If the Philadelphia Flyers have a wealth of talent anywhere in their prospect pool, it’s on defense, and soon enough, everyone will get to see that.
The rookie camp roster already features the likes of Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone up front, and while they’re still young, they’re also established pros at this point.
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The trio of wingers will put their time in ahead of the start of main training camp next week, but for all intents and purposes, they’ve graduated from the prospect pipeline and can now be considered NHL players.
On defense, a slightly different picture has been painted.
Second-year pro Ty Murchison joins the group after his first full professional season, looking to recover from a season-ending injury suffered in the middle of the year.
Jackson Edward has some pro experience, but Spencer Gill, Brek Liske, Luke Vlooswyk, and Riley Steen do not.
Newcomer Maksim Sokolovskii, the Flyers’ 2025 first-round pick doesn’t either, but that hasn’t stopped Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach John Snowden from putting him with a more seasoned partner.
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Flyers unite London Knights defenders
The Flyers drafted Maksim Sokolovskii 27th overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. (Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig, Imagn Images)
Oliver Bonk, a 2023 first-round pick who made his NHL debut and Stanley Cup playoff debut at the end of last season, was paired up with the brolic Sokolovskii on Friday evening as Snowden matched up London Knights defenders of past and present.
Bonk, 21, starred for London for three full seasons, capturing the Memorial Cup and finishing as an OHL champion twice.
Sokolovskii, 18, will play for London for one more season before making the jump to the NCAA’s University of Maine next year.
But through the Knights, the two talented young defenders are familiar with each other.
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“We haven’t really decided what the lineup’s going to look like tomorrow, so we kind of just put some pairs together of what it would look like. I think Bonk’s an incredibly intelligent guy, got a year under his belt playing the pro game. Soko, he’s a young guy coming in. He’s massively huge and raw. Bonk’s really good at talking and helping guys through it,” Snowden said of the duo.
Why Flyers Drafted Maksim Sokolovskii With 27th Pick
Why Flyers Drafted Maksim Sokolovskii With 27th PickThe Philadelphia Flyers explained their rationale for the surprising but exciting selection of Maksim Sokolovskii in the 2026 NHL Draft.
“They have a little bit of a connection, obviously, they played in London. They understand where they came from. I don’t think there was a whole lot of thought process in going behind it, but it was, here’s Sokolovskii, let’s put Bonk with him, let’s help him through this first day and then we’ll see what we’re going to play with tomorrow.”
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At the same time, Gill is just one year younger than Bonk and impressed at training camp last year, so he’s got some experience, too.
Snowden and the Flyers ultimately went with Bonk and Sokolovskii, whose skillsets could end up complementing each other quite well.
In highlights, we’ve seen Sokolovskii’s ability and willingness to transport the puck with his legs and pull off dekes against defenders, while Bonk’s hockey IQ keeps him prepared for any situation at either end of the ice, where he can contribute equally.
Like Snowden said, it’s still unclear if this pair is here to stick, but the potential for the Flyers, now and in the future, is tantalizing to say the least.
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