The Philadelphia Flyers will be hosting a whole lot of their prospects during their rookie camp and it all kicks off on Thursday. For some young Flyers, this is familiar territory — another gathering of the kids before the actual NHL players come to join them later and start the big boy training camp — but for others they are under much more pressure to perform before they start crucial seasons for their development.
Looking at the entire roster for this rookie camp, some potential questions start to arise — and here are five of them.
Will Alex Bump continue to look a step above his peers?
During the short development camp that took place after the 2025 NHL Draft earlier this summer, Alex Bump looked head and shoulders above his peers. But, he should have.
The 21-year-old winger just went through two very high-end seasons with the Western Michigan Broncos and won a national championship to boot. Comparing him to the likes of 17-year-old Max Westergard who spent time in Under-18 and Under-20 leagues, or even someone like Jack Berglund who is just trying to graduate from Swedish junior hockey as well; feels unfair. Bump is miles ahead on the typical development journey and has been playing against larger, stronger, more grown-up men than most of his peers.
With saying that, Bump has another opportunity to do exactly that this weekend. Here he is again but this time it’s right before his first NHL training camp and people are expecting the young winger to be knocking on the door for a spot on the final Flyers roster. The work to do all that starts tomorrow and Bump almost needs to look dominant in this age group.
Can Jack Nesbitt impress enough to shed some pick criticism?
Speaking of the development camp, just a week or so after many people yelled online about how awful the Flyers’ decision to select Jack Nesbitt at 12th overall (after trading two late first-round picks to get the pick) was, the large centerman actually surprised some people. Even his biggest detractors recognized that as long as his skating is fixed, there is a very good NHL player in there.
Now that we’re inching towards a full season of hockey and not in the middle of summer, will Nesbitt be able to do some of the same? Maybe, could we see some progression on that skating after a couple months of off-season work down in hometown Sarnia, Ontario? Maybe, will Nesbitt have a couple of viral moments on the ice taken by a random beat reporter for the online critics to slow their roll? Here’s hoping.
How will the London duo look before first pro season?
While players like Nesbitt and other recent draftees are just going to do as much as they can to impress before eventually returning to juniors or back overseas — back to teams they know and are familiar with — a couple of key prospects are graduating and about to enter very important seasons. The London Knights duo of Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey are coming off a Memorial Cup win and about to play their first ever professional hockey games in a few weeks.
Barring some miracle (or several injuries to regular NHL players), both of these players will be down with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms playing for a much more developmental-focused coaching staff and hopefully with enough veteran players to find the transition somewhat simple. Before that mess, Barkey and Bonk will be taking the ice at rookie camp this week and a whole lot of eyes will be on them to see if they truly look like actual professionals and not just junior-level players.
How is Jett Luchanko’s health?
It’s not great when before anyone even steps on the ice, there’s an injury report. Thanks to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, we got an update about Jett Luchanko’s health.
Jett Luchanko was dealing with a groin issue this summer. It caused him to miss development camp in July.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) September 8, 2025
Flyers are hoping he's good for rookie camp, according to a source. They'll know if he's cleared when he sees team doctors/trainers this week.
As reported, Luchanko has been dealing with a groin injury all summer long. It kept him out of development camp, it kept him from participating in the World Junior Summer Showcase, and now it might potentially affect his level of activity for this week. Not the best news when a good portion of people are expecting him to be on the NHL roster when the Flyers open their season.
There’s nothing more to it — Luchanko will do his Luchanko things of having the most active stick on the ice and skating at lightspeed, but he just needs to be on the ice.
Will there be a surprise performance?
Sure, we can always think of the very top guys and what they will do during internal prospect camps like these, but what about the rest? Is there someone in this group that will scratch and claw their way to have their name recognized at the same level of some of these players? And who are the top candidates?
The potential surprises really are separated by tiers. Samu Tuomaala could be a player that puts him up with Alex Bump to compete as the best winger of the week as someone in that older age range. Or, just maybe, a Matthew Gard or Nathan Quinn suddenly get a couple solid days of work in and we’re all considering them draft day steals.
That’s the best thing about this time of year. Anything could be possible! Who knows what will happen?
All we can hope for is some of these questions being answered.
