The Philadelphia Flyers recalled forward Hayden Hodgson from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms under emergency conditions, per the team. Hodgson will wear #42 and is available to play tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues, which will mark his NHL debut should he suit up.
It’s important to note that Hodgson’s recall is under an emergency designation, so it does not count against the Flyers’ remaining AHL recalls this season. They have two remaining after calling up Cam York and Max Willman from Lehigh Valley after the trade deadline.
Hodgson is a 26 year-old winger from Windsor, Ontario, who just signed an NHL contract with the Flyers on Tuesday after enjoying a successful season with the Phantoms so far. Hodgson has scored 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points in 44 games with Lehigh Valley this season, all AHL career-highs.
The Flyers only had 11 healthy forwards listed on the roster with Scott Laughton and Nate Thompson having yet to be medically cleared to play, and they rolled with an 11 forwards-7 defenseman in last night’s loss to Detroit, hence the reasoning for Hodgson’s recall.
He started his professional career as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL in 2017-18 after his junior career ended, and he also spent limited time in the ECHL with the Manchester Monarchs and Florida Everblades as well. The next season, Hodgson played for the Wichita Thunder before playing in Slovakia for Detva HC to close out 2018-19.
Hodgson returned to North America and played the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season in the ECHL with the Flyers’ affiliate in the Reading Royals. He recorded an ECHL career-high 12 goals and 20 points with the Royals before the season was postponed due to the pandemic. He played last season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and Utah Grizzlies, and parlayed his success there into an AHL contract this season with Lehigh Valley, where he is tied for the team lead in goals with captain Cal O’Reilly in 13 less games played.
Should Hodgson play during his recall, which is likely given that the Flyers only have 11 healthy forwards on the roster at the moment, he will be the fifth player to make his NHL debut with the Orange and Black this season, alongside Linus Sandin, Isaac Ratcliffe, Max Willman, and Felix Sandström.
He will also be the 12th player who’s spent time with the Phantoms to play with Philadelphia this year, joining Sandin, Sandström, Ratcliffe, Willman, Jackson Cates, Morgan Frost, Wade Allison, Egor Zamula, Nick Seeler and the recently departed Gerry Mayhew and Connor Bunnaman.
