Oliver Bonk’s development arc has been an exponential growth. Since he was drafted in 2023 (and was something of an unexpected player to be taken with that 22nd overall pick) Bonk has been on an absolute tear – in his D+1 season, his second full season with the London Knights, Bonk made almost a 30-point jump in production from his draft year, putting up a total of 24 goals and 67 points in 60 games played, finishing the season as the fifth highest producer among defensemen in the whole of the OHL.
Much of this came from a second-half of the season surge, of which Bonk said “I think a big part of it was that power play started clicking very well. It helps when you get a one-timer from five feet away also, it helps, but great, great power play. But also I got more rein from my coach, more trust from my coaches to, you know, kind of try your offensive side more.” What Bonk is alluding to is what many of the more online Flyers fans already know of as the Bumper Bonk phenomenon, when Bonk was moved down from playing the point on the power play to play the bumper role in the slot, and in turn saw his production explode.
And for Bonk, this was a good change of pace, not just for the boost in production that it gave him, but also for the chance to play at a different role, with a different approach. “You kind of get a different look at stuff,” he notes, “you’re not the guy trying to shoot the puck, you’re the guy trying to tip it and get rebounds and stuff like that sometimes. So, it’s a good kind of alternate view of it.”
But Bonk’s last season wasn’t just about putting up points and turning heads. It certainly helped to build his confidence, to be sure, but Bonk’s game has matured a good bit along the way as well. He sees it himself, and it’s coming through clearly for the members of the development staff, like Riley Armstrong, who have seen him throughout the course of the season, and now again back on the ice at Development Camp:
“I think his confidence really shows out here. It looks like he’s played pro hockey already, the way he just handles himself in the locker room and out on the ice. You know, throughout the course of the year, he never put a teammate in a bad spot when he was breaking a puck out. And then I think throughout the course of the year, you know, Bumper Bonk got put into play there and I think his confidence kind of grew being on the power play and scoring a lot of goals in that area. I just believe he knows who he is as a player. He’s so smart, covers for teammates well, breaks pucks out well, and he’s rewarded with the offensive opportunity at the end of the day.”
That self-awareness is rare in players of his age, with his pedigree, and in a lot of ways, it’s refreshing. And as far as what he sees in himself as a player, when asked, Bonk had this to say:
”I just think, overall smart player, two-way obviously you don’t… not just defense not just offense, both ways you’ve gotta be good, but I think just the biggest part about me is smarts and using your IQ and not the biggest not the fastest not the strongest, but I think I can always use my head to outsmart guys and get better position and stuff like that.”
Worth noting, though, is the piece that’s missing in the game that both Bonk and Armstrong describe: scoring a ton of goals playing in the bumper spot on the power play. Because Bonk and the members of the organization are realistic here, the Bumper Bonk thing was a cool novelty in Juniors, but it’s not a realistic piece of his professional projection, and our expectations should be managed accordingly. That said, that doesn’t mean that the offensive potential is going to wholly evaporate for Bonk, the rest of his game is too good for that to happen. Armstrong added:
”I definitely think once he takes strides to come up here, we talked about that, that’s where he knows ‘I’m just gonna break pucks out, I know my game, I’m gonna shut down the other team’s top players and kind of let the forwards do their thing.’ I think the one thing that he is really good at though is jumping up into the play and [understanding] when to go. I think he’s gonna be able to create his own opportunities once the 5-on-5 games starts [to click].”
The Flyers are taking the patient approach to development with Bonk, and while they may think he’s not too far away from being ready to jump into NHL action, they certainly aren’t going to rush him there just for the sake of it either. That said, while the Flyers seem pretty sure that he’s going to head back to London next season, Bonk isn’t aiming to make that decision easy on them:
”You’ve got to come in believing you’re gonna make the team. It’s probable that I got back, it’s not… they didn’t tell me for sure that you’re going back, they didn’t tell me for sure that you’re staying here, but I think you gotta just put it in your head that you want to stay here, you gotta not lose any battles, you gotta outbattle every single guy, do your best, because if you already think you’re going back you’re probably gonna end up back there.”
Bonk’s determination to show well to the coaches and members of the front office couldn’t be more clear, and that’s going to make for a very interesting training camp this fall.
