Offseason Inventory: Rookie Hopefuls Shoot for Healthy Returns
Morgan Frost needed season-ending shoulder surgery after getting injured in the second period of his second game. Wade Allison, who'd had three straight injury-shortened season in college hockey before turning pro, had pre-season ankle surgery. Allison was able to remain healthy the rest of last season once he finally got into the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' and then the Flyers' lineups. Tanner Lacynski underwent pre-season core muscle surgery and then had season-ending hip surgery in late April.
Frost, Allison and Laczynski at least all some NHL time last season. In the meantime, second-year pro Isaac Ratcliffe (pre-camp rib fracture and collapsed lung) had a belated start to an already shortened 2020-21 AHL season. When he returned, he never got untracked offensively with just two goals and eight points in 22 games of bottom-six duty.
The organization's first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, sniping winger Tyson Foerster sustained an early-season tibia microfracture and a late-season separated collarbone. Recently, neither Foerster nor 2020 fifth-round pick Elliot Desnoyers, were able to participate in the World Junior Summer Showcase for Team Canada.
Foerster tweaked his shoulder in training; a 10-to-14-day injury that was ill-timed but, per Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr, will not prevent him from taking part in camp with the Flyers. Desnoyers had off-season surgery that kept him out of the WJSS but, likewise, should be fully rehabbed in time for Flyers camp.
Likewise, the Flyers anticipate the healthy returns of the other players. Here's a look at where Frost, Allison, Laczynski and Foerster, along with Zayde Wisdom and defense prospects Cam York and Egor Zamula stand with training camp looming next month.
Ratcliffe, at present, seems like a distant longshot to win an NHL job out of camp. Last season, once he finally got healthy, he did have a few flashes of offensive production -- particularly on a breakaway goal -- but they were few and far between for the former OHL 50-goal scorer. Ratcliffe mostly remained in the bottom six (generally fourth-line) role that he came to play in 2019-20. We'll see if new Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere expands the 22-year-old's role next season now that the player is going into the final year of his entry-level contract.
Morgan Frost (C/W)
Age: 22
Contract Status: Entry-level contract through 2021-22
We'll never know if Morgan Frost would have taken a similar leap over the course of the 2020-21 season as the breakout season enjoyed by Joel Farabee. Both players had strong training camps. Normally a center, the playmaking Frost also saw some wing shifts during cap.
Frost, after winning an opening-night roster spot, slotted into the Flyers lineup at third-line center after Sean Couturier went down in the season's second game. In turn, Frost was lost for the season when he went down awkwardly on a second-period hit behind the net in the Flyers' 3-0 home win over Buffalo on January 19. He was placed on injured reserve the next day and soon underwent shoulder surgery. By the time he was ready to be medically cleared in May, the season was already over for the Flyers.
There has never been a doubt about Frost's hands, ice vision or raw skating ability. The questions have always been about his size and strength, ability to adapt what was a dominating game at the junior hockey level to the pace and physical demands of pro hockey. He put up stellar plus-minus ratings in the Ontario Hockey League because his line rarely lacked puck possession but his off-puck game was (and likely remains) a work in progress. He has a very quick stick and excels in takeaways but seemed to get overpowered in puck battles.
Frost's rookie season of 2019-20 had its ups and downs at both the NHL and AHL levels. On the bright side, he strung together point streaks of seven games and five games for the Phantoms and also was named to the American Hockey League All-Star Game. At the NHL level, he scored nifty goals in each of his first two games for the Flyers and showed flashes of brilliance periodically thereafter.
The downside: significant swings of inconsistency and a clear-cut need to continue adding strength to his frame. That was why Frost's camp performance in January of this year seemed promising. He fared better in drills in which he got manhandled in September 2019. He created scoring chances in various scrimmages, although pucks just weren't going in the net (something that continued over his abbreviated "season" of four-and-a-half NHL periods before the shoulder injury).
At this point, due to the pandemic and the surgery, Frost has barely played hockey since March 2020. This will be a very important training camp and season for him. The recent departure of Nolan Patrick in the Ryan Ellis trade created a potential opening again at third-line center.
Wade Allison (RW)
Age: 23 (turns 24 on Oct. 14, 2021)
Contract status: Entry-level contract through 2021-22
Allison may very well have turned pro a couple years earlier than he did but an ACL tear midway through his breakout sophomore season at Western Michigan and then additional injury issues that cost him time his junior and senior seasons ended up delaying his pro debut until 2020-21. His arrival was further delayed by foot surgery after the player struggled through the first two days of the Flyers' abbreviated training camp.
Once Allison finally got healthy, he made an immediate impact. As advertised, he displayed an explosive shot, tenacious forechecking ability and a willingness to get his nose dirty in physical battles. At the NHL level, the Flyers at first had Allison as a netfront forward on the power play (resulting in his first NHL goal in his second contest) but later moved him a little further away from the net to take better advantage of his heavy shot and ability to score from some distance.
The muscular power forward, who has a Scott Hartnell-like tendency to fall to the ice and pick himself up just in time to make a play, stands a good shot at making the Flyers' roster out of training camp. The biggest question mark, giving his lengthy injury history, is whether he can stay healthy for a full season for the first time since his collegiate freshman year.
Tanner Laczynski (C/RW)
Age: 24
Contract Status: Entry-level contract through 2021-22
As with Allison, Laczynski came to the Flyers as advertised once he finally got into the Phantoms and Flyers lineups: a versatile two-way player who could adapt to playing different roles as needed. Injuries limited his playing opportunities but Lacynski generally performed well when healthy.
