When Samu Tuomaala was selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, there was promise. Thoughts of a speedy winger with an excellent shot and ability to drive past defenders with ease, all came rushing into our heads. But now over four years later and Tuomaala barely registers as a meaningful prospect for the Flyers.
The 22-year-old winger’s stock has never been lower and his future with the Flyers really seems to be in question.
On Thursday afternoon, before they were set up to face the Washington Capitals in preseason action at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA, the Flyers announced their latest round of cuts. They already sent a pile of prospects back to juniors, but with just two preseason games behind them and still plenty of training camp left, it was expected that this round would just be the players on AHL-only contracts and the very fringe minor-league talents. But among those types of players, Samu Tuomaala found himself a very early cut and is already down with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as AHL training camps open this weekend.
The Flyers still have the likes of Jacob Gaucher, Devin Kaplan, Denver Barkey, and Alexis Gendron still at their training camp after their latest cuts — all players who are almost guaranteed to start their season in the AHL. But they’re still here, for now, and considered higher up the internal depth chart than Tuomaala. The Philadelphia front office has apparently seen all they have needed to see from the 22-year-old and will just send him on his merry way, along with players who might not even hit double digits in points this year with the Phantoms.
In maybe the most obvious and painful way possible, the Flyers have made their impression of Tuomaala clear. He’s just not up to snuff. But, there has been a steady rise in his offensive production.
Tuomaala is still progressing, somewhat
In his first full AHL season two years ago, Tuomaala scored 15 goals and 43 points in 69 games at just 20 years old. Those are respectable numbers. Among all Under-21 skaters that played at least 40 games during that 2023-24 AHL season, Tuomaala’s 43 points ranked him 12th, with top prospects like Shane Wright, Brad Lambert, Logan Stankoven, Jiri Kulich, and Brandt Clarke, making up the top of the list.
And then just last season, Tuomaala followed up that rookie campaign with 11 goals and 32 points in just 46 games (he lost a chunk of time due to injury). His rate of production grew ever so slightly from 0.62 points per game to 0.70, but Tuomaala quickly got lost in the age-range shuffle among his peers. His rate of production, among Under-22 skaters that played at least 30 games last season, put him all the way down at 21st. But, there are still notable prospects around his range. Owen Beck, Dylan Duke, Rutger McGroarty, Fabian Lysell, Joakim Kemell, Konsta Helenius, Brad Lambert, Nate Danielson, Fraser Minten — all of these solid prospects for their respective NHL clubs had a lower rate of scoring than Tuomaala.
In a vacuum, that’s completely fine and we should still think of Tuomaala as a good prospect. Other fans might look at his numbers and think that there’s something there that the Flyers don’t see. But, at this point, Tuomaala is either going to be a top-six winger, or nothing at all. He doesn’t have the physical, forechecking game in his arsenal to be a bottom-six contributor — so since Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny exist, his days might be numbered.
So, what happens next? Trade? Loan?
Of course there’s no telling what happens next for Tuomaala. Maybe he can increase his production on the Phantoms and have a fully healthy season that leads him to getting to make his NHL debut in April, or something. Or he’s playing for an entirely different organization before the Flyers even open their regular season on October 9.
The Flyers could feasibly just let Tuomaala cook for another season. They’re in no rush and with him still being ineligible for waivers, they don’t need to make a strong decision about his future one way or the other. He’s still young enough to have some future in Philadelphia and they could remain patient — but should they maybe look to move him for a change of scenery?
Like we mentioned, Tuomaala is seemingly only going to be in the NHL if it’s in a scoring role, somewhere in the top nine. And with the Flyers having the current roster full of long-term solutions on the wing, and even the prospect cupboard full of future wingers like Shane Vansaghi, Denver Barkey, Jack Murtagh, and the like — Tuomaala will easily get lost in the shuffle and has plainly not done enough to really set him apart and demand an NHL opportunity.
So, while there is still a little bit of Prospect Juice for the player and some team might think that they could use a potential scoring winger like him, is there something that can be figured out in the next couple of months? A 23-year-old defenseman that some team doesn’t really need, but can be better than the likes of Helge Grans for the Flyers’ future? Just throwing some scenarios out there.
In the end, there is a world where Tuomaala turns it around. He can either develop more of a bottom-six-style game with the Phantoms this season, or just score so much that the Flyers have to place him on their third line. There’s nothing pre-determined about the Finnish winger’s season other than what team he is starting it on.
But, the Flyers made their thoughts about him very clear and Tuomaala’s time as a player in the organization could be coming to an end, or he’ll just fizzle out before he eventually returns to Finland.
