As the NHL preseason is just about to wind down, things are only just beginning down at the AHL level. This is primed to be a big season for the Phantoms, with a new coaching staff in place and a shifted emphasis on their role within the Flyers’ development infrastructure, and the hope is that this is the year that they can finally push themselves into the next level of collective team success along the way. It’s a marathon though, and there’s a lot of season still ahead of them, but with their first preseason game getting going this evening, the first look at the team and its key prospects is just about upon us. But before that gets going, let’s dig into some of the major players and points to watch through these early bits of action.
Can Aleksei Kolosov hold up?
This is going to be a big year for Kolosov, without a doubt. With all of the drama hopefully behind him, he’s set to join the Phantoms to start this season with a renewed commitment to getting in the necessary reps to get his game acclimated to the North American style, and push his development in the right direction. And he got off to a strong start to the NHL preseason — with two pairs or periods played in the Flyers’ first two games of the preseason, he held up well under some uneven defensive support, ushering in some real promise with those strong showings. But in his third game against the Capitals in Hershey, things began to go sideways on him, as he began to look less certain in his reads and, even more disastrously, to make himself look very small in his net, leaving a ton of space for the Capitals to shoot at. And in a way, this wasn’t a huge surprise — there were more factors at work during last season, but still one of his biggest issues was the lack of consistency in his play. Now, after just one NHL preseason, we don’t expect that it will be like flipping a switch and turning his consistency on, but the hope is that he was able to use the bit of time off to regroup, and that he begin the AHL preseason on steadier ground, and then build up from there.
Who can use the demotion as fuel?
This time of year is, undoubtedly, a difficult one for a number of players. With the Phantoms roster filling out with players who have been cut from Flyers camp — and some cut after throwing everything at (or being expected to throw more at) a run for a roster spot — there is surely a number of players set to begin the season in a much different setting than they might have envisioned. But the cuts have been made and the situation is what it is, and the season is going to start no matter what, so while the NHL job may have eluded them, the next challenge in front of these players is to metabolize this disappointment and do it quickly, to find a way to turn around and find some extra motivation to hit the ground running down in the AHL. It’s not a challenge that every player is able to rise to meet — the instinct to sulk still finds a way to creep in for some players — but we know well that things can change quickly up with the big club, and it might not be long before one of these players find themself ready to be called upon again. The next task here, then, is to find the right mindset and buckle down in short order, putting in the necessary work on their development pull themselves to the top of the prospect group down with the Phantoms. The door isn’t closed on anyone immediately, but a bad attitude shown in the face of demotion could lead to a player helping to close the door on himself.
Can Samu Tuomaala keep the ball rolling?
More to this, if there’s one skater who really needs to find a way to hit the ground running to start this season, it’s Tuomaala. He’s finding himself in a difficult situation to begin his third season — and final year of his contract — in North America, as he’s struggling to reshape and rediscover his role in the Flyers organization. It seems clear, given how he came into last month’s rookie games, that some conversation was had over the summer suggesting that he might be better suited going through something of a Scott Laughton-style reframing, shifting his focus from being a pure scorer at the pro level and more of a checking player with some bonus offense in the back pocket, but while he came into those first couple of games with some juice, throwing the body around, the more tangibly effective checking elements weren’t really coming together, and the physicality even tapered off when he got into main camp. As a result, Tuomaala ended up one of the earlier cuts from Flyers camp, and more or less back to square one with the Phantoms, having to show development in his game away from the areas where he already excels (something that’s been a bit of a trial for him up to this point). Make or break time is approaching, and it will be important for Tuomaala to show early that he’s committed to taking the right approach and following through on what the development staff are working on with him.
Will the new system see increased pace?
While the Phantoms are making a concerted effort to maintain some continuity with the defensive zone structure that the Flyers will be running up at the top level, there’s going to be some more flexibility in how they’re approaching their neutral zone and offensive zone activity. One of the particular emphases new head coach John Snowden stressed right from the jump was the quick-transitioning he want to see his team taking care of — regrouping with some urgency in the defensive zone and then getting moving up-ice quickly and with possession. Now, a new system isn’t fleshed out overnight, so we don’t really expect to see it in its fully realized form so early as this week, but the early bits that come through will be worth taking note of. And if we can see the Phantoms beginning to shift their mindset in these early exhibition games, we should see their offense shift towards something more dynamic than we saw from them last season.
Are there any game breakers among us?
With a new head coach and a new system put into place, along with a general increase in the level of raw skill on this year’s roster, there’s a hope that the Phantoms will be able to find some success, at the barest minimum, through something of a rising tide lifts all boats effect — that is, more wins will be on the way based on their ability to raise the team’s floor of effectiveness. But one question mark remaining is how they’ll fare in some of the tighter games and situations that they’re bound to run into over the course of this season. Olle Lycksell was dependable as that clutch player for them, someone who could rise to the occasion and break a game open when the Phantoms needed it most, but he’s trying his luck elsewhere this season, having signed in the Senators’ organization. This vacancy in role is a little bit more of a nebulous one, but it is a role that will be an important one to fill, all the same. It’s a sure way to boost one’s standing in the eyes of the upper management group, so it will be interesting to see who might be able to rise to this challenge.
