The Philadelphia Flyers rookies stormed back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the New York Rangers 4-3 in overtime Friday night, but no two prospects had an equal performance.
This group of Flyers prospects has one more game to play Saturday night, which will feature some lineup rotation, but we can already glean some takeaways from the early goings of camp.
The Flyers fell down 2-0 to the Rangers early thanks to two non-descript goals from Rangers forwards Brennan Othmann and Dylan Roobroeck, and while there was little structure in this game, those goals weren’t great ones.
Stock down: Carson Bjarnason
Carson Bjarnason is still a promising goalie prospect, and his status amongst his peers shouldn’t change, but the first two goals he allowed are ones he undoubtedly wants back.
Othmann was left uncovered near the blue paint, but he managed to score with a punchy turnaround shot rather than off a crafty tap-in or snipe.
As for Roobroeck, his goal was more of a delayed catch-and-shoot effort from the right circle, but the weak wrister managed to get through Bjarnason’s right arm at the far post.
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We can chalk it up to bad luck and be fair, but those goals have consequences in real games. Fortunately, the Flyers were able to come from behind and win, and Bjarnason settled in nicely afterwards, standing tall against Gabe Perreault on a breakaway amongst other saves.
I think Bjarnason is most likely to start the season in the ECHL with the Reading Royals, assuming that Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov split AHL duties with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Stock up: Denver Barkey
Phantoms head coach John Snowden said that Denver Barkey plays like he’s 6-foot-4 after Friday night’s game, and for good reason.
The 20-year-old was all over the ice and constantly involved in the play, both offensively and defensively.
There was a moment where Barkey held on to an incredible Spencer Gill setup too long and over-passed where he should’ve shot, but his patience with the puck was remarkable and generated a ton of offense for the Flyers on the evening.
Barkey’s already decent foot speed should improve as he gets bigger and his legs get stronger, and it’s clear his standout junior performances with the OHL London Knights were no fluke.
Barkey’s playmaking really flashed against the Rangers, and I’m bullish on my Brad Marchand comparison.
It’s only one rookie game, but Flyers fans should feel really good about where this former third-round pick is headed.
Stock up: Samu Tuomaala and Jack Nesbitt
The line of Samu Tuomaala, Jack Nesbitt, and Alex Bump was phenomenal against the Rangers and basically never played defense due to their domination of puck possession.
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Bump is already earmarked for an NHL role and is really only needing to maintain his current trajectory at this point, so I’ve opted for Tuomaala and Nesbitt.
Playing as a weak-side left winger, Tuomaala used his legs effectively and was able to pressure Rangers puck-carriers all night long.
Offensively, the 22-year-old always got to the right spots to receive chances and was consistently aggressive and menacing with the puck on his stick.
Tuomaala isn’t likely to have a long-term role with the Flyers as a scorer; Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and perhaps Bobby Brink are all ahead of him at this time.
He’ll need to continue to adopt good defensive practices and further round out his game, like he’s shown already, to establish himself.
This was just a rookie game where he was one of the most experienced professional players on the ice, but Tuomaala is off to a great start to camp. Good for him.
As for Nesbitt, he’s a lot like Sean Couturier where he lumbers around the ice, but the IQ allows him to get to where he needs to go anyway.
I think Nesbitt has more offensive skills, and he didn’t look out of place against the Rangers at all. As a bonus, the 2025 first-round pick was mixing it up physically as well.
If the legs can become even average, Nesbitt could be a second-line center at the NHL level and a power play contributor in some capacity.
Stock down: Ty Murchison and Andre Mondoux
No Flyers defenseman really excelled against the Rangers aside from Ethan Samson and Gill, though the latter was paired with Ty Murchison for most of the night.
Murchison wasn’t bad, necessarily, but there wasn’t much there in terms of making a big hit or creating offensively. The Arizona State product did block some shots and disrupted plays with his stick, but was otherwise just there.
Flyers’ Jett Luchanko No Longer Guelph Storm Captain; OHL Trade Coming?
In an interesting new twist, top Philadelphia Flyers center prospect Jett Luchanko is no longer the captain of his junior team, the OHL Guelph Storm.
His performance could have been greater, but he’ll get another opportunity Saturday.
The same is true of camp invite Mondoux, who looked overmatched and struggled with his passing and pace of the game.
This is not a great surprise given he played only six OHL games last season, but it is a big opportunity potentially going to waste with Austin Moline and Oliver Bonk likely drawing in for Saturday’s game.
For Mondoux to truly get on an NHL team’s radar, a full OHL season should help him achieve that; he’s simply playing from behind compared to the other players on the ice.
Stock up: Nikita Grebenkin
The Flyers are going to have a hard time leaving Nikita Grebenkin off their opening night roster if this continues.
The overtime hero scored his goal off the bench, receiving a drop pass from Karsen Dorwart, driving at the net, and using a defender as a screen to beat Hugo Ollas from the high slot.
Aside from the shot, though, Grebenkin was always in the right position to support his teammates on the cycle, and his puck protection is top notch. You almost think of Michkov sometimes.
The 22-year-old Russian isn’t the most agile at 6-foot-2, but he did say that he dropped around 4 kilos (from 220-215 pounds to 210-205 pounds) this summer.
Grebenkin is moving smoother than I remember, and he played an all-around great game against the Rangers.
If Nick Deslauriers isn’t going to be an every-night player for the Flyers this season, the LW4 position is Grebenkin’s to lose as I currently see it.
