Why Flyers fans should pay attention to the Memorial Cup this week

As this generation’s NHL stars hit the ice to take one more step toward hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup, the next generation gets a chance to claim its top prize.

Friday marks the start of the Memorial Cup, a weeklong tournament featuring the winners of the Canadian Hockey League’s three major junior leagues — the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League, the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League — and the team from this year’s host in Saginaw, Mich., the Spirit.

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In this best-on-best tournament to crown the CHL champs, Flyers fans will get a glimpse of the future, not only for their team but the NHL overall as several players suiting up should hear their names called at the NHL draft in late June.

Here are three reasons to pay attention to the Memorial Cup.

The Flyers are well-represented in this year’s Memorial Cup with prospects Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk playing for London and Alexis Gendron playing for Drummondville. The team almost had a fourth prospect close to the grand finale, but Carter Sotheran and the Portland Winterhawks lost in the WHL final to Moose Jaw.

Although the trio is not expected to crack the Flyers roster next season, the tournament gives fans a chance to get a solid idea of what can be in the not-too-distant future. Bonk and Barkey were stellar this season for the Knights, finishing among the OHL’s best.

Barkey, a winger, finished tied for fourth in the OHL in points (102), third in assists (67), and tied for first in shorthanded goals (7) with teammate Easton Cowan, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect. Barkey played in all situations for Dale Hunter’s stacked squad and added 27 points in 18 playoff games.

“He’s as advertised. He’s exceptionally smart, highly competitive, and, obviously, he’s highly skilled,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr told The Inquirer in March. “The one thing working against him, or will work against him is his size [5-foot-9, 155 pounds].

“But he’s always been the smallest guy. He has a number of traits that small players have to have to make it, like his high hockey IQ, skill level, and more importantly, his competitiveness. He’s really driven to score, really driven to win. And he plays on both sides of the puck.”

Bonk’s game continued to grow and develop as the season progressed. Although Barkey was one of the last cuts for Canada’s World Juniors team, Bonk played a big role on the team’s blue line.

He carried that over with London and also became known as “Bumper Bonk” for his goal-scoring prowess from the bumper position on the power play. He notched six power-play goals in the playoffs after potting 15 in the regular season — tops among OHL defensemen.

Like his teammate and buddy, Bonk had a huge year offensively. Another guy who played in all situations, he posted 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists) in 60 games, with five of those assists coming while shorthanded. He also tied Barkey with five game-winners, which ranked third on the team.

As Flahr said, “he still has a long way to go, but his hockey IQ and the confidence that he plays with on both sides of the puck is impressive.”

Coined by Dobber Prospects as an “undersized elite goal scorer who relies on his creativity to generate offense,” Gendron split the past season between the Phantoms and Drummondville.

After signing an entry-level contract last summer, Gendron started the season with Lehigh Valley. He played in 17 games, collecting five goals and seven points before being sent down on Jan. 2 to Drummondville. With the junior club, Gendron added 18 points (10 goals, 8 assists) in 16 games in the regular season.

In the QMJHL playoffs, the 20-year-old forward added 19 points (11 goals, 8 assists) in 15 games. Gendron notched two goals, including the overtime winner, to send the Voltigeurs to the QMJHL final. In Game 1 of that series against Baie-Comeau Drakkar, he scored a hat trick in his team’s 5-0 win.

The junior ranks are filled with top-tier talent ready to jump to the NHL. This year’s Memorial Cup will showcase several of those guys who are itching to don a jersey when the NHL draft rolls around June 28-29 in Las Vegas.

Two players who are expected to go in the first round are defensemen Zayne Parekh of Saginaw and Sam Dickinson of London.

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The likelihood of either reaching the Flyers at the No. 12 pick is pretty low considering they are high-end talent. Parekh has been labeled “the most skilled defenseman in a loaded defense class” by The Athletic. He is up for defenseman of the year, at just 18, and top draft prospect of the year across the entire CHL.

Dickinson is an intriguing player for the Flyers as he has been playing this season with Bonk and Barkey — and scored three more points than fellow blueliner Bonk. Some draft gurus have Dickinson ranked even higher than Parekh, but if by chance he does fall, it wouldn’t be a shocker if the Flyers nabbed another Knights player.

The Flyers have a slot among the bottom four of the first round as well, but that will depend on when the Florida Panthers’ postseason run ends. That pick is from the Claude Giroux deal. A few other names to keep an eye on are London forward Sam O’Reilly and defenseman Jared Woolley.

All Memorial Cup games can be seen on NHL Network either live or on tape delay.

Friday at 7:30 p.m. — Moose Jaw vs. Saginaw

Saturday at 4 p.m. — London vs. Drummondville

Sunday at 7:30 p.m. — Saginaw vs. Drummondville

Monday at 7:30 p.m. — London vs. Moose Jaw

Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. — Drummondville vs. Moose Jaw

Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. — Saginaw vs. London

May 30 at 7:30 p.m. — Tiebreaker if needed

May 31 at 7:30 p.m. — Semifinal

June 2 at 7:30 p.m. — Final