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Quick Hits: Lyon, Allison, Flahr and More |
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Quick Hits: September 26, 2020
1) On Friday, the Flyers announced that impending unrestricted free agent goaltender Alex Lyon has been re-signed to a one-year, one-way contract for the NHL minimum $700,000. He was on a two-way deal under his previous contract but the second and final season of the now-expired deal, 2019-20, was a one-way arrangement that paid him $750,000.
A Minnesota native, the 27-year-old Lyon will continue to serve as the No. 1 goaltender for the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the No. 3 goaltender on the Flyers' depth chart. The Flyers are also working to develop 21-year-old second-year pro Kirill Ustimenko, who spent the majority of 2019-20 at the ECHL level with the Reading Royals but moved up to the Phantoms in the latter part of the season before it was paused in March and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twenty-three-year-old Felix Sandström will look to bounce back in 2019-20 from a tough North American debut season in which he struggled in the ECHL. Before coming to North America, he had some injury and consistency issues in Sweden. A naturally gifted athlete, Sandström is still capable of getting his development trajectory back on track, but it would have been tough for the Phantoms (coming off back-to-back down seasons) to put all of their faith in a starting tandem of Ustimenko and Sandström. From a Flyers standpoint, neither seems ready right now for NHL recall.
Lyon has made 16 NHL appearances for the Flyers in his career, including two starts and a relief appearance in 2019-20 while Carter Hart was dealing with a mid-season injury. Lyon won a game against Colorado at the Wells Fargo Center in his most notable appearance of the season.
2) Several people have asked where I see incoming rookie right winger Wade Allison fitting in with the Flyers in 2020-21. He is a wildcard for sure. Barring a stellar NHL camp, I think he's more likely to start out next season in the AHL with the Phantoms (when and if the AHL opens for 2020-21 business) and potentially move up depending on his rate of progress and the state of the NHL roster.
Plain and simple, Allison needs to play hockey. The torn right ACL he suffered in January 2018 during his sophomore season at Western Michigan -- at a time when he was was excelling in the NCAA with 15 goals and 30 points in his first 22 games -- was a major setback. Not only did it end his sophomore season prematurely, it also largely ruined his junior year and bothered him even through the summer of 2019. As a senior, Allison dealt with unrelated injury issues in the first half.
The good news is that, once he finally got healthy, Allison showed signs of regaining his form before the pandemic waylaid the March tournaments and forced the cancellation of the Frozen Four. He had just one goal and three points in his first eight games in 2019-20 but then settled in and posted nine goals and 20 points over his final 18 games.
Allison simply needs an uninterrupted stretch of playing hockey. He has only played 48 games since the ACL tear, which was roughly 32 months ago. Allison had considered turning professional sooner, but he didn't want to be playing catch-up in terms of game readiness while simultaneously trying to make the difficulty jump to the pros. By staying at Western Michigan for the full four years, he was able to rehab, continue his education and play the weekend-driven game schedule once he was healthy enough to play again.
As he settles in and adapts to pros, Allison has the chance to develop into an effective NHL player. He has always had a very heavy shot and a willingness to get to the net and battle for pucks. He plays a physical, power forward brand of hockey and has a heavy stick. A fitness fanatic, Allison should fare fine in muscle-on-muscle battles at the pro level. He just needs to stay healthy for a while, knock off the rust and he'll have a legit shot at helping the Flyers.
Over time, whether it's with the Phantoms to start the season and/or down the line with the Flyers, I could see Allison being a player who could have some offensive chemistry with Morgan Frost. Allison would be the one who wins the physical battles and gets to the slot/net and the playmaking Frost would be the one who threads the needle. Last season as a rookie with the Phantoms, Frost conservatively lost at least five to eight would-be assists on point blank chances he created that linemates were unable to finish. Allison is a good finisher.
The Flyers lost a good defense prospect when late-bloomer Wyatt Kalynuk elected to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks after leaving Wisconsin. They retained two pretty good forward prospects, however, when Ohio State senior Tanner Laczynski and Allison accepted their entry-level contract offers from the Flyers.
Of the two, Laczynski is the easier to project competing in camp for an NHL job right off the bat. He has experience both at wing and center, and has the versatility to either play in an NHL bottom-six role or even potentially move up and down the lineup ala Michael Raffl). However, if one of the two is going to become an above-average goal scorer and physical presence at the NHL level at some point, it's more likely to be Allison. Both are physically mature, but Allison lost a lot of precious developmental time during his protracted ACL rehab.
3) Yesterday, Jason Myrtetus and I spent a half hour interviewing Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr about the 2020 NHL Draft and the Flyers' prospects in the system. He feels the depth this year is better in the CHL leagues than it was in some recent Draft years, that there was a fully expected correction after last year's record-smashing crop of talent from the USNTDP but still some good talent available from NTDP and the other primary U.S. talent sources (USHL, NCAA, NAHL, etc), and that it's not an especially deep year from the traditional European powerhouses but there are still quality players this year at assorted ranges.
"Obviously, [Alexis Lafreniere] is number one, like everybody knows. Then after that, I think there are a couple guys in the next range and then probably the next 11 or 12 this year. I think it's gonna be interesting. here's gonna be there's a lot of good, really good players, different positions, different style, whether it's a scorer, D-man, centerman, skill player, goalie, whatever. there's there's a number of top end players then a drop off a little bit," Flahr said.
"There's a grouping from there, probably 25 or so, that could go in lots of different directions. We're picking 23. I think we'll get a player that's higher up on our list is my guess, the way it usually works. It'll be interesting to see how it falls."
4) Today in Flyers History: On Sept. 26, 2000, the Flyers acquired enforcer defenseman Chris McAllister from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for prospect Regan Kelly.
The 6-foot-7, 238-pound McAllister was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round (40th overall) of the 1995 NHL Draft. His primary role in the NHL was as a policeman and sixth or seventh defenseman. McAllister spent two-plus seasons with the Flyers, posting two goals, seven assists, nine points and 258 penalty minutes in 121 regular season games. He also dressed in a pair of playoff games.
On February 7, 2003, the Flyers traded McAllister to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2003 sixth-round pick (goaltender Ville Hostikka). For his NHL career, McAllister played 301 games, posting 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) and 634 penalty minutes.
5) Sept. 26 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Matt Carle (1984), Craig Darby (1972).
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