PHILADELPHIA – For a 20-year-old who’s going through the rigors of a National Hockey League schedule for the first go-round, the Olympic break couldn’t come at a better time than now for Denver Barkey.
The young man has shown his mettle through a demanding, Olympic-compressed slate of games.
On Friday, he gets to go back to Newmarket, Ontario, Canada for some home cooking over the next week or so.
He’s already played 20 games for the Flyers and when you add on another 26 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it’s a pretty good workload. The most games he’s ever played in one regular season was with the Memorial Cup-winning London Knights back in 2023-24.
Coach Rick Tocchet is keeping an eye on things with Barkey and hasn’t ruled out the possiblity that the left wing could return to the American Hockey League at some point.
“I think this break is perfect to talk about it,” Tocchet said during Tuesday morning’s pre-game skate at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. “This is a good break for Barkey to reset.
“He’s obviously opened up a lot of eyes. (GM) Dan (Briere) will make those decisions (about staying with the Flyers for the rest of the season). But for me he’s been a guy who’s tried to do the right things.”
Barkey plays bigger than his 5-foot-10, 171-pound frame might suggest. He takes a hit and gives a hit. He plays with snarl in the corner. With two goals and nine points, he’s producing offensively as well.
“He’s elusive on the ice,” Tocchet said. “There’s a lot to like about him. Whether he stays or not – and there’s a good chance he will – I’ll talk to Danny about it.”
Barkey gives the impression he’s just grateful to be here. A third-round pick in the ’23 draft, he doesn’t give off an air of entitlement. There aren’t a whole lot of 20-year-olds cruising around the NHL.
As for heading home for the Olympic break, it’s almost like a Christmas break 2.0, only better. There’s time to really unpack the bags and take a mental break.
“It’s going to be nice to sit back a bit and relax,” he said. “Take it all in. Be proud of yourself. Think about all the hard work that’s gotten you here.
“And it will be nice to go home and see family and friends. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a lot of them. This will be a chance to talk about what it’s been like this year.”
>Andrae still on hold
Defenseman Emil Andrae was scratched for a fourth straight game. Tocchet hoped to get him back into action this week but the matchup against Washington didn’t look exactly right. Andrae is not one of your bigger, more physically imposing players.
“This (the Caps) is a big, heavy team,” Tocchet said. “They’re built in the corners. There is a little bit of a matchup thing there.”
Andrae can add speed, which is a positive. That might work better against a team like Ottawa, which is the last game before the break.
“You can defend with quickness and your brain, too,” Tocchet said. “It’s not that you’re just a small guy that you can’t play against bigger guys.”
>Zegras OK at center
The Trevor Zegras-at-center experiment continues and Tocchet wants to see how this transition is working for the player who’s been used mostly at left wing.
“On faceoffs, the last game, he was something like 64 percent,” Tocchet said. “That’s a positive. That was one thing that he was worried about. And some coverages down low. I didn’t see a guy confused out there.”
Why make the move to have Zegras at center now?
Some of it might have to do with the player’s recent slump. The coach wants to see if he can change things up.
“For the first 30 games he was going so good,” Tocchet said. “He looked at me (after the switch) like I was crazy. I want to see if he can hold that position down for us. He likes that hybrid, I put him on the wing sometimes.”
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