When the Philadelphia Flyers called up Denver Barkey to make his NHL debut in mid-December, no one was really sure how he’d fare or how long he’d be with the big club. The 5-foot-9 forward is in his first year of professional hockey, putting up 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in 26 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
But Barkey made an immediate impact in the Flyers’ overtime loss at Madison Square Garden, picking up two primary assists in a 23-second span while looking the part of an NHL player.
Barkey was snakebitten a bit during his next five games, but continued to make an impact away from the puck and with his checking. He then finally got his first NHL goal on Saturday afternoon in Edmonton.
Not all goals are created equal, and Barkey’s first was one to remember. He started the play behind his own net and sped down the middle of the ice to redirect home a great passing play by Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett.
Rick Tocchet loves Denver Barkey’s complete game
The scoring is all well and good, but it’s Barkey’s 200-foot play that has really caught the eye of head coach Rick Tocchet, among others.
“If you look at the play where he scored — obviously, the tip, the play to him backdoor scoring, that’s awesome –, but I look at what happened in our end. That play dictates the whole thing,” Tocchet told the media Monday after practice. “He’s willing to play that 200-foot game to get that. That’s really the ultimate, as a coach, you want to see. He’s just not looking, playing a half-ice game, he’s playing a full game.
Tocchet recalled Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones telling him about Barkey’s hockey IQ, and seeing it when watching him and Oliver Bonk, who scored his first pro goal over the weekend, with the London Knights.
The diminutive Barkey has to use that IQ to his advantage in puck battles and in the corners.
“He’s not scared to go into a corner. He’s a small guy, but he just goes in reckless sometimes,” Tocchet continued. “He doesn’t care. He’s got a lot of courage. That’s what I see.”
Barkey has joined forces with Couturier and Tippett to form one of the best Flyers’ lines over the last few weeks. Their 73.8% of the expected goals share at 5-on-5 is the third-best in the league among lines with more than 50 minutes together, per MoneyPuck, and now he’s on the board.
“You’re still evaluating. He’s putting some good games together,” Tocchet said when asked about Barkey’s future. “It’s a heavy schedule. It’s different than junior, and the minors a little bit. We’re seeing does he wear down and things like that.”
While Barkey is doing what he can on the ice, the Flyers have to throw him a bone as well.
“Then there’s a time, too, you can’t have a guy living out of a suitcase. The mental aspect, too. I don’t know when that’s going to happen, but I’m conscious of that,” Tocchet said. “I’m not a fan of a young kid sitting, whether he’s in a hotel or whatever, living out of a suitcase. It’s tough. You can do it short-term, but I don’t think you can do it long-term. But that’s something Danny, myself, and Jonesy will talk about.”
We’ll see how Barkey handles the grind of the NHL with the Flyers’ schedule ramping up over the next month ahead of the Olympic break. Starting on Tuesday night against the Ducks, they play 14 games in the next 26 days. That includes two back-to-backs and a lot of travel.
The good news for the Flyers is that they have a few players who can rotate in for Barkey or other forwards. Carl Grundstrom has become a staple in the lineup, and Garnet Hathaway recently returned for Nikita Grebenkin. Those three are more than capable of filling in for a night or two if Barkey needs a breather.
For now, Barkey is doing everything asked of him by the Flyers at the NHL level. Unless he hits a wall, there’s a solid chance that he doesn’t play in an AHL game for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms again this season.
