Denver Barkey is a fan favorite, a player the public can cheer and gravitate towards. The Philadelphia prospects is a quintessential Rocky character, an underdog playing above his weight and battling with opponents much bigger than him. It also helps that the name Denver Barkey is about as good a hockey name as you can get (just like Jack Youngblood is a perfect football name).
“The biggest thing about him is that he’s so competitive,” Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach John Snowden noted after the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 overtime win over the New York Rangers. The two-game Rookie Series doesn’t count in the standings, yet it matters for a player like Barkey, who is fighting for one of the few wing spots available at the NHL level.
Barley and Alex Bump are the two standout prospects for similar reasons. They have plenty of skill but are also two of the smaller skaters playing above their weight. Like Bump, Barkey must remain a fighter to make the NHL team and, more importantly, be a high-impact player.
Flyers Want Barkey’s Scoring & Skill in the Lineup
What stands out to the casual viewer is Barkey’s skill. He scored 35 goals and added 67 assists in 64 games in his 2023-24 season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and then followed up that season with a 25-goal and 57-assist output. The OHL is where stats are inflated and good players look phenomenal but the way he impacts games is noticeable.
Barkey has a nose for the goal and finds the open ice in the offensive zone to create offense. His goal in Friday night’s game saw him skate to the dangerous ice and fire a centering pass to the back of the net. “It’s fun to play with a lot of high-end players when you get to open space, they find you,” Barkey noted after the game, which saw him take many shifts with Tucker Roberston and Devin Kaplan, two excellent passers on the other wing.
The Flyers are hoping he’s one of the prospects making a high impact on a team that has the forward talent already. If Barkey is a regular on the third line, the Flyers can have a forward unit that looks like this (give or take).
Konecny – Couturier – Michkov
Foerster – Zegras – Tippett
Barkey – Cates – Brink
Deslauriers – Dvorak – Hathaway
It’s a forward group that can come at teams in waves and overwhelm them, especially if Bump and another prospect like Jett Luchanko are on the team and playing well, taking on top-six roles and adding to the offense.
The Flyers haven’t had a great rebuild, and there are glaring issues with their roster, notably in the net. However, they can build their team from the forward unit out and be a great team regardless, the same way the Florida Panthers are led by their dynamic forward unit (and don’t have an elite defense). Barkey is one of the many scorers in the system, and the ideal is for the Flyers to have many of them on the NHL team and taking over games soon enough.
Barkey Must Prove He Can Take The Hits
At 5-foot-10 and weighing only 174 pounds, Barkey is one of the smaller forwards in the organization. Yes, Mavei Michkov is there, but he’s a rare talent. Meanwhile, Bobby Brink is pint-sized. However, he may perpetually need to prove himself at the top level.
In general, the Flyers front office values size and physicality. Right from the start of the 2025 Draft, they went big and bigger on nearly all their picks. However, Barkey has been the most noticeable forward at Rookie Camp.
The former London Knights captain plays above his weight and takes the hits. He doles out a few, too.
“He’s a smaller guy but he plays like he’s 6-4.” Snowden noted after the game, adding, ”How many puck battles did he win tonight? He gets under guys, he uses his leverage.” Barkey was tested against the Rangers and took his hits, yet stood tall and wasn’t thrown off his game.
“It’s been the story of my life, ever since a young age, I had to be a heads-up player and kinda think ahead,” Barkey added after the game. He’s had to keep his head on a swivel, and it’s helped him become a better player, someone who knows where the puck is at all times and knows how the play will develop.
The question is how Barkey will hold up at the next level. The Rangers tested him but the NHL is a tougher assignment, especially when the young 20-year-old must go up against veterans who can play physical hockey and impose their will. Bump showed flashes in the American Hockey League (AHL) last season but in the Calder Cup Playoffs, he disappeared against the Hershey Bears. They put a target on Bump’s back and made sure he was never comfortable. The same thing will happen with Barkey, whether it’s in the AHL or the NHL.
Barkey Has Speed & Snowden Must Lean Into it
The Flyers have plenty of skill in their farm system, and the coaching staff must make the most of it. Snowden was hired because there’s a plan and a vision for how the team should play and how they’ll move the puck up the ice. Barkey fits right into that vision. “Even on his entries, he slows things down and he’s just waiting for his guys to come,” the Phantoms head coach added about the skilled winger after the game. Even if Snowden isn’t coaching him, Rick Tocchet will adjust to allow Barkey to play with speed and take over games.
Barkey is the type of player Snowden wants to coach because he sees the game and watches the play unfold. “He plays with his eyes up all the time,” Snowden added after the Friday game, “So he sees every play.” Having great hockey sense goes a long way in the NHL, and Barkey has it, making him one of the prospects to watch with the 2025-26 season around the corner.
