NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After being drafted by the Flyers in the first round Wednesday night, Oliver Bonk sent a text message to his London teammate Denver Barkey.
He had a hunch.
“He’s like, ‘I’ve got a feeling Philly’s going to take you tomorrow,'” Barkey said.
Good call, kid.
The Flyers grabbed Barkey in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. The 95th overall pick was the 79th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, while TSN’s Craig Button had him as the 50th-best player in the draft during May.
Barkey is a small center, standing at 5-foot-9, 155 pounds, but he combats what he lacks in size with playmaking and competitiveness.
“Barkey’s a really exciting player,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said. “He’s undersized obviously, but he has all the traits to make it for a small player with his skill and high compete and the motor.”
As a teammate of Bonk’s with the OHL’s Knights, Barkey put up 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) and a plus-18 mark in 61 games this season. He had an excellent postseason run as London went to the OHL championship but lost to Peterborough in six games. Through 20 playoff games, Barkey recorded 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) and a plus-12 rating.
He’s a fan of Lightning center Brayden Point’s game.
“Just a really skilled, fast forward, but really gritty and competitive,” Barkey said. “He’s not afraid to go in the corners and use his body. I try to play similar to him.
“He’s not the biggest, but he plays bigger than he is. He’s just a really competitive human being.”
Barkey knew well about Flyers general manager Danny Briere.
“He was another smaller guy in the NHL who found a lot of success,” he said. “Being able to be around him and learn from him will be cool.”
With 10 total picks in the 2023 draft, the Flyers took five forwards. Barkey was their second one after No. 7 overall selection Matvei Michkov.
“We’ve talked about how, in the organization, we wanted more pure skill, more talent to make plays and score goals,” Briere said. “There’s a little bit of that in there, I think it was time to kind of reload in that department. If some of those guys hit, it could be great. But you just never know. It’s tough to project, but we’re going to give them all the opportunities to be the best they can be.”
Barkey appreciated Bonk’s hunch.
“Pretty fortunate that I’ve got a teammate to go to Philadelphia with when camp comes around,” Barkey said. “Just super exciting for both of us.”