In poker, three of a kind always beats two pairs even if it's a pair of aces and two kings. In ice hockey, things aren't quite so clear cut. Nevertheless, the Flyers organization believes that the "three Jacks" in their farm system -- Jack Nesbitt, Jack Murtagh, and Jack Berglund -- all have NHL potential in the future.
"People talk about our need to add size and add centers in our system. We know that's been a need. But we drafted Jett Luchanko last year. We drafted Jack Berlund and Heikki Ruohonen, who've made progress," Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said.
"This year, after we drafted Porter Martone, there was a center we liked, Jack Nesbitt, and moved up to draft him. In the second round, we took Jack Murtagh. He has played some center. Matthew Gard [also a second-round pick] is a big center. We're always looking to add as an organization but I think we're starting to add some depth in the middle the last couple of years."
Nesbitt, 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, won the Most Improved Player category in the 2025 Ontario Hockey League Coaches' Poll. Although he faded a bit at the tail end of the season, he seems poised for an even bigger breakout for the Windsor Spitfires in his draft-plus-one season.
"We think he's just scratched the surface," Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said.
"Nesbitt needs to fill out his frame. When he does, we think he'll really take off. He's a high-compete kid and we like his overall game. He played a lot of minutes for Windsor and he was gassed at the end."
Nesbitt struggled a bit for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 World Championships. According to Briere, the Flyers hoped the tourney might result in the player slipping to the bottom one third of the top round in the Entry Draft. The Flyers initially held the 22nd and 31st picks.
However, by draft day, the Flyers came to realize that Nesbitt would be off the board by the time they made the 22nd board. There was a run on centers and center/wingers early in the first round.
The Nashville Predators had the same thought. Without mentioning the Flyers or Nesbitt by name, general manager Barry Trotz admitted that he wanted to move up to select the big center with Nashville's second pick of the first round.
"Our player fell through," Trotz told NHL Network. "We were trying to get another player within the top 12 or 13 picks. We had a deal in place, but one team grabbed the player and we had to move on from there.”
There was only one draft pick traded in this range: that was the Flyers trading picks 22 and 31 to Pittsburgh in order to move up to 12th for Nesbitt.
Briere and the Flyers brass seemed to not believe there were many -- if any -- future "true" No. 1 centers in the 2025 Draft crop. However, they felt there were a number of pivots with the upside to eventually play in a top-six NHL forward role with ideal development or a middle-six (AKA, second-line or third-line) role with average development.
After the end of the first round, the assembled Philadelphia media asked the general manager what the organization saw in Nesbitt that other candidates may have lacked. Briere said it was more about the overall package of traits than one specific area.
"The combination of the size, the grit, the playmaking abilities, the goal-scoring already. We saw him play in the second half of this season and he took a big step on a really good Windsor team. I saw him play a few times live as well, he was very impressive," Briere said.
"I think he’s a little further away on his development than Porter. We’ll maybe have to be a little more patient in his case. "But I think he’s going to be a pretty special player who maybe has a chance at even being as high as a top-six or second-line center. If he hits as a second-line center it’s going to be a huge asset down the road for us."
By his own admission, Nesbitt needs work on his skating. However, Flahr said that this issue is interrelated with the player's need to add muscle to this frame. When that happens, along with some coaching, the player will be more explosive. For that reason per Flahr, the skating issue is not likely to be a long-term concern.
