Philadelphia Flyers Prospective Perspective #3: Wade Allison

While Wade(ing) through the prospect pool, I had to make him number three. From his positioning, to his skill and ability, the only way for Wade is up and I believe he has a bright future with the Flyers. So in the case of Wade, I am Alli(n)son.

Wade Allison was drafted 52nd overall in the second round of the 2016 NHL entry draft. He was drafted alongside German Rubstov, Pascal Laberge, Carter Hart, Carson Twarynski, Connor Bunnaman, Linus Hogberg, Tanner Lacyznski, Anthony Salinitri and David Bernhardt. All of which have been in the Phantoms roster, with some making their Flyers debuts as well.

Standing at 6’2″ and 205 Lbs, Allison is an absolute unit of a player. He plays big and plays hard. You can see the strength and size that he has and he uses every bit of it that he can. The scary fact is that he is only 23 and can still put a lot more muscle on.

Making his Phantoms debut on March 14th of this season, he introduced himself in a big way for scoring his first professional goal. Allison played a total of eight games before he was called up to make his NHL debut. He scored four goals and recorded five assists in those eight games.

Allison was called up along side Linus Sandin but was ultimately picked by Alain Vigneault and the coaching staff and they could not have been more right. He slotted right into the lineup and began playing hard and like a power forward. He was able to win board battles, scrums, net battles and other parts of the game that heavily relies on strength.

Wade Allison slotted into the lineup really nicely and even played so well, that he was able to be thrown in anywhere in the lineup. He even made it onto the powerplay as well. He was the most NHL ready prospect and I believe he will be even better next season.

In 14 games, Wade scored four goals and notched three assists. One of his goals was on the powerplay and another was a game winning goal. In those 14 games, his ability on both ends of the ice began to show. He finished the year with 10 blocks, 28 hits, 6 takeaways and only 3 giveaways. He also had a +/- of 1.

Allison was also shown to be a smart and disciplined player. One thing that killed the Flyers depth this year was taking bad penalties and he seemed to be able to avoid that. He finished the year with only 4 PIM.

Breaking down the advanced stats, Allison’s presence on the ice was felt. When he was on the ice, the Flyers controlled the puck 54.1% more than when he was not. He was also on the ice in their offensive zone to start his shift at 51.9%. The team also had a SV% of 92.3% when he was on the ice.

Allison is a huge addition to this team and will be very valuable next year depending on the roster, expansion draft and overall offseason additions and departures. There are a lot of things up in the air for this team, but Allison is a big bright spot for not only this team, but the future as well.

A team’s success doesn’t solely rely on their veteran players. Their prospects need to come in and make an impact. You need players who come up as a surprise and can put numbers into the score sheet. Aube-Kubel was the player last year who made an impact on this team. Allison did the same thing and hopefully he can keep it going into next season.

For what his stats were at 14 games, looking at a projected 82 game season, Allison has some pretty impressive numbers. Projections are obviously just guesses, but there is some merit behind those guesses. In an 82 game season, he is projected to have 23 goals, 18 assists along with 164 hits, 59 blocks, 35 takeaways and 18 giveaways.

I believe Wade can score 20+ goals next season and depending on his line mates and how much weight he can put on, he will be a monster of a player. Being a power forward in the NHL is hard work and you will have to put your body on the line but your teammates and fans will appreciate it. Our last power forward was beloved in this city and was one of the hardest working players on the team.

Another big reason he is this high on my list is because he came out of college. He wasn’t in the juniors or a league overseas with pros. He played with other college talent and not professional players who had years of experience. Stepping from college is usually a little more difficult but he did it with ease.

Wade Allison is number three for our prospects who played this year due to the amount of upside to his game. Tenacity and physicality is a big part of the NHL still and watching this years playoff series has proven that fact right. Expect big things from Wade Allison!