Flyers Barkey, Bonk Make Team Canada’s World Junior Roster

On Tuesday, it was announced Philadelphia Flyers prospects Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk made Team Canada’s preliminary World Junior Championships roster. This news comes one day after fellow Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier made Team USA’s World Juniors roster as well.

As far as actually making Team Canada’s roster, though, Barkey and Bonk are among the runts of the litter.

Only seven players on the 30-man roster were not in attendance for Team Canada’s summer meetings – Barkey and Bonk are two of them. The other five include their London Knights teammate, Easton Cowan, as well as Tanner Molendyk, Samuel St-Hilaire, Owen Allard, and Carson Rehkopf.

Now, the Philadelphia Flyers’ 2023 NHL Draft duo seems poised to represent the Orange and Black at the World Juniors this winter. They won’t be alone from the draft class either, because 2023 fourth-round pick Alex Ciernik will also be representing Slovakia in the tournament.

Flyers Have a Steal

Denver Barkey, in particular, has made some major waves in the scouting and prospect communities this season. The 18-year-old already has 15 goals, 20 assists, and 35 points in 26 games played. That puts him on pace for 39 goals, 52 assists, and 91 points in 68 games played. For reference Barkey scored only 22 goals, 37 assists, and 59 points in 61 games last season.

The 5-foot-9 forward was never an offensive dynamo, but if the production can come consistently at the next level, he’s going to be a massive piece of the Flyers’ future.

The same goes for Oliver Bonk, who’s on pace for 68 points in 68 games, despite scoring 40 in 67 last season. Bonk was drafted as more of a shutdown defenseman, but it would be a pleasant surprise for the Flyers if Bonk’s offensive game started to round out even before he reached the pros.

Between monitoring the status of the Philadelphia Flyers and watching the prospects, Danny Briere and co. are going to have quite a busy winter coming up.