Flyers Getting Younger A Problem For Phantoms?
ALLENTOWN, PA -- One move at a time, the Philadelphia Flyers are shedding players from their NHL roster - the latest of which came Saturday afternoon with the announcement of the trade between the Flyers and Montreal Canadiens, including Christian Folin and Dale Weise in exchange for David Schlemko and Byron Froese.
While the moves make the NHL club younger, making room for prospects from their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley - they called up defenseman Phil Myers after Saturday's trade and forward Justin Bailey following Saturday night's game - the end result for the Phantoms could leave the AHL club with some difficult times ahead as teams begin heading down the homestretch of the regular season schedule.
Enter the AHL's development rule. From the league website's FAQ list, the rule explained:
Of the 18 skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least 13 must be qualified as “development players.” Of those 13, 12 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.
Essentially, the Phantoms can dress five veteran skaters who have appeared in more than 320 pro games in their career dating to the start of this season. They can also dress an additional veteran so long that he's played more than 260 games but 320 or fewer games.
The additions of Schlemko and Froese via trade today, the demotion of Jori Lehtera - who made his Phantoms' debut Saturday vs. Hartford - and the arrival of Corban Knight after he cleared waivers Sunday at noon leaves the Phantoms with several roster restrictions moving forward.
Phantoms 'Veterans'
Defensemen T.J. Brennan, Philip Samuelsson and David Schlemko and forwards Chris Conner, Byron Froese, Jori Lehtera and Colin McDonald all qualify as AHL veterans. Luckily for the Phantoms, Corban Knight qualifies as the sixth veteran option as he amassed 320 pro games entering the season - the cutoff for the "tweener" vet (more than 260 games but 320 or fewer).
"We'll get through this little stretch," Huffman said when asked about the veteran problem starting to surface. "We got some bodies coming, and some things are changing for us. We just need to start winning some games here."
On Sunday against Hartford, newcomers Froese and Schlemko did not make it to town in time following the trade so they were the veteran scratches. What it means moving forward is that two of the above veterans not named Knight will have to sit out each Phantoms game. Certainly less than ideal.
"It's going to be a little bit interesting managaing that, but it's good to have good players," Huffman said of the team's current overabundance of veterans on the roster. "They're all good players, so we'll manage that and then we're still a couple weeks out from the trade deadline and there's always things can happen. We're obviously pretty affected by what the Flyers do so we're just sort of seeing what happens with that."
Help On The Way?
It appears that tough stretch for the Phantoms could be nearing an end. Head coach Kerry Huffman said after Sunday's game that forwards Nicolas Aube-Kubel (lower body), David Kase (suspected concussion) and Pascal Laberge (hip surgery) have resumed skating and are nearing a return.
"The injured guys are doing a lot better. I don't know how the week will progress here with practice, but we could have some more bodies back by the weekend."
Huffman went on to add that the three still had yet to receive medical clearance to return to game action as of Sunday.
"We have to be optimistic," Huffman said after Saturday night's game. "We weathered a pretty tough little storm there with a lot of players out and a lot of call ups and things like that. We got through that part. Now it's time to buckle down and play the kind of hockey we can play."
