Phantoms Bolster Depth with Four AHL Signings
While the NHL roster has plenty of depth to go around, rounding out the AHL roster was key as well. The Flyers affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, made a few signings of their own on Friday afternoon. They brought in four players, one of which is returning for his second season with the team.
Forward Ralph Cuddemi is back for another season with the Phantoms after a standout season with the ECHL Reading Royals back in the 2019-20 campaign. He racked up an impressive 21 goals and 34 points in just 25 games. He earned himself a PTO with the Laval Rocket that year, making his AHL debut. He posted a modest two goals and five assists in 11 games during the loan.
At the time of his departure from the ECHL, he was the league’s top scorer. Cuddemi has torched the ECHL, amassing 105 goals and 205 points in 237 games. He would only end up appearing in eight games for the Phantoms last season, grabbing one goal and one assist as a depth option for the team. The Royals had opted out of the 2020-21 season, likely a reason the Phantoms brought the standout forward on board.
A forward out of Minnesota State, the Phantoms also brought in Charlie Gerard. His older brother, Freddy Gerard, had been teammates with Tanner a Laczynski when the two played at Ohio State. As for the younger Gerard, he had a solid showing in his fourth and final collegiate season. A season in which he posted 13 goals and 30 points, his Minnesota team posted a 31-5-2 record that had them looking like a threat as the top seed in the NCAA tournament.
He would turn professional last season with the Utah Grizzles of the ECHL. He posted a 20-goal campaign and finished with 34 points in 49 games. He also spent some brief time with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, grabbing one goal in his eight games.
Moving to the defensive side of the game, the Phantoms brought in Ryan MacKinnon. He has bounced between the AHL’s Sound Tigers and ECHL’s Railers during his professional career. He was most recently in Bridgeport where he registered a single assist in six games.
He previously spent 124 games with Worcester during parts of three separate seasons. There he had 11 goals and 50 points. A Price Edward Island native, MacKinnon spent three years at the University of Prince Edward Island after his QMJHL career was over. He hasn’t appeared in the AHL for long, only amassing 17 career games in the league.
Rounding out the depth signings for the Phantoms was goaltender Pat Nagle. While Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko are likely to fight for starting time, Nagle brings in plenty of success. The veteran goaltender ranks fifth all time with 191 wins in the ECHL.
He won the Kelly Cup as a rookie back in 2011-12 with the Florida Everblades. He posted a league-best 1.42 GAA during the playoffs. Nagle would also take the Toledo Walleye to the Kelly Cup Finals in the 2018-19 season. He grabbed 14 postseason wins that year. Nagle has also seen numerous opportunities in the AHL, mostly with the Grand Rapid Griffins.
He has also spent time with the Rochester Americans, Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets. He had also been on loan to the Texas Stars, Lake Erie Monsters and Stockton Heat, but didn’t appear in any games for them. Overall he has 40 games of experience in the league and has posted decent numbers. While the 16-18-2 record doesn’t shine, he has posted a 2.68 GAA and a .902 SV%.
Nagle made the jump to the AHL full time in 2019-20 with the longest opportunity of his career in the league. He went 9-8-1 in 20 games while grabbing a 2.32 GAA and a .920 SV%. Both of which were career-bests in the AHL. Unless you count his two games in the Griffins during the 2014-15 season where he posted a 0.78 GAA and a .971 SV%.
His numbers dipped this past season but Nagle brings experience to a Phantoms roster that has very young goaltenders looking to make their marks. All in all, most of these guys likely won’t see a whole lot of playing time throughout the year, but they do give the team a lot more depth to work with this upcoming season.