The first of the Flyers’ two pending restricted free agents has a shiny new contract. Bobby (Orr) Brink has signed a two-year, $3-million contract with the team that comes in with a $1.5-million AAV.
That’s a nice early birthday present for the young winger, who turns 23 next week. The currently 22-year old Brink posted 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 57 games with the big club. The 34th overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft has, in 67 career NHL games, recorded 27 points. Before joining the Flyers, Brink played at the University of Denver, and was a Hobey Baker finalist in his last year with the program when the team won the 2022 NCAA Championship.
It was an up-and-down 2023-24 season for Brink that started way up. He arrived at preseason camp and blew everyone else out of the water, forcing himself onto the team and into a rotation with the other forwards on the roster. As the season wore on, things started to slip for him, and he found himself on the outs with John Tortorella and back in AHL Lehigh Valley for 13 games to rediscover his mojo. That stint with the Phantoms served as a wakeup call, where Brink posted seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 13 games. He finished the regular season with the Flyers, then went on to have another four assists in six games during the AHL playoffs with the Phantoms.
This is going to be a big year for Brink. The 5-foot-8, 169-pound winger should have more opportunity this season now that Cam Atkinson has been bought out as the veteran right-winger took opportunity away from the youngster.
The Flyers desperately need someone with Brink’s vision and potential scoring ability to help the beleaguered power play, but he will have to earn those minutes — and earn Tortorella’s trust, which is something he struggled to do last season. There’s still a lot of potential for Brink to become a night in, night out, middle-six contributor on the wing, and now he has the time to prove he’s capable.
