The Phantoms picked up two wins on the road last week, beating the Utica Comets 4-2 on Friday, then pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday. They’re now 15-13-4-1on the season and fifth in the Atlantic Division.
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Alexis Gendron
Gendron celebrated his 21st birthday by scoring a goal in both games this weekend. Don’t look now, but he’s up to three goals in his last four games, nine points in his last 12 games, and 10 goals and 15 points in 26 games on the season. The raw speed and shooting ability were always present with Gendron, but he had to overcome Laperriere’s handling and adapting to the AHL level as a rookie. Now that those two things have seemingly be accomplished, Gendron is looking like a legitimate forward prospect for the Flyers.
Helge Grans
Grans had a goal and an assist this weekend. Grans was quiet last week, but he ended up right back on the scoresheet again. He’s now up to four goals and 13 points (10 of them coming since his demotion in early December) in 28 games this season, and is on pace to set new personal bests in both categories as well. With Rasmus Ristolainen *theoretically* on the trade block, it may be the main roster opening Grans needs to return to the NHL.
Massimo Rizzo
Rizzo had an assist on Friday. He has five points in his last in his last eight games since he registered his first goal on December 18. After starting the season late recovering from appendicitis and an 11-game pointless drought to start his AHL career, Rizzo is finally starting to produce with some regularity. It would be nice if he were utilized a bit more meaningfully (and made more of the time he does get) but he’s still a work in progress and definitely trending in the right direction as his health problems are further and further in the rear view.
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Emil Andrae
Andrae had an assist on Saturday. It was his third point in his last four games, and fourth point in eight AHL games this season, so he’s on a similar offensive pace that he’s always been, but the music between the notes has been lacking. Whether he’s playing injured or hasn’t taken the demotion well, something’s up. He’s been the Phantoms’ best defenseman for nearly two years now and he just hasn’t had the same magic since Tortorella exiled him from the NHL.
J.R. Avon
Avon scored a goal on Friday. He has two goals in his last three games and his overall game has taken a step forward in recent weeks. At this point, it’s not looking great for his ability to produce offense regularly, with just nine points in 29 games this season and just 27 points in 97 career AHL games, but he is often far more involved in the play than his barren stat sheet suggests.
Zayde Wisdom
Wisdom had an assist on Friday. He has 10 points in 14 games from December 4 to January 4, which nearly matches his output from the last two seasons combined. Credit where it’s due, Wisdom is playing the best hockey of his professional career lately. He’s garnered some trust from Ian Laperriere and the uptick in ice time has payed off well. If he can keep this kind of momentum going for the rest of the season, there may be some NHL hope left after all.
Adam Ginning
Ginning scored his first goal of the season on Friday. It’s been easy to forget Adam Ginning is a thing this season, and the return of Emil Andrae certainly hasn’t helped his ice time. It’s nice that he showed some signs of life, any maybe it’s enough to spark the turnaround, but take this one with a grain of sand.
Ethan Samson
Samson went pointless this weekend. The impressive scoring has died down quite a bit from his early season pace, but he’s still playing very well. Samson has been quite the story during the 2024-25 season. His rookie campaign opened poorly, but by season’s end looked like he was finding his footing at the professional level, and he was been a breath of fresh air all season long during his sophomore campaign. The sheer numbers game doesn’t bode well for being an NHLer with the Flyers, but as his ability continues to grow, Samson may hold NHL potential in the future.
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Samu Tuomaala
Tuomaala missed both games this week with an illness. Maybe a reset isn’t the worst thing for the sophomore forward. He hasn’t scored a goal since November 27 and had just three assists in 11 games in December.
Olle Lycksell
Lycksell was recalled to the Flyers to serve as their extra body for the road trip and has not played a game with them. Even with a weak main roster offense, they feel no need to turn to their top scorer in the AHL for help. It’s never been a secret the Flyers don’t care for Lycksell, but this is just the latest middle finger.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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