A Tale of Two Andraes: Emil Andrae’s rollercoaster 2024-25 season

Back on June 28, 2024, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere’s explanation of his first draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft caused quite a stir. Instead of taking the public consensus pick in University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium, the Flyers instead traded down, and chose Guelph Storm center Jett Luchanko. Why? In Briere’s own words, it was about the size of the Flyers defensemen -- including one Emil Andrae.

"Well, when you look at our defense, you have it right. I think Zeev Buium is gonna be a great player, and he's someone we considered strongly. But with Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Emil Andrae – at some point, it gets tough to go with the smaller guy. But he’s a fantastic player."

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) June 29, 2024

The public reception was a bit mixed. Sure, Cam York made sense to balance against future prospects, as he’s likely part of the core. Jamie Drysdale has the potential. But Emil Andrae? Really? The guy who had ...