As main roster training camp winds down, the AHL’s begins to heat up. The few-week sample size sets the stage for expectations and which prospects are held in higher regard than others. So let’s go through and figure out which prospects’ value is rising and falling before the puck drops on the 2024-25 season.
Trending Up
Jett Luchanko
The recently-turned 18-year-old won’t be an AHL regular this season, it’s either NHL or juniors for the 13th overall pick, but any prospect that is succeeding in Philly deserves some kind of shoutout. He has provided hope for the future at the center position, but as the preseason went on it became more and more clear that he probably isn’t ready for the show just yet, but should be a main roster regular soon enough.
Olle Lycksell
Lycksell is entering his third season in North America and should hopefully be a full-time NHLer this season, but his history shows that it may not be an easy assumption. He’s got 84 points in 91 AHL games and has been a standout during Flyers’ training camp with three points in four preseason games. Though the main roster winger numbers game may be too much for Lycksell to overcome without an injury pop up, so it’s still unknown whether he’ll start the season with the Flyers or Phantoms, but he’s chomping at the bit for a real opportunity to stick on the main roster in 2024-25.
Hunter McDonald
The 6’4 22-year-old is about to embark on his first full professional season in the AHL. He played 17 total games to close out last season with the Phantoms between the regular season and playoffs. He was big, mean and physical, moving rather well for a big man, but took way too many stupid penalties, including 22 minutes worth in six playoff games. If he can clean up his act on all fronts this season, he could have an NHL future, but the ironing out process isn’t exactly an historically easy battle for big defensemen.
Emil Andrae
By all accounts, Emil Andrae showed up to training camp ready to earn an NHL gig that was denied to him last season. He was the Phantoms’ top guy in all situations, especially succeeding on the powerplay. He was their fifth highest scoring player, and easily the highest scoring defenseman with 32 points in 61 contests. The congestion on the main roster blue line is going to limit Andrae even if he does make the team (he has yet to be cut from camp as of this writing) but with his offensive skillset on a disastrous powerplay team, he should at least get an opportunity to see if positive change happens when he’s on the ice.
Bobby Brink
Brink spent his rookie season in the NHL fighting an uphill battle against his own head coach, which ultimately led to a 13-game stint in Lehigh Valley, but he still posted 23 points in 57 games on the main roster and was a point-per-game player with the Phantoms. He has been one of the standout players during the preseason, so hopefully he’ll get a real opportunity to prove himself when the games start to matter. He’s still down the depth chart of a crowded winger corps, but if Tortorella’s “accountability” works both ways, it may be all Brink needs to secure a NHL role with the Flyers.
Sideways Trending
Alexei Kolosov
After a months-long standoff, rookie goalie Alexei Kolosov has made the jump to Flyers’ training camp. As long as Ersson and Fedotov remain healthy, he’s boxed out of a regular NHL gig, and it’s still unclear as to whether the Flyers will carry three goalies or send Kolosov to the AHL. Whatever their decision, it still feels as though everyone involved is walking on eggshells and disaster could unfold at any second. But Kolosov should get the lion’s share of AHL starts if he indeed ends up down there, and if the main roster goaltending looks like it did at the conclusion of last season, the 22-year-old may get his chance to prove himself at the NHL level sooner rather than later.
Massimo Rizzo
The 23-year-old forward is making the jump to the professional level after a college career at the University of Denver. He was playing center during his Flyers’ preseason appearances, which is good news for a team lacking talent down the middle. Can he be an effective body at the AHL level to end up on the NHL radar? That’s what we’ll find out during the 2024-25 season.
Alexis Gendron
20-year-old Alexis Gendron makes his return to the Phantoms this season after a 17-game sample size before a junior demotion last year. He played primarily fourth line minutes every other game for Lehigh Valley which led to the trip back to the QMJHL as they felt it would be better for his development. It ended up being poorly timed as a wave of injuries and call ups hit the Phantoms shortly after, but he did post 18 points in 16 games with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He’s got plenty of speed and a lethal shot, so if he’s given a real opportunity this season, he could rise through the prospect ranks pretty easily if all goes well.
JR Avon
Avon was an interesting character during his rookie campaign with the Phantoms, doing a lot of things right, but rarely finding his name on the score sheet. He posted just nine goals and 18 points in 65 games despite seeing time on the power play, but on the whole, it wasn’t a bad season by any means. This season will be about progress for the 21-year-old forward, and whether or not he can take a step forward on the score sheet will go a long way to determining what his ceiling as a prospect is.
Adam Ginning
Ginning signed a two-year extension with the Flyers during the summer, but he’ll probably be stuck with the AHL squad for the foreseeable future. He’s been an overall solid defensive defenseman during his two seasons with the Phantoms, and has even worn an “A” for stretches during injury to the regular group.
Helge Grans
Grans certainly didn’t impress during his first season with the Phantoms, but is still one of their current “top” defensive prospects, whatever that means these days. Considering there’s no love lost between the Flyers and Ronnie Attard, it’s possible that a solid early season performance from Grans could jump him on the right-handed depth chart if a main roster call up were needed, but it’s just as possible he’s just a guy that never sees time with the Flyers either.
Samu Tuomaala
the former 46th overall pick in 2021 had a wildly inconsistent first season in North America. He did post 15 goals and 43 points in 69 games, but most of than came when his linemates Tanner Laczynski and Olle Lycksell were in town and healthy. When that line became less frequent down the stretch, Tuomaala’s play wasn’t nearly as strong. He’s missed all of training camp after sustaining an injury during the rookie games with the Rangers, which doesn’t exactly set him off on the right foot to start the season. The Phantoms’ offense should be getting a bit of a kickstart this year compared to last, so maybe it’ll be what Tuomaala needs to find consistency in his scoring, which will be the determining factor for a man of his size whether or not he’s got the ceiling of a full-time NHLer or not.
Trending Down
Ronnie Attard
Even though Attard’s contract converted to one-way status for the 2024-25 season, theoretically meaning he should be an NHLer, he was demoted to the Phantoms after one preseason game. If that doesn’t speak to how the organization views Attard after disregarding him for years, I don’t know what does.
Elliot Desnoyers
Elliot Desnoyers set the Lehigh Valley Phantoms rookie goalscoring record during his rookie season, then went on a 42-game goalless drought during his sophomore campaign. He made it though the entirety of training camp this year, which may seem like a low bar, but could indicate that whatever was plaguing him last year is in the rearview and he can return to a normal prospect status, but his play on the ice will ultimately determine where he tops out as both this season and for the future.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom’s days as a viable prospect are all but over. He was cut from camp early and hasn’t been more than a fourth liner in the AHL for over a year. He can be a dark horse candidate to breakout, but overall, an NHL future is looking rather unlikely anymore.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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