Bryce Brodzinski surges into the offensive zone Photo credit: University of Minnesota Athletics

The Philadelphia Flyers have officially lost the rights to forward Bryce Brodzinski, a former teammate of Matthew Knies, who would make for an excellent addition in Toronto.

The Flyers failed to come to terms on an entry-level contract with NCAA standout Brodzinski as the August 15th deadline has come and gone, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the fact that Flyers general manager Daniel Briere alluded to the possibility back in April.

With the organization nearing their roster limit and focusing more of their attention on some of their more recent draft picks, the writing was on the wall for the University of Minnesota alum.
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Brodzinski was selected by the Flyers with the 196th overall pick in the 7th round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Committing to the University of Minnesota ahead of the 2019-20 season, Brodzinski didn’t have the most productive start to his NCAA career. However, things changed on a dime in 2021-22 and beyond as he accumulated 45 goals and 93 points in 118 games, including 36 points in 2023-24.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped their toes in the NCAA free agent pool before, as Kyle Cushman of The Score alluded to in a Twitter/X post on Friday. As you may recall, the Leafs signed Jay O’Brien and Robert Mastrosimone out of the NCAA in recent years.

Brodzinski could be a good fit for a variety of reasons, perhaps none more intriguing than the fact that he has a strong familiarity with Matthew Knies, as the two played together in 2021-22 and 2022-23 on two very good Gophers teams. Of course, Brodzinski would almost certainly begin with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies if acquired.

The 24-year-old winger from Blaine, Minnesota, stands in at 6’0 and 200 pounds. He has shown his proclivity to score goals in recent years with 19 goals scored in 2022-23 and 14 last year and could be a good piece for the Toronto Marlies moving forward.