Denver Barkey wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan. He began his first professional season this year in the American Hockey League with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, after a storied junior career with the London Knights compelled the Flyers to take him with 95th overall pick in 2023.
After the diminutive forward put up 16 points in his first 26 games in the AHL, and Tyson Foerster went down with injury in early-December, Barkey was one of the names called up to try and fill the gaping hole left on the wing. Despite his inexperience at the highest level, Barkey’s potential offensive skillset was favoured over more conservative names like Anthony Richard and Jacob Gaucher, and got the chance to start his NHL career a little bit earlier than anyone really expected.
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on Goal | Shooting % | Average T.O.I |
| 43 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 43 | 11.6% | 13:24 |
And from game one, Barkey was on the ball. He tallied two assists in his NHL debut, a 5-4 shootout loss to the Rangers, and never really looked back.
While he did go pointless for five games after that stellar debut before getting back on the score sheet with his first NHL goal against the Oilers five games later, Barkey never really looked like he was out of place. As opposed to other rookie forwards, who may need to score in order to really make an impact on the game, Barkey demonstrated exceptional details for an undersized 20-year old with only a handful of pro games under their belt. He was unafraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice, and with the Flyers already existing glut of wingers even despite the Foerster injury, Barkey was called upon to play in some less than ideal circumstances. And most nights, it was hard to tell that he was a rookie at all.
| 5v5 Points per 60 | Primary Points per 60 | Shots on goal per 60 | Shot Attempts per 60 | Expected goals per 60 |
| 1.56 | 1.56 | 4.48 | 8.01 | 0.60 |
Barkey’s 17 points in 43 games ranked him 17th amongst 2023 draftees, in front of names like Nate Danielson and Gavin Brindley, even with the latter having played more games this year. Barkey’s 55% Corsi For percentage during the regular season was the fourth-best mark of any Flyer, only trailing Porter Martone in his short end of season cameo, Trevor Zegras, and Matvei Michkov. His On-Ice expected goals for percentage was even better, with his 62.6% mark only trailing Martone and therefore ranked the best of any Flyer who played more than 20 games in the year.
Barkey was a sparkplug in nearly every game he played, and even when he wasn’t directly producing offense, he was able to effect the game, which at such a young age, was extremely impressive to watch.
| (5v5) Goals For % | Expected Goals For % | Corsi For % | High-Danger Attempts For% | PDO |
| 46.51% | 62.6% | 55.35% | 62.04% | 0.961 |
His most common linemates on the season were Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett, with the trio playing 165 minutes together primarily in the New Year. And again, the positive advanced metrics seem to follow Barkey around; the expected goals for percentage of the Barkey-Couturier-Tippett line throughout their time together in the regular season was a stellar 64.8%, far and away the best mark of any line on the team.
While advanced stats don’t mean everything, it is very encouraging that they back up the reality that we saw on the ice. Barkey was always buzzing around the offensive zone, and there were nights, especially when the season got a little dire prior to the Olympic break, where it seemed like he was part of a small contingent of players that still had some jump in their step. He was resilient, intelligent, and consistent, even when his minutes would dip.
Did Barkey live up to expectations?
Some backstory: I am one of the bigger Denver Barkey fans you will find on the internet. I went to school in London while Barkey was making his debut with the Knights, and his skilled and surprisingly strong game was magnetic every time you watched. His 102 point season solidified him as an NHL prospect for me, and being named captain the year after only further cemented that assertion. I was thrilled when he fell to the Flyers in the third round, and always felt that he was going to play a real NHL role someday.
I say all that to say this: He surpassed even my lofty expectations this season. When the year began, the Flyers had a group of wingers that left little room for anyone to break in immediately. With Zegras on the wing and a healthy Foerster to start the year, there was really no feasible path for Barkey to make the NHL unless there were some catastrophic injury issues. Barkey started well enough in the AHL to put him in position to get a cup of coffee when Foerster exited the picture, and once he got his chance, he never let it go. Once Rick Tocchet started playing him somewhat frequently, Barkey made it increasingly hard to not continue on that path. There really were no true growing pains for Barkey in the way of bad turnovers or looking a step behind, maybe all the way up until the playoff series against Pittsburgh.
Playing in the NHL whatsoever would have been a relative success for Barkey in his first pro year. Instead, I guess he’ll have to settle for scoring his first career playoff goal at home against the Penguins, and being trusted to play center in the NHL playoffs as a rookie, after being drafted as a winger.
While the expected numbers obviously aren’t everything, it does suggest that Barkey is indeed doing all the right things that will lead to a successful NHL career. And he did it right out of the gate.
What can we expect from Barkey next season?
Barkey will undoubtedly have a bigger role next season after his surprisingly effective rookie year, and has a chance to become one of the more trusted wingers in Rick Tocchet’s system due to his tenacity and ability to stay in the right spot. Additionally, as the Flyers continue to try and search for an answer to their power play woes, the internal options for improvement could include a healthy dose of Barkey, too.
He has seemingly earned the trust of the organization, exacerbated by the fact that Keith Jones was one of the people who championed trying him at center, and that’s the biggest hurdle for a lot of young players. It looks like Barkey has found a foothold, and it’ll be interesting to see what he can do when his T.O.I starts to creep closer to 15 minutes a night. One thing is for sure though, I won’t doubt his potential any longer; he has legitimate 20-goal potential, alongside a really determined and professional mindset that should keep him focused on maintaining a detail oriented process. He’s the type of player I could see killing penalties randomly somewhere down the line, just because the coach feels comfortable with him out there. And if this year is at all indicative of the near-future, that type of trust could be formed as soon as next season.
How do we grade Barkey’s 2025-26 season?
I will reiterate this point again: if you told an average Philadelphian that Denver Barkey would score a playoff goal at home against the Penguins before his rookie season began, 60% of them would probably ask you who that is. Barkey has leapt beyond what was reasonably expected from him this year, so much so that even if he had just stayed in the AHL and put up 40-50 points before coming to debut with the big club around the same time Martone or Alex Bump did, it would have still been enough for a positive grade.
He checked all the boxes, and even accomplished a couple more goals on the back end that he wasn’t even expected to. There were multiple times throughout the season where he took part in a shift that changed the momentum of a period of game as a whole, whether it be through dogged work on the forecheck or a well-worked goal. Is there some crazy world out there in the universe where he makes the team out of camp and rips off a 30 goal season? Maybe, but realistically, Barkey essentially securing himself a spot on next year’s roster while also getting 10 playoff games under his belt is a pretty remarkable return for a first-year pro.
Grade: A
