Phantoms: 2019-20 Capsule Review

A 2019-20 campaign that started with great promise turned into a disappointing season for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms well before the American Hockey League paused, and ultimately canceled, the stretch drive and Calder Cup playoffs due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The Phantoms began the season with points in seven of the first eight games but stumbled badly in November and December on the way to a 24-28-10 season (with seven losses beyond regulation coming via shootout). The club was seventh in the Atlantic Division and 14th in the 16-team Eastern Conference at the time the pandemic forced the season to end abruptly.

"I think the season is secondary to what's going on around the world," Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon said in a media Zoom conference on May 19.

"As far as the year goes, it was probably one of the more difficult years I've had as a coach. Just in terms of the number of [NHL] callups and injuries. I don't know the exact numbers but I believe at one point in December into January, we had 11 players out due to callups or injuries. We never got to have our full lineup together, and that started back in October. When you think about Nolan Patrick being out [for the Flyers] and Oskar [Lindblom] having his situation [battling Ewing Sarcoma] ... there was a turnstile of players going up and down."

The Phantoms struggled mightily to score goals this season, both overall (161 goals scored, 14th in the Eastern Conference) and especially on the power play (10.6 percent, lowest in the 31-team league). In fairness, at one juncture of the season, all four of the Phantoms projected top-four centers were unavailable either due to injury or to being called up to the Flyers.

"There never was any continuity. I felt like, Monday to Thursday, we'd go and have our lines in place. Work on our power play. Inevitably, on Thursday nights, the Flyers would play and someone would have to get called up. That'd throw a big wrench into the plan. That's part of the course you deal with [as a farm team] but it's hard when it happens so frequently," Gordon said.

There was a silver lining to the season's dark cloud, however. A host of Phantoms players made their NHL debuts for the Flyers this season.

The list of NHL debuts included those of first-year pros Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. Other players who saw their first NHL action this season included Connor Bunnaman, David Kase, Carsen Twarynski and German Rubtsov.

At the AHL level, third-year pro Mikhail Vorobyev had arguably his most consistent season thus far in North America, although he continued to struggle (minus a few flashes of his potential) in his NHL recalls with the Flyers. Third-year defenseman Mark Friedman also had his best all-around AHL campaign to date. Friedman held his own in a half-dozen NHL games with the Flyers.

In general, there was a lot of youth on the Phantoms team this season. Isaac Ratcliffe, who entered the pro ranks coming off a 50-goal season in the Ontario Hockey League, had a rough baptism into the pros but developed into a regular penalty killer for the Phantoms and showed glimpses of offensive upside in the second half of the season. Maksim Sushko, another rookie pro, potted 11 goals and 19 points while dressing in 53 games and showing promise of developing into a prospect with eventual upward mobility to a bottom-six NHL role.

Rookie goaltender Kirill Ustimenko, who turned 21 on January 29, progressed at the ECHL level with the Reading Royals at a faster-than-anticipated pace. As a result, he was promoted to the AHL level in the second half and made five appearances for the Phantoms. Although he took some lumps in his AHL action, the Flyers organization is pleased with the young Belarusian netminder's rate of progress in one year. Not only was he making a huge one-year jump in level of competition (from the Russian junior level to the North American pros), Ustimenko also had to make adjustments to the smaller-rink game and off-ice adjustments to learning English and living overseas.

Other rookie pros to appear with the Phantoms this season included forward Matthew Strome (19 AHL games, 25 ECHL games) and goaltender Felix Sandström (25 ECHL games for Reading in a tough first year, plus one relief appearance for the Phantoms). Second-year pro Pascal Laberge, whose development path to date has been set back by injuries and all-around inconsistency, split the campaign between the ECHL (24 games, 12 points) and the AHL (23 games, 10 points).

Meanwhile, early in the season, third-year pro defenseman Phil Myers graduated from the Phantoms roster to solidifying an NHL roster spot with the Flyers. While Phantoms coaches Gordon and Kerry Huffman were thrilled to see Myers spread his wings in the NHL, his departure meant that the farm team no longer had its most dynamic minutes-eating blueliner. Fourth-year winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel also eventually found an NHL home with the Flyers after playing six first-half games with the Phantoms.

The revolving door of players moving up and down from the Phantoms to the Flyers and from the Royals to the Phantoms -- added to the fact that Myers, Farabee and Aube-Kubel spent most of the season in the NHL -- meant that the Phantoms took on a very different look by midseason compared to the roster that started the season.

"The one benefit to that is that there were a lot of players who got expanded opportunities and roles that maybe they otherwise wouldn't have gotten had that not happened. The benefit, I think and hope, is that our team will have that much more continuity next year," Gordon said.

Overall, the Phantoms primary strength this season was the play of veteran goaltenders Alex Lyon and J.F.Berube, prior to the latter being traded to the New York Rangers organization to make room for Ustimenko's promotion. Lyon, an unrestricted free agent after the season, will likely serve as the Flyers' third goaltender when the NHL eventually completes the 2019-20 season.

The Phantoms blueline was also generally a brighter spot than the forward corps, at least when reasonably healthy. Friedman played well, as did veterans Andy Welinski and Tyler Wotherspoon. Veteran defenseman Nate Prosser also provided some stability and leadership.

Veteran forward Greg Carey led the Phantoms in scoring with 30 points; one more point than Frost, who dressed in 16 fewer games at the AHL level due to two recalls to the Flyers. Kyle Criscuolo added consistent hustle and a strong work ethic before he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks organization in the deal that brought Derek Grant to the Flyers.

Kurtis Gabriel appeared in 53 games, brought grit on the ice and took on a leadership role in the dressing room as well as being among the team's most active players in terms of community involve. Chris Stewart dressed in a half-dozen games after the veteran cleared NHL waivers.