Philadelphia Flyers first round pick headed to free agency.

The Philadelphia Flyers are set to let one of their former first round draft selections walk away as a free agent.

On Saturday night, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported that 2018 first round pick (19th overall) Jay O'Brien would not be signed by the Flyers after another season at Boston University, leaving O'Brien eligible to sign with any team in the NHL willing to offer him a contract.

"The Flyers and the player had to make a decision to sign and I have heard that the decision has been made," revealed Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada. "The Flyers will not sign him and that allows O'Brien to test free agency. He's 23 years old and he can pick which team or organization he wants to play for."

Although typically a team that allows a player to walk to free agency gets nothing in return, that will not be the case in this particular scenario for the Flyers. As per the rules of the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, because O'Brien was a first round pick the Flyers will be compensated with a slightly lower draft pick at the upcoming NHL draft.

"The Flyers as a result will get a second round pick in the upcoming draft," confirmed Friedman. "But O'Brien will not be a Flyer."

Only time will tell if O'Brien is offered an NHL contract, but perhaps the man that drafted him will be among those to show interest. It was former Flyers general manager Ron Hextall that drafted O'Brien in 2018, and as we know he now serves in the role of general manager for Flyer's intrastate rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins.