The Philadelphia Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, announced their captains for the 2021-22 AHL season on Monday afternoon. Cal O’Reilly will serve as the Phantoms’ captain for the third straight season, while Connor Bunnaman and Garrett Wilson will serve as alternate captains behind O’Reilly in the Phantoms’ leadership group.
O’Reilly, a 35-year old center from Toronto, Ontario, joined the Phantoms in 2019 after signing a two-way deal with the Flyers that offseason. He served as a co-captain alongside Andy Andreoff and Nate Prosser, with each player rotating the “C” on their sweaters. He was given outright captaincy last season with Wilson and Tyler Wotherspoon serving as the alternates.
O’Reilly enters his third season in Allentown with 10 goals and 42 assists for 52 points in 86 games as a Phantom so far. O’Reilly is no stranger to leading teams in the AHL, as he’s previously served as captain for the Utica Comets, Rochester Americans, and Iowa Wild before joining the Philadelphia organization.
Wilson is back with the Phantoms after playing with them last season, in which he was also an alternate captain. The 30 year-old winger from Barrie, Ontario was one of Philadelphia’s last cuts in NHL training camp this year, serving as a physical presence among the team’s depth forwards in the preseason after attending camp on a Professional Try Out contract. He was trying to break into the league for the first time since 2018-19 when he appeared in 50 contests for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Wilson has 1 goal and 8 assists for 9 points in 29 games as a member of the Phantoms, and also has 30 penalty minutes to his credit in that span as well. Wilson also has some prior leadership experience, serving as an alternate captain in the AHL for the San Antonio Rampage, Portland Pirates, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the past. He also served as the Penguins’ captain in 2018-19 for the brief stints when he wasn’t in Pittsburgh.
Bunnaman will wear a letter for the first time in his professional career, and this is his first time donning a letter since he served as captain of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers during the 2017-18 campaign. Bunnaman, a fourth-round draft pick of the Flyers back in 2016, has played in 108 games as a Phantom, chalking up 26 goals and 17 assists for 43 points with the club.
He also made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season, playing in the 2019 NHL Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic against the Chicago Blackhawks. The 23 year-old Guelph, Ontario native has skated in 39 games with the Flyers, potting 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points at the NHL level.
