First Quarter Grades Report - Flyers Prospects Update
Editor's Note: *The Lehigh Valley Phantoms completed the first quarter (19 games of 76) of their 2017-18 regular season schedule last Friday night after a 6-3 win in Springfield which also marked the end of the team's season-high six game road trip. This 'First Quarter Grades Report' will emcompass the team's first 20 games. All stats used were recorded from opening night on Saturday, October 7th up to and including Saturday, November 25th.
ALLENTOWN - After a hot start to the 2017-18 season, injuries, subsequent call ups seemingly and a season-high six game road trip slowed down the Phantoms in the month of November. Through the first 20 games of the season Lehigh Valley sits at 12-6-2 which doesn't include Wednesday's 3-0 loss at home to Binghamton. Even still, the Phantoms are right around the top of the Atlantic Division standings as the calendar approaches Deccember.
Special Teams
Power Play
First Quarter Stats: 20 games played, 17-for-101 = 16.8% - 18th in AHL (one shorthanded goal against) Season Stats: 20 games played, 17-for-101 = 16.8% - 18th in AHL (one shorthanded goal against)
The Phantoms' 101 power play opportunities were the fifth most awarded by any team in the first eight weeks of the season. After an absolutely dreadful start on the man advantage to begin the season, Lehigh Valley is starting to become more dangerous on the power play. After last Saturday night's 5-4 overtime win against Bridgeport, head coach Scott Gordon attributed a lot of that early-season power play woes to simply not having the same 10 players working together on the two man-advantage units due to injuries/callups etc.
Penalty Kill
First Quarter Stats: 20 games played, 67-for-87 = 77.0% - 28th in AHL (three shorthanded goals for) Season Stats: 20 games played, 67-for-87 = 77.0% - 28th in AHL (three shorthanded goals for)
Similar to the Phantoms' power play, the penalty kill also had a horrid start to the season and had been ranked dead-last in the 30-team American Hockey League (AHL) until only recently.
Goaltenders
Alex Lyon - Grade B-First Quarter Stats:14GP, 7-5-1, 3.44 GAA, .894 SV%, 0 SO
Lyon has struggled so far, and is trying to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. He's been pulled from action three times already in the first two months of the season and while he's had to deal with his fair share of defensive breakdowns in front of him, there has been times where he hasn't been particularly sharp either.
Dustin Tokarski - Grade B-First Quarter Stats: 9GP, 5-1-1, 3.22 GAA, .892 SV%, 0 SO
Tokarski hasn't fared much better than Lyon outside of having a much better wins-losses record in net. It continues to be a 1A-1B tandem, which bodes well for Tokarski getting more playing time than if just Lyon was drawing most of the starts.
Defensemen
Mark Alt - Grade AFirst Quarter Stats: 14GP, 4G-4A, +6, 6 PIM
Alt has always been reliable defensively, but this season his confidence with the puck is growing as he's tallied four goals in his last eight games heading into the Phantoms' 21st game of the season Wednesday versus Binghamton. He had tallied four goals in his previous 118 AHL contests prior to this recent eight-game stretch. The positives of a pair of callups to Philadelphia and his first real NHL stint? Or is there something more here that Alt hasn't been really able to showcase because of his mainly defensive role he's been in throughout his pro career?
Sam Morin - Grade B+First Quarter Stats: 10GP, 1G-4A, +6, 22 PIM
Morin continues to play a simple game, and that's when he's at his best. He knows his game is about doing the little things and playing within his means. That means playing sound defensively, winning one-on-one puck battles in the corners and using his size and physical play to his advantage to shut down the opposition's top offensive players on a regular basis.
Phil Myers - Grade BFirst Quarter Stats: 14GP, 2G-5A, +3, 14 PIM
Myers has shown flashes of why many are hyping this kid up, but unfortunately he's had some injury problems and trouble staying healthy. He's missed six games this season already, and he's back on the injured list after appearing to re-aggravate a groin injury that had bothered him previously when he missed five straight games in early November. The potential is there, but the coaching staff needs a healthy player to teach and polish his game up to standard.
Will O'Neill - Grade BFirst Quarter Stats: 17GP, 3G-2A, +6, 4 PIM
O'Neill made his long-awaited NHL debut in the beginning of November, and similar to Alt you can see what a moment like that can do for a player mentally. He's played well for the Phantoms, and had a big two-goal game on November 25th that seemingly has his confidence reaching an all-time high.
Mark Friedman - Grade C+First Quarter Stats: 19GP, 0G-5A, -13, 6 PIM
It has certainly been a learning experience for Friedman thus far in his rookie season. The Bowling Green State University product has shown glimpses of why the organization drafted & brought him in, but he still has quite a ways to go in fully adjusting to the pro game. It's not an easy jump to make from the NCAA ranks, especially on defense in Scott Gordon's system where defensemen are expected to a lot more active in the neutral zone.
T.J. Brennan - Grade A-First Quarter Stats: 14GP, 2G-13A, +6, 30 PIM
Brennan missed some time with an injury after he took a beating from Penguins' forward Tom Sestito in October, but now that he's back in the swing of things his offensive presence is second to none in the American Hockey League (AHL). With a true power play quarterback in Brennan, it's no surprise that the man advantage has been much more efficient since his return to game action.
Reece Willcox - Grade C+First Quarter Stats: 18GP, 1G-3A,-6, 8 PIM
A stay-at-home defender, Willcox has been victimized on odd-man rushes against with his usual partner T.J. Brennan sometimes caught up ice on the offensive. Willcox logs big minutes on the team's penalty kill and has a pretty simple, but important, role as a 4th or 5th defenseman on the blue line.
