Alex Bump, yes Alex Bump. Flyers fans get used to hearing his name, as this was a great pick in the fifth round of the Draft in 2022. After being awarded the player of the year by the Minnesota Associated Press in 2022, Bump made quite the impression in the USHL with the Omaha Lancers with netting 11 goals and registering six assists in 27 games played in 2021-22.
“He came on the scene this year. He’s one, if not probably the top player in Minnesota high school this year. He started in the USHL and came back. He had a big, big year in high school and finished strong when he went back to the USHL. We’re all excited about him. Obviously, he’s going back to play another year of junior and then off to Vermont. I think he’ll have a big role right away.” – Assistant General Manager, Brent Flahr said of Bump after the draft
Bump plays for Western Michigan University where Wade Allison, Keith Jones, and Ronnie Attard used to play for. He was granted this late change given that Head Coach Todd Woodcroft was dismissed as the coach of Vermont Hockey earlier this Summer, “Ronnie Attard reached out when I wss down to my final three. Ronnie knew Western was part of it,” Bump said to me last year in an interview.
Bump continues, “As a team we had a great year, great year. We had a really solid first half, started slow in the second half. I myself started to get better and better. I have gotten clarity from Philly and the development guys there. Riley Armstrong has reached out, great guy, he knows what he’s doing.”
That’s great that Philly has reached out to Bump. This obviously has made him more confident, as he personally started off slow, but has made one heck of an impression since, playing with much tougher competition in the NCAA. He stands at 6’0 and weighs 194 pounds, and Bump plays with a physical edge to his game.
Bump continued his solid play for the Broncos while amassing 20 goals and 23 assists in 36 games played this season, which was good enough for NCHC Player of the Year. He’s averaged well over a point per game. Maybe all that ball hockey he played when he was younger has helped, “I played ball hockey with my brothers. We had a basement that was unfinished, and we had a net down there. I started skating at three, and put a stick in my hand at five,” Bump said to me last year.
It took a few games for him to get his bearings, but Bump has really put together a good season, a season In which he was a Hobey Baker nominee. He has bursted onto the scene in the NCAA, and now he’s on the verge of signing his very first professional contract with the Flyers.
