The Philadelphia Flyers’ American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL affiliates, the Reading Royals and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, have just one week to go before they enter the final month of the regular season. The Phantoms have a record of 27 wins, 26 losses, five overtime losses, and three shootout losses and are battling for the last playoff spot in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Despite glimpses of hope throughout the season, the Royals’ chances of an ECHL playoff berth are all but hopeless. The team has 26 wins in 64 games and sits in last place in the Eastern Conference’s North Division.
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With the regular season approaching its final month of competition, this edition of the Flyers Farm Report will focus on the franchise’s farm system players who currently lead the AHL in various statistical categories and recent former college player acquisitions.
AHL League Leaders
Phantoms’ captain Garrett Wilson leads the AHL in penalty minutes with 193. The next closest player in the category is over 20 minutes behind him. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound left-winger’s rugged and physical play has made him a beloved player in Lehigh Valley. Now in his 13th season of professional hockey, the Ontario native is a trusted leader on and off the ice.
Phantoms blueliner Emil Andrae started the season on the Flyers’ big league roster. The 22-year-old did not record an NHL point in limited playing time over the course of four games. On Oct. 26, he was assigned to Lehigh Valley where he has been a solid offensive contributor through 52 games. The Swede has 30 points (four goals and 26 assists) and is in the top 20 for assists by AHL defensemen, and number 11 overall for assists by a rookie in the league. Between Dec. 13 and Dec. 27, he went on a six-game point streak, recording nine total.
The Phantoms’ sole representative at the AHL All-Star Classic in San Jose earlier this year, Samu Tuomaala, has had an outstanding rookie season. Through 61 games, the right-winger has 41 points (14 goals and 27 assists). In December of this season, the then-20-year-old notched points in five straight games. The native of Finland currently sits one spot ahead of his teammate Andrae at number 10 for assists by a rookie in the AHL. His current total points also place him in the top 10 for first-year players in the league.
Recent NCAA Additions to the Farm System
Jonathan Bendorf played five seasons of Division I college hockey with Mercyhurst University (2019-23) and Bentley University (2023-24). Before transitioning to the college ranks, the now 25-year-old left wing served as an alternate captain for the 2018-19 North American Hockey League (NAHL) Robertson Cup champion Aberdeen Wings. That season, he had an impressive 59 points (22 goals and 37 assists) in 57 games. The native of Yardville, New Jersey signed a standard player contract (SPC) with Reading on March 8. Since then, he has appeared in three games for the franchise, the most recent appearance coming on March 13.
Reading signed Chase Brand to an SPC on March 20. The 25-year-old center appeared in 147 games over the course of five seasons with NCAA Division I hockey programs St. Cloud State University and Augustana University. During the 2022-23 campaign, he was a member of the St. Cloud State squad that won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) tournament championship. That season, the Minnesota native had seven points (three goals and four assists) in 24 games for the Huskies. After four seasons with St. Cloud State, he transferred to Augustana University where he scored five goals and tallied seven assists in 30 appearances. Since joining the Royals, he has made four appearances between March 22 and March 27.
Voorhees, New Jersey’s Max Kouznetsov starred for the Canisius College Griffins over the course of four seasons. An alternate captain during the 2022-23 campaign, the forward helped to lead Canisius College to an Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) conference tournament championship. That season, he had 18 points (six goals and 12 assists) in 42 games. Before signing an SPC with Reading on March 13, the 23-year-old recorded 23 points (eight goals and 15 assists) for Canisius while wearing the captain’s “C.” In a March 17 game against the Maine Mariners, Kouznetsov recorded his first point as a professional, an assist.
Reading signed Kouznetsov’s Canisius University teammate from the 2023-24 campaign, Powell Connor, to an SPC on March 13. With Canisius, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound defenseman had seven points and 39 penalty minutes in 35 games during the 2023-24 season. Prior to playing for the Griffins, the native of British Columbia played at Michigan State University for three seasons between 2020 and 2023. The 23-year-old blueliner has two assists and 13 penalty minutes for the Royals in seven games.
A fan favorite for four seasons with Penn State and one with Arizona State, Tyler Gratton served as an alternate captain for the Nittany Lions and captain for the Sun Devils. The 24-year-old right wing’s best season of college hockey came in 2023-24 when he scored 12 goals and tallied six assists for Arizona State. Gratton, 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, signed a professional tryout (PTO) contract with Lehigh Valley on March 18 for the remainder of the season. The forward also has an SPC for the 2024-25 campaign with the Phantoms. The Pottstown, Pennsylvania native recorded his first two professional points, a goal and an assist, in a March 22 contest against the Worcester Railers.
Forward Jacques Bouquot was the second player with Penn State connections who signed a PTO contract on March 18. Prior to joining the Nittany Lions for the 2023-24 campaign, he played four seasons at the University of Vermont, where he recorded 50 points in 109 games between 2019 and 2023. The Columbus, Ohio native also has a SPC locked in for the 2024-25 campaign. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound forward recorded his first two assists of his professional career for Reading in a March 22 game against the Railers. Two days later, he followed up his solid debut with another assist against Worcester.
A 6-foot-5, 208-pound blueliner from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Tony Malinowski signed an SPC with Reading on March 21. A member of back-to-back Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) conference tournament championship teams (2022 and 2023), Malinowski wore the alternate captain “A” during the 2023-24 campaign, his final season of college hockey. The defenseman recorded his first two professional penalty minutes in a game against the Railers on March 22.
A two-time alternate captain with the Penn State Nittany Lions hockey team, Connor McMenamin signed an SPC with the Royals on March 22. Following four seasons with Penn State, the forward played his fifth-year graduate season of NCAA Division I hockey with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The now 25-year-old scored six goals and tallied 15 assists in 35 games for the Bulldogs. He has appeared in four games with Reading this season between March 22 and March 27.
Notable Flyers’ prospect, Hunter McDonald made his AHL debut on March 23 against the Bridgeport Islanders. The day before his debut, the defenseman was signed by the Phantoms to a PTO contract. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound blueliner just finished his second season at Northeastern University where his appearances this season were cut short due to an early season injury. During the 2022-23 season, the Fairport, New York native put up solid numbers for the Huskies, recording 14 points and 56 penalty minutes in 35 games. He was drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Closing Out March
The Phantoms return to action this weekend on the road against the Syracuse Crunch on March 29 and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on March 30. The Crunch are in first place in the AHL’s North Division, with the Penguins in third place ahead of Lehigh Valley in the Atlantic Division. The Royals have two road games lined up this weekend against the Adirondack Thunder (March 29 and March 30). Adirondack is one of four teams that has clinched a playoff berth in the ECHL.