As the Flyers reconvene ahead of the return of their Olympic representatives, and the roster starts to prepare for the final 26 games of the year, some new faces joined the big club for practice, albeit briefly. Goaltender Carson Bjarnason, as well as defensemen Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald, were all called up from Lehigh Valley in order to fill in the gaps left behind by Dan Vladar, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Travis Sanheim, who all made the trip to Milano-Cortina.
Bjarnason came up on Feb. 17, with the two defensemen coming up the day after. It was largely just a paper move, as all three returned to the AHL on Thursday, and were only really present for a singular practice before they got sent back to prepare for the Phantoms’ weekend back-to-back against the Hershey Bears.
But while there wasn’t any chance of them staying up this time around, the names that the Flyers chose to recall does provide a bit of insight into who has the inside track if the season continues the way it has been.
Do the Flyers’ recent call-ups tell us anything?
The Flyers currently sit in limbo heading into the stretch run, ranked sixth in the Metropolitan Division with 61 points, seven behind the last wild card spot, with four teams between them and the Bruins. The gap is the same when looking at the third Metro spot, and for a team who hasn’t won more than three games in a row at any point this year, the chances of them turning this ship around seem slim.
And if the playoffs start to totally fade from view, the Flyers will likely try and give some younger names in Lehigh Valley a shot. Guys like Nic Deslauriers, Garnet Hathaway, Noah Juulsen, and maybe even someone like Carl Grundstrom could find themselves in a situation where they start to wind their seasons down early, and let a more youthful group finish out the year.
There are a host of Phantoms who could possibly get the call if the Flyers choose to turn the keys over to the youth movement. Lane Pederson and Anthony Richard are AHL veterans and the team’s two leading point scorers, while Christian Kyrou is one of the more productive offensive defensemen in the AHL. But those guys aren’t really pieces for the future, and getting a look at them in the NHL probably won’t teach the Flyers’ brass any new information about their playstyle.
On the other hand, players like McDonald, Bonk, and Bjarnason are all still relative unknowns at the next level, and while being selected as practice placeholders isn’t exactly a guarantee that they are going to get a look the rest of the way, it does put them in pole position. Both Bjarnason and Bonk have had solid debut AHL seasons, and McDonald’s size has made him an item of organizational affection for the past couple of seasons. They all have enough intrigue surrounding their potential futures that they will eventually have to get some extended time in the lineup. There’s no rush, but there’s also no time like the present.
If anything, bringing up these young players to get a closer look at them and how they can handle a true in-season NHL practice, could mean that they’re keeping a closer eye on them than we previously thought. And especially when it comes to Bonk — since McDonald is going to be a depth player anyways and Bjarnason is still very young for a goalie — this brief promotion could mean that they’re liking what they’re seeing with the Phantoms and he could be a strong candidate to earn a full-time position with the Flyers out of training camp next fall, at the latest.
It isn’t far-fetched that one or more of them will get a look eventually, and it could come sooner than we think.