Phantoms add six prospects, led by first-round pick Maksim Sokolovskii

Six new prospects enter the Flyers’ pipeline with an eye on Allentown, and the shape of the class matters as much as the names. Philadelphia made all six picks remotely from Atlantic City while the announcements came from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, and every one of them is eligible for the Flyers vs. Rangers Rookie Series at PPL Center on September 12-13, 2026. For the Phantoms, that means the first real look at a group that could eventually affect the AHL club’s blue line, penalty kill and secondary scoring, even if most of them are still years from wearing the orange and black in a regular-season game.

Maksim Sokolovskii

Sokolovskii is the headliner because he is both the highest pick and the clearest long-term bet in the group. Philadelphia took the 6-foot-7.25 defenseman 27th overall, after his steady rise with the London Knights turned him from a possible late pick into a first-round selection, and that progression matters for a Lehigh Valley team that values reliable defense more than flash. He finished 2025-26 with two goals, six assists and a plus-10 rating, then added five playoff games, and he is already committed to the University of Maine for the 2027-28 season, which pushes his Allentown timeline farther out than anyone else in the class.

That delay is also why he is the prospect most likely to change the Phantoms’ style later rather than sooner. A defenseman that large can eventually affect how a team clears the crease, handles net-front battles and survives heavy penalty-kill minutes, and that is exactly the kind of profile that can alter the look of an AHL blue line once the college calendar is done.

Brek Liske

Liske gives the Flyers another defenseman and gives Lehigh Valley another name to track for the kind of minutes that are never glamorous but always necessary. Philadelphia described him as a well-rounded defenseman at the WHL level, and that balance is useful in an organization that needs its prospect pool to produce more than one style of defender, not just pure size.

Of the six picks, Liske feels like one of the cleaner fits for the Phantoms’ development track because his value is tied to structure. That matters in Allentown, where the next wave is often asked to stabilize shifts, support special teams and keep the puck moving with fewer mistakes rather than jump straight into top-pair pressure.

Martin Psohlavec

Psohlavec is one of two goaltenders in the class, which immediately gives the organization another layer in a position where patience is part of the job description. The draft haul now includes a goalie pair with different body types and backgrounds, and that gives Lehigh Valley more room to sort out who eventually fits the AHL crease and who needs more time.

The Phantoms’ timeline for a goaltender is usually measured in development checkpoints, not headlines, and Psohlavec fits that reality. He is part of the future depth chart first and a PPL Center story later, but the Rookie Series in September gives the organization an early read on how he handles pace, traffic and the pressure that comes with moving closer to pro hockey.

Marek Sklenicka

Sklenicka arrives with a more defined frame, listed at 6-foot-2.75 and 170 pounds, and with the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL. That size still leaves room for physical development, which suggests a longer runway before Allentown becomes a real destination, but the profile is straightforward: another goaltender in a system that can never have enough answers at that position.

For Lehigh Valley, Sklenicka is the kind of pick that helps later when injuries hit, schedules compress and call-up decisions start to matter. If the Flyers’ draft class eventually changes how the Phantoms manage their crease, it will likely be through this sort of patient, layered goaltending depth rather than an immediate arrival.

KJ Sauer

Sauer is the only forward in the class, and that alone makes him the best candidate to inject a different kind of energy into the Phantoms’ future lineup. He scored 32 points, including 17 goals and 15 assists, in 30 games for Andover in 2024-25, which is the kind of production that stands out in a draft class otherwise built around defense and goaltending depth.

That scoring line gives Philadelphia a chance at secondary offense down the road, which is a real need for any AHL club trying to avoid living and dying with one line. Sauer also carries a tidy hockey lineage, since his father, Kent Sauer, was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the fourth round, 88th overall, of the 1998 NHL Draft, and that family connection adds a little more context to a prospect who may be the class’s best offensive bet.

Max Laatikainen

Laatikainen rounds out the class as a seventh-round defenseman, and that draft slot tells the story of his place in the pipeline. He is the longest shot of the six, but he also adds one more blue-line name to an organization that just spent the draft stocking up on defense first and asking questions later.

For the Phantoms, that matters because depth on the back end is what keeps an AHL team from getting exposed when injuries, promotions and travel start to stack up. Laatikainen may be the furthest from Allentown of any defenseman in the group, but he still fits the larger pattern of a class that can eventually change how Lehigh Valley defends, kills penalties and builds a nightly roster without leaning too hard on the same few players.