Flyers re-sign winger Bobby Brink to a two-year deal

Danny Brière wasn’t too worried about keeping Bobby Brink in Orange and Black. Every time he was asked, the Flyers general manager said “something will get done.”

And now it is.

The Flyers have re-signed Brink to a one-way, two-year contract with an annual average value of $1.5 million. Brink, who turns 23 on Monday, was a restricted free agent and received a qualifying offer on Sunday, the day before his entry-level contract expired.

Drafted 34th overall in 2019 by the Flyers, the right winger has played in 67 games and registered 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists). Brink made his debut in April 2022 after helping the University of Denver win a national championship. He played in 41 games with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League in 2022-23 after undergoing hip surgery the previous summer. In 2023-24, his first full season since turning pro, he was up and down between the NHL club and the Phantoms, collecting 23 points in 57 games with the Flyers and 13 points in 13 games with the Phantoms.

Eleven of those points with the Phantoms came in an 11-game stint after being sent down on Jan. 22. The 5-foot-8 winger found his scoring touch, scoring six goals.

“I think they were just looking for me to compete harder and win more battles. I think they were looking for me to play a little more confident,” Brink told The Inquirer in May. “Yousometimes have to figure some of that stuff out yourself. ... I just realized that I wasn’t playing to my full potential there for a bit, that you can’t take a night off and have to be able to compete and win your 50-50s every night.”

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Brink returned to the Flyers lineup down the stretch and showcased a more confident approach to his game. After the Flyers season ended in mid-April, he rejoined the Phantoms for their stretch run and the postseason.

“After the season, I approached him about coming here and playing and you could tell that he wanted it, he wanted to come and play,” Brière told The Inquirer in May. “He loves the game, he’s a hockey player, and he’s been good in the playoffs here. It would have been easy for him to pack it in and say, ‘Well, I don’t want to be here, I just want to go home.’

“We’ve been really, really impressed with his attitude, coming here, trying to help this team win. We’re very happy with the way Bobby approached the season and how he competed this year.”

The question now is: How does he fit with the Flyers? Matvei Michkov, who signed his entry-level contract on Monday, is also a right winger and the Flyers have an abundance of talent on the right side. In addition to Brink and Michkov, there are Travis Konecny, Garnet Hathaway, Tyson Foerster, and Owen Tippett. Hathaway signed a two-year extension on Monday (beginning in 2025-26) and Foerster and Tippett have excelled.

The Flyers also had Cam Atkinson on the right-side depth chart, but he was bought out last week and recently signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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“You know what I love about Bobby is he never puts his head down, he never complains. He just goes back to work,” Brière said. “And he did that, he got another call-up later in the season. He came in with spunk. He gave us a jolt of energy. I really liked his game down the stretch.

“I know he didn’t play as much, he was mostly on the fourth line. But it felt like every time he was on the ice, something good was happening. He was ultracompetitive and that’s how he’s going to have to keep playing to play in the NHL.”