Philadelphia Flyers Top 25 Under 25, No. 23: Denver Barkey

No. 23: Denver Barkey

2022-23 League/Team(s): London Knights (OHL) 2022-23 Statistics: 61 GP, 22 G, 37 A, 59 PTS, 34 PIM Age: 18 Acquired In: 2023 NHL Draft - Round 3, Pick 95

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

In Barkey\'s second season with the OHL powerhouse London Knights, he was handed a lot more responsibility and played a key role despite only being 17. Barkey put up almost a point per game in Canada\'s premier junior league while playing against opposition that was as much as three years older than him. Barkey also turned up the heat during the Knights run to the OHL Championship finals. He scored 11 goals in 20 postseason games, ending up with a total of 24 points; the most of any 2005 born player in the OHL.

In addition to his play in the OHL, Barkey had a very productive tournament for Team Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, notching two goals and two assists in five games for the eventual gold medal winners.

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

Barkey has a chance to get a lot of points next year. With the Knights\' top two scorers aging out and moving to the pros, Barkey will be a staple on the top line, as well as PP1. His opportunities will grow exponentially, and he will be older, bigger, and more seasoned at the OHL level. With his natural playmaking ability and on-ice vision being his biggest strength, the added experience and confidence that comes with another year of development will allow him to become an even more important player for London, and I think Barkey leading the team in scoring is not out of the realm of possibility.

In an ideal world, he takes what he has already done last year, which is be one of the team\'s best offensive players, and expands that scope. I want Denver Barkey to flat out be the best forward, or even player, on his team next year. Because I think he has the tools to do it.

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

Barkey is still just a kid, he only just turned 17 in April, and has a lot more growing to do. However you slice it, he will have at least two or three more years of development ahead of him before we start talking about him making his NHL debut.

He does fit into a sweet spot in the potential rebuild timeline, being that he is entering the organization at a time where they already have some pieces further along in their development, especially on forward. As players like Tyson Foerster, Cutter Gauthier, and Morgan Frost enter their early to mid 20\'s, the hope is that players like Barkey will be starting to make noise in London or for the Phantoms, and make it impossible to ignore his play.

As long as Barkey can continue on his upward development trajectory, there\'s every chance that he could be 20 and fighting for a roster spot at training camp as a supplemental piece to some of the Flyers more seasoned prospects already in the system.

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

You can never really be certain of who is going to make it to the NHL and who isn\'t at this age, but the reason why Barkey is so intriguing is that he has a ton of skill that you can see. His size, (listed at 5\'9” and 154 pounds), is something that would\'ve probably held him back in past years. However, front offices around the league as a whole put less importance on physical attributes than they used to. So the future of Barkey will solely rely on how his skills will translate to professional hockey, and it seems like he has the type of puck skills and speed of decision making that the best play-drivers in the NHL all possess.

I think we\'ll see a lot this year from Barkey that will tell us everything we need to know about his future. If he goes out and looks outright dominant on a quality Knights team, chocked full of other NHL prospects, then it may be time to get a little excited.

However, even if he doesn\'t set the world alight next season, there\'s still a solid chance that Barkey can become a middle-6 scoring option that has the ability to play up and down the lineup if need be.

Anything else?

I am a little biased! I went to school in London and I have a soft spot for Knights, but I\'ve also heard some great things about Barkey, too. A lot of great NHLers have come through the Knights\' program, and not all of them were the Patrick Kane\'s and Mitch Marner\'s who were drafted high and were studs immediately. Since London always tries to compete for the Memorial Cup, they usually don\'t have many 17/18-year-olds who take on the amount of responsibility Barkey has, and that is a positive for me.

Also, watching Barkey play the power play with Oliver Bonk should be a very intriguing watch, if you\'re interested.

Talking Points