At long last, it seems that one of the Philadelphia Flyers’ late-round draft picks is finally going to pan out. After an impressive showing at the Flyers’ annual development camp at the beginning of July, things are looking up for Alex Bump, a fifth-round pick in 2022.
And Bump’s path to the NHL hasn’t been an easy one to this point. After serving as the captain for Prior Lake High School in 2021, Bump went on to play some USHL hockey before spending a full season in the league in his D+1 year, the 2022-23 season. After scoring 39 points in 48 USHL games between the Omaha Lancers and the Tri-City Storm, the Flyers’ 2022 fifth-round pick was supposed to move on to the NCAA and play college hockey for the University of Vermont.
Except, that never came to be.
Because Vermont fired then-head coach Todd Woodcroft, due to an off-ice scandal involving a student, the coach who recruited Bump to Vermont was out of the picture. As a result, Bump took his talents to the University of Western Michigan, where he had a standout 2023-24 campaign.
This past season, the 20-year-old left wing scored 14 goals, 22 assists, and 36 points in 38 NCAA games. His 0.95 points per game matches up well with esteemed NHL prospects like Cruz Lucius (0.94), Tristan Broz (0.93), Sam Lipkin (0.90), Jimmy Snuggerud (0.87), and Landon Slaggert (0.86).
“A guy like Bump, for me, every year he’s been here, you see a dramatic improvement,” Flyers assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Brent Flahr said on July 6, following the development camp scrimmage. “He looks like an NHL player to me going forward. He’s an exciting guy.”
Flahr’s comments aren’t just lip service or wishful thinking, either. Bump truly was one of the standouts of development camp, and was among only a handful of Flyers prospects who made creating offense look natural, not like a chore.
The Prior Lake, Minnesota, native’s movements in the offensive zone are fluid and purposeful, and when looking to create a chance or attack the net, Bump just has the look of a real heady hockey player. He’s smart, calculated, and quick.
Former Minnesota Wild standout Jason Zucker was also an accomplished collegiate player who, like Bump, is an average-sized winger with good but not elite skill. Zucker has carved out a nice NHL career for himself, too.
The 32-year-old is a former 30-goal scorer who has scored 20 or more goals in a single NHL season five times. For his career, Zucker is a 0.53-point-per-game player, which equates to 43 points over a full 82-game season. Reliable, middle-six wingers like Zucker are the kinds of players every team needs one or two of to succeed and get to the next level.
Chris Stewart, one of the Flyers’ development coaches, was on the 2017-18 Wild team that saw Zucker finish second on the team in goals (33) and third in points (64). Stewart knows first-hand how valuable a Jason Zucker can be to a contender.
For reference, Zucker’s 33 goals in 2017-18 ranked 24th in the NHL, making him a more prolific shooter that season than Kyle Connor, Sidney Crosby, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Artemi Panarin, Steven Stamkos, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Leon Draisaitl, Jack Eichel, and more.
If Bump can continue to round out his game and progress the way Flahr is seeing, the Flyers could have a good one on their hands for a long time.
