A few seasons ago, Flyers coach John Tortorella was reading Bobby Brink the riot act far more often than anyone would’ve preferred. Brink was trying to generate offense. Often it came at a price, namely cheating or not putting in the work in the defensive zone away from the puck. Tortorella quipped that Brink didn’t know how to spell the word “check,” let alone execute one. However, Brink turned a corner, and became one of the more dependable wingers on the Flyers. Along with Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster, they were one of the most consistent, hardest-working units Philadelphia had the last few seasons. Brink ended up with 12 goals and 29 assists for 41 points in 2024-25. A very strong season for the third-line forward.
However, the Flyers still had a lot of prospects in the pipeline. In hindsight, Brink probably would’ve needed a huge 2025-26 in order to keep his spot on the Flyers roster. Yet with a lot of wingers on the horizon, including Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone, Brink’s status with Philadelphia might have been already written on the wall. With another contract extension looming as a restricted free agent, the forward was looking more and more like the odd man out. And finally, at the deadline, Brink was shipped off to his home state of Minnesota, sent at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman (and former first-round draft pick) David Jiricek. (Note: The stats below are only for Brink’s 55 games with Philadelphia, not his entire 2025-26 season.)
| Games played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots On Goal | Shooting Percentage | Average TOI |
| 55 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 20 | 91 | 14.4 | 15:29 |
The season started well for Brink, earning three points in his first three games of the season. He was held without a shot only three times in October while having three power play points, including a multi-point game against Pittsburgh which was a 3-2 shootout victory over the Penguins. Brink ended the month with three goals and four assists for seven points. A decent start to a season under new coach Rick Tocchet and perhaps a season where Brink would prove himself worthy of sticking around.
Unfortunately, October turned into November, and here is where Brink made far more of a case to be tradeable than he did making a case to stay. He played 14 games and registered three goals and no assists. He scored a pair in a 5-4 shootout win over Montreal on Nov. 4, but then had just a lone goal against the Devils on Nov. 22. The ice time also began taking a dip, with Brink seeing his playing time being under 15 minutes far more the longer November went on, including just 12:17 against the Islanders on Nov. 26. If Brink wasn’t proving himself on a regular basis on the scoresheet, that margin he had for error became far thinner to be part of Philadelphia’s future.
| (5v5) Goals For % | Expected Goals For % | Corsi For % | High Danger Attempts For % | PDO |
| 47.92 | 50.38 | 49.11 | 52.17 | 0.993 |
As bad as November was, December was Brink’s best month of the season with four goals and five assists for nine points. He also had three multi-point games (twice against Buffalo and one against Vancouver). It seemed to be a bounce back month despite averaging just under fifteen minutes a game. That ice time diminished somewhat when the Flyers brought up Denver Barkey just before the Christmas break. Barkey’s play-making ability looked far more developed than Brink’s as the season moved into 2026, resulting in Brink ending up with three goals and a helper for all of January. Of course, that point total was hampered when Brink took a heavy hit in a game against Anaheim, which sidelined him roughly two weeks.
February and March were basically subpar, abbreviated months. The Olympic break gave Brink like nearly every other NHLer a chance to reset. By the time he returned after the break, it seemed the wheels were in motion to see if Brink could be moved. Two of his final three games with Philadelphia saw him with a lot of ice time (20:47 against Toronto and 19:19 against Utah), possibly as a means to showcase him to other general managers. Minnesota bit and Brink ended his Flyers tenure, scoring 36 goals to go with 58 assists for 94 points in 201 games for Philadelphia.
| (5v5) Points Per 60 | Primary Points Per 60 | Shots On Goal Per 60 | Shot Attempts Per 60 | Expected Goals Per 60 |
| 1.53 | 1.18 | 5.86 | 10.44 | 0.68 |
Did Brink live up to expectations?
The short answer is clearly no. Otherwise, had he lived up to expectations or out-did himself, Bobby Brink would still probably be in a Flyers uniform heading into 2026-27. But there’s more to it than that. Brink basically put in a season that was expected of him, roughly in the 40-point area for a season and delivering some quality third-line minutes. He did what was expected of him, and neither Tocchet nor Briere had anything bad to say about the guy on his way out of town. The forward probably did enough during the season to ensure that he would be dealt at the trade deadline, or that a team like Minnesota looking for depth towards a long playoff run could make Brink useful.
The fact the line he grew accustomed to was broken up to provide more balance indicated that Brink might have been on borrowed time going back to October. However, in his three-quarters of a season with Philadelphia, he wasn’t extremely good or bad, outside of December’s rather paltry funk. Brink put in a Bobby Brink year, one that wasn’t teeming with highlights, but one that didn’t have him as a healthy scratch.
What can we expect from Brink next season?
Although Brink is in Minnesota, and played a few playoff games with the Wild, his future is still probably as unclear there as it was with Philadelphia. Given the Wild’s situation with the amount of unrestricted free agents and some restricted free agents like himself, Brink will most likely find him with the club for the next year or two.
Meanwhile, the Flyers’ acquisition in the Brink trade, David Jiricek, is one of the more interesting talking points heading into the 2026-27 training camp. Jiricek seems to have a knack for helping a power play improve. That’s music to the ears of all concerned with the Flyers. What might be an issue is that Jiricek will have to make the club coming out of training camp just from a risk assessment angle. Jiricek would have to clear waivers in order to be sent down to Lehigh Valley to play with the Phantoms. If he’s placed on waivers, he could be claimed by another team and make the departure of Brink essentially for absolutely nothing. However, it’s a risk the Flyers are willing to take if Jiricek’s development can head in the right direction.
How do we grade Brink’s 2025-26 season?
In the end, Bobby Brink was the victim of a numbers game and simply reaching a rung in his development that essentially looks like the highest he’ll reach. His work ethic and willingness to win puck battles was a sharp contrast from his early years with Philadelphia. And he could help out occasionally from an offensive standpoint. However, Brink was going to be hard-pressed to maintain a regular roster spot given how Barkey, Bump, and Martone appeared in their initial stints with Philadelphia.
Brink’s jersey number didn’t need much dusting off as Garrett Wilson assumed the number in the three games he played for the Flyers late in the season. Overall, Brink played as well as one could’ve expected given the circumstances.
Grade: C
