Flyers' 2023 Draft Pick Suffers Injury and Struggles

The Philadelphia Flyers began rookie camp this past week, giving fans the chance to see returning and new faces over the next couple of weeks. This weekend saw the wrap up of rookie camp and rookie series, with full squad camp beginning on Wednesday.

A lot of players come and go through the Flyers system, a lot go unnoticed or are just a splash in the pan which seemed to be the case for some. Tyson Foerster who is projected to have a very productive season, had a tough weekend and looked to struggle at times. Which proved to be the case for the rest of the lineup. The Flyers prospects looked flat at times, which really showed in the second game.

Zayde Wisdom was the only Flyer to find the back of the net in the Flyers/Rangers second set, other than that, Alexis Gendron was the most notable player throughout both contests; and that isn't just because he went flying into the boards on a play.

The Flyers defensive prospect pool looks solid, Oliver Bonk was strong and looked NHL level ready at times. However, there are always a few bumps and hiccups in a lineup. One hiccup was late round draft pick, Matteo Mann.


After being marked down as a healthy scratch for game one of the rookie series, Matteo Mann was slotted in as a third line defenseman for game two. Being granted this opportunity, Mann wasted no time getting involved in the action. Laying a hard hit into a Rangers' prospect in one of his first shifts, however, he looked shaky and unsettled for the remainder of the game.

I have high hopes for Matteo Mann, personally. He has high upside despite being such a late draft pick, projected to go much earlier in the draft so if and when he pieces everything together, the Flyers could have a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, that was not what the Flyers fan base saw out of the 18-year-old in the rookie game. There is a reason Mann dropped as low as he did, which is why a lot of teams passed on him to begin with. Those reasons were present during the game after a poor defensive play that led to a Rangers goal.


Matteo Mann was burned by the Flyers faithful on social media for his poor effort, pointing out his flaws. It is apparent that he is unable to use his size effectively, if anything it restricts his skating ability -- another thing the media was quick to jump all over. People were extremely over critical of a late round pick in his first camp.




It is crazy how much fans expect out of an 18-year-old seventh round pick. He is not going to be polished and play like Zdeno Chara. Give him a couple years let him get comfortable than give a fair rating. I know I spoke highly of him but that is completely different than crapping on him right out of the gate.

Injury Report:

After the second intermission, the Flyers returned to the ice, without Matteo Mann. Paul Jackson of Maher Media reported that Matteo Mann left the game and was seen in the lobby, answering questions from media. It was unknown at the time why he was no longer dressed, people originally thought he had been benched after a poor performance. However, it was reported that he had actually suffered an upper body injury well battling in the corner.


This is very unfortunate for the Sackville native who was looking forward to the rest of camp. It is not yet known how severe the injury is, I just hope Mann has a fast and healthy recovery. Especially after an unfortunate game like that, he will want to battle back, learn as much as he can during camp to better improve his game before heading back to the QMJHL. If it is a serious injury it will also sideline him from regular season play which would be a hard pill to swallow.

Overview:

Matteo Mann will come back better next summer, continue to piece things together, learning how to use that big 6'6, 229 pound body of his to his advantage. When drafting in the later rounds, general mangers draft players for what they can be, not for what they are right now. They are not going to be playing in the NHL tomorrow, so cut the kid a break.