Phantoms Add Veterans To Camp Roster
By Seth Cooper
Over 1,400 professional games is what these two forward veteran’s bring to this very young Lehigh Valley Phantoms squad. As training camp gets underway in Allentown, PA. GM Brett Flahr and coaches Scott Gordon along side Kerry Huffman are continuing to improve this roster into championship caliber worthy.
Today the Phantoms organization announced the additions of Chris Mueller to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) and forward Garrett Wilson to an AHL contract.
Mueller drops the hammer down with 771 career AHL games with nine different teams. (Grand Rapids Griffins, Lake Erie Monsters, Milwaukee Admirals, Texas Stars, Hartford Wolf Pack, San Diego Gulls, Tucson Roadrunners, Toronto Marlies and Syracuse Crunch). During his AHL tour the 5’10” forward also added two Calder Cup rings with the Texas Stars in 2013-14 and most recently with the Toronto Marlies in 2017-18.
241 goals with 324 assists gives him a total of 565 points. 565 points is one of the key storylines going into the AHL season because if he puts up 50 points in 36 games it’d be his 8th time doing that impressive stat in his hockey journey. It’s also important to watch for the fact that he ranks 67th all time in points in the American Hockey League and if he can pass AHL Hall of Famer Bryan Helmer and register one point, his new position will be 66th.
With Muller being teammates with Cal O’Riley, the Phantoms now have the top two active scorers in the American Hockey League. O’Reilly is 44th in AHL history with 610 points, Muller at 565.
Muller is also a work horse by placing second in career games played among active AHL players behind only Brett Sutter of the Ontario Reign.
Experience is key for this young Phantoms team and Muller brings that and also can give the young studs something to strive for later in the careers with a taste of NHL action. The West Seneca, NY native has also played in 53 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Dallas and Nashville.
He was an AHL Second All-Star in 2018-19 when he scored a career-high 33 goals and added 32 assists with the Toronto Marlies. Muller finished just one goal off the league lead that season and placed ninth in points with his Calder Cup Team.
Garrett Wilson, who served as the Wilkes Barre Scranton captain in 2018-19, comes over to Allentown where he spent the last three seasons with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from 2016-19. Before serving as the team leader he was an alternate captain for the WBS Penguins from the years of 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Both these veterans spent time in the Toronto organization and playing WBS for so long you know what head coach Scott Gordon is getting out of Garett Wilson and the same could be said about Mueller knowing that the Phantoms in years past have played Syracuse with them being in the north division. The 6’2″ 198-pound native of Barrie, Ontario can also provide the right tools on what the right steps are for getting to the NHL.
84 games in the show for the lefty shooting left winger. Providing somewhat of a spark for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers.
Like Mueller, him and his new teammate have something in common. A long road traveled path in the AHL. Wilson has played for San Antonio, Portland, Wilkes-Barre and Toronto. To cap off his impressive resume Wilson took a trip to the Memorial Cup in 2011.
With the addition of Mueller and Wilson, the Phantoms veteran number stands at 5 but. As the veteran status stands, 12 of those players must have played fewer than 260 regular season pro games. Of the remaining 6, one of those must have played fewer than 320 regular season pro games. Of the remaining 5 at that point, there are no restrictions on how many games have been played. All measures are taken at the beginning of the season and don’t change as the season goes on.
Lehigh Valley’s training camp roster stands at 27.
It’s important to note that there is no roster limit in the AHL, however while the NHL is limited to a 23-man active roster (plus any players placed on injured reserve), there is nothing that prohibits an AHL team from carrying 35 players (except the financial ability to pay all of them).