The 2023 NHL Draft went about as well as the Philadelphia Flyers could have hoped, and that was in large part due to two of the draft picks acquired in the Ivan Provorov trade.
Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk, Carson Bjarnason, Denver Barkey, Yegor Zavragin, and Alex Ciernik all have legitimate NHL upside. Cole Knuble and Carter Sotheran figure to be toss-ups at the NHL level, but have a bunch of translatable tools. Only the Philadelphia Flyers’ last two picks – Ryan MacPherson and Matteo Mann – look like long shots. That’s impressive in a draft class of 10 players.
HERE’S @NHLFlyers OLIVER BONK ASSISTING @NHLFlyers DENVER BARKEY#FueledByPhilly | #GoKnightsGo pic.twitter.com/HOomI0QlwY
— London Knights (@LondonKnights) June 29, 2023
Bjarnason and Zavragin, alongside Alexei Kolosov and Sam Ersson, make Carter Hart expendable in the long run. It would be a stroke of genius by Daniel Briere if he can then convert Hart into another Provorov-esque trade during the season, or next offseason. Barkey and Ciernik can become really difficult players to play against in the Philadelphia Flyers’ middle-six, and Michkov and Bonk figure to be staples of the top of the Flyers lineup for a long time.
Michkov’s selection was appropriately seen as a risk, but Briere and the Flyers were comfortable with it and the player himself seems to be keen on the organization. The Flyers undeniably got the second-most talented player in the draft with the seventh pick.
Bonk was more of a reach, but has a high floor as a hockey player. He already has the size and does a lot of things well defensively. With further improvement offensively, Bonk can evolve into a top-pairing defenseman alongside Cam York in the future.
Grade: A+