Alex Bump Ready to Take Perfectly Clear Path to Flyers Roster Spot

Alex Bump is primed to make his NHL debut for the Flyers this season. (Photo: Connor Hamilton, Imagn Images)

If any prospect is slated to make the Philadelphia Flyers roster out of training camp, it's esteemed winger prospect Alex Bump.

An injury to Tyson Foerster and a spurning from KHL free agent Maxim Shabanov have created a number of opportunities for young Flyers to come in and make an impact, including Bump.

"That's my goal since I signed, to try and make the opening night roster," Bump said at development camp Wednesday. "I think I'm totally capable of doing that. I just have to put my best foot forward at camp."

The 21-year-old refused to needlessly burn a year off his entry-level contract after coming over from Western Michigan last season, instead playing for the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a tryout.

Fresh off an NCAA championship, Bump joined up with the Flyers' minor league affiliates, scoring a goal, two assists, and three points in two regular season games and adding two goals in seven Calder Cup playoff games.

Sure, Bump may have ended his season without a point in six consecutive games, but it would have been foolish to expect him to come in and turn into a scoring savant after switching a long collegiate season for new, professional surroudings.

The Flyers' 2022 fifth-round pick now knows what the professional level demands from him from both a preparation standpoint and a performance standpoint.

Assuming newcomer Trevor Zegras indeed sticks at center full-time this season, the Flyers will have two openings on the left wing in the middle-six.

Bump was already in the mix for a role before the Foerster injury, and the latter's status has suddenly created twice the opportunity available for the taking.

"I'm just trying to stay in my lane. I'll let [Danny Briere] decide whether he wants me or not," Bump added with a grin. "I'll try and put my best foot forward, make him choose me. I just try and stay in my lane, work hard."

Bump and fellow youngsters Nikita Grebenkin and Porter Martone are, presumably, the frontrunners for those roster spot openings.

The only way this changes is if new head coach Rick Tocchet elects to roll with some veterans instead, in which case names like Rodrigo Abols, Anthony Richard, and free agency addition Lane Pederson would enter the picture.

Bump certainly has the right mindset for accomplishing his goal of making the Flyers' NHL roster this season, and that will, either now or in the future, take him to where he needs to be.