In the American Hockey League with the Phantoms, Laczynski was a productive offensive player including a hat trick game among his six goals and 10 points in 14 games. With the Flyers, he was asked to play a fourth-line center role, and showed good two-way instincts although he had a couple rookie miscues. He was snakebitten offensively in his five NHL games, failing to produce a point despite being on the setup or shooting end of four or five excellent scoring opportunities.
Laczynski and Allison are both older prospects and physically mature. Right now, at least, the roster numbers game seems to work against him, but performance and injuries in training camp and the season tend to alter the depth chart significantly from the pre-camp projections to the end-of-season outlook.
Tyson Foerster (RW)
Age: 19 (turns 20 on Jan. 18)
Contract Status: Slide-rule eligible ELC
The teenager was able to spend all of last season in the American Hockey League with the Phantoms due to the cancelation of the Ontario Hockey League season. With a reported temporary suspension of the CHL/AHL age rule forthcoming in 2021-22 for teenage players who spent last season in the AHL, Foerster would be eligible to have his contract slide to the AHL again unless he makes the Flyers' NHL roster and burns the first year of his entry-level contract.
Foerster's skating remains a work in progress. He is also still developing his off-puck game. It would take a phenomenal NHL training camp from him to alter his more likely path of spending another development-focused season in the American Hockey League.
Foerster's shooting ability and offensive instincts are highly advanced for such a young player. He is also an underrated passer, although he's developed a shooter's mentality. His overall game made decent progress over the course of his AHL rookie season, especially in light of its injury-related interruptions.
Zayde Wisdom (RW)
Age: 19
Contract Status: Slide-rule eligible ELC
Wisdom, who turned 19 on July 7,would hold the same CHL/AHL Age Rule exemption as Foerster if the Flyers prefer him to play a second AHL season rather than going back down a level to play in the Ontario League. As with Foerster, Wisdom showed considerable promise at the AHL level last season but likely needs another year of seasoning before potentially making a push for the NHL.
Wisdom got off to a torrid offensive start for the Phantoms last season. His point-production pace slowed down as the season progressed but he provided a tenaciously energetic presence and got under opponents' skin. He does not get intimidated or back down from anyone and has a knack for winning puck battles on the walls and near the net.
A bout with COVID-19 was a temporary setback for Wisdom last season. When he returned in late April and early May, he finished the season strong.
Less is more with Wisdom. At times as a rookie, he tried to do a little too much or overplay the puck rather than playing the simple and direct north-south game that made him highly effective when he was at his best. His eventual NHL role is likely to be similar to how he's utilized in the AHL: a sparkplug player who can also score some gritty goals. His competitive tenacity and work ethic are things that cannot be taught and his game has improved annually in each of the last three seasons across the OHL and AHL levels.
Cam York (D)
Age: 20 (turns 21 on Jan. 5)
Contract status: Entry-level contract through 2022-23
The Flyers are taking a cautious approach with the development of their 2019 first-round pick. The recent signing of veteran Keith Yandle to a one-year contract takes some pressure off York to immediately step into a top-six NHL blueline role with just 11 games of pro experience late last season, including three NHL games, under his belt.
When will York step into the NHL lineup on a full-time basis? That will be up to the player himself to demonstrate that he is truly NHL-ready; whether that happens in camp, mid-season, or a year from now. If he plays for the Phantoms, York is likely to receive top-pairing minutes, including extensive power play time.
The only thing York lacks is size and pro experience. He has the wheels, quick defensive stick, poise and offensive upside to eventually make for a fine all-around NHL defenseman who moves the puck efficiently and also posts a healthy number of points. But there is still a process involved in making the jump from collegiate and World Junior Championships hockey to the NHL.
There are normal adaptational adjustments ahead. For example, of the six shots that York attempted across his brief NHL stint with the Flyers last season, only one got on the net (four got blocked). He also lost some battles around the net when jockeying for stick/body positioning against bigger forwards.
Egor Zamula (D)
Age: 21
Contract Status: Entry-level contract through 2022-23
Zamula has outstanding physical tools and a competitor's mentality. His first professional season was a learning experience in terms of when he could make a play with or without the puck -- which he could do almost at will by his final junior season with the Calgary Hitmen and the Russian junior national team --and when to be a little safer.
The number one thing that Zamula still needs is more muscle on his frame. Although York is not tall in stature at 5-foot-10, he is a gym fanatic who has built an outstanding physique and surprising strength. Zamula, conversely, is tall (6-foot-3) but physically underdeveloped. That was one his main goals heading into the 2021 offseason; getting physically stronger.
Zamula had a bit of a streaky rookie season with the Phantoms last year. He got into a good all-around groove at times and also hit a few slumps; nothing out of the ordinary for a rookie pro defenseman. The player also received a two-game callup for his first regular season NHL action, and held his own.
Honorable mentions: Players to track in training camp next month and during the 2021-22 season as they vie for NHL recalls include the likes of German Rubtsov (returning to North America after spending the past season on loan to KHL team HC Sochi), center/winger Connor Bunnaman (39 games of NHL experience, including 18 games with the Flyers last season), older wing prospect Linus Sandin, second-year defensemen Linus Högberg and Wyatte Wylie, 24-year-old goalie prospect Felix Sandström, 21-year-old rooke goalie prospect Samuel Ersson (turning 22 on Oct. 20) and 22-year-old goalie prospect KIrill Ustimenko (returning to action after missing the entire 2020-21 Phantoms campaign due to preseason hip surgery).
