Philadelphia Flyers prospects: Konecny, Provorov, Sanheim are destroying the CHL

A slow start for the Phantoms

Unfortunately the Phantoms haven't had the same luck as the Flyers in the early going. They currently have just two wins in six games and their leading scorer is a 31 year old journeyman.

One bright spot is in goal: Anthony Stolarz is splitting time with Jason LaBarbera in net (when LaBarbera isn't in Philadelphia backing up Steve Mason, at least), but I don't know how long that will last. Stolarz has both wins for the Phantoms, allowing five goals in three games for a 1.69 GAA. He's stopped 64 of the 69 shots that he has faced for a .928 save percentage, which is pretty nice.

Phantoms leading scorers

As I mentioned above, Chris Conner is leading the Phantoms in scoring with six points, all of which came within the first three games of the season.

The next three guys are the ones we want to see scoring for the Phantoms. Nick Cousins, Petr Straka and Taylor Leier all got looks with the Flyers last season and in training camp, but couldn't stick around. They're also probably the first call-ups if anyone on the Flyers suffers an injury.

Pavel Padakin has another fluky three points to place him fifth on the team. After that, seven different players have two points on the season. Those players include face-puncher Tyrell Goulbourne with two goals as well as defensemen Andrew MacDonald, Shayne Gostisbehere and Mark Alt, all with two assists.

Top prospects dominating in CHL

When Ron Hextall made the decision to send down some of the top prospects back to their junior teams early in camp, most fans understood. Some fans were clamoring to see those guys up with the big club, but they are now getting a chance to see what they can do for potentially one final season (for some of them) in the CHL.

-- First round draft choice Travis Konecny has been picking apart his opponents. He leads the OHL with 22 points in just 13 games. Even more impressively he has 20 points over his nine game point streak. He is already almost a third of the way to his career high in points of 70 two seasons ago, and 68 last season. Don't be fooled by his low goal totals, Konecny can find both his teammates as well as the back of the net. Konecny is small, and still young, but every point he puts up makes Hextall look more and more like a genius for trading up to select the Canadian winger.

-- Nicolas Aube-Kubel was another top pick of the Flyers, the 48th overall selection of the 2014 draft. He tore up the QMJHL last season, scoring 38 goals and adding 42 assists for 80 points in just 61 games. This season he is averaging over a point per game yet again, but has slowed down over the last four games. He did miss some time after an open ice hit a few weeks ago and bounced back from that fairly well. Expect him to start finding the scoresheet one way or another in the next few games.

-- Samuel Dove-McFalls is still a work in progress, and anything you can get out of him is a bonus. He is just 18 years old and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He doesn't have the flash of Konecny or Aube-Kubel, but he can keep working hard to grind his way up to the top six for the Sea Dogs.

-- Radel Fazleev was another late round pick of the Flyers, drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. He has been progressing year by year however, putting up 25 points in 38 games two seasons ago, 51 points in 71 games last season and he is now over a point per game player for the Hitmen. He has also come up clutch in the playoffs, scoring 21 points in 23 career playoff games. The sixth round pick could work his way into the Flyers' minds if everything works out for him.

-- Like his fellow first round pick, Ivan Provorov has been performing well for his junior team. Last season he averaged just over a point per game (61 points in 60 games) and continues on that pace this season. He had a hot stretch earlier this month, which is a sign of what he is capable of going forward.

-- Travis Sanheim has been absolutely phenomenal this season. Provorov has done well, but even Sanheim laughs at his numbers. Sanheim leads the WHL in defensemen scoring with 17 points in 14 games. He scored 65 points in 67 games last season, and it looks like he should at least match that this season. I have a feeling that Provorov (who is currently the fourth highest scoring defenseman) and Sanheim will be battling back and forth for that title all season.

Blooming across the pond

Looking across the pond, Oskar Lindblom has been playing over his head in the SHL. He currently leads all under-20 players with nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 13 games played. He has seen his role expand for Brynas, going from playing around 12 minutes a game last season all the way up to as much as nearly 19 minutes (18:53) this past weekend. The fifth round draft pick can prove to be a steal of the Flyers if he is able to keep this up over the next couple of seasons.