After a brief mention of it last year, we’ve decided to provide a monthly update on each of the Philadelphia Flyers’ prospects NHL equivalency projections (or NHLe). As stated when the original article was posted last season, this is by no means a perfect way to measure how a prospect is developing, but it one of the better measures we currently have at our disposal.
A lot has happened with the Philadelphia Flyers over the last two months and the same could be said about their prospect pool. Both Radel Fazleev and Taylor Leier exited the organization, while Justin Bailey joined the farm system. On top of a few other less-anticipated prospects changing clubs, Joel Farabee has started to light up the NCAA with 18 points in his last 14 games to lead Boston University in scoring with ten goals and 24 points in 25 games this season. Let’s check in on the rest of the kids.
NHLe through February 4th
| Player | Team | League | Age | Year in League | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | NHLe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Frost | SSM Greyhounds | OHL | 19 | 4 | 43 | 32 | 48 | 80 | 49 |
| Tanner Laczynski | Ohio State University | NCAA (Big Ten) | 21 | 3 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 32 |
| Matthew Strome | Hamilton Bulldogs | OHL | 20 | 4 | 51 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 31 |
| Isaac Ratcliffe | Guelph Storm | OHL | 19 | 4 | 47 | 34 | 22 | 56 | 31 |
| Joel Farabee | Boston University | NCAA (Hockey East) | 18 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 30 |
| German Rubtsov | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 20 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 28 |
| David Kase | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 22 | 1 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 25 |
| Mike Vecchione | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 25 | 2 | 47 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 24 |
| Philippe Myers | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 22 | 2 | 47 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 23 |
| Justin Bailey | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 23 | 4 | 45 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 23 |
| Mikhail Vorobyev | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 22 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| Yegor Zamula | Calgary Hitmen | WHL | 18 | 2 | 48 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 21 |
| Connor Bunnaman | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 20 | 1 | 33 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 21 |
| Noah Cates | University of Minnesota-Duluth | NCAA (NCHC) | 19 | 1 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 20 |
| Maxim Sushko | Owen Sound Attack | OHL | 19 | 3 | 46 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 19 |
| Wyatte Wylie | Everett Silvertips | WHL | 19 | 4 | 51 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 17 |
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 22 | 4 | 32 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 17 |
| Wyatt Kalynuk | University of Wisconsin | NCAA (Big Ten) | 21 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 17 |
| Wade Allison | Western Michigan University | NCAA (NCHC) | 21 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 17 |
| Mark Friedman | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 23 | 3 | 47 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 14 |
| Carsen Twarynski | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 21 | 2 | 43 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 13 |
| Olle Lycksell | Linkoping HC | SHL | 19 | 2 | 39 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
| Reece Willcox | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 24 | 4 | 40 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| Jack St. Ivany | Yale University | NCAA (ECAC) | 19 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| Tyrell Goulbourne | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 25 | 4 | 38 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 10 |
| Cole Bardreau | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 25 | 5 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Jay O’Brien | Providence College | NCAA (Hockey East) | 19 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Linus Hogberg | Vaxjo Lakers HC | SHL | 20 | 4 | 39 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Adam Ginning | Linkoping HC | SHL | 19 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| David Bernhardt | Djurgardens IF | SHL | 21 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Gavin Hain | University of North Dakota | NCAA (NCHC) | 18 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Valeri Vasiliev | Severstal Cherepovets | KHL | 24 | 7 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Marcus Westfalt | Karlskrona HK | Allsvenskan | 18 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Brendan Warren | University of Michigan | NCAA (Big Ten) | 21 | 4 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Sam Morin | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pascal Laberge | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NOTES
- Mikhail Vorobyev is still looking for his first point since rejoining the big club. Granted he’s totaled under 36 minutes of ice time playing at only even strength on a line with Phil Varone and Michael Raffl, so he isn’t exactly being set up for success. After four games without a shot attempt since rejoining the Flyers, Vorobyev finally had two shots on goal last night against the Vancouver Canucks as his 69.23 corsi for percentage is not only nice, but his best showing in any of his 12 NHL games to date. He rightfully earned the third-line center role out of camp before being sent down to the AHL after Dave Hakstol did Dave Hakstol stuff and his possession numbers are much better in the AHL, so this is hopefully (probably?) just Vorobyev taking his lumps on a way to a more cemented role in the lineup next season.
- When are we seeing Philippe Myers soon? To go along with his 3.33 relative corsi for percentage with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season (thanks Bradley), Myers has 28 points in 47 games this season to be the second-highest scoring d-man on the Phantoms’ blue line behind only AHL legend T.J. Brennan. Out of the 339 defensemen who have played a game in the AHL this season, Myers is tenth with eight goals and 12th in points. Pair this with fact general manager Chuck Fletcher mentioned the blue liner by name last week as a player who should get some NHL action this season one has to think Myers’ chance is coming up any minute.
- In the middle of January, Fletcher dealt Taylor Leier to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Justin Bailey. After the 6’4” winger notched 20 points in 37 games for the Rochester Americans, Bailey produced four points in his first six games with the Phantoms. He’s produced well at the AHL level (0.60 points-per-game in 204 contests), It isn’t too likely he ever becomes anything reliable at the NHL level for the Flyers, but he does possess just enough size and offensive upside to make the organization think about bringing back the 23-year-old for cheap next season since he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer.
- Over in Europe, a few of the, ah, less-exciting prospects changed teams. In early January, Marcus Westfalt joined Karlskrona HK in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second-highest hockey league. The 2018 seventh-round pick has one assist through his first 11 games with his new team and hasn’t produced much outside of the SuperElit over the last two seasons, where he has 37 points in 38 games. David Bernhardt, a 21-year-old blue liner the Flyers took in the seventh round of 2016, left Djurgardens IF (who he was a part of their system since 2012-13) to join the Vaxjo Lakers HC, another SHL team. In his first eight games with the Lakers, Bernhardt has two assists, which is more than what he totaled in 16 games with Djurgardens IF this season. Last and certainly least, Valeri Vasiliev jumped from one KHL club (Severstal Cherepovets) to another (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) on a contract good through the 2019-20 season. The Flyers’ 2012 seventh-round pick has yet to produce a point in his first six games with Magnitogorsk and is averaging 14:57 of ice time per game./
