Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk move onto the OHL Finals

Photo Credit: The London Knights

Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk are a ball of energy and just fun to be around. The sport of hockey is quite unique, it really brings people together. So much so, both Barkey and Bonk love to play for the London Knights, mainly due to their proud fan base. Now both are headed to the OHL Finals after winning the series 4-2 against the Saginaw Spirit.

In particular, Barkey had seven short-handed goals on the season, which was tied for first in the OHL with fellow teammate Easton Cowan. Barkey also became part of the 100 point club, yes the 100 point club. So with that, let’s talk a bit about Barkey.

For the season, Barkey netted 34 goals and registered 66 assists for 100 points. It is a goal he set for himself, so this is quite an honor. This season Barkey has become more of a dual threat, not only scoring wise, but his play away from the puck is far better than it has been in years past. He is what you call a complete player.

Barkey talked to me about some inspirations within the sport of hockey a few months ago, “My parents are a huge inspiration. My grandpa also inspired me. Kind of see the Pro when he played in the NHL. That was one of his dreams (For his Grandpa to make the NHL).” Some don’t know that Barkey’s Grandpa played professional hockey. Randy Legge, Denver’s Grandpa, played for the New York Rangers, and wound up playing 12 games for the Rangers during his professional career. Legge was a right-handed defenseman, believe it or not, as he stood at 5’11. Of course, Barkey stands at 5’9, but he could fill out more as he is still only 19-years-old.

Oliver Bonk

Oliver Bonk, a Right-Handed defenseman was still on the board in the first round with the Flyers on the clock to pick and they selected him with the 22nd overall pick. Moments before this selection the Flyers selected a prospect Matvei Michkov with superstar/generational potential. The selection of Bonk received mixed reactions from the Flyers proud faithful, where some project Bonk as a project, however in the same token, other fans projected Bonk as a top four defenseman.

The Flyers finally have drafted a solid skating defenseman. They needed a solid skating defenseman, and this was one way to do it. There were weeks of speculation over who the Flyers would take with the 22nd pick, in particular. Bonk has a ton of skill that can stifle players at the Blue line, and lead the Flyers of the ice the other way. He is a good skating Defenseman, and these type of Defensemen don’t come along very often.

Bonk is an asset with the man advantage, and from the heavens maybe, just maybe, he can be an influential asset in this area when he makes his NHL Debut in Philadelphia in the future. He has really had a great playoffs, and has been even better with his gap control than in the regular season. Bonk currently has four goals and four assists in 14 games played in the playoffs, but he is a whopping +12. I mean it can’t get any better than that.

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As mentioned previously, he is a solid skater, like most prospects he can improve upon this area, but he has a great pair of hands too. Bonk stands at 6’2, and weighs 176 pounds. He is a very confident and skilled puck handler, who effectively transitions the puck out of his zone and into his opponent’s zone. Bonk is an able bodied playmaker who excels at finding and creating passing lanes, mainly due to his edge work. He plays a physical game, as Bonk shuts down his opponents by taking the body, and board battling.

Extra Credit:

Something that should get more attention is when London drafted Barkey, Bonk, Cowan, it was during the Covid Draft. Obviously, there was no hockey being played at this particular time. Knights General Manager Mark Hunter nailed the draft perfectly with drafting all said three players. For that matter, all three have been drafted by NHL teams: Barkey and Bonk with the Flyers, and Cowan to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Great insight and information given to me from Dallas Legge.