The Flyers officially recalled defenseman Emil Andrae and Lehigh Valley Phantoms center Jacob Gaucher. Many expected the Andrae call up, but few saw Gaucher’s name being in the mix.
Transactions: We have recalled defenseman Emil Andrae and forward Jacob Gaucher from the @LVPhantoms (AHL). pic.twitter.com/RUlPZM4E4U
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 1, 2025
Andrae has played 20 games with the Flyers this season, the last was Dec. 19 against Los Angeles. Andrae was hit hard in a Dec. 10 game in Columbus after Mathieu Olivier nailed him with a heavy hit and missed a week. He has a goal and four assists with the Flyers. In Lehigh Valley he’s played 15 games with two goals and seven assists. Andrae should help the blue line who have been battling various aches and pains during this condensed schedule prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Flyers sent down Adam Ginning after Thursday’s game against the Islanders and put Egor Zamula on Injured Reserve yesterday.
The bigger news is Philadelphia giving Jacob Gaucher a look, most likely going to be plugged in somewhere down the middle. It’s unclear if he’ll be put into the lineup tomorrow against Colorado but with Morgan Frost gone, the Flyers are down a center. He could also be used as a thirteenth forward the way Olle Lycksell has been used in parts of this season. Gaucher has had a decent sophomore season with 14 goals and 13 assists over 44 games. The Flyers signed Gaucher, who will turn 24 next month, in mid-December to an entry-level contract.
“We’re excited about Jacob Gaucher,” Briere said Saturday. “This is really a wonderful story. If you don’t know he was never drafted. We signed him on an AHL deal and he started playing the full year in Reading in the ECHL. After that season he kind of played up and down between Lehigh Valley and Reading last year. Really played big time minutes, scored a big goal in the playoffs in Lehigh Valley. He signed another AHL deal to start the season and justt proved to be one of our better players in the first half of the season in Lehigh Valley. He’s a big center that just keeps getting better. Now with this situation we felt it was time to give him a look. He never quit, kept improving. He’s been a late bloomer and I can’t wait to see him play. We’ll give him a look.”
Sunday’s game most likely won’t see Andrei Kuzmenko nor Jakob Pelletier because according to Briere, there are some visa issues and paperwork that probably won’t get done on a weekend. Briere said it’s more than likely both guys will be in uniform when the Flyers play Utah on Tuesday night. News of neither playing being available for Sunday would mean Gaucher’s playing against the Avalanche.
