{"id":633328,"date":"2026-05-09T18:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633328\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T18:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:26:08","slug":"rick-tocchet-hints-at-oliver-bonk-joining-flyers-lineup-for-game-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633328\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Tocchet hints at Oliver Bonk joining Flyers lineup for Game 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Flyers are trying to stave off playoff elimination on Saturday night as they face the treacherous and embarrassing 3-0 series deficit to the Carolina Hurricanes. In an effort to not hand the Hurricanes the series and keep their postseason undefeated streak alive, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet could be making some lineup changes \u2014 and it could include putting in a very young defenseman on the blue line.<\/p>\n

After Saturday morning\u2019s optional skate, head coach Rick Tocchet hinted that Oliver Bonk could be in the lineup to make his playoff debut for Game 4. They still have to make some decisions, but it\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility that the 21-year-old will be in the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still discussing that now. We\u2019re just trying to think of what is the best lineup\u201d Tocchet said <\/a>when asked if there will be any lineup changes solely for performance purposes. <\/p>\n

Oliver Bonk could get involved for Game 4<\/p>\n

The Flyers head coach was then asked specifically if young defenseman Oliver Bonk could be an option because he does hold a reputation as being a positive on the power play. And, well, the Flyers\u2019 power play could have used any help possible in Game 3 and in this series overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in the mix to look at. We\u2019ve been talking yesterday and today and we probably don\u2019t have a final decision here for who is going to be in the lineup tonight. But yeah, there\u2019s a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being in the mix is more than anyone thought Bonk could be at the start of these playoffs.<\/p>\n

Bonk made his NHL debut in the regular-season finale for the Flyers last month, and while he certainly impressed with a goal and an assist in a 4-2 over the Montreal Canadiens, he was generally more thought of a prospect being along for the ride of the playoffs and seeing what a postseason environment is really like. But instead of just practicing with the NHLers as they go through the playoffs, he might actually get into the lineup.<\/p>\n

But what the youngster brings, the Flyers could certainly use. Bonk has held a reputation going back to his days in the OHL with the London Knights as a guy who can amp up a team\u2019s power play. In both London and with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, he wouldn\u2019t just be a typical defenseman playing the point on the man advantage, but he was playing in the bumper in the middle of the zone to be that central nucleus in passing plays and making a deflection or two.<\/p>\n

Add that desperate need to then bringing more youthful energy to a bottom pairing that could certainly use it next to Nick Seeler, and the possibility that we see Bonk becomes more real. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a perfect option \u2014 to throw in someone who is just playing his first year of professional hockey into a must-win playoff game \u2014 but it a card that Tocchet can play. The only other options he truly has is to switch up the forward lines<\/a> again, just trying anything to get some sort of chemistry and a line working together to not get caved in by the Hurricanes, or the Andrae-for-Juulsen rotation he has been doing on the blue line.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really it. But seeing that neither Andrae or Juulsen are really affecting the game all that much, putting in someone who is going to be a long-term piece for the Flyers (hopefully) and get a taste of the playoffs in a do-or-die game, could be fairly useful.<\/p>\n

Bonk could be overwhelmed by the Hurricanes\u2019 pace and ends up as a reason why the Flyers lost Game 4, but it could also be an incredibly lesson heading into the summer and show exactly what the best teams in the NHL look like at the biggest time of the year.<\/p>\n

We probably won\u2019t get a finalized lineup until warmups before puckdrop, though.<\/p>\n

Game starts at 6:00 p.m. as the Flyers are going to be fighting for their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Flyers are trying to stave off playoff elimination on Saturday night as they face the treacherous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-633328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}