Oliver Bonk had a succinct explanation for what it’s like going up against the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Maksim Sokolovskii.

“It’s terrible,” Bonk said.

Despite both hailing from the London Knights program, Sokolovskii did not take it easy on Bonk at Flyers development camp. On one rep, Bonk felt the sheer size of Sokolovskii.

“He mauled me in practice,” Bonk said last month with a laugh. “We were doing a little keep-away drill and I wasn’t ready for it. The first one, I just came up, I’m like, ‘OK, whatever, this is like a warmup drill.’ I go and he just mauls me, takes the puck away, he has the puck from me for like a minute [and] 30 [seconds].”

Good luck getting it back.

“I’m trying to chase this guy around, he’s just arms out, giant, I can’t do anything,” Bonk said. “I got ready the next one, I got back at him a little bit, protected the puck a little bit better. He’s going to be a really good player.”

The Flyers are hoping this is all just the start for Sokolovskii, a towering defenseman with plenty of potential. The team’s first-round pick this summer just turned 18 years old last month and he’ll be a project of sorts.

But the Flyers were open to that. It’s why they traded back and selected him at 27th overall, passing up on other defensemen like Ryan Lin, Juho Piiparinen and Tommy Bleyl.

Sokolovskii was the eighth defenseman taken in the draft.

“You watch him in drills, some of the things he can do for a player that size, at his age, are impressive,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said in July. … “His physical tools are immense. For us, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s our development job and the coaching in London and everything to help him learn the details and just round out his game. But there’s so much to work with there, it’s exciting.”

The Flyers are happy that Sokolovskii plays for the Knights, a team they know well. They have connections to president and head coach Dale Hunter and vice president and general manager Mark Hunter. The Flyers drafted two London products in 2023 with Bonk (first-rounder) and Denver Barkey (third-rounder).

Last season, his first with the Knights, Sokolovskii continued to exhibit improvement in his skating.

“It just shows you that they care a lot in London,” Bonk said. “Whatever you need to work on, they’re going to find your weaknesses and try to make them your strengths. I’m excited to see what the future holds for that guy.”

Bonk and Barkey were never teammates with Sokolovskii, but they knew about him. At development camp, Barkey couldn’t help but laugh about the height difference. He stands around nine inches smaller than Sokolovskii.

“He’s quite big, especially beside me,” Barkey said in June with a smile. “Doesn’t make me feel too good about myself. I got to meet him actually this year at the Olympic break, I went back and watched two Knights games and saw some of the staff there. The Hunters had a lot of good things to say about him and I was able to meet him then.

“I think he has got a lot of raw skill. When I watch, it seems like he moves really well, moves the puck well for being [6-foot-7]. At that age, it’s pretty impressive and I think he has got a really high ceiling.”

Sokolovskii is committed to play at Maine in 2027-28. At development camp, you could see some underlying skill to his game. It’ll be intriguing to see if he can add some offense this season at the junior level.

But the Flyers know his defensive makeup will be his ticket. He’ll have to keep working on his mobility.

“I felt when we were doing the power skating out here, there were some parts that got exposed,” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said in June. “But then we went over there and he was doing the puck retrievals and his deception with his feet and moving, I was actually surprised of how fluid he was with that at his size. I think he has a lot of upside to him.”