Laczynski's Offensive Surge, Strong Two-Way Play Earns Him 1st NHL Recall

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - If not for a lower body injury in the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' season opener back in February, and the team's COVID-related pause after a false-positive test result postponed the team's Mar. 17 and 19 games, Tanner Laczynski might have been up with the Philadelphia Flyers a little sooner than when he hit the ice in Voorhees with the NHL club's main group Friday in Voorhees.

Laczynski only missed a pair of games due to his injury with the way the schedule was set up - light on games to start the month - but it wasn't until the end of the February and into a busy March that the first-year pro really started to get into a routine, and a rhythm.

Despite appearing on the scoresheet just once in his first five pro games, Laczynski was still quite noticeable on the ice and for good reasons - playing a structurally solid two-way game during 5-on-5 situations, strong on the forecheck and creating turnovers (& ensuing chances) and killing penalties.

Laczynski credited his time spent playing hockey at the collegiate level with Ohio State for allowing his game to fully mature before turning pro this season.

"It was great four years," Laczynski said of his time at Ohio State. "My development, I think strength-wise off the ice and on the ice, the little details, becoming a better two-way player. I think that's helped me tremendously into the jump to the pro game."

Phantoms' head coach Scott Gordon echoed that sentiment, noting that while Laczynski might be a rookie he's 23 years old and has a much more polished game than the prototypical 20-year-old entering the AHL from the Canadian junior leagues.

"They're older players coming into pro they've got a level of maturity of how to play the game and what it takes to be successful," Gordon said of Laczynski and fellow rookie Wade Allison. "And you know, I don't think there's really anything to worry about. Just like when Oskar was here, there wasn't anything to worry about."

Phantoms' head coach Scott Gordon made an interesting point looking back prior to Laczynski's offensive surge and likening his lack of points to start his pro career to Oskar Lindblom, who in his first full season of pro hockey in North America went seven games before his first point in 2017-18. (Yes, Lindblom came in at the end of the 2015-16 season with the Phantoms for his first taste of the AHL and tallied seven points in eight games. I didn't forget! But still related.)

It looked like his game went to another level when March hit, understandably so because it always takes a few games to get fully back into the swing of things upon returning from injury for any pro hockey player - let alone a rookie that's learning nuances of the pro game.

"I feel like it's starting to come together for me now. Playing consecutive games, it's been good," Laczynski said after a recent game.

Laczynski's first pro goal might have come a little sooner, too, as he appeared to have scored from the slot in the third period on March 3rd against Hershey. Unfortunately, a high-sticking minor by one of his teammates an instant prior to the pass that came to him for the goal negated the play.

It wasn't long until his chances started going in for him, and in bunches to the tune of six goals in a four-game span toward the end of March.

"I'm just sticking with my game and the bounces are starting to come my way. I'm just focusing on playing my game, and playing hard, and good things are starting to come," Laczynski said after the Phantoms' 6-3 win over Binghamton on March 27, a game in which his goal ended up being the game-winner.

Just one night prior, in Newark against those same Devils, it was the Tanner Laczynski show as the rookie forward tallied his first career pro hat trick - a feat he said he never accomplished in his four years of college hockey at Ohio State - in the Phantoms' 3-2 win that night. Laczynski's game-winning hat trick goal came shorthanded in the third period, where he pulled the puck back behind him and shot with his stick between his legs.

"Kind of a lot of emotions there, I think a majority of it was, you know, not playing for a year and feeling like nothing was going my way. Working so hard, and the bounces just weren't going then finally, you know, the bounces are going [in]. I feel like my confidence is just going up now."

Laczynski's (14GP, 6G-4A) offensive surge at the end of March came while he formed quite a dynamic trio centering linemates Max Willman (15GP, 7G-6A) and Wade Allison (6GP, 3G-4A). They've been quite dominant by all accounts.

"Yeah it's been awesome. We've just been feeding off each other. We didn't have as many 5v5 shifts [March 27 vs Binghamton], but when we did I thought we were possessing the puck and making plays," Laczynski said, noting that amount of penalties in that game limited their 5v5 opportunities. "And I think a big thing is we're just having fun with it. We're going out there finding each other and having a good time."

His strong play with the Phantoms, coupled with the Flyers' horrid month of March, really put Laczynski on Chuck Fletcher and company's radar. So much so that the Flyers GM said in a recent media availability that they'd look to bring up some of the prospects from Lehigh Valley that were playing well in the near future.

Well, here we are. Tanner Laczynski centered the fourth line at Flyers practice Friday, led the team stretches to end the practice and is all but expected to make his NHL debut Saturday night against the New York Islanders.

"You try not to think about it too much," Laczynski said last weekend of any potential future NHL call up. "You just try to play hard every game and when that opportunity does come, if it does come, you have to make the most of it. I just try to go out there and give it my all."