Philadelphia Flyers Select Alex Bump 133rd Overall

With their fifth round selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers have selected left winger Alex Bump from the USHL’s Omaha Lancers at 133rd overall. The drop to the fifth round likely came as somewhat of a shock to Bump who was expected to go closer to the transition from third to fourth than fourth to fifth, meaning the Flyers may have happened upon some added value at the draft position.

Bump lacks the pedigree of the other two American wingers taken, something that no doubt led to him falling all the way to the fifth, but when it comes to pure tools Bump has talent in spades. Elevating from high school hockey in Minnesota to the USHL, Bump didn’t seem to miss a beat, immediately slotting in with the Lancers. He put up 17 points in 27 games, including 11 goals.

Bump is a textbook bottom six motor player that’s willing to throw his 6’ 200 pound body around mixed with the offensive skillset of an elite scoring winger. When he or his team have the puck, he is a weapon of mass destruction, able to find the open ice and unload with his incredible shot. His speed and smooth skating enable him to burn slower defenders, and he has the silky puck handling to dance around them as well.

Outside of the fact that Bump hasn’t been tested against more serious competition, the true gaps in his game become clear when the possession flips. Defensively, Bump’s game begins to deteriorate in a fairly major way, not always for lack of talent, but for lack of drive. The motor that makes him such a dynamo offensively shuts off as Bump has a tendency to give up on back-checking and coast once the opponent sets in his zone.

In the fifth round, Bump’s offensive upside must have been too much for Chuck Fletcher to pass up, but there are a number of red flags that will need to be coached out of him if he is to make an impact at the NHL level. Committed to University of Vermont, Bump is jumping into the NCAA where he can wave away the “poor competition” argument and hopefully work on developing his 200 foot game.

There’s a lot of ways Bump’s development can go, and he is certainly far from a finished product, but there are plenty of tools for him to succeed, it just depends on what he does with them.