The article (behind a paywall):https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5612279/2024/07/16/nhl-prospects-ranking-celebrini-michkov/?redirected=1
Only 2 Flyers are on it. Michkov at 2 and Bonk at 50 … Wheeler isnt a fan of Luchanko and was very high on Buium who he had at 5.
Celebrini was ahead of Michkov which is fair and id agree with that.
Bonk was down at 50th because hes only projected to be solid middle lineup guy. I think a lot of people are getting way too carried away with him. Ive seen so many comments saying its a great pick which makes no sense given all hes done is have one good season IN JUNIORS.
He could still be underwhelming in NHL. Someone like Phil Myers was a higher rated prospect fyi than Bonk …
And many guys taken right after Bonk had just as good or better years so it doesnt make sense to even say its looking like a great pick.
4 of the next 8 guys taken after him were ranked higher than Bonk because they had even more impressive seasons. Like Nadeau and Perrault had incredible seasons in NCAA. Another was Cowan who was a better player on same team.
Its crazy to call Bonk a great pick right now or even say its looking like one. Hes developing like a 22nd overall should. No better or worse. Hes a good, not great, prospect who projects as middle lineup guy.
People will probably also be surprised that Barkey wasnt included but hes never been a top prospect. Ive never seen him on a single prospect list. Theres a reason he was taken 95th overall.
Like Bonk, having a good season in juniors post draft doesnt mean much. Any decent prospect is supposed to dominate juniors after draft.
When Michkov graduates the Flyers will have a really mediocre prospect pool without any blue chip prospects. Briere really needs to do something because right now we dont have the pieces in the system to become a high end team. And I dont see two extra late firsts next year changing that.
Relying heavily on non blue chip guys like Bonk, Luchanko, Drysdale, Barkey, York to build this team around is far from ideal. None are projected to be top line/pair guys and everybody but York has unproven have low floors.
by NowFook
