We continue our weekly check-in on the Flyers’ prospects currently playing in the AHL, overseas or at the junior and college levels.
With most of the NCAA clubs on holiday breaks and seven youngsters — Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Radel Fazleev, Felix Sandstrom, Oskar Lindblom and David Kase — taking part in World Junior Championship training camps, this week’s report will be a little lighter than usual.
We’ll have a feature on the upcoming WJC before the tournament begins on Dec. 26 in Helsinki, Finland. For now, here’s a look at a few prospects who were in action last week:
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, C/RW, Val-d'Or Foreurs
Perhaps Aube-Kubel played with a chip on his shoulder this past weekend. The 19-year-old, who was not invited to Team Canada's WJC training camp, collected four points in the Foreurs’ back-to-back set with Rouyn-Noranda. He now as 11 goals and 17 assists during his current 13-game point streak and 44 points and a plus-25 rating in 29 total games for Val-d’Or this season. He’s arguably the hottest player in the QMJHL right now and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Anthony Stolarz, G, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Don't let the box score fool you. Stolarz was solid in his lone start for the Phantoms last week — a 6-4 win over the Hershey Bears on Friday. The 6-foot-6 netminder gave up three goals on just eight shots in the first period but two of them came on breakdowns by the defensemen in front of him. The Bears also poked in a rebounder with eight seconds remaining in the game after Stolarz was hung out to dry for a third time by his teammates. He was able to shake off his team’s poor start and made several key stops in high-danger areas when Hershey was pressing early in the second frame. Just a season ago, Stolarz may not have had the mental toughness to hang tough in a game like that. This year, he's been lights out. In 20 games, the 21-year-old is 12-6-1 with a .924 save percentage and 2.17 goals-against average.
Philippe Myers, D, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Myers had the unenviable task of trying to slow down Aube-Kubel on Friday and Saturday. The Huskies split their two matchups with the Foreurs and Myers was a big reason why. He picked up an assist in each tilt and was sound defensively. As an added bonus, Myers now has a goal and four helpers during his current four-game point streak. The 18-year-old, 6-foot-5 blueliner has nine goals, 24 points and a plus-27 rating in 33 total games this season.
Sam Morin, D, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
The big blueliner was a monster against the Bears. He scored a first-period goal on a blast from the point, landed a nasty right hook in a fight with Liam O'Brien after the Hershey forward delivered a dirty hit on Mark Alt behind the Phantoms' net and capped off the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with an assist on Alt's third-period marker. It wasn't a perfect game for Morin, however. He had a few hiccups early on, losing track of his man on the Bears' first goal of the night and misjudging a pass he tried to pick off in the neutral zone, which allowed Chris Bourque to blow past him and roof one past Stolarz. That's basically been the story of Morin's first season as a professional. Peaks and valleys. He is showing signs of improvement, so the rookie mistakes should begin to diminish as he gains more experience.
NHL
Mikhail Vorobyov, C, Tolpar Ufa
Vorobyov, who has seen some limited ice time in his brief stops in the KHL in 2015-16, appeared in two games for his Russian junior team, Tolpar Ufa, last week. He registered a goal, two assists and won 20 of his 36 faceoffs. In 19 total MHL outings, the towering pivot has posted six goals, 16 assists and a plus-nine rating.
Taylor Leier, LW, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Leier had a good week offensively. The 21-year-old winger scored a nice deflection goal off an Andrew MacDonald shot from the point on the power play against Hershey. He also picked up an assist on Colin McDonald's tally in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Binghamton. Leier, who had a successful stint with the Flyers earlier this season, has appeared in 25 games for the Phantoms in 2015-16, registering eight goals and nine assists.
Ivan Fedotov, G, Reaktor Nizhnekamsk
The 19-year-old had an up-and-down week. He turned aside 31 of the 33 shots fired his way in a 3-2 win over Tolpar on Tuesday but struggled in his next two starts. Fedotov surrendered five goals on 29 shots in a 7-5 victory Friday and allowed two goals on 10 shots in just 27 minutes of action Saturday. The 2015 seventh-round pick has still had a solid all-around campaign, however, posting a 13-4-2 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.19 goals-against average in 20 games for Reaktor.
Nick Cousins, C, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Cousins was Lehigh Valley's best player on Friday night at PPL Center. He started the night off by cleanly winning a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Morin, who blasted a rocket past Justin Peters. Cousins had a snipe of his own on the power play in the second period and finished the game with three points. He currently leads the Phantoms in assists (17) and points (25) despite playing just 22 games.