Phantoms update:
2/21 – 6-4 WIN
2/23 – 2-1 LOSS
2/24 – 2-1 WIN
Philippe Myers (D): 3 GP, 2 assists, 6 shots
Undrafted Free Agent
Points haven’t been that common for Myers the last few weeks. Granted he’s missed some significant time to injury this season, but Wednesday’s two-point performance was just his 2nd multi-point game of the season. The talented defenseman has 15 points (3 G, 12 A) in 30 games.
Travis Sanheim (D): 3 GP, 2 assists, 2 shots, 2 PIM
2014 1st Round Pick, 17th overall
He has 15 points (1 G, 14 A) in 15 games since being demoted to the Phantoms. He is better than 2 current Flyers defensemen. #FreeSanheim
Mark Friedman (D): 2 GP, 1 assist, 2 shots
2014 3rd Round Pick, 86th overall
His assist in Saturday’s game was his first since December 13th. The snake-bitten rookie defender has just 11 points (1 G, 10 A) in 50 games despite firing 77 shots on net.
Danick Martel (RW): 3 GP, 8 shots
Undrafted Free Agent
Martel played all games this week, including the back-to-back on Fri/Sat. Hopefully his jaw surgery is healing quicker than expected. No points this week has him sitting on 28 points (19 G, 9 A) in 41 games. He’s 3 goals away from tying his career-high from the 15/16 season.
Mike Vecchione (C): 3 GP, 1 assist, 4 shots
Undrafted Free Agent
The 24 year old rookie has been quiet since the beginning of February, collecting only 4 points in 11 games. Overall he has 32 points (13 G, 19 A) in 51 GP.
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (RW): 3 GP, 3 shots, 2 PIM
2014 2nd Round Pick, 48th overall
The rare no-point performance for NAK on the week. Despite that, the kid should be seeing NHL time sooner than later given his fantastic underlying metrics and point production (15 G, 22 A in 57 games). There is no reason to at least not be optimistic in him putting in a better game than Jori Lehtera.
Mikhail Vorobyev (C): 3 GP, 0 shots
2015 4th Round Pick, 104th overall
Vorobyev throwing up the big nothing on the stats sheet this week. The Russian rookie has 16 points (5 G, 11 A) in 41 games this season.
Cole Bardreau (C): 3 GP, 1 goal, 4 shots, 2 PIM
Undrafted Free Agent
The gritty forward keeps producing those hockey points. Bardreau has 18 (5 G, 13 A) in 26 games.
Phantoms Notes: Samuel Morin (D) remains out with an injury.
Notable Canadian junior performers this week:
Connor Bunnaman (C/LW), Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
2016 4th Round Pick, 109th overall
- 2/19 – 1 assist, 3 shots, 5 for 11 FOW
- 2/23 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots, 2 PIM, 5 for 8 FOW
- 2/25 – 1 goal, 5 shots, 4 for 8 FOW/
This week was certainly more like it for the power forward who has been notably quiet offensively since the beginning of the new year. This season Bunnaman has 45 points (23 G, 22 A) in 57 games.
Anthony Salinitri (LW/C), Sarnia Sting (OHL)
2016 6th Round Pick, 172nd overall
- 2/19 – 1 assist, 1 shot, 3 for 4 FOW
- 2/23 – 1 assist, 4 shots, 4 PIM, 4 for 6 FOW
- 2/24 – 2 shots
- 2/25 – 1 assist, 1 shot, 2 PIM, 6 for 8 FOW/
Salinitri has 8 games remaining to eclipse his 16/17 season total (58 points in 66 GP). He is also 3 goals away from tying his career-high from last season (28).
Morgan Frost (C), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2017 1st Round Pick, 27th overall
Almost criminal that we only had two Frost games this week, but he kinda made the most of it? I mean…look at this goal. I’d be mildly surprised if he is not a Flyer next season. The 19 year old has 98 points (37 G, 61 A) in 58 games, 1 point off the OHL lead. Though he still has a healthy lead at primary points (79) over the next highest (73).
Isaac Ratcliffe (LW), Guelph Storm (OHL)
2017 2nd Round Pick, 35th overall
- 2/19 – 5 shots, 2 PIM
- 2/23 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots
- 2/24 – 1 assist, 4 shots, 2 PIM, 0 for 2 FOW
- 2/25 – 1 shot/
The hulking winger set a new career-high in points (55) in his 3rd OHL season. Ratcliffe still has a chance to add to his 32 goals as Guelph has 9 regular season games remaining.
Matthew Strome (LW), Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
2017 4th Round Pick, 106th overall
- 2/19 – 1 goal, 4 shots, 2 PIM, 3 for 5 FOW
- 2/23 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 7 shots, 4 for 6 FOW
- 2/24 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot
- 2/25 – 2 shots, 2 PIM, 0 for 1 FOW/
More career-highs! Strome matches his best in goals (34) and surpasses them in assists (30) and points (64). It’s been a very good year for the 3rd year junior player and far better than I would have ever predicted (sorry krut).
Maksim Sushko (RW), Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
2017 4th Round Pick, 107th overall
- 2/19 – 1 assist, 1 shot, 4 PIM, 1 for 1 FOW
- 2/23 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots
- 2/24 – 1 shot, 0 for 1 FOW
- 2/25 – 2 shots, 0 for 1 FOW/
The 4th round pick is certainly paying dividends this season for both the Flyers and his junior hockey club. Sushko has 51 points (28 G, 23 A) in 51 games. This is his 2nd OHL season and only just turned 19 years old.
