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FLYERS

Nolan Patrick signs, but bigger test is yet to come

Dave Isaac
The Courier-Post
Nolan Patrick, 2nd overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft speaks to the media during Philadelphia Flyers Development Camp at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees on Friday. 07.07.17. Joe Warner/For the Courier Post

Another box was checked on Nolan Patrick’s offseason list.

First was the surgery to fix a sports hernia that he had done before the draft even took place. Ten days later the Flyers selected him No. 2 overall and Monday he inked his entry-level contract.

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It’s a three-year deal with the maximum entry-level base salary of $925,000 per season and includes performance bonuses that could total $2.65 million if all are met.

Next up comes proving that the injury that bothered him all last season won’t stop him from making the NHL in his draft year. He played through the misdiagnosed sports hernia even though he knew something was wrong and put up more than a point per game on average.

“I just didn’t want to miss the whole season in my draft year,” Patrick said last week during the Flyers’ development camp, of which he did not take part on the ice. “I tried to play as much as I could and I just wanted to wait to see one of the best doctors because I saw a couple doctors in Winnipeg and they said (Dr. William Meyers, who eventually performed the surgery in Philadelphia) was the top guy in that area.”

Patrick approximated that he started last season at about 60 percent of his potential and only ever reached 75 percent because skating caused him so much pain and took so much wind out of him.

While Patrick wasn’t on the ice last week with other Flyers’ prospects, he was still in the SkateZone in Voorhees observing the players that were skating and going over video with coaches.

Not participating in the camp doesn’t hurt his chances to make the Flyers’ roster in the fall, but he does have to prove he’s ready to make the jump from the Western Hockey League to the NHL and the Flyers are already stocked with centers Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera, Scott Laughton and Mike Vecchione.

“I think every kid growing up wants to make the NHL and that’s been my goal since I was super young,” Patrick said. “I don’t set too many goals for myself, but three years ago I wanted to play in the NHL my first year eligible so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

By having the surgery before the draft, Patrick minimized the time he will miss in the offseason. The expectation is that he will be physically ready sooner than training camp so he can go about his off-ice offseason routine before then. Signing the contract was really a formality. It was a standard deal and he will either make the NHL or return to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

That decision is one he’ll answer in two months.

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479;disaac@gannett.com