Oliver Bonk Takes the Ice. Let Him Keep Doing It.

Oliver Bonk took the ice against Seattle, and that’s exactly what the Flyers need from their defense right now. He jumped into the rush, kept the puck when everyone else was throwing it away, and started the play that led to a goal. It was something I haven’t seen from a Flyers defenseman in a while.

I broke this down with James on HW Hockey this week. Every clip below is cued to that moment in the show, so you can watch the film while you read. Thanks to James for having me on. Follow him at @JimIkeHW and @HWhockeyX on X and @hwhockeyig on Instagram.

What’s going on

The Flyers are still looking for their first win. Bonk got the call when Rasmus Ristolainen went down, and he went straight onto the top pair with Travis Sanheim. In his second game of the season, the 3-2 shootout loss to Seattle on Oct. 13, he played 20 minutes. With him on the ice at 5-on-5, the Flyers had 19 of the 31 shot attempts. That’s 61.3%.

He had the primary assist on Christian Dvorak’s goal in the third. Sanheim set up Trevor Zegras for the tying goal 73 seconds later. The pair was on the ice for both.

It wasn’t perfect. A bad line change sent Jordan Eberle in alone and led to a penalty shot that Dan Vladar stopped. But he kept playing his game after it, and that’s the part I care about.

What I’m seeing

Clip 1: He reads it and fills as F2

As soon as the puck turns over, he’s not going back to play D. He sees where it’s going and joins the rush right away. He enters as F2 and tries to tip one. Compared to the Carolina game, he was so much more aggressive offensively, and you see it the whole way through.

Then watch what he does after the hesitation move. So many defensemen in that spot see the screen and just fire. He’s outside the dot lane, and once you’re outside that lane, the chances of a goal go down a lot. So he moves it back to Sanheim and keeps activating in. When the play dies, he ends it on the boards.

My favorite part comes after that. His head is always up. Too many times this year our D have chipped it high or flipped it into the neutral zone, and it’s a turnover. He takes his time, bumps it back to Sanheim, and we reset with possession. No need to rush it.

Clip 2: He joins the rush, and it costs nothing

He flips it up and immediately joins up the ice, still leading the rush. This one gets intercepted, but look where he is. We have the numbers. If that puck gets to him, it’s a slip across and a 3-on-1.

And what’s the harm? Everyone’s got their man. Him not being back doesn’t cause any problems. Then in front of his own net, he doesn’t throw it away. He holds it until the last second. There’s a stick in one lane and a guy ready to jump him in the other. That’s when you flick it off the glass. Not before.

Clip 3: Patience, then the goal

This is his best shift of the game. First he reads the forechecker’s feet. He could take the ice, but the guy is moving that way, so he slips it back to Dvorak, who’s coming over with speed.

Then the big one. He turns behind the net, which is very underrated, and when nobody is open, he takes the ice himself. Zegras has talked about this. The D have been told to activate more and take the ice instead of getting rid of it. That’s the goal. It all comes back to this play. He easily could have thrown it off the glass when the pressure came. Instead he turned off it and kept it.

Clip 4: The simple plays

More easy plays. He comes behind the net and seals the guy off first. Win the battle, take away his hands, and now you can make the play up the wall. Every time, he’s an option up the ice. Every time, it’s a simple play.

Clip 5: The other side of the ice

This is where I get a little negative, and it isn’t about Bonk. Sanheim is somehow still underrated, and I’m not here to give him crap. But watch this. He probably has Sean Couturier, but you can see a stick coming in on him. Why not roll it back the other way to Bonk and stretch the ice from there? Instead it goes off the boards, it’s not a clean pass and it’s a turnover.

Then it happens again. Bonk is wide open, everyone is moving the other way, and the D-to-D pass is right there. Instead we try to hit the long pass into no man’s land.

It’s not just Sanheim. James pointed out David Jiricek flipping one out for an icing in this game, and other guys are doing it more, and worse. It feels like a team philosophy. They’re trying to stretch the ice so much that they never control the puck. Watch Tampa or Colorado. Their D move it up and change sides with shorter passes to spread you out. If I’m the other team watching Flyers tape, I’m sitting three or four guys in the neutral zone and waiting for the turnover.

Why it’s working

He’s playing the way that got him here. He had the freedom to do this in junior and in the AHL, and he did it well. So many guys come into the league and stop doing what made them who they are. Bonk hasn’t. When he was drafted, people didn’t see this in his game. He kept developing it.

That’s why I had him second in my Top 20 Flyers Prospects in September. Most rankings called him a defense-first guy. The data said puck-mover. The film says it now too.

Credit the staff as well. They saw him all of last year, all of camp and in the AHL, and they trusted him enough to put him next to Sanheim. Sanheim’s defending gives him a blanket to go make plays without getting left out to dry. Both of them looked good against Seattle.

What I’d like to see

Let him keep playing his game. Don’t coach the jump out of him because of one bad line change.

Then take what he’s doing to the rest of the blue line. Move it D to D. Change sides with short passes. Control the puck instead of throwing it up the wall and hoping. Bonk is already doing it. The rest of the D need to follow him.

When Ristolainen is healthy, should Bonk stay on the top pair? Let me know @BroadStBreakout.

The full show

The Bonk segment starts at 16:03. The Tocchet and Edvinsson segments are in there too.

Sources: Film from the HW Hockey episode with James Iacovone. Game results from NHL.com and Field Level Media. Ice time and 5-on-5 shot attempts via The Hockey News.