Takeaways from Flyers 2025 Development Camp

That\'s a wrap, folks! Another Flyers Development Camp is officially in the books, but before we move into the true doldrums of the summer, we\'ll give it a proper sendoff and dig into some of the standout performances and storylines to come out of this camp. It certainly was an exciting one, even with some of the biggest name prospects held off the ice, so let\'s get right into it.

Alex Bump is too good to be here

In every Development Camp, it seems to work out that there\'s at least one player present who manages to pull himself head and shoulders above the rest of the group, making a strong case that he\'s too good to be at this camp, and this year, no question about it, that was Alex Bump.

Across the board, Bump showed well -- he was a standout in the skills practices, and he stepped up in a big way in the game settings, with a goal just about as soon as he hit the ice for the 3-on-3 scrimmages, and two (arguably three, as he had one that wasn\'t counted but looked to be in from our vantage point upstairs) during the 5-on-5 scrimmage. There\'s still some work to be done, but he\'s already looking stronger and more polished than he did even when we last saw him in Lehigh Valley in the spring. And, what\'s more, he stepped into a leadership role in this camp, not just as often the first player to demonstrate a drill after the coaches explained it, but, as he said, stepping up to help make the new players in camp feel seen and comfortable, as the older players did for him in his first camp.

And maybe this shouldn\'t be a surprise, all things considered. After all, Bump is one of the older players in this camp, he\'s coming off his third season of college hockey and a National Championship win, and he\'s already got some AHL experience under his belt. But showing up and looking dominant in this camp setting is a good first step to where Bump wants things to be heading -- towards a strong training camp and a spot earned on the Flyers\' roster. This camp might well be more about teaching than evaluating, but Bump seemed to come in on a mission to turn heads and begin his audition early, and he certainly accomplished that.

Cole Knuble\'s skating continues to improve

Knuble came into camp, despite a very solid sophomore season at Notre Dame having just wrapped up, flying a bit under the radar, but very quickly ended up making his presence known. Most immediately apparent in Knuble were the strides (sorry) made in his skating. His last camp already saw him make progress from his first, and now for the second year in a row, he came in looking a bit quicker and more agile. Now, it still hasn\'t gotten him to the point of being outright speedy, but he\'s been well able to turn what was once an outright weakness in his game, and gotten himself comfortably into average skater territory. And even that move up has been supporting the rest of his game nicely -- Knuble\'s game is a high-effort one on the whole, something that was well on display in both the battle drills and the scrimmages, but now the added bit of quickness has made that effort even more executable. He brought a bit of flash through camp in the playmaking department as well, but what really stood out was the consistent sort of dog on a bone mentality he brought in his game. And now that things are coming together for him more, he seems primed for a big year in college, and he\'s looking a lot more projectable for an NHL role in the future.

Nesbitt made a nice introduction

If there was one player who came into this camp with a lot of baggage, it was Nesbitt. By now, we\'re well aware of the discourse surrounding him -- the cost to move up in the draft to get him, whether that move up constituted a reach -- but Nesbitt came into camp seemingly eager to push all of that aside and make a positive impression on his new team (and its fans), and this was something which he, to a degree, did accomplish. In the drill settings, Nesbitt often seemed methodical, really taking in what the development staff had given him to work on and focusing hard on it, which was encouraging to see. He also made sure to close things out on an undeniably flashy note, as he helped to carry his team to victory in the scrimmage -- scoring the goal to get them on the board when they were down 3-0, and then ultimately potting the game winner in overtime, putting those good hands in tight on full display.

Now, it wasn\'t a perfect showing, but it was an informative debut on the Flyers\' ice. Most notably -- and unsurprisingly -- Nesbitt\'s skating is indeed very much a work in progress, and that came across in both the mechanics of the stride, but also on the power side. And the latter part of that equation should make that improvement process feel a little less daunting. It did become clear throughout this week that Nesbitt remains a bit physically underdeveloped, and a good portion of the positive gains in his skating will come as he continues to add more strength and fill out his frame. It\'s still going to be a long process to get him to where he needs to be, but it feels a little less scary after seeing in-person just where he\'s at.

Physicality on full display

The Flyers made a clear emphasis on adding size to the pipeline through this draft, and if anyone was wondering if that might somehow change the tone of this next Development Camp when everyone was brought together, the answer was a resounding yes.

