Alex Bump finds critical next gear in Rookie Series opener

The Flyers opened up their Rookie Series in Allentown on Saturday, coming away with a reasonably tidy win from an otherwise quite chippy game. It was an exciting product, with flashes from players up and down the lineup, but there was perhaps no bigger standout in this first showing than from winger Alex Bump.

His line with Jett Luchanko and Cole Knuble was buzzing all night, getting in and around the net and creating some good chances, work that would eventually see them rewarded with a real highlight reel of a goal scored by Knuble, set up by a perfect pass from Bump.

Given the skill and the greater experience, relatively speaking, of this line, it’s not a surprise that they were able to rise above the rest in this one, but it still made for an exciting and productive mix.

“Well, I think they’re three really good players,” head coach John Snowden said of that top line after the game. “So, like I thought, you know, they had the puck a lot, I think, which helps. When they were in the D-zone, they did a good job of killing plays quickly. They were around pucks quickly… once they got the puck in the O-zone, I just thought they moved it well. They held on to the puck. They didn’t force plays. They extended possessions. In the second period, I think we got, there was a sequence where I think we got through all four lines, almost through. or three. I rolled three through that situation where we just extended them on the ice and it started with that line, and then we ended up scoring later in the sequence a little bit later. So just really good things. I mean all three are very good players that have a high hockey IQ and have high offensive upside. So I was very happy with it.”

It was nice to see that line going quickly, but particularly, it was an even bigger positive that Bump was able to bring some flash and get off to a hot start to this camp, after flying more under the radar last time around — a struggle that snowballed on him into an equally somewhat unremarkable main NHL training camp — to get right to his game and work to turn the page. He’s here to make a big impression, no doubt about it, and that’s been no clearer to see than for his coach.

“Yeah, I think so,” Snowden said when asked about this. “I hope so. I mean, I think they all should come in with that mindset. You know, he got his taste last year and he was up and he got to stay up and he got to play important and meaningful games at the end of the year in the playoffs and you know, he wants to stay there and that’s the kind of game that we’re going to expect from him is that that offensive upside holding on to the pucks, creating offense, that pass that he made to Knuble was that was a hell of a pass, and and Knuble’s finish on that one, like that’s that’s a hard pass and on your backhand, coming downhill to be able to put that in the net was impressive. He scored a nice goal. So overall real happy with the way he looked today.”

Despite this being the first bit of game action that any of these guys have seen this year, Bump was very quickly able to get right to delivering on the very best bits of his game, staying around the puck and working well to create chances. It’s a very different Bump, too, than we saw around this time last year, and he seems all the better for it.

“Confidence,” Snowden acknowledged was the biggest thing, but “I think he’s stronger, he’s bigger, he’s faster. You know, I think when you get to play at the National Hockey League level and you’re playing against the best players in the world, you learn quickly that a lot of the things that maybe you were able to get away with in college or maybe you get away with the American League, you’re definitely not going to get away with in that league. And just understanding, you know, how for one, you’re going to have to play in that league every single day because it’s very hard. And you know, I think at the end of the day, like he just he looked like a confident player tonight. Like that’s he looked like he was very confident. He knew that he could hold on to the puck and he could make a couple extra plays probably that he won’t get away with in the NHL level, but he could get away with tonight, which, you know, in these situations, it’s good for them to get that, especially at this time of year.

Bump’s experience has been valuable so far, not just in providing him the reassurance that he’s doing things well enough to get a look at the highest level, but also to bring an understanding of the types of plays he can pull off at each respective level. As Snowden said, Bump can play with a little more freedom against this level of competition, can push the envelope a bit more in order to create even more offense for himself and his linemates. It might not make for the most sustainable models of play, but he knows this, and what’s more, building that model is not exactly what this weekend is about.

That is, for Bump, above all this camp is about building up his confidence again and putting everything into making himself a standout in every opportunity, to grab onto the momentum that he struggled to find last time around and to refuse to let go. It’s a time for strong, immediate impressions, and this isn’t lost on him in the slightest.

“For sure,” he said postgame. “It’s kind of getting to that time where you got to make an impression. So yeah, I mean obviously we, yeah, we’ve talked about last year, and yeah, I mean, new year, so [we’ll] see how it goes.”

If Bump’s read on the situation seems restrained, it’s hard not to feel that this falls right in line with the rest of his approach for this camp — not overcomplicating it, and just playing his game. It’s a choice that’s often easier said than done, but Bump has come in and looked much freer, perhaps, so far, less bogged down by the weight of expectations. He had his work validated, at last, at the end of last season, and the next step is to just continue doing what he did to get to that NHL recall in the first place.

Things are only going to get harder for him from here, as main camp approaches and both the competition in the game settings gets tougher, and the race for limited spots in the Flyers lineup heat up. Still, for him to pick up this early momentum and this early confidence boost will certainly serve him well. It’s a long process, still, to get to that full-time NHL job, but Bump’s doing everything to use this camp as a springboard and to get himself into the best position to push for it as the competition continues to heat up.

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