Forwards
Greg Carey - Grade A-First Quarter Stats: 18GP, 9G-3A, -4, 10 PIM
Carey is easily the team's best pure-shooter, and he works to getting into those soft spots in the offensive zone - relying on his teammates to get him the puck in those dangerous scoring chance areas.
Tyrell Goulbourne - Grade B-First Quarter Stats: 19GP, 2G-0A, +4, 6 PIM
Goulbourne talked about wanting to get back to the basics, and playing his game. It's easy to tell he's working hard out on the ice, playing physical and with an edge to his game but also staying disciplined. As a matter of fact, Goulbourne has drawn quite a few more penalties than he has taken this season. He'll need to continue being an effective penalty killer and bring speed and tenacity while getting in on the forecheck if he wants ice time on this highly skiled forward unit.
Colin McDonald - Grade B-First Quarter Stats: 13GP, 1G-2A, -9, 13 PIM
McDonald began the regular season on the injured list and has worked his way back into the swing of things, but now the team faces a veteran problem and has been a candidate for the team's veteran scratch designation once already. The captain is one of the team's most reliable two-way forwards.
Corban Knight - Grade BFirst Quarter Stats: 20GP, 2G-5A, Even, 10 PIM
Knight continues to be an effective two-way player and while he might not put up a ton of numbers he can be counted on to provide timely scoring in a secondary role as well as be a solid team guy, killing penalties, blocking shots and taking key face-offs in late game or final minute type situations.
Mikhail Vorobyev - Grade BFirst Quarter Stats: 20GP, 2G-7A, -2, 2 PIM
Vorobyev is starting to get the hang of the North American style on the ice, and hopefully he's growing more accustomed to everything outside of hockey too. His vision with the puck and passing ability is second to none on the team, and he stands out as a play-making center. A potential diamond in the rough for the Flyers if the coaching staff can develop his game and get certain aspects of his game ready for a larger role in North American pro hockey.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel - Grade A-First Quarter Stats: 20GP, 5G-7A, +9, 21 PIM
It's been a breakthrough year for Aube-Kubel so far this season, and if there was a most-improved award for the first 20 games there'd be no better choice. Last season, you would only be able to notice Aube-Kubel on the ice if he was making a play offensively. This year, he has worked on his game away from the puck and he's more noticeable on the ice too.
Danick Martel - Grade AFirst Quarter Stats: 17GP, 14G-5A, +10, 14 PIM
Martel is having a great start to his season. He tallied 14 goals in his first 15 games, and the undersized/undrafted QMJHL forward earned his first NHL call up to Philadelphia. Now that he's back to playing in the AHL, he'll try to avoid trying to do too much out there.
Radel Fazleev - Grade C+First Quarter Stats: 17GP, 0G-6A, +1, 12 PIM
Fazleev has been mostly a fourth line player for Lehigh Valley this season, and three of those six assists came in one game earlier this month.
Mike Vecchione - Grade AFirst Quarter Stats: 20GP, 6G-12A, +2, 10 PIM
The CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month has come flying out the of gates, creating instant chemistry with his linemates Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Danick Martel
Chris Conner - Grade B+First Quarter Stats: 19GP, 4G-10A, -5, 10 PIM
Conner has done just about as much as you could ask for, and a veteran that might be part of the rotation for the veteran scratch moving forward.
Phil Varone - Grade AFirst Quarter Stats: 20GP, 6G-16A, -2, 10 PIM
Varone has aruably been the team's MVP for the first quarter of the season. His creativity on offense and competitiveness have stood out.
Oskar Lindblom - Grade B+First Quarter Stats: 20GP, 4G-8A, +2, 4 PIM
Coming out of the pro hockey scene in Sweden after a breakout year, and turning to North America has given many some unrealistic expectations for his first full year in the smaller rink. Points were hard to come by initially for Lindblom, but he's beginning to settle in and already looks more comfortable than he did earlier this season. The points came in bunches for Lindblom earlier, and he's looking to build off of that.
Honorable Mentions
Defenseman James de Haas - Grade IncompleteFirst Quarter Stats: 5GP, 1G-1A, Even, 2 PIM
de Haas joined the team from Reading amidst all the shuffling of defensemen up top, and is starting look more and more comfortable at this level with every passing shift.
Forward Cole Bardreau - Grade IncompleteFirst Quarter Stats: 6GP, 2G-3A, +3, 21 PIM
Same old story for Bardreau. Another injury has him out of action. This time, it was a sucker punch from Toronto's Dmytro Timashov. The ensuing scrap saw Bardreau holding hs hand on his way off the ice, and it was later confirmed that Bardreau will miss several weeks with that upper body injury.
Defenseman Max Lamarche - Grade IncompleteFirst Quarter Stats: 7GP, 0G-0A, +5, 6 PIM
Lamarche is well-liked by the Phantoms staff, and it's not hard to tell why. He can be thrown in anywhere on the lineup and be effective. Unfortunately, Lamarche left a recent game in Hershey and has missed the past few weeks with an undisclosed injury.
Forward Matt Read - Grade IncompleteFirst Quarter Stats: 6GP, 1G-0A, +3, 2 PIM
Matt Read has returned to the Phantoms after being waived by Philadelphia for the second time this season.
Forward Alex Krushelnyski - Grade IncompleteFirst Quarter Stats: 3GP, 0G-1A, +1, 0 PIM
Krushelnyski didn't look out of place in the three games he suited up for the Phantoms last week. In fact, he had a nice primary assist in his Phantoms' debut.
