The Flyers have recalled defense prospects Oliver Bonk and David Jiricek from AHL Lehigh Valley, the team announced Monday. They will be on hand for the remainder of the postseason if needed after Lehigh Valley saw its season come to an end in its regular-season finale against Charlotte on Sunday, failing to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Both are coming off recent stints on the NHL roster. The Flyers gave Bonk, their 22nd overall selection in the 2023 draft, his NHL debut in their final regular-season game against the Canadiens last week. Jiricek, while he’s gotten playing time in previous stints with the Blue Jackets and Wild, got the chance to make his Flyers debut the same night after being acquired from Minnesota for winger Bobby Brink at the trade deadline.
Bonk was particularly impressive in his first-ever showing. The 6’2″ righty shrugged off the growing pains of his first professional season in Lehigh Valley to rattle off a goal and an assist in the first period of the eventual 4-2 win, both at even strength. He logged 16:28 of ice time with two hits, although his possession impacts weren’t great. Philly lost the shot attempt battle 13-10 with Bonk on the ice at 5-on-5 despite him starting 80% of his shifts in the offensive end.
As mentioned, his run in Lehigh Valley this year was a mixed bag. After he was arguably the best shutdown defender in junior hockey last year en route to a Memorial Cup championship with the OHL’s London Knights, Bonk only managed 19 points and a -14 rating in 46 AHL games following a weeks-long stint on injured reserve to open the season. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opines, he’s still the Flyers’ #3 prospect and was relied upon heavily this season despite the lack of production and dominant results, so perhaps a more competitive AHL environment next season could facilitate a statistical breakout.
In all likelihood, though, Jiricek would find his way into the playoff lineup sooner if Philly needed someone to step in. Now 22, the 2022 sixth-overall pick still hasn’t locked down a full-time NHL job but does have 85 games of experience over the last four years compared to Bonk’s lone showing. His numbers aren’t great, limited to a 2-11–13 scoring line and a -8 rating while averaging a conservative 13:37 per night.
However, Jiricek has looked far more like the future top-pair challenger he was expected to be in Lehigh Valley over the last month. He had struggled to make an offensive impact in the minors in Minnesota’s system but rattled off a 2-11–13 scoring line in 15 games upon his arrival with the Phantoms, albeit with a -7 rating.
Jiricek will presumably be on the Flyers’ opening night roster in the fall. They signed him to a two-year, $3MM extension at the beginning of the month, and he loses his waiver-exempt status on July 1. They have a more experienced right-shot option in the press box in Noah Juulsen if need be, but if a top puck-mover ends up sustaining an injury, it stands to reason Jiricek could get the call as a better stylistic match.