Snapshots: Barkey, Samberg, Schaefer

The Philadelphia Flyers have leaned fully into the rebuild since Daniel Briere was hired as general manager in 2023. They’ve moved out multiple veterans in exchange for draft capital – and built out one of the league’s strongest prospect pools as a result. It’s a group full of blue chips, including star OHL scorer Denver Barkey, who told Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia that he’s ready for the challenge of his first pro season, and another attempt to make the NHL roster.

Barkey scored an impressive 102 points in 60 total games this season, good for second among London Knights’ forwards behind Easton Cowan (108). It was an impressive season, capped off by a Memorial Cup win, but Barkey told Hall that he knows pushing into pros will be a tough feat for a 5-foot-9 winger. He received plenty of praise from the Flyers development team, including team consultant Patrick Sharp, despite that.

Another hot hand will raise interesting questions about the Flyers’ deployment next season. Barkey will join players like Alex Bump, Jett Luchanko, and Oliver Bonk in pushing to make the roster. Philadelphia ranked as the third-youngest lineup in the league last season, but could be swayed to lean even further into the youth movement with a couple of strong training camp performances.

Other notes from around the league:

• More has been revealed about Dylan Samberg’s three-year extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Most notably, the deal will carry a modified no trade clause in its final two years, per PuckPedia. That’s a nice bit of security for Samberg, from a team known for hanging onto their hard-working defenders. Samberg has spent the last four years in Winnipeg. But that’s a junior tenure compared to Neal Pionk and Dylan DeMelo, who have been in Winnipeg for six years, and Josh Morrissey, a Jet for all 10 years of his career. Samberg earned a strong role as a shutdown defender last season, and finished the year with a team-leading plus-34. He’ll look to continue digging his feet into the defensive end with a few more years in Winnipeg.
• New York Islanders first-overall pick Matthew Schaefer played his first competitive game of the calendar year today – stepping up as Team Canada’s top left-defender in their bout against Team Finland at the World Junior Summer Showcase. Canada lost the matchup by a score of 6-3, with Schaefer recording no scoring. He also played in a split-team scrimmage between Canada Red and White yesterday, with no scoring. Despite that, his show of smooth and confident hockey are a welcome sign of recovery after he sustained a broken collarbone in December’s World Junior Championships. Schaefer scored 22 points in 17 OHL games prior to his injury, and hasn’t yet declared his intentions for next season.