Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2021 AHL Season Preview

It’s finally here. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms open their 2021 AHL season in Hershey, PA against the Hershey Bears Saturday with a 4:00 PM puck-drop at the Giant Center.

Lehigh Valley will play a total of 38 games: 19 home and 19 away. It certainly will look a little different this year with no Calder Cup Playoffs or a Championship awarded. This is strictly a developmental league for the season. When the AHL schedule was announced the first question was with each AHL team playing only three teams in their respected division how would the playoffs work? Well, we’ve got our answer.

The Phantoms will be playing three teams this season and every away contest will be 100 miles or less. In the North Division, Lehigh Valley will play Hershey (14) Wilkes Barre (10) and Binghamton (14) who will play out of Newark, NJ this season out of the New Jersey Devils practice facility. The abbreviated schedule was created with geographic closeness in mind, as the Phantoms longest road trip of the season will be an hour and 22 minutes. The Phantoms won’t be seeing the rest of the North Division such as Rochester, Utica, and Syracuse. Lehigh Valley is playing about three games a week spaced out from time to time to not only cut down on travel but allowing rescheduling for games if COVID-19 is affected by any team. There is also time for any COVID-19 protocols in place and the time for tests to come back to their respected team.

Some top-tier AHL talent is currently being housed by the taxi squads of the NHL teams. This leaves a few big gaps in the AHL. The Phantoms are no exception.  How will they fare without the likes of Andy Andreoff, Carsen Twarynski, Samuel Morin, Connor Bunnaman, Nate Prosser, and Alex Lyon? Once the AHL season gets going is there a possibility that the Phantoms and Flyers will flip players with two-way deals on the Taxi Squad with how close in proximity those two are? I wrote about that potentially happening at the beginning of January.

Compared to prior seasons, the atmosphere of the games will be drastically different. Energy may have to come from within the team between having seriously reduced fans or, in some cases, no fans at all. How is this energy going to be created?

Chemistry across the team and lines might be a little more challenging for this season to come. With so many different types of players and the OHL season not coming to an agreement to play this season, there are so many different line combinations that can be flipped and created by head coach Scott Gordon. With only the one Phantoms’ pre-season game, it is difficult to even get an idea of how the lines work or react to different situations in the game.

3 Most Interesting Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Felix Sandström

In his second full-time professional season at 24 years of age, Felix Sandstrom gets a chance to prove he belongs in the NHL and can convince GM Chuck Fletcher he is Brian Elliot’s replacement moving forward or he’s trade bait at the trade deadline and will get a shot elsewhere. Trading Sandstrom really? Upon the first impact, it’s baffling. But peel off a few layers and it could be a smart move for both the player and his new team. With no ECHL season this year, it’s sink or swim and no fallback option to send him down to Reading. Aside from his record of 1-4-0 he truly picked up his poise with a fantastic GAA at 2.74 and a SV% of .921 with Västerviks IK this summer.

This is a player where loaning him overseas for more rep opportunities will pay off for the upcoming season. Within the four years he’s been in the AHL, the Gävle, Sweden native has only appeared in two games and after a shaky season in the ECHL, last season amassing to a 13-11-1 record in 25 starts with a 3.27 GAA alongside a .885SV% it’s time to see if Sandstrom can handle the AHL level for a full season. He’s such a highly skilled goaltender with impressive fundamentals and now is the time to get a good read on this player and have the green light to trade him or be Carter Hart’s backup for the future.

Pascal Laberge

This is another player that’d I have to throw in here because just like Sandstrom, the cards are up in the air for the 22-year-old from Châteauguay QC, Canada. He’s either in the future of this Flyers squad or he’ll be getting a shot elsewhere. In my Top Prospects in the Flyers System article, I ranked Laberge 14th. One of the key reasons is mainly because it’s hard trying to find a fit for him on this team. It’s not every day you find a Brayden Schenn type player. With a high degree of hockey experience, Pascal Laberge is a tough and spirited two-way forward. Whenever he is on the ice, he looks for turnovers and creates mayhem. To protect the puck, exert physical power, and win board fights, it uses its size well. Has a decent pair of hands for the goal-scorer, however prefers to use them rather than anything to pass.

All-in-all, he is an effective, but engaging, two-way forward with the ability to develop into a goal scorer for playmaking. I have a good feeling that with how much depth there is on this Lehigh Valley Phantoms team and with no ECHL team to send him down to for the moment, he’ll be a healthy scratch for most of the season. Now I said for the moment because the Flyers might come to an ECHL loan agreement with another team at some point during the season and that would be super beneficial for a guy like Laberge. If he’d end up on loan to another club there’s a high likely chance he’d be a Top 6 forward every night for the rest of the ECHL season. That’s what he needs, not to be sitting up in the press-box and dressing every six games. With Wade Allison and Issac Ratcliffe out to begin the season the question still remains if Laberge will be in the lineup on Saturday against the Bears to start the season.

Tyson Foerster

I left Foerster out of my Top Prospects list due to the fact he’s a first-round pick. We all know what the 19-year-old is capable of reaching his potential and has a guaranteed lock this season. I put him as my third to watch during this shortened AHL season due to the fact of how will he fit in with the rest of the OHL prospects on this team? Plus Foerster was born in 2002, he’ll be playing against and with players that were born in 1986. How will these young prospects, especially Foerster, react and respond to this challenge in front of him. At the top of the left face-off circle, he’s most comfortable setting up shop, taking cross-ice feeds and one-timing them with power on the net. He’s very good at setting up his feeds, checking the ice for where his goal will be, looking at the pass, and threatening to fire. He has one of the best shots, can see the ice well, and has plus-defensive instincts that will give him an advantage going into this first professional season.

The Phantoms AHL roster to start the season looks like this:

Goalies (3): Zane McIntyre, Felix Sandstrom & Eamon McAdam

Forwards (18): Wade Allison, Issac Ratcliffe, Ralph Cuddemi, Ryan Fitzgerald, Tyson Foerster, David Kase, Pascal Laberge, Tanner Laczynski, Tanner MacMaster, Cal O’Reilly, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier, Matthew Strome, Maksim Sushko, Max Willman, Zayde Wisdom, Chris Mueller, Garrett Wilson

Defensemen (8): Chris Bigras, Logan Day, Linus Hogberg, Mason Millman, Derrick Pouliot, Tyler Wotherspoon, Wyatte Wylie & Egor Zamula.

There will be no fans allowed inside the PPL Center to at least begin the season and the same can be said about Binghamton and Wilkes Barre. However, a limited number of tickets at least for February will be available this season at the Giant Center where the Phantoms will be traveling twice this month to Hershey. Games will be available to watch on AHL.TV for a full season pass of $44.99 and for the AHL opening weekend from February 5th through the 8th is completely free to anyone to watch.  I’ll have a preview of the matchup between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Hershey Bears Saturday morning before puck-drop!