The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t get far into their first preseason game before losing one of their more important young pieces.
Denver Barkey suffered a lower-body injury in the 2026-27 preseason opener against the Washington Capitals in Hershey, Pa., and the Flyers said he would not return.
Barkey came out for the second period and took the opening draw, but after only a few seconds he headed back to the bench and down the tunnel to be examined by trainers. Not long after, he was ruled out for the rest of the night.
There wasn’t a single obvious play where the injury showed itself, but attention quickly turned to a hard hit along the boards from Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary. Barkey was knocked around while trying to make an offensive play, and though he skated away without immediately grabbing at anything, it looked like the kind of contact that can cause damage, especially against a player his size.
Ouch. As you can see, Barkey did end up skating away and didn’t immediately clutch anything to make his injury obvious, but that is a play where a defender can do some damage, especially against someone Barkey’s size. Since it is a lower-body injury, we can only speculate that something got mangled or twisted as Barkey was on his way down to the ice due to the hit.
Or, it’s a completely different collision and we’re just really trying to speculate and remember any big hits that Barkey suffered during the game. Head coach Rick Tocchet will surely have more information regarding Barkey’s status after the game, but it might not be that great.
The timing is especially rough because Barkey has become a meaningful depth piece for Philadelphia. He’s not one of the team’s top forwards, but he’s important to the way the Flyers want to operate. Since making his NHL debut last season, he has earned a spot in the top nine and brought the kind of edge and work rate that the team clearly values.
His role looked even more interesting in camp, too. Barkey had been skating at center, which only added to his usefulness.
Even if that position switch was going to be limited, it gave the Flyers another option if injuries hit elsewhere. Now, that flexibility is at least temporarily gone.
In 43 games with Philadelphia last season, Barkey scored five goals and totaled 17 points while averaging 13:24 of ice time.
The Flyers head to Boston for the second half of a back-to-back against the Bruins, and it sounds like the other half of camp players will be used there anyway. Philadelphia then continues its preseason on Thursday with a home game against Boston before wrapping up the exhibition slate next Saturday against the Capitals.
In Other News...
Flyers Have A Bigger Concern Than Their Ugly Preseason Opener
The preseason is supposed to be about getting a first look at new ideas and fresh faces, but the Flyers opener in Washington quickly shifted from evaluation to damage control. Philadelphia fell 5-2 to the Capitals, an ugly result on its own, yet the more immediate concern came when forward Denver Barkey was hurt early in the second period and did not return.
Rick Tocchet didnt have an update on Barkey after the game, which leaves the Flyers waiting on a situation that matters more than anything that happened on the scoreboard. Preseason losses are easy to shrug off in September, but injuries to young players trying to make impressions can linger far longer than one rough night. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Prospect Denver Barkey Suddenly Faces A Worrying Setback
Denver Barkeys preseason night against the Capitals ended early after the young Flyers forward left with a lower-body injury and did not return. For a player trying to keep building momentum while splitting time between Philadelphia and the AHL affiliate, any health issue in September can be the kind of setback that gets attention fast, especially when hes looking to stay in the mix as the season approaches.
The Flyers had to wait until the third period to make clear Barkey would not be back in the game, leaving his status as the main concern from an otherwise routine preseason tune-up. Philadelphia has been counting on Barkey to keep developing with the organization if health allows, so the focus now shifts to how serious this latest issue turns out to be and whether it interrupts his push to stick around. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Blue Line Battle Is Suddenly Worth Watching
The Flyers preseason opener in Hershey was less about the final score than about the look behind it. Philadelphia fell 5-2 to the Capitals at the Giant Center, with Jack Studnicka and Cole Knuble providing the goals and Joseph Woll and Carson Bjarnason splitting the goaltending work, but the more revealing part of the night came on the back end. With the regulars staying out of the lineup, the team used the game to get a longer look at its depth and the players trying to break through.
That made the blue line one of the more interesting parts of the night for the Flyers staff, even in a game they ultimately lost. The opportunity was there for several defensemen to make a case in a setting where roster decisions are starting to take shape, and the next few games should only sharpen that competition. For a team that knows its established group, the real question is who can do enough to force their way into the conversation before camp gets much deeper. [Read more 🡒]