snipe from the top of the right circle. Berglund also showed a competitive -- even feisty -- streak during the tournament.
If he carries his Summer Showcase performance over into the 2025-26 season and beyond, Berglund appears to be on an eventual NHL track. His AHL/NHL timetable remains to be seen, but his developmental progress over the last year is encouraging,
Ilya Pautov (RW/LW, Krasnaya Armiya Moscow, MHL): Pautov is a slick puck-handling wizard with above-average playmaking skills and a deceptive shot release that produced 17 goals last year. The rest of his game remains a work in progress in Russia's junior league (the MHL).
Krasnaya Armiya Moskva is a CSKA feeder team in the MHL. Pautov has yet to dress in KHL action, because he's still working on developing his all-around game and filling out his slight frame (5-foot-10, 165 pounds). He turned 19 years old on May 3.
There is no rush on Pautov's development. The Flyers can afford to simply be patient and see how he comes along over the next few years. Philly selected him in the sixth round (173rd overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft.
2023 Draft
Yegor Zavragin (G, SKA St. Petersburg, KHL): With any goaltender's developmental path, patience is critical. There will still be a wait before the Flyers can potentially sign their 2023 third-round pick. Thereafter, the organization -- and the player himself -- must be willing to let his progress toward NHL readiness take whatever time is needed.
Thus far in his young career, Zavragin has put up statistics not seen of teenage goaltenders in the KHL since the likes of Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin or Andrei Vasilevskiy. The operative word here is "statistics". KHL stats are far from a guarantee of NHL stardom.
That said, Zavragin's stock within Russian hockey circles has risen very quickly over the last two years. At 18, he advanced from the junior league to the minors (VHL) and never skipped a beat. This past year, he moved up the KHL and found success both with the low-profile HC Sochi (a sister team often used for prospect loans) and the high-profile SKA St. Petersburg team. SKA had a tumultuous year in 2024-25 but Zavragin more than held his own overall.
Several professional goalie development coaches think Zavragin could be the real deal in the long term. Once again, however, patience is key. Eventually, the Flyers hope to bring the netminder (listed at 6-foot-2, 183 pounds) to North America. When he comes, time in the AHL may be in order.
The KHL is something of an anomaly in terms of its caliber of play. There is a very wide disparity in quality, from top to bottom.
The top KHL teams are fairly equal -- or a tad superior -- to their average American Hockey League counterparts. The middle tier clubs and players are somewhere in between above-average ECHL and below-average AHL caliber. The bottom rung KHL clubs and player talents are scarcely superior to the VHL.
In Zavragin's case, even before the goaltender reached his 20th birthday, he showed he could compete among the upper tier talents in the KHL. From his current caliber of performance, the process is all about maximizing his chance to eventually compete for an NHL goaltending job. It's tough to put milestones or a definitive timetable on when he'll reach that destination.
However, in terms of sheer potential, the Flyers are excited to have Zavragin rights. Whether he or Carson Bjarnason ultimately becomes the Flyers' NHL goalie of the future (or they become a 1A/1B tandem someday) will play out over time. That time won't be in 2025-26.
Alex Ciernik (LW, Lahti Pelicans, Liiga): The son of former NHL player Ivan Ciernik is nothing if not a world traveler. Alex, who will turn 21 on October 8, is Slovakian by nationality. However, he was born in Germany and spent part of his childhood there when Ivan played in Germany's DEL. Alex played youth hockey in Cologne.
Later, Alex relocated to Sweden for the better part of seven years. He played junior hockey there and broke into the pro ranks. Internationally, he's always represented Team Slovakia.
Ciernik has also had a couple of brief stays in North America. The Flyers drafted the 5-foot-10,180-pound winger in the fourth round (120th overall) of the 2023 Draft. Ciernik attended the Flyers preseason rookie camp in September 2023 and scored a goal against the New York Rangers' prospects in the first of two Rookies Series games at the PPL Center.
Earlier this year, Ciernik signed an AHL tryout contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (he's not yet under a NHL entry-level deal). He dressed in three games for the Phantoms, recording one assist. He did not appear in the Calder Cup playoffs.
During the offseason, Ciernik signed with the Lahti Pelicans, a team in Finland's top circuit, Liiga. He'll spend at least one year with the Finnish club. Unsigned for NHL rights purposes, the Flyers have the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons to evaluate his progress. If unsigned to an entry-level contract by June 1, 2027, the Flyers relinquish his rights and Ciernik becomes a free agent.
Ciernik is a smooth skater and an exceptionally deft stickhandler. He is offensively skilled but has thus far been inconsistent. Finesse is his stock in trade but the 5-foot-10 winger realizes he needs to get stronger to compete in North American pro hockey.
A personable young man and an engaging interview subject, Ciernik is a wildcard in the farm system. Off the ice, he speaks multiple languages fluently: Slovak, Czech (similar but not identical to Slovak), Swedish, German and English.
2022 Draft
Santeri Sulku (LW, KooKoo, Liiga): The Flyers hold the big Finn's NHL rights for one more year. The Flyers drafted him in the seventh round (197th overall) of the 2022 Draft. He's played both in Sweden and his native Finland at different times.
After sitting out the 2022-23 season, Sulku returned to Finns, playing two seasons at the Mestis (Finnish minor league) level. The 6-foot-4, 200-plus pound winger scored 17 goals in 35 regular season games in 2023-24 and then added nine points (4g, 5a) in 11 playoff matches. This past season, he was limited to seven regular season matches (six goals, nine points) and seven playoff games (one assist).
Most recently, Santeri Sulku participated in the Flyers' 2025 Development Camp in Voorhees. On the final day of camp, he scored the tying goal in the final 37 seconds of the Team Jones vs. Team Briere scrimmage.
Basic ground rules for signing European prospects
If signed to an NHL entry level contract, how long does the "slide" rule stay in effect? As with the slide rule for players in Canadian junior hockey, a contracted player in Europe can be loaned back from his NHL team to his European club without burning a season off his entry-level deal. However, this typically applies only to 18-year-old and 19-year-old prospects.
Once the player reaches age 20, the NHL team could still loan the player to his overseas team but the season would still count against the entry-level deal the same way as if the 20-plus year old spent the season with an American Hockey League farm team.
In the case of the KHL, player transfers must be negotiated with the player's KHL team unless the player is a free agent.
