The Philadelphia Flyers had more than a few young guys take steps forward this season. One of the players who perhaps surprised the most was Denver Barkey.
Barkey was making the transition to the professional level after a few successful seasons with the London Knights in the OHL. Everyone knew that Barkey had the drive and hockey smarts to compete at the next level, but his smaller stature sparked plenty of question marks about his ability to hold his own in the AHL, let alone in the NHL.
The 5-foot-10 forward was called up to make his NHL debut in December, a lot earlier than anyone expected. While the plan may have been to just bring Barkey up for a game or two to get through the Christmas break, he showed that his bite was as big as his bark from the get-go and never looked back.
Barkey picked up a pair of assists in his debut at Madison Square Garden and scored his first NHL goal a few weeks later in Edmonton. He was immediately a player that Rick Tocchet could utilize anywhere in the lineup, and that was shown in the playoffs with Barkey being used as a center for the final few games against the Hurricanes — even with top prospect Jett Luchanko getting into the lineup.
The rookie ended up recording 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 43 games in the regular season, and added a goal and an assist in 10 playoff games.
Coming into the season, Barkey didn’t necessarily think that he’d play many games with the Flyers, at least not many meaningful games. However, he became a key cog in the team’s lineup, and gained valuable experience against the Penguins and Hurricanes in the playoffs.
“I think getting that playoff experience gives you a taste of what it takes to win at this level,” Barkey said on Tuesday.
While Barkey took his bumps throughout the season, he’s taking those as a positive, as signals of what he needs to work on moving forward.
“Now I know what I need to work on this summer in order to have more success and continue to grow as a player,” he said. “The first thing I think is just getting heavier, still, and stronger. I want to get a quicker first three steps, be able to cut back on guys, and get more space for myself so I can have the puck for a bit longer and make those plays.”
Going from the OHL to the AHL is one thing. Going from the AHL to the NHL is another. And the Stanley Cup Playoffs are a different beast entirely. Barkey being able to hold his own and take notes on what he needs to improve can go a long way for the youngster.
Denver Barkey wants to be known as a verstile player
Barkey will be training hard in the offseason, even if he doesn’t know if he’ll be used as a winger or center.
“I train as a forward,” he laughed when asked about his future position. “I take pride in being a versatile player that the coach can trust to put anywhere. I was fortunate enough to play some center in London, so I knew what to do. And we’ve done enough video and stuff like that; I knew what the center’s role was here. So, to have that opportunity, I just looked at it as an opportunity and something to grab a hold of and show that I can play that position as well.”
Keith Jones, whom Barkey called a great hockey mind, helped give Tocchet the nudge to use the rookie at center, and he didn’t let him down.
Now, the organization is going to need to decide what its plan is with Barkey moving forward.
“We’re going to do our evaluations with (Danny Briere) and (Keith Jones), and we’ll go through that. But that’s a great question because when I threw him in there, I wasn’t quite sure what you’re going to get,” Tocchet said on Wednesday. “I think he handled himself really well.
“Is it good that he’s a guy that can play both? Absolutely. To have that hybrid guy, that’s a luxury. Do I really want to screw around with a kid and bounce him around left wing, center every other night? No, I don’t think that’s healthy for him.”
The Flyers have a few players who have bounced around between wing and center. Most notably, Trevor Zegras started the season in a hybrid role with Christian Dvorak before centering his own line in the final months of the season. Noah Cates also moved from center to wing at the NHL level.
No matter what the team decides, Tocchet knows that Barkey can handle whatever is thrown his way.
“If there is a guy that you can bounce around every once in a while, he’s the guy. His hockey IQ is outstanding. His work ethic is outstanding. And he’s a guy that can really develop into a really frontline player. I really believe that.”
