The Philadelphia Flyers have seemingly found something in Ontario Hockey League (OHL) centerman Denver Barkey. The 18-year-old was just a third-round pick by Philadelphia in the 2023 NHL Draft, but he’s made some strides in his first post-draft year with the London Knights.
Related: 4 Flyers Prospects Who Could Be Late-Round Gems
It’s a good time to examine what he has done, some of his skills as a player, and what he could do with the Flyers if he develops into an NHL player. What kind of player can he become once he truly comes into his own?
Barkey’s 2023-24 Season With the Knights
Though the OHL is one of the higher-scoring leagues for young athletes, Barkey is having a great campaign. Through 51 games, he has 28 goals and 51 assists for 79 points, tied for third in the league for scoring with 2024 NHL Draft prospect Zayne Parekh, a defenseman projected to go in the early to middle stages of the first round.
To put his pace in perspective with a teammate, Easton Cowan went late in the first round in Barkey’s class and was considered to be a very solid choice with said pick. While he is much more than his offensive totals like any player is, he is sitting on 27 goals and 48 assists for 75 points in just 42 games.
Another player selected in that first round was Dalibor Dvorsky, who has 31 goals and 28 assists for 59 points in 38 games, the same point-per-game pace as Barkey. These numbers might be a bit nitpicked, and scoring alone isn’t a way to analyze a player, but it’s generally a good indicator. The point is that Barkey’s production has been promising.
The Knights have been a fantastic team this season with a 40-12-3 record, and Barkey has been a huge reason for that. He’s a fairly good defensive player and scores a lot in transition. The reasoning for that is pretty evident — he’s fast, is a creative passer, and it’s not like he can’t shoot, either. So what’s the catch?
Barkey was solid in his draft year, too, but a major deterrent for him was his size. He’s just 5-foot-9 and weighed in at 174 pounds around this time last year — definitely not ideal for an NHL player. But the narrative that small is bad has been disproven countless times over the years, with a comparable being star forward Brayden Point, who was a draft steal himself as an undersized centerman. Even he was taller than Barkey, though, so the caution makes a bit of sense.
Plenty of smaller forwards can be successful in the NHL, but it takes a lot of training and bulking up. Barkey is still just a teenager, so when the time comes for him to compete against grown men, he’ll likely have what it takes. For now, the more skilled side of his game will have to get better. It’s allowed the Knights to be a very good hockey team.
What Barkey Could Be for the Flyers
Ideally, Barkey would be a middle-six center for the Flyers. He could always develop into that top-line center that all contenders seem to have, but that’s usually one of your best players. If he could become someone like Point, that wouldn’t be an issue, but that’s a very unrealistic expectation. If he’s an NHL player at all, the Flyers should be happy. If he’s a third-line center, they’d be happier. A second-line center would be a favorable outcome, yet not an entirely unrealistic one.
Barkey has the tools to be a star, but the Flyers cannot depend on that. In the middle of a rebuild, they’ll have to get as many promising players as possible so they don’t force him to be that type of player.
With the NHL becoming more and more skilled and leaning less on size each and every season, Barkey is making his strides at the right time. There is still plenty of physicality, but the point is that his height shouldn’t make him unusable as a non-top-line player. He should make it out fine if he develops properly and has a solid 2024-25 campaign.
Aside from Matvei Michkov, Barkey is arguably the Flyers’ second-best forward prospect, with Samu Tuomaala making his case, too. That’s not particularly strong, so the Flyers will have to continue to build. Considering the Flyers’ current lack of high-end forwards, he might be one they want to keep for a while.
The Flyers have good middle-six players already, with Morgan Frost being a primary example of what Barkey could become, but the big difference is that one is 18 while the other is 24. Age is a huge factor for a rebuild and what makes him so highly coveted. If he can have some good seasons on his entry-level contract making around league minimum, the Flyers can use that to build elsewhere — a cheap player producing gives salary cap leeway. He could be a very important player, especially if the team were contending at that time.
Based on Barkey’s skillset, he’s really the perfect player for the Flyers. A talented player, he could be one they like a lot if he continues to progress with the Knights. If he does, he could give the Orange and Black the offensive instincts they so desperately need.
