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On Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had officially signed 2023 draft pick and London Knights forward Denver Barkey to an entry-level contract, beginning with the 2024-25 season.
The Knights put out a tweet on Saturday announcing that Barkey was officially a Flyers player but quickly deleted it. As it turns out, their timing was just a bit off, and the tweet was a precursor to what became reality on Sunday afternoon.
Barkey, 18, has become the third member of the 2023 NHL Draft class to sign his entry-level contract with the Flyers, joining Knights teammate Oliver Bonk and Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Carson Bjarnason.
When I spoke to Bjarnason about a month ago, he told me that he, Barkey, and Bonk have a group chat together, and they check in frequently to see how they’re all doing. Now that Barkey has signed his contract, all three members of the group chat are officially Flyers players.
Barkey currently leads his Knights team in scoring, boasting an impressive 31 goals, 56 assists, and 87 points in 56 games. Bonk trails Sam Dickinson for the team lead in points from defensemen by two points; he has 23 goals, 38 assists, and 61 points in 52 games.
At the time of this writing, Barkey is tied with Dalyn Wakely of the North Bay Battalion and Seattle Kraken prospect, Carson Rehkopf of the Kitchener Rangers, for third in the OHL in points. David Goyette, another Kraken prospect, leads the OHL in points with 98 points in 59 games for the Sudbury Wolves.
Because Barkey’s contract does not come into effect until next season, the 18-year-old will be unable to play in any pro games for the Flyers organization this season. Barkey could have played in AHL games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and wouldn’t have burned a year off his ELC as long as he did not appear in 10 games with the Flyers in the NHL.
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