Danny Briere’s First First Round Is Boom or Bust
“You always remember your first,” so the saying goes. Daniel Briere made his first picks as general manager of the Flyers selecting Russian phenom Matvei Michkov with the seventh overall pick and Oliver Bonk with the 22nd pick later on. Michkov wasn’t much of a surprise, as the Flyers seemed to be trending in that direction over the last week or so. Bonk, was slightly more of a surprise, but there were no clear signs where Philly would go at 22.
The draft grades are in and they are pretty positive. However, both selections have two things that are very similar. They are very risky prospects who could turn Briere into a genius. They could also become big time busts. When drafting a player, you never know if a player will get hurt, lose confidence in themselves, struggle against better competition, rise to the occasion and become a star, or exceed everyone’s expectations.
Let’s take a look at both of the 2023 draft picks made by the Philadelphia Flyers. We’ll examine the pros of each pick as well as the red flags they are throwing out there.
Matvei Michkov
The Pros
Offensively, Michkov is the man. NHL Central Scouting rated him the second best skater from Europe. The Athletic rated him, as well as others, as the second best player in the draft. And if you listened to the ESPN commentators talk about him, they raved about him having a skill set that could rival Connor Bedard in potential.
He is a stat monster. In 2021-22, he was constantly lighting up the lamp in the Russian Junior League. He scored 22 goals with 38 points in 22 games for SKA-1946 St. Petersburg. This past season, he dealt with some injuries, but when he played for Sochi in the KHL, he put up 20 points in just 29 games. In international play, he’s done well including eight goals in five games for the Russian under 18 team in 2021-22.
He’s fast and elusive. He possess a great wrist shot as well as a hard one-timer. He can skate circles around defenders and set up plays. In short, this guy has all the potential to be an offensive juggernaut. In fact, he could be the Flyers first killer offensive weapon since the duo of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. And when teamed up in the future with last year’s first rounder Cutter Gauthier, they could be a powerful combo for years to come.
Will the Flyers be rewarded for their Matvei Michkov selection at the #NHLDraft? TSN Director of Scouting @CraigJButton joins @JayOnrait to discuss. pic.twitter.com/NKqUywEABp
— JayOnSC (@JayOnSC) June 29, 2023
The Cons
IF he is this good, why did he fall to seventh? Michkov is signed to a three year deal with his KHL team. That means we won’t see him until the start of the 2026-27 season. The argument is that the Flyers probably won’t be that good until then, so when they get better he can put them over the top. However, if he is that good, can’t they use him sooner or later? Can’t they buy out his contract? Other Russian players have contracts overseas, but why is his contract a problem?
Michkov was also not present at the NHL Draft Combine. If he is this good, wouldn’t he want to show off his talents? Afterall, a player who is considered to be this good could’ve gone second overall. Why not show the whole NHL world how good you are? What is he hiding? Might he be one of these guys who are great overseas or in juniors but can’t perform at the NHL level?
Finally, what if he prefers the KHL over the NHL? Philadelphia hasn’t always had the best reputation when it came to Russian players. What if he decides to stay over there? Or what if political issues between Russia and the West cause a boycott between the KHL and the NHL? Or what if patriotism harkens him to stay in the Motherland rather than play in Philly? Time will tell.
Oliver Bonk
The Pros
In short, the Flyers needed to restock their defensive corps. Ivan Provorov was dealt a few weeks ago. Tony DeAngelo and Travis Sanheim are being shopped. This leaves the Flyers with a defensive unit of Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, Sean Walker, Cam York, and most likely Egor Zamula and Ronnie Attard. They may search for a defenseman on the trade market or in free agency. Perhaps another prospect could be called up. But that will drain the defensive youngsters.
In that sense, picking a blueliner made a lot of sense. This was a forward heavy first round, but there were some defensemen who were worth picking. Briere and company picked Bonk; the son of former NHLer Radek Bonk. In fact, Oliver grew up watching his dad on the Senators and tried to play like the player he idolized (who wasn’t his father), Erik Karlsson.
Playing for the OHL’s London Knights, he scored 10 goals with 20 assists this year. Bonk also tallied 11 assists in the playoffs for the Knights, however he went scoreless in five games for Team Canada in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
However, he is not your typical offensive defender. He is more of a shutdown defender with some offensive upside. Elite Prospects said this about Bonk:
“A prototypical shutdown defenceman, Bonk safeguards his team by backtracking ahead of offensive turnovers, blocks access to the defensive zone, forces opponents to dump the puck around him, and then seals the puck from them on the back wall. He pushes attackers wide in the defensive zone and scans the ice behind him to stop backdoor plays.”
So, he could end up being more of a Chris Therien more than a Karlsson. Right now, the Flyers could use more of a classic blueliner who can protect the zone then another offensive guy who can leave the team hanging. In that sense, he has value.
I love the Oliver Bonk pick for Philadelphia. I mean, I would have loved it for any team because I think he'll be a two-way ace on the blueline, but you get the idea...
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) June 29, 2023
The Cons
First off, in selecting Bonk, they passed on forward Gabe Perreault and his 132 points. He was snagged in the very next pick by the NY Rangers. If Bonk busts and Perrault because a star, it will be super painful to see him star on Broadway.
Unlike Michkov who seems to be more of a finished product, Bonk is more of a work in progress. He doesn’t have a lot of international tournaments on his resume, so it is hard to judge how he played against elite world talent.
Bonk seems to be more of the type of guy that the Flyers will have to develop. This can turn out well. On the other hand, we could have another German Rubtsov here and in a few years, we’ll see his face on a milk carton because nobody will have seen him.
To prove this point, look at his draft rankings. It’s funny to read draft rankings of NHL prospects because they are scouring the world’s junior leagues, high schools, and colleges for players. Every scout has something they are looking for and value certain characteristics over others. Bonk was rated as high as a late first-early second round to as low as third-to-fourth round. In short, he’s a big question mark. He possess raw talent, but the key word there is raw.
Conclusion
Chuck Fletcher selected York with his first pick in 2019. So far, that pick seems solid. Ron Hextall chose Sanheim in 2014. Back in 2007, Paul Holmgren made, as his first selection, James van Riemsdyk. If Michkov and Bonk can turn out like these three guys, it will have been worth it.
Both have high ceilings which could make Briere’s roll of the dice pay off big time. They also have lots of question marks surrounding them which could set this team back in their rebuilding efforts. Perhaps drafting someone like Ryan Leonard or Dalibar Dvorsky at seventh or Perrault at 22nd would’ve been safer or more traditional for the Flyers. However, we have to assume that Briere and company did their due diligence, checked all the boxes, and did all their homework in selecting Michkov and Bonk. Now, we must wait to see if it pays out in the end.