Philadelphia Flyers Top 25 Under 25: No. 11 Bobby Brink

No. 11: Bobby Brink

2022-23 League/Team(s): Lehigh Valley Phantoms, American Hockey League (AHL) 2022-23 Statistics: 41 GP, 12 G, 16 A, 28 PTS (Playoffs: 3 GP, 1 A) Age: 22 Acquired In: 2019 NHL Draft – 2nd round, 34th overall

How did Brink’s 2022-23 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?

It’s hard to truly go one way or the other on stock watch since Brink’s season was altered before it even began as he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip in late July 2022, causing him to miss nearly three months of the season as a result. Upon return, Brink eased his way back to action in the AHL with the Phantoms and chipped in 28 points over 41 games. Though production was there for the former second-round pick, he didn’t quite feel as though he’s returned to full strength until a little over a year after the surgery.

Given the lengthy time off and the severity of both the injury and the surgery, it’s fair to grade Brink’s 2022-23 on a bit of a curve.

When he returned we saw plenty of what Brink can do with the puck on his stick, dishing out assists and seeing the ice with vision and foresight. He also wasn’t shy about breaking out some of the dangles and skillset that made him the 34th overall pick in 2019 out of the University of Denver even as an undersized forward without blazing speed.

Though the sample size was only a half of a season, Brink showed the same creativity and skills that he had prior to the surgery that made him an intriguing prospect for the Flyers.

What are we expecting from Brink this season? What should we be looking for from him?

Though admittedly not back to 100% last season, Brink has talked about how good he feels ahead of training camp and should be challenging for an NHL roster spot. He’s proven that he can score in the AHL and while he doesn’t have elite physical traits, there’s no doubt he has the puck skills and hockey IQ to succeed at the professional level.

The Flyers’ system lacks high-end talent but boasts a bunch of fringe guys like Brink who could pan out and provide the offensive upside that every organization covets in today’s NHL. The question will be whether Brink turns into another smaller stature success story because the skill outweighs the physical traits or he becomes another cautionary tale of over drafting skilled players who simply can’t hang against bigger, faster, stronger players.

A great outcome for both Brink and the Flyers would be him making the roster out of camp — or at least being one of the first call ups of the season. The Flyers could use all the creativity and scoring they can get and Brink can provide both. If he can’t stick around with the big club that’ll mean that he doesn’t produce enough to standout among other borderline NHL roster talents and would be a bad sign given his offensive pedigree and the Flyers’ general need for players in that mold. It would also signal another high draft pick that didn\'t pan out, further highlighting the organization\'s overall poor usage of resources all over the place for essentially a decade.

How does Brink fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be a part of the next good Flyers team?

Essentially Brink boils down to a lottery ticket in the Flyers’ rebuild. Though assistant general manager Brent Flahr is still around, the man who ultimately made Brink a second-round pick is gone and new Flyers general manager Danny Briere has already proved he won’t be loyal to Chuck Fletcher’s guys.

Brink’s offensive acumen is intriguing and there’s no doubt he can make magic happen with the puck on his stick, he also already didn’t have much physical upside even before having a major surgery in his early 20’s. That’s a bad mix with an NHL game that is only getting faster and could potentially stunt Brink from becoming an NHL regular let alone an impact player chosen in the first 40 picks of his draft year.

He more than fits the Flyers’ timeline, but the question is more whether or not he’ll end up being good enough to not get passed by other talent as they dive to the bottom of the standings and accumulate premium draft picks and prospects moving forward.

What do we think Brink’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?

As a smaller skilled player, teams are always looking to hit on these types of guys after the first round hoping to find the next Tyler Johnson or even in the best case the next Briere. Brink might be a bit of both of those guys, possessing the top-end skill of Briere but a body more in the mold of Johnson.

While Briere is a borderline Hockey Hall of Famer, Johnson had four 20-plus goal seasons at his peak while never being close to the biggest, fastest or strongest player on the ice during his 11-year career. Brink has a similar skillset to Johnson though without the positional versatility.

Even if Brink ends up being half of Johnson, that’d be a great outcome for the Flyers as they’d have a useful player for the better part of a decade that could chip in double-digit goals and then some.

Anything else?

Even returning from hip surgery Brink was a force at times with the Phantoms, providing several highlight-reel plays.

https://twitter.com/thelibertyyell/status/1640140085763899392?s=61&t=HeQYjCKRiwX6PX6yQn3X5w Shootout winner.

https://twitter.com/thelibertyyell/status/1649220386519695360?s=61&t=HeQYjCKRiwX6PX6yQn3X5w Steal and dish.

https://twitter.com/nastyknuckles/status/1611549261715365888?s=61&t=HeQYjCKRiwX6PX6yQn3X5w Quick release, pinpoint accuracy.

https://twitter.com/thelibertyyell/status/1637598059029839872?s=61&t=HeQYjCKRiwX6PX6yQn3X5w Filthy move.

How we voted at No. 11 and for Bobby Brink.

Talking Points