VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 Jack Nesbitt is well aware of his primary weakness. The second of the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 two first-round selections in the 2025 draft \u2014 No. 12 overall \u2014 is generally viewed as a player with a well-rounded and promising skill set, but who will have to dramatically strengthen his skating if he\u2019s ever going to fulfill his potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, most definitely,\u201d Nesbitt said Monday, when asked if improving his foot speed is a primary focus. \u201cAs a centerman, I\u2019ll need to get out of areas quicker, and stuff like that. I\u2019ll just keep working on that, and keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s already made progress. In fact, Nesbitt credited Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong for passing along an unorthodox tip in August that gave him an immediate boost. Armstrong, who grew up figure skating before playing hockey and who has worked with other prospects on their skating, suggested that Nesbitt should simply try lacing up his skates a bit differently. Instead of using every eyelet on the boot, Nesbitt was advised by Armstrong to skip the second-to-last one.<\/p>\n
The result?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely helped a lot,\u201d Nesbitt said. \u201cIt helped me bend forward more with my knees. It made a huge difference. It pretty much shocked me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps that\u2019s part of the reason why Nesbitt was among the Flyers\u2019 better players on Friday night in their 4-3 overtime win over the Rangers rookies at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. Although he didn\u2019t register a point, Nesbitt, skating as the Flyers\u2019 top-line center with Alex Bump and Samu Tuomaala, made a few notable plays with the puck and just missed connecting with his linemates on a couple that very well could have ended up in the back of the net.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old admitted to some nerves going into the game. But he quickly settled down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I got a couple shifts in, I started to get the feel of things and started to feel more comfortable, started to make plays,\u201d Nesbitt said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely some I should have shot, or should have passed, (but) I feel like I did pretty good for my first time out there with older guys, stronger guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armstrong noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had that extra jump in his skating on Friday night,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was dancing out there. He really opened my eyes on how poised he was with the puck, and even his skating, I think, took another step from development camp to here. He\u2019s only going to go up with that over the next couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something else that was noticeable about Nesbitt was that he wasn\u2019t afraid to get in the middle of what were several post-whistle scrums in the two games against the Rangers\u2019 rookies. At 6-foot-5 and 192 pounds (up from 180 at the end of last season), that\u2019s a part of the game that he embraces, even if it\u2019s a little bit tougher at this level.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure. Obviously with me being bigger, I like to play a more physical game,\u201d Nesbitt said. \u201cThose guys out there are a lot stronger. They\u2019re men. It\u2019s a lot harder to hit them, knock them down. But I still try to finish my checks, get to the net, not get boxed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s only going to get tougher when the Flyers open their NHL training camp Thursday. Nesbitt will remain, at least to start. And, that makes it likely that he\u2019ll get into at least one or two preseason games, too. The Flyers open their seven-game preseason slate on Sep. 21 against the Islanders at UBS Arena.<\/p>\n
There are a number of young players on the Flyers\u2019 roster who will be looking to make the opening-night roster. Bump, Jett Luchanko and Nikia Grebenkin are probably the three forwards with the best chance. Grebenkin posted an overtime goal and two assists in the two-game series with the Rangers. Bump, while he didn\u2019t get on the scoresheet, was still noticeable. Luchanko has missed all of rookie camp due to a nagging groin injury, but was skating with the NHL players in their informal skate Monday, suggesting he\u2019ll be good to go on Thursday, as expected.<\/p>\n
But Armstrong is intrigued to see how Nesbitt performs, too. Although it\u2019s a near lock that Nesbitt will be headed back to OHL Windsor at some point this month or in early October, Armstrong believes Nesbitt is a guy who has the potential to make the Flyers\u2019 decision-makers think long and hard about his immediate future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, another year of junior hockey would be best for him, but I really think he\u2019s going to be able to push the envelope,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cJust his size, his skating, his hands, his hockey IQ is off the charts. In those (rookie) games, he was always at the net, pushing guys around. He kind of has that whole package.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Armstrong has only been working with Nesbitt for a short amount of time, another of his pupils, Denver Barkey, has left a solid impression as rookie camp wraps up on Tuesday. Barkey was drafted by the Flyers in the third round in 2023.<\/p>\n
Barkey was probably the Flyers\u2019 best player in their 4-3 win Friday, showing that his diminutive size \u2014 he\u2019s listed at 5-foot-10, which seems generous \u2014 might not be as much of a hinderance after all, as he gets set to begin his pro career.<\/p>\n
Armstrong has labeled the 174-pound Barkey as a \u201cmini T.K.\u201d \u2014 that\u2019s Travis Konecny, of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s all over the puck,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cHe\u2019s grinding when he doesn\u2019t have the puck, always working to get the puck back. He\u2019s really good with this stick, picking pockets, transitioning. \u2026 You watch him go in the corners and he\u2019s not afraid of that, he\u2019s quick to get in and he\u2019s quick to get out. I think a lot of the smaller guys in the league are really good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phantoms coach John Snowden mentioned Barkey\u2019s name right away on Friday night when asked which players impressed him in the win. Regarding Barkey, what stood out to Snowden was not just the player\u2019s competitiveness and ability to win puck battles along the wall, but his perpetual awareness of his surroundings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe plays with his eyes up all the time,\u201d Snowden said. \u201cEven on his entry plays, he\u2019s slowing himself in the middle of the rink, he\u2019s got tons of space, and he\u2019s just waiting for his guys to come, bringing (opponents) into him. He\u2019s a heck of a hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n
That awareness came by necessity. After all, if Barkey wasn\u2019t constantly tuned into what was going on around him, he would get creamed by a checker twice his size.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlways been a smaller guy, so ever since a young age, I\u2019ve had to be a heads-up player,\u201d Barkey said. \u201cMove the puck fast, get the puck up ice and get to open space for my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Armstrong: \u201cI don\u2019t think a little guy like that skating around with his head down is going to last very long in the game. \u2026 That\u2019s why he\u2019s able to play like he has. He\u2019s a warrior out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo of Jack Nesbitt courtesy of Philadelphia Flyers)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 Jack Nesbitt is well aware of his primary weakness. The second of the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":231194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,3108,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-231193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}