When it comes to the Philadelphia Flyers this season there hasn’t been much to celebrate, outside of maybe the resurgence of Oskar Lindblom, Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny after the firing of Alain Vigneault. With several players on the mend with injuries – some season-ending while others are still a mystery – as well as several players NHL-rostered players presumably gone at the trade deadline in less than 2 weeks, the positives are few and far in between. However, there’s been some good news amongst the Flyers pipeline with Bobby Brink and Ronnie Attard being named First Team All-NCHC, with the former being the lone unanimous decision.
Bobby Brink was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft with the 34th selection after Chuck Fletcher traded 2 picks to move up. Cam York was selected in the first round and the Flyers were fortunately surprised that Brink dropped out of the first round. He finished the season leading the NCAA in points with 14 goals and 53 points in only 34 games, making him the front-runner for the prestigious Hobey Baker Award. For further context, the runner-up for points was Nathan Smith with 46, giving Brink the edge for the Hobey Baker Award moving forward.
There was some worry and concern with the play of Brink significantly dropping after his draft year. In 2018-19 with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL, Brink scored 35 goals and 68 points in 43 games and added 2 points in 2 playoffs games. The following 2 seasons in the NCHC with the University of Denver, his numbers dropped to less than a point per game after scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 28 games in 2019-20 and then 11 points in 15 games in 2020-21.
He also took part in 2 World Junior Championships with the United States in 2020 and 2021, scoring 2 points in 5 games and then 6 points in 7 games while winning the gold under captain Cam York, respectively. This season was a huge step forward for the former 2nd round pick and bodes very well for his future with the Philadelphia Flyers, possibly even making an appearance once the playoffs come to a close in the NCHC and NCAA, either at the AHL or NHL level.
Ronnie Attard was also drafted in the 2019 NHL draft but in the third round with the 72nd selection. He’s a 6’3” and 208 pound right-hand shooting defenseman who has really taken great strides since his draft year. One of the forgotten names in the Flyers pipeline, usually below players like York, Yegor Zamula, Tyson Foerster, and Zayde Wisdom among others, he cemented himself in his draft year with 30 goals and 65 points in only 48 games with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL. From 2019-20 to 2021-22, he has increased his point totals from 14 to 22 to 32 respectively with Western Michigan University. He was also named First-Team All-NCHC with Bobby Brink, which represents a huge turnaround for the Flyers farm system. Looking a little desolate for a few years, especially at the position of defense, the Flyers now have some promising names in York, Zamula, Attard and Emil Andrae to look forward to for the next few years as they climb the ranks.