Carsen Twarynski (LW), Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2016 3rd Round Pick, 82nd overall
- 2/20 – 2 goals, 5 shots, 7 PIM, 0 for 1 FOW
- 2/23 – 1 assist, 1 for 1 FOW
- 2/24 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, 4 PIM, 1 for 3 FOW/
I’m going to go out on a limb and say Twarynski might be sealing the Flyers decision to offer him an ELC. The 4th year WHLer has a career-high 63 points (38 G, 25 A) in 59 games.
Carter Hart (G), Everett Silvertips (WHL)
2016 2nd Round Pick, 48th overall
This just in: Carter Hart is still great. He is the best goaltender in the CHL while holding a .951 SV% and 1.53 GAA in 34 games. Cheers.
Pascal Laberge (C), Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
2016 2nd Round Pick, 36th overall
- 2/21 – 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 shots, 2 PIM, 1 for 5 FOW
- 2/24 – 1 goal, 2 assists, 8 shots, 2 for 5 FOW
- 2/25 – 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 for 3 FOW/
Please tell me that Laberge is fixed now? In his last 4 games he has 3 goals and 4 assists. Nothing would make me happier than knowing his struggles (from concussions or otherwise) are completely behind him. Overall, Laberge has 40 points (15 G, 25 A) in 57 games.
German Rubtsov (C), Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)
2016 1st Round Pick, 22nd overall
The goal was his first since January 26th, though he has missed some time due to injury since then as well. Rubtsov is up to 36 points (13 G, 23 A) in 40 games.
Notable European performers this week
Linus Högberg (D), Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
2016 5th Round Pick, 139th overall
- 2/24 – 1 shot, 15:24 TOI/
The SHL is back in action and it was good to see that that didn’t stop the Lakers head coach from bumping down Högberg’s ice-time.
David Bernhardt (D), Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
2016 7th Round Pick, 199th overall
- 2/24 – 1 shot, 10:47 TOI/
Third-pairing minutes for Bernhardt coming out of the Olympic break. He has 11 points (1 G, 10 A) in 45 games.
David Kaše (C/W), Mora IK (SHL)
2015 5th Round Pick, 128th overall
- 2/24 – 1 assist, 4 shots, 16:10 TOI/
22 points (8 G, 14 A) in 38 games for Kaše as a rookie in the SHL.
Olle Lycksell (RW/C), Linköping HC (SHL)
2017 6th Round Pick, 168th overall
No games for Lycksell, but we did have news that he was returned to his SuperElit J20 team. With Linköping he had 7 points (5 G, 2 A) in 26 games, which isn’t bad for an 18 year old in the SHL.
Felix Sandström (G), HV71 (SHL)
2015 3rd Round Pick, 70th overall
- 2/24 – DNP/
While he didn’t play, Sandström indeed dressed as the back-up for his new team. Progress for the goaltender who has missed significant time this season with an abdominal injury.
Ivan Fedotov (G), Toros Neftekamsk (VHL)
2015 7th Round Pick, 188th overall
Fedotov follows up a 10+ stint as permanent bench-warmer to a shutout performance. Without looking, I’ll guess it was his best performance of the season. The Russian has a .899 SV% in 25 games this season.
Kirill Ustimenko (G), MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg (MHL)
2017 3rd Round Pick, 80th overall
This kid doesn’t seem to get any sort of rest, huh? Ustimenko has played in an astounding 51 games and holds a .929 save percentage, which is 8th best in the MHL.
Notable NCAA and USHL performers this week:
Tanner Laczynski (C), Ohio State University
2016 6th Round Pick, 169th overall
His two-goal performance was welcome after a brief dry-spell from the talented scoring winger. Laczynski has 39 points (14 G, 25 A) in 34 games putting him 14th in NCAA scoring. For reference, he is only 3 points out of the Top 5 in scoring.
Cooper Marody (C), University of Michigan
2015 6th Round Pick, 158th overall
Marody has been on fire of late with 2 goals and 7 assists in his last 5 games. This has pushed him back into the NCAA scoring race with 41 points (12 G, 29 A) in 34 games. He sits in 8th place, though of the 7 ahead of him, only 2 skaters are younger.
Brendan Warren (LW), University of Michigan
2015 3rd Round Pick, 81st overall
13 points (7 G, 6 A) in 34 games for the prospect that allowed us to rid ourselves of Nick Cousins.
Wyatt Kalynuk (D), University of Wisconsin
2017 7th Round Pick, 196th overall
The 20 year old freshman has been fantastic this season, recording 23 points (3 G, 20 A) in 35 games. That ranks him 28th among NCAA defensemen, though just 4 points out of the Top 10.
Terrance Amorosa (D), Clarkson University
2013 5th Round Pick, 132nd overall
I’d be actually surprised if Amorosa didn’t get a contract from the Flyers after his superb senior season with Clarkson. He finished the regular season with 25 points (6 G, 19 A) in 34 games, ranking him 17th among NCAA defensemen.
Noah Cates (LW), Omaha Lancers (USHL)
2017 5th Round Pick, 137th overall
Cates finishing out the season strong, standing at 35 points (14 G, 21 A) in 44 games. He is 4th in scoring on the Lancers this season after a slow start to the season.
Matej Tomek (G), Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
2015 3rd Round Pick, 90th overall
- 2/24 – 4 GA, 17 saves/
And then it all falls apart. Tomek with back-to-back UGLY losses in which he allowed 5 and 4 goals, respectively. His season SV% has dropped to .902 in 22 games.
NCAA Notes: Wade Allison is out for the season with a lower-body injury.
