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Quick Hits: October 6, 2024
1) As expected, forwards Olle Lycksell and Anthony Richard cleared waivers on Saturday and were loaned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Of the two, there was a little less certainty that the 25-year-old Lycksell would go unclaimed but it was figured that both would clear. Richard, who will turn 28 in December, had already passed through waivers a few times before.
Both Lycksell and Richard are above-average AHL players with a bit of NHL experience (24 games for Richard, 26 for Lycksell) to their credit. So it's good to be able to keep these depth players at the ready to provide some AHL impact for Lehigh Valley and be available for NHL call-ups if and when needed.
2) The Phantoms earned a 4-2 win over the defending back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears in Preseason action at the PPL Center on Saturday evening. Hershey, of course, was the team that defeated Ian Laperriere's Phantoms, three games to one, in a best-of-five round in the playoffs last season.
The most encouraging aspect of Saturday's game was the performance of rookie goaltender Alexei Kolosov. He didn't face a high volume of shots (20 saves on 22 shots on goal) but he was severely tested several times including multiple breakaways/ partial breakaways.
J.R. Avon, who scored an impressive goal off the rush against the Utica Comets (wearing New Jersey Devils uniforms) in Thursday's Flyers/Phantoms preseason game in Philly, opened the scoring for Lehigh Valley in Saturday's game. The Phantoms also received tallies from veteran captain Garrett Wilson, Brendan Furry and Matthew Brown. Rhett Gardner contributed a pair of primary assists. Alexis Gendron had multiple high-end scoring chances on the night but was unable to pot one.
Former Flyer/Phantom Mike Vecchione scored for the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate to briefly knot the score at 1-1 early in the second period. Hardy Häman Aktell tallied a mid-third period goal to narrow a Phantoms lead to two goals but the Bears drew no closer.
The Phantoms return to preseason action on Sunday, visiting the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
3) The Standard, Episode 2: In can you missed the second installment of the 2024 edition of the Flyers annual preseason docuseries, it is embedded below. A synopsis of the happenings in 18-minute episode is is available on the Flyers' official site.
4) The Flyers have a second straight complete off-day on Sunday. Tomorrow, the club will practice at the FTC in Voorhees and the organization will announce the opening night roster. Danny Briere will address the media. It's a virtual lock that the first set of questions will be about Jett Luchanko. The 18-year-old center appears set to become the youngest players in franchise history to appear during regular season action.
The team has up to nine games with Luchanko in the gameday lineup before burning the first season of his three-year NHL entry-level contract. From all indications, it was at the recommendation of head coach John Tortorella and his staff that the teenager will open the season on the NHL roster. The preference within Hockey Operations is still for Luchanko to return to the OHL's Guelph Storm without missing much of his draft-plus-season at the major junior level.
I am personally not in favor of Luchanko making the opening night NHL roster. If you believe the player is NHL-ready for a nine-game run, you also need to be ready to keep him beyond that point. Luchanko had an excellent rookie camp and strong start to NHL camp and the preseason. He held his own thereafter, but by no means "broke down the door" (the typical very high bar for a draft-plus-one or draft-plus-two player to break into the NHL right away). At least that's how I see it. Others seem to disagree.
5) One of the biggest positives from training camp and the preseason games was the play of goaltender Samuel Ersson. Entering his second full NHL season and first as the clear No. 1 goalie, he had an excellent camp. Can he handle 50 games? I think so. Can he handle 55? That's starting to push it. Sixty? Probably not.
As such, figuring on roughly a 50-32 split, that puts a crucial need on Ivan Fedotov and/or Phantoms goalies (Kolosov, veteran Cal Petersen, former San Jose goalie Eetu Makiniemi) to give the team a chance to win the majority of their games beyond whatever Ersson provides. I'm still not fully comfortable with that prospect.
Fedotov's day-to-day work in camp (practices, scrimmages, game action) was a bit uneven. Sometimes he started out looking shaky but settled in nicely. Other times, he seemed to be getting in a groove but then something would go under his glove or he'd be off angle/ shaded too far. It still seems to be a work in progress with him.
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