While the fate of some Philadelphia Flyers prospects is already sealed in terms of where they’ll play in the 2026-27 season, many of the top dogs will have plenty of opportunities to earn themselves an NHL roster spot. Training camp hasn’t officially started yet, but for them it has.
Not every young Flyers prospect with something to prove is at rookie camp this week. For example, players like Hunter McDonald and David Jiricek, who aren’t established NHLers, were left off the rookie camp roster.
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Conversely, Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone are all on the ice having to prove themselves, with each player dressing for at least one of the two Rookie Series games against the New York Rangers over the weekend.
But, even when we remove McDonald, Jiricek, Barkey, Bump, and Martone from the equation, the Flyers still have a healthy amount of competition.
On defense, Oliver Bonk and Ty Murchison will be working to make their argument for an NHL roster spot, having to compete with the likes of McDonald, Jiricek, and veteran newcomer Simon Benoit for a place on the Flyers.
By the time training camp starts on Thursday, their strong work in rookie camp this week could be a feather in their caps; the process of making a strong impression is already in motion.
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“We were pretty direct in the first meeting that we had for rookie camp, is that their camp is starting now. So with the new makeup of how the training camps are now in the NHL, there’s not a whole lot of time to make an impression. So, for the rookies and the guys that are coming into main camp, they got to be ready to go right from the start of this camp,” Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach John Snowden said after practice Monday with an exclamatory two-hand tap at the podium.
‘Sneaky’ Oliver Bonk Impressing Flyers In Rookie Camp
‘Sneaky’ Oliver Bonk Impressing Flyers In Rookie CampPhiladelphia Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk is consistently drawing praise from his coaches, even during a simple rookie camp.
Bump, Barkey, Martone, Noah Powell, Cole Knuble, Devin Kaplan, Riley Thompson, Jett Luchanko, Maksim Sokolovskii, Spencer Gill, Jackson Edward, Bonk, and Murchison are the skaters participating in rookie camp who are also listed on the main training camp roster.
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On Tuesday morning, they’ll take the ice for their last rookie camp session. Wednesday is a team day off, and Thursday is go time.
In the eyes of Snowden and the Flyers, everything those players have done in the building over the last week can work against them or in their favor when it’s time to make the important decisions.
“The message [Riley Armstrong] started our rookie camp with, and I’ve reiterated throughout the whole camp and our staff has reiterated throughout the whole camp, is like, you don’t have time to wait around right now. You gotta go, and you gotta hit the ground running. You can’t ease your way into these rookie games,” Snowden continued.
“Like I said, this is their training camp. It started now. You just got to keep pushing them to make sure they understand that every single time you touch the ice, every single time you walk into the building, it’s going to matter. So, make sure you carry yourself the right way, you train the right way, you practice the right way, you play the right way every single time, because everything you do when you walk into this building, it’s gonna matter.”
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Message sent, message received for the Flyers, who have seen players like Powell, Barkey, Knuble, and Bonk crank up the intensity and speed of their play this weekend.
Powell, in particular, played with ferocity against the Rangers, standing out in a different way from the scorer types like Bump and Martone.
And he’ll be one of many players with their eyes on the NHL prize when training camp kicks off in a few days.
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