Flyers prospect Oliver Bonk makes Canada’s World Juniors team; Denver Barkey misses out

Bonk earned a spot with the gold-medal favorites after a strong start to the season with the OHL's London Knights. Barkey was not as fortunate despite scoring in Tuesday's pre-tournament exhibition.

Flyers 2023 first-rounder Oliver Bonk will play for Canada at the World Juniors in Sweden.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

by Gustav Elvin

Published Dec. 13, 2023, 6:38 p.m. ET

Entering the season, London Knights teammates and 2023 Flyers draft picks Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey were viewed as huge outsiders when it came to making Canada’s 2024 World Junior Championship team.

Both were firmly on the bubble of making maybe the hardest amateur team to make in the world. When Canada announced the 22-man roster for the under-20 World Juniors on Wednesday evening, Bonk received the call of a lifetime. Meanwhile, Barkey was left disappointed on the outside looking in as Canada begins its quest for a third straight gold medal at the tournament, which will be held from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Bonk, whom the Flyers selected in the first round (No. 22), has had a strong start to the Ontario Hockey League season for London. The 18-year-old blueliner is known first and foremost for his defending but has also chipped in offensively with six goals and 30 points in 28 games. Bonk will likely be deployed in a shutdown defensive role with Canada.

His teammate, Barkey, has been even better for the Knights. The third-round pick (No. 95) ranks seventh in the OHL in scoring with 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 28 games. A jack-of-all trades center who can play on any line due to his competitiveness, Barkey impressed at Canada’s pre-tournament training camp and posted a goal and in assist in Tuesday’s exhibition win over U Sports, a collection of Canadian college all-stars. But ultimately that was not enough, as Barkey was among Wednesday’s eight cuts.

The 18-year-old Barkey, who is also eligible for next year’s tournament, could still have an outside chance of playing this year. Canada left one open forward spot in hopes of adding a young NHL player before heading to Sweden, but if it is unable to do so, it would likely circle back to one of the cuts. There is also the chance someone is injured between now and the tournament, which would open up the door for a player like Barkey to get back in the mix.

The Flyers will be thrilled to see Bonk experience the world’s premier underage international tournament. The best-on-best tournament is played at an extremely high level and is often a precursor to NHL stardom for many players.

Bonk will almost certainly be joined there by 2022 first-round pick Cutter Gauthier, who is expected to be a leader for the U.S. team. Gauthier, who was called into Team USA’s camp earlier this month, is tied for second in the NCAA in goals with 13 in 17 games for Boston College. The one other Flyers prospect in contention to play at the tournament is Alex Čiernik, a 2023 fourth-rounder who was named to Slovakia’s preliminary roster.

It is worth noting that the Flyers’ top pick in 2023, Matvei Michkov (No. 7), would have been expected to be one of Russia’s stars at the tournament had the country not been banned from all International Ice Hockey Federation tournaments for its involvement in the war with Ukraine.