Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and the London Knights are a wagon that looks like they're just not going to be stopped.
The Ontario Hockey League Championship Series kicked off late last week, with the Western Conference champion Knights facing off against the Eastern champion Oshawa Generals, and immediately, the Knights took a commanding 2-0 series lead.
They walloped Oshawa 8-1 in Game 1, then in Game 2 on Saturday night, did one better with a 9-1 blowout.
And across both games, two of the Flyers' top prospects factored heavily into the mix.
Bonk, last summer's 22nd overall draft pick, netted two goals in Game 1 (on the power play and at even strength) while putting seven shots on net, and then went on to record three assists in Game 2. As one of the Flyers' top defensive prospects, the 19-year old blueliner is already up to five points for the series and 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) with a plus-15 rating throughout the entire OHL playoffs. All but one of his playoff goals were scored on the power play.
Barkey, the 95th overall third-rounder from 2023, has helped pile on with a goal in each of the previous two games with and four assists across both.
In Game 2, with the Knights already up big still early into the second period, Barkey took in a stretch pass all the way to the far blueline from teammate Sam Dickinson, then flew into toward the net and snuck the short-side shot over the goalie's shoulder as the Oshawa defender tried to sweep his stick in on the puck.
Game 3 for the Knights is Monday night at Oshawa.
Phantom dust
Over in the AHL, the Phantoms returned to Allentown with their backs to the wall down 2-0 to the Hershey Bears in their second-round, best-of-five Calder Cup Playoff Series.
On Wednesday night in Game 3, they lived to fight at least one more day with a 2-0 shutout highlighted by Emil Andrae's power-play tally from the point.
Olle Lycksell had the primary assist on Andrae's goal in Game 3 and then the insurance tally later on in the first.
Lycksell has already worked his way into a bottom-six depth role up with the Flyers, though not with a spot in the lineup guaranteed for next season. Still, the organization at least knows he can jump in between if there's an opening, but where he goes next in his career will depend on his performance at camp in the late summer.
Andrae, meanwhile, carries a lot of promise as a puck-moving defenseman, but it became clear early into this past season that he was getting overwhelmed at the NHL level and needed AHL reps over in Lehigh Valley to develop his game for the North American ice.
The 22-year old went on to post 32 points (5 goals, 27 assists) in 61 regular season games for the Phantoms, plus three more points in the playoffs, but the general expectation right now is that he still might need a bit more time in the minors.
Camp and the preseason can always change things, however.
Another Michkov update
There's been a curious amount of smoke surrounding top prospect Matvei Michkov's timeline over in Russia of late.
Alexander Medvedev, the chairman of Michkov's pro KHL club SKA St. Petersburg, recently spoke with Russian outlet Match TV about the awareness of wanting Michkov to go to Philadelphia as soon as possible and what it might take to get him there ahead of schedule.
Then last week, Michkov posted a video of himself working out in a Flyers shirt to his Instagram story.
NHL teams are not permitted to communicate directly with KHL club officials regarding players under contract. But the belief is third party officials, including Michkov’s agents, are in touch with SKA St. Petersburg about Michkov’s future, where it is possible to negotiate a settlement or buyout of his current contract, which would pave a path for him to arrive in Philadelphia ahead of schedule. [Daily Faceoff]
More smoke?
Medvedev, in his interview with Match TV, noted that there were going to be discussions about Michkov's options for the future and hinted at a potential decision coming up around the end of June – when the NHL Draft falls.
Flyers general manager Danny Brière has remained coy about the situation, as Michkov's KHL contract as it stands now is still set to run until the end of the 2025-26 season.
"Believe me, we keep watching him," Brière said during his exit interview with the media last month. "We have a heavy interest in what he does and he's had a tremendous year. It was fun to see some of the highlights, but at this time, I don't hold too much hope that we'll be able to get him out sooner."
And Michkov? Another couple of workout clips went up, this time with a SKA St. Petersburg shirt on but with Flyers shorts.
Don't put the chips against Michkov Watch dying down over the next month or so.
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