While the Philadelphia Flyers’ season has done nothing but disappoint, at the very least they have something to celebrate within the pipeline after prospect Alex Bump was named NCHC Forward of the Year for his efforts for Western Michigan University.
The NCHC Forward of the Year is handed out annually to the best forward in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. It is comprised of 9 teams between Arizona State University, Colorado College, University of Denver, Miami University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University, and Western Michigan University.
Bump stood out above the rest after he tallied 20 goals and 43 points in 36 games. The former 5th round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft was coming off his first season in 2023-24 where he scored 14 goals and 36 points in 38 games.
Some of the previous winners of the NCHC Forward of the Year include Carolina Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake in 2023-24, Flyers forward Bobby Brink in 2021-22, and Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto in 2020-21. Bump is also the second winner from Western Michigan, following Colorado Avalanche forward Jason Polin’s win in 2022-23.
Alongside being named forward of the year, Bump also made 2025 First-Team All-NCHC, unsurprisingly.
Bump has been a very lowkey addition to the prospect pool, especially considering his 5th round status. The 6’2”, 200-pound left winger has been nothing short of a surprise and is definitely one of the few sleepers drafted by the previous regime headed by Chuck Fletcher.
In 2022, Bump won USA Today Hockey Player of the Year and Minnesota AP Boys’ High School Player of the Year after his performance with Prior Lake High School in Minnesota. He also managed to tally 11 goals and 17 points for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.
He followed that up with an even better 39 points the following campaign during his draft year, which was split between Omaha and the Tri-City Storm.
Expect the 21-year-old to make an impression with the Flyers’ brass this summer during development camp before ultimately making a stop in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, barring an exceptional showing that forces the Flyers hand into giving him NHL-time.
Bump was the third player selected by the Flyers in 2022 after Cutter Gauthier in the first round and Devin Kaplan in the third round. Hunter McDonald was taken in the 6th round and was followed up by Santeri Sulku and Alexis Gendron in the seventh round.
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