Maksim Sokolovskii is wasting no time making people take a second look.
A couple months after the Flyers used the 27th overall pick on the 6-foot-8 defenseman from the London Knights, the reaction around the fan base was skeptical, to put it mildly. A lot of people saw the size, saw the Flyers’ history of leaning into big-bodied defenders, and immediately wondered if this was another case of chasing the next Chris Pronger instead of building a better hockey team. Then came the quick trip to Elite Prospects, where Sokolovskii’s eight points in the OHL last season only added to the unease.
But the first glimpses of him in a Flyers sweater started to shift that conversation. At development camp the week after the 2026 NHL Draft, he was moving like a player nobody that size should be able to move like - skating the blue line with ease, handling the puck cleanly and making the idea of a true unicorn feel a lot less like wishful thinking.
Now he’s bringing that same kind of intrigue into actual game action.
The OHL preseason opened this weekend, and Sokolovskii suited up as London hosted the Erie Otters on Friday night. It wasn’t a regular-season game, and the rosters weren’t full-strength, but the 18-year-old still used the opportunity to flash the tools that made him such an interesting pick in the first place.
Maksim Solokovskii (Flyers 2026 1st Round Pick) with an unbelievable assist in his 1st Preseason Game of the season.
He’s a 6’8” 240 lbs defenseman doing this. pic.twitter.com/Euk4g1nCJR
- Jay Money (@insiderJmoney) August 28, 2026
That first assist was a real eye-opener. Sokolovskii picked up the puck near his own blue line, glided into open ice through the neutral zone and, with the Otters giving him room to work, cut across to his off-side.
From there, he used his size to shield the puck, drove toward the net and slipped a backhand pass to the front for an easy finish. It was a full display of the skating, puckhandling and offensive feel that didn’t show up much in last season’s numbers.
He wasn’t finished there.
Second Assist of the Night for Maksim Solokovskii (Flyers 2026 1st Round Pick) on the Luca Santala (2027 Draft Eligible) slot tip.
6’8” PP QB lol?
- Jay Money (@insiderJmoney) August 29, 2026
His second assist came in a different way, but it mattered too. Sokolovskii worked the blue line with quick feet, a little bit of deception and a point shot that was accurate enough to create a tip and turn into another point. That gives him two assists in one preseason game - a quarter of the total he posted in 44 appearances last season.
Nobody should mistake a preseason game for proof of anything, and nobody should expect him to start piling up two points a night once the games count. But the skill is there, and that’s the encouraging part.
For Sokolovskii, this season carries a different kind of weight. Most NHL prospects need a productive Draft+1 year, but he’s in a more unusual spot.
Last season, he barely played, and when he did get on the ice, his job in the playoffs was tied more to being physical and punishing than to creating offense. That wasn’t exactly the stage for showing off what he can do with the puck.
This year, the expectation is that he’ll be in London’s top four and see more time in every situation. The Flyers and the Knights have a strong working relationship, and with Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk having already developed into good professional hockey players, there’s reason to believe the same development path will be in place for Sokolovskii. That should mean a bigger role and a better chance to show more of the offense that made this summer so interesting.
If he doesn’t get that role, or if he finishes below 20 points, that would be a letdown. It would point to stagnation, and that’s not what anybody wants to see from a late first-round pick.
This is also his final junior season before he heads to the University of Maine for 2027-28, so London should be getting the most out of him while they still have him. There’s even a path where he pushes close to a point per game and turns himself into a much louder prospect conversation than the one that followed draft night.
London’s preseason continues Saturday with another game in Erie against the Otters, followed by a “Clash of the Kingdoms” showcase next Friday and Saturday in Victoria, then a home-and-home with the Sarnia Sting. The Knights open the regular season on September 18 at home against the rival Windsor Spitfires.
Sokolovskii is also expected at Flyers Rookie Camp, which begins September 11, before returning to London for the start of the season a week later. And if this preseason debut was any indication, there should be more moments ahead of people watching a giant defenseman glide around the ice and asking the same question: how does someone that big move that well?
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