Nesbitt was throwing the body around a bit, as was fellow new-draftee Jack Murtagh, as well as Shane Vansaghi, who made himself very well known as a physical presence. The drill settings can be a bit challenging to really show one\'s full intensity in the same way it would manifest in the game settings, but Vansaghi still approached them going full tilt (and then somehow went even fuller tilt come the actual game settings).

Ladies and gentlemen, Shane Vansaghi. pic.twitter.com/vxguwWOd4F

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 5, 2025

Not to be outdone, though, some of the returnees continued to showcase this part of their games as well. For one, Hunter McDonald certainly brought his usual intensity and physicality (even at one point in the 3-on-3 tournament looking like he might be looking to square off with Spencer Gill, after they exchanged some bumps and slashes), and Noah Powell, who also showed some flashes of more polished playmaking along with a powerful shot, also did not shy away from engaging physically in the games.

Noah Powell with a big hit on Alex Bump. pic.twitter.com/mtc5uX1Dn7

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) July 5, 2025

The flip side of all of this, though, is what really brings the overall positive impression of this group together. That is, while each of these players certainly made their respective physical edges known, they also each brought more than that, be it impactful checking, playmaking, or some clutch scoring in the games. Because being a bruiser is all well and good, but bringing a more rounded skillset is what makes these players more interesting as prospects.

Ciernik\'s game popped

Of course, this camp wasn\'t all crash and bang showings, and one player who was noticeable for bringing more on the finesse side was Alex Ciernik. It\'s been kind of a weird year for him -- at the last camp, he was just coming off of a couple of concussions, and the focus was more of the \"just try to hold up\" variety, but now with a healthy season under his belt (along with a couple of AHL games) Ciernik came back to Development Camp in a much better position. He wasn\'t always the most noticeable player out there, but he flashed some good quickness, made a few nice setups in the game settings, and overall did a noticeably better job of staying on his feet and in control of the puck when defensive pressure was bearing down on him. Now, he still has a longer development track ahead of him -- he\'ll be heading back overseas for at least this coming season -- but he certainly made an impression at this camp, a good reminder that he shouldn\'t be left to fly completely under the radar.

Martone showed well in just about all areas

And finally, all eyes were on the Flyers\' sixth overall pick in Porter Martone for his camp debut, and while he might not have had the massive and flashy showing that some might have been hoping to see, he did have himself a nicely well-rounded camp, on the whole. He showed his offensive game well, even if it didn\'t pop to the same degree as someone like Bump, and was really noticeable in the shooting drills earlier in the week, while also flashing some positive playmaking in the scrimmages. More than that, though, the subtle details on the defensive side of his game shone, and while that might not be as flashy as piling up goals, it does move his camp on the whole into a more impressive territory. That is, there were never any questions about what Martone is able to do with the puck, how dynamic that side of his game is, but there\'s a reason why Martone is even in the conversation for a job with the NHL team as soon as next season, and it\'s the already well-roundedness of his game (along with his physical frame, of course) that is the reason for it. Martone brought an attentive, details-focused approach to even this camp setting, a mature game that will certainly go a long way in impressing the management group and coaching staff that were taking in his sessions.

The new college rules of it all

We\'ll close this thing out with less of an on-ice observation, and more of an acknowledgment of something of an elephant in the room. The new rules which allow CHL players to transfer to the NCAA to play open up a whole new world of possibilities for players, particularly those who might be in something of a strange middle space in their development -- too advanced for junior hockey but not quite ready to jump to the NHL, and of course still ineligible to play in the AHL -- and offer them a more productive development track, and a bit of a more seamless transition towards pro hockey. It\'s a route that the Flyers might be exploring with Martone , and it\'s one that could be really beneficial for him.

But the flip side to that is the knowledge of who\'s been left out. That is, having been proactive and getting both Jett Luchanko and Spencer Gill (which was standard practice at the time) has left the Flyers now with limited developmental options for these two. Because Luchanko has certainly made it clear that he\'s too good for junior hockey at this point, but there are still things in his game that he needs to work on in his game, and those are things that might well be better served worked on outside of the NHL (and away from NHL defenses), while Gill, as a more physically developed player and one (as we saw throughout this camp) with a good grip on the finer details of his defensive game will likely see a cap on how much more he can develop in a diminished QMJHL. The college route would be perfect for each of their cases, but that ship has sailed.

Of course, this isn\'t a critique on the Flyers for getting these contracts done early, because they don\'t have a crystal ball and how no way of knowing this was coming, but it does put their development staff in a more challenging position, to make sure that these high-potential prospects can still develop well in, shall we say, sub-optimal situations. It will be interesting to see how they approach that.

Talking Points