Oliver Bonk has held a consistent place on every fan’s prospect radar since the Philadelphia Flyers drafted him in 2023, and after a hugely successful OHL season with the London Knights, he’s continued to impress in rookie camp—looking closer than ever to getting some NHL minutes.
This camp is Bonk’s second one, and he’s enjoyed feeling a little more familiar with his surroundings this year, saying that the experience has been a fun one.
“I know a lot of the guys here,” he said. “I’ve got some friends here, so it’s definitely a good experience.”
One fellow Flyers prospect that Bonk is particularly close with is, of course, Denver Barkey, who is also Bonk’s teammate on the Knights.
“It’s been weird not having him on the ice,” Bonk admits, referencing Barkey being sidelined during camp as he recovers from mono. “But he’s around the rink and we still talk to him a lot. I’m rooming with him and I’m with him all the time.”
Source: X – @LondonKnights
Back in London, Bonk enjoyed an immensely successful season, with his defensive skills becoming a crucial part of the Knights’ fantastic postseason charge that ultimately ended with the team becoming OHL champions.
But it would be remiss to talk about how much the defenseman blossomed last season without mentioning the “Bumper Bonk” phenomenon, an oft-used nickname that stemmed from Bonk flourishing in the bumper role of the Knights’ powerplay (a role that defensemen don’t typically get assigned).
“They had Alec Regula in that position [before me]. I don’t know how they got him in there, but they got him and he worked,” Bonk explained about the thinking behind putting him in the bumper spot. “I wasn’t really scoring coming into my second year—I hadn’t scored in, like, 15 games during the start of the season, so they just kind of put me there to try and get me going and it just took off. Never looked back.”
And even though it’s entirely possible that he was referred to as “Bumper Bonk” more than he was “Oliver” last season, he’s not sick of the moniker.
“You just kinda go with it, ride the wave, just have fun with it,” he laughed. “It doesn’t happen every day that you get put in good positions like that, so [I’m] thankful for it.”
He’s carried that fantastic play into the Flyers’ development and rookie camps this summer, and there has been plenty of debate over whether or not he’s ready to get some NHL minutes during the 2024-25 season (Bonk’s…