Photo Courtesy of Alex Brandon, The Associated Press
In a season filled with disappointment there hasn’t been much to look forward to in regards to the Philadelphia Flyers. As the franchise has found itself firmly out of the playoff mix since early January. Aside from the Trade Deadline which took place on March 21st, the fanbase has not had much to look forward to.
Of late though the signings and debuts of numerous college free agents, Noah Cates, Ronnie Attard and Bobby Brink has been the focal point and the main reason to tune into Flyers games. In particular, of the three college free agents Brink has been a bright spot for the future of the Flyers. While Cates and Attard have looked good as well. All three players do need to continue working on their games and improving but, that is a natural part of a young player’s development. Understanding what the NHL game consists of through this short tryout for these rookies should give them a better idea of what they may need to focus on this off-season.
Brink was named a Hobey Baker finalist and was also the NCAA scoring leader with 56 points in 39 games. He had a very impressive junior year with Denver to say the least and a great college career in general. The right winger posted a total of 27 goals and 65 assists for 92 points in 84 games during his three seasons playing for the University of Denver. As a result, his performance in college only cements the skill and talent present within Brink’s game.
Such a tenacious and skillful performance in college this past season afforded Brink the opportunity to sign a 3 year entry level contract with the Flyers. So far the young forward has played 6 games with the organization. In those 6 games Brink has posted 4 assists and has a total of 4 points. In his young career already Brink has almost put up a point per game. This demonstrates his adaptability and drive to make an impact on the ice with the opportunities he’s been given in a top 6 and Power-Play role.
In the past few games Brink has been trying to make creative plays conducive to his skillet that he would usually attempt in college. For example, in this past week’s game against Montreal, Brink made a play around the bottom of the faceoff circle using his puck handling ability to move past Kale Clague. From that point he then passed the puck to JVR for a nice scoring opportunity in the slot.
A play like that clearly exhibits the type of skillset Brink has and its scratching the surface of what he can bring to the table in the future. It’s also evident Brink’s confidence is growing at the NHL level. The fact he is comfortable making these types of plays, passes and reads of the play on the ice only solidifies that. Seeing a young player exude such confidence so early in his NHL career is certainly a positive sign.
What’s even more interesting about Brink as a prospect is his willingness even with his small stature to go to the front of the net, slot and participate in board battles along the wall. Typically players of his size find it difficult to go to those areas and be successful. The fact that he is doing so this early in his career is an encouraging sign that those skills and aspects of his game will continue to develop and become even more noticable.
As his confidence grows even further throughout his NHL career Brink certainly has the potential to be a top 6 forward for the Flyers moving forward. He has a tremendous skillset, thinks the game very well and has the awareness to go to the areas of the ice where scoring opportunities and chances are created. These are all tendencies that will allow Brink to become an impact player for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Regardless of his early success, so far there is still work to be done for Brink this off-season. The Flyers player development team will likely look to clean up his skating stride a bit. He doesn’t lack speed currently and is still able to win puck battles however, getting his stride even more refined should help round out his game even further. It should also improve his overall speed, agility and acceleration while skating. In turn that will likely have a positive effect on his play. Bobby Brink looks to have a lot of upside as an offensive threat for the Philadelphia Flyers organization. We’ll ultimately see if the Flyers will put him in the correct positions to succeed and continue to develop his game long term to become the useful player he can be.
