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Report: Flyers, Preds battling to sign Austrian prospect

Raffl

Philadelphia and Nashville are in a bidding war.

Again.

This time, though, the stakes aren’t as high as the $110 million for Shea Weber -- instead, they’re for an Austrian winger named Michael Raffl.

Raffl, according to CSN Philly, is in hot demand after a standout season with Leksands IF of the Allsvenskan (Swedish second division).

Flyers scout Dave Brown went over to the World Championships to scout Raffl, who was playing for Team Austria. Brown was impressed with Raffl’s bite and ability to raise his game.

“You have to almost project how are they going to play in North America and will they compete physically or not,” said Brown. “He showed it. Somebody gives him a push and gives them a crosscheck back

“For me, really, are they competitive? You want to see if a guy gives him a shot he’ll do it back.”

It’s believed the Flyers and Predators are the two teams closest to signing the 24-year-old Raffl, according to Swedish newspaper Dalarnas Tidningar.

Raffl led Leksands with 24 goals and 46 points this season (of note, Leksands was the same team ’12 first-round pick Filip Forsberg played for this season), but it’s believed interest really piqued at the Worlds, where Raffl played on a line with Buffalo standout Tomas Vanek and scored two points in an 8-4 loss to Russia.

(Image courtesy Leksands.se)