Flyers Deadline Decisions Could Make Or Break Phantoms' Season
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INSIDE AHL HOCKEY -- With the NHL's trade deadline looming after the weekend, all the Lehigh Valley Phantoms can do is wait and see how the moves that Philadelphia does or doesn't make affects their stretch run toward an AHL postseason berth. After all, any player on an NHL roster as the trade deadline passes is deemed ineligible to play in the AHL for the remainder of the regular season and the entirety of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.
We learned Sunday afternoon that the Flyers did not place anyone on waivers for the purpose of sending them to AHL tomorrow, which means Phil Varone and Justin Bailey won't be back with Lehigh Valley this season.
You will, of course, likely see a paper transaction by the Flyers on Monday sending guys like goaltender Carter Hart and defenseman Phil Myers to Lehigh Valley to make them AHL-eligible for the rest of the season/postseason. It's also possible that Corban Knight could be assigned to Lehigh Valley Monday as well, but that would be a little more odd after the Flyers had called him up between the Phantoms' pair of games in Charlotte this weekend.
Still, the Phantoms would need to make the Calder Cup Playoffs - no guarantee in the ever-challenging Atlantic Division - to get Hart's services. And depending on who the Flyers trade and receive back in any potential trade could ultimately determine the Phantoms' fate with 21 games left on their regular season schedule following a pair of regulation losses in Charlotte over the weekend.
Following Sunday afternoon's games in the AHL, the Phantoms find themselves on the outside looking in in the Atlantic Division playoff picture - four points behind fourth place Providence for the final playoff spot in the division.
In fact, Providence currently holds the regulation plus overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker by a 27 to 24 margin so Lehigh Valley is technically five points out of the postseason currently. Luckily for Lehigh Valley, Providence lost in regulation to Hartford Sunday - giving the Phantoms one game in hand despite trailing by four points in the standings.
Elsewhere Sunday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated Rockford in regulation - making up one game in hand they had on the Phantoms and narrowing the gap from 5th place to 6th place to one point.
As you can see, there is no margin for error heading down the stretch in the division.
State of the Phantoms
While the addition of goaltender Mike McKenna from Philadelphia sured up the Phantoms' depth in net, the challenges remain for interim head coach Kerry Huffman to juggle seven veteran players into five available lineup slots as well as reconfigure the rest of the lines/pairings accordingly based off of which two of the team's veterans - T.J. Brennan, Chris Conner, Byron Froese, Jori Lehtera, Colin McDonald, Philip Samuelsson, David Schlemko - sit out each game.
Phantoms' Roster (entering 2/24/19)
Goalies (2): Alex Lyon & Mike McKenna
Defense (7): T.J. Brennan (V), James de Haas, Mark Friedman, Zach Palmquist, Philip Samuelsson (V), David Schlemko (V) and Reece Willcox
Forwards (18): Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Cole Bardreau (inj), Connor Bunnaman, Greg Carey, Chris Conner (V), Byron Froese (V), Tyrell Goulbourne, Mike Huntebrinker, David Kase (inj), Alex Krushelnyski, Pascal Laberge, Jori Lehtera (V), Colin McDonald (V), German Rubtsov (inj), Steven Swavely, Carsen Twarynski, Mike Vecchione and Mikhail Vorobyev
How Flyers Trades Can Impact Phantoms' Playoff Push
All signs are pointing to the Flyers selling off pieces of the roster, and the end results of those deals will have major implications on the Phantoms' roster listed above. With guys like Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl and Brian Elliott (among others) heavily talked about as potential trade targets prior to Monday afternoon's tradind deadline, the Flyers are sure to be one of the teams to keep an eye over the next 24 hours.
While the Phantoms currently have 15 healthy forwards with two more - Bardreau and Kase - still working their way back to the lineup (Rubtsov is out for the season) the Flyers moving either Simmonds and/or Raffl could be good or bad news for Lehigh Valley. It all depends on what is coming back the other way.
For instance, if the return is draft picks and prospects who haven't turned pro yet then the Phantoms will surely be seeing some guys called up to Philadelphia for the remainder of the season. Will it be Jori Lehtera and a guy that will be used sparingly, or will the Flyers start calling up more of their young players like Nicolas Aube-Kubel?
The potential trade return could also net the Flyers NHL roster players in return, or additional pro prospects that can be an upgrade to the AHL roster.
It's also not out of the question that some current Phantoms players could be included in the Flyers' potential deadline deals. There are quite a few players on the roster with contracts expiring this summer:
Restricted free agents: Nicolas Aube-Kubel Unrestricted free agents: Mike McKenna, Greg Carey, Byron Froese, Mike Vecchione, Tyrell Goulbourne, Cole Bardreau
Of those impending free agents, I'm curious what the future holds for Mike Vecchione. If not for the Flyers jumping up from 13th to #2 at the draft to select Nolan Patrick a few years back, perhaps Vecchione's path would have been very different. Instead, he's been a somewhat streaky scorer with the Phantoms as a pro. He's got the speed and offensive instincts. Coming out of college he's a bit older than most second year pros, but what does the new regime think of him? If he's not part of the future, is there any interest in a guy like that?
One thing is for sure. Believe it or not, the next 24+ hours will shape the landscape of the AHL postseason races throughout the four divisions. When the dust settles, and there's an AHL trade deadline the following Monday, the stretch run really begins.
Inside AHL Hockey hopes to provide you with that coverage of the AHL's push to the postseason stretch. If you would like access to all of our content, become a subscriber today for $3/month and support original journalism and our team of dedicated AHL-credentialed media members stretching across the United States and Canada.
