Flyers vs. Rangers this Friday and Saturday
By Bill Meltzer philadelphiaflyers.com
September 9, 2025
The fourth annual Rookie Series showdown is days away. On September 12-13, the Philadelphia Flyers prospects will take on their New York Rangers counterparts in two games at the PPL Center in Allentown.
Here are 11 Flyers prospects — 10 skaters plus one goaltender — to watch at the Rookie Series.
Six forwards to watch
Alex Bump (LW): The Flyers 2022 fifth-round pick (133rd overall) has his sights set on an NHL opening-night roster spot in 2025-26. The real test for him (and Jett Luchanko) will come in main camp and preseason NHL exhibition games. However, Rookie Camp and the Rookie Series is a key opportunity for the 21-year-old Bump to stand out above the crowd.
Bump had a stellar final collegiate year for Western Michigan in 2024-25. After winning the NCAA championship, he made an immediate splash in his pro playoff debut with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Bump scored two goals in his first game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He found the going got tougher in the second round against the defending two-time Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.
Jett Luchanko (C): The Flyers’ 2024 first-round selection (13th overall) made the team’s opening-night NHL roster and dressed in four games before the organization reassigned him to the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. The 19-year-old center dealt with a lower-body issue this offseason. However, the speedy pivot expects to be fine for the 2025-26 season.
Luchanko is a fine playmaking prospect with advanced two-way awareness for a teenager. He has worked on shooting the puck more often to keep opponents honest. He’s always a breakaway threat in transition.
Denver Barkey (LW): The high-energy forward will make his pro debut (likely with the Phantoms) in 2025-26. Last season, he served as the captain of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. London won both the OHL championship and the Memorial Cup.
Last summer, Flyers fans didn’t get a chance to see the player in action at camp. Barkey was set back by a bout with mononucleosis, which also played into a slower start during the 2024-25 regular season. He later regained his form and went on to have an excellent season as an all-situations player for the Knights.
Barkey is 5-foot-10 but has filled out his frame over the last two years. He’s also a very competitive player by nature.
Jack Nesbitt (C): The 2025 first-round pick is attending his first Rookie Camp. This year’s camp is a measuring stick for the 18-year-old Windsor Spitfires (OHL) center. The Flyers will keep a close eye on how far his game advances between now and the Rookie Camps of 2026 and 2027.
The Flyers organization believed strongly enough to move up 10 spots and select Nesbitt with the 12th overall pick of the 2025 Draft.
Pay attention to Nesbitt’s skating in his first camp. With each passing year, make note of the difference. Skating and physical strength are the two main areas Nesbitt must improve before he’s NHL ready. As he adds strength and explosiveness, he should hit another level in his development.
Karsen Dorwart (C/LW): The Flyers signed the Michigan State two-way forward as a free agent after his junior college season. He dressed in five NHL games late in the 2024-25 campaign.
Dorwart, 22, will battle for an NHL roster spot once the main camp begins. As of now, he’s on the bubble between starting the season with the Phantoms or landing an NHL opening night roster spot. The player recently represented the Flyers at Upper Deck’s 2025 NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
Devin Kaplan (RW): The Flyers’ 2022 third-round pick turned pro after his junior year at Boston University in 2024-25. He made his NHL debut late in the season. Kaplan bounced back from an early-game mistake and held his own in subsequent shifts for former interim coach Brad Shaw.
Kaplan, 21, has always been a decent straight-line skater. He’s had to work on other aspects of his skating. The Flyers hope Kaplan evolves into an effective north-south winger in the professional game. He’s likely to spend his rookie season in Allentown with the Phantoms.
Four Defensemen to Watch
Oliver Bonk (D): The 2023 first-round pick (22nd overall) enters his first professional season. He had an excellent junior career with the OHL’s London Knights and appeared for Team Canada at each of the last two World Junior Championships. However, he struggled in last year’s NHL preseason.
The Flyers may experiment with Bonk on the power play bumper in the Rookie Series. He played as the power play slot shooter in London the last season-and-a-half on top of his shutdown blueliner role at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill.
Bonk, 20, is likely to start the 2025-26 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, Flyers Hockey Operations believe he’ll be NHL ready in the near future.
Spencer Gill (D): The 2024 second-round pick (59th overall) will head back to the QMJHL at some point in upcoming weeks. Flyers Hockey Ops staff was thrilled with his progress last year. Unfortunately, an ankle injury sidelined him from the QMJHL playoffs and Memorial Cup.
Gill appeared for Team Canada at the 2025 Summer Showcase. He’s added about 15 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-4 frame over the last year, and now comes in at roughly 205 pounds. The Flyers like his mobility as well as his size. Gill also has some offensive upside.
Ty Murchison (D): The Flyers signed the 5th round 2021 draftee (158th overall) on March 26 after he finished his four-year college career at Arizona State. Murchison, 22, brings a very physical style of play.
The prospect blocks shots willingly and stands up for teammates. Murchison impressed in four late-season games with Lehigh Valley. He even scored his first professional goal after not tallying any in his senior collegiate season.
Murchison, however, knows that he wasn’t signed for offense. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound USNDTP left defenseman needs to play a simple but feisty game. He showed that in his brief AHL stint late last season.
Ethan Samson (D): The hard-shooting blueliner enters the third and final year of his entry-level contract in 2025-26. He’s made some progress toward rounding out his overall game during his two AHL seasons to date with Lehigh Valley.
Samson’s shooting ability, however, remains his biggest standout trait. The big-framed 2021 sixth-round pick, collected a dozen regular-season goals for the Phantoms last season. Previously, at the junior hockey level with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Samson had back-to-back campaigns with 15 goals (2021-22) and 18 tallies (2022-23 respectively).
Samson dressed in 69 regular-season matches and all seven playoff games the Phantoms played last season. The previous year, as a rookie, he appeared in 63 regular-season games and two playoff tilts.
Goaltender to watch
Carson Bjarnason (G): The Flyers’ 2023 second-round pick also enters his first pro campaign. He’s the projected starting goaltender in at least one of the two Rookie Series games. The 6-foot-3 netminder has filled out considerably over the past three seasons. He dealt with a lower-body injury in the spring that hampered him in the WHL playoffs and made him unavailable to play for the Phantoms in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Bjarnason dressed as Cal Petersen’s backup after Parker Gahagen went down with an injury. However, Bjarnason would only have played if Petersen himself was physically unable to continue. Bjarnason will compete for AHL playing time this season.
Why no collegiate prospects?
This question comes up annually, but especially so since the NCAA loosened some of its amateur eligibility rules: Why are there no collegiate players in the Flyers’ (or any other NHL teams’) Rookie Camp?
The short answer: The NCAA has not altered the rule that college players cannot attend pro team camps that overlap with the academic calendar. Fall semester classes are now underway. That’s why college players who are not attending summer classes are allowed to attend NHL Development Camps. However, they’re ineligible for Rookie Camp in September.
For the players, prospects such as Porter Martone, Carter Amico, Jack Murtagh, Shane Vansaghi, Noah Powell,and Cole Knuble are all worth tracking during the 2025-26 season. However, they cannot take part in Rookie Camp or NHL Camp until they sign Entry-Level contracts and give up their remaining NCAA eligibility.
