Laczynski Wants To Be A Leader While In AHL

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - While there's excitement at the start of the season as hockey returns and the regular season is underway, for some there's the disappointment and frustration of coming up short and failing to make an opening night roster in the NHL.

The Philadelphia Flyers organization, under new management and in a rebuild, have paved the way for younger players like Emil Andrae, Bobby Brink, Samuel Ersson, Tyson Foerster, Felix Sandstrom and Egor Zamula to seize the opportunity and start the year in the NHL.

That left guys like goaltender Cal Petersen, defenseman Victor Mete and forwards Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski on the outside looking in.

All four players needed to clear waivers to be assigned to the AHL, meaning any NHL team could claim them and place them on their NHL roster, but all 31 other teams passed - allowing the four players to head an hour north to play for the Flyers' AHL affiliate in downtown Allentown.

"Nobody wants to train all summer to make this team, and that's nothing against me or against us - you dream about playing in the NHL not the AHL," Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere told InsideAHLHockey.com after his team's 5-2 win over Belleville on October 15.

For Tanner Laczynski, a player who has missed time due to various injuries in his young pro career, he's surely well aware his next NHL opportunity is not a guarantee at this point. The mental challenges a player faces when he comes to a proverbial crossroads in his career often define how the rest of his career will turn out.

"There's disappointment. They can tell me whatever they want like, you know, 'I'm okay, I'm okay.' They're not okay. And I get it," Laperriere said. "But they work and they turn their game around. There's something to build on [down here]."

Time will tell for Laczynski, but for now he's doing and saying all the right things to try to earn that next NHL opportunity - whether that comes in Philadelphia with the Flyers or perhaps another NHL organization down the line. There are always people watching.

"I mean, you're definitely frustrated when it happens," Laczynski said of not making the Flyers out of training camp, before being quick to add, "but I'm happy to be here right now. I love the guys, love the coaching staff. And I think we have a great team here."

While it may just be lip service during a difficult time, Laczynski looked like a man on a mission in that October 15 game against Belleville - skating really well and his speed was noticeable as he was making plays in all three zones.

Laczynski finished that October 15 contest with a game-high three points (one goal, two assists) and has since extended his points streak to four games with two assists Friday in Springfield and another helper both Saturday in Hartford and Sunday on home ice - bringing his season stat line to a team-leading seven points (one goal, five assists) in five games.

"I know he wasn't happy," Laperriere said of Laczynski's disappointment of being sent to the AHL, "but he's just the ultimate professional. He works hard, always [has] a great attitude. [He] always looks at you in the eyes and asks questions for the kids around him. And that's leadership. He's one of our leaders."

That leadership role is something Laczynski is trying to embrace while in Lehigh Valley, as he alternates with Victor Mete in being one of the team's alternate captains - wearing the 'A' on his jersey.

"While I'm here, I want to be a leader. I want to build something here," Laczynski explained to InsideAHLHockey.com. "I think we can have a real shot this year, we just have to continue to keep building keep getting better."