As we enter the quarter-way mark of the AHL season, Samu Tuomaala has been a major bright spot for the offensively-riddled Lehigh Valley Phantoms as he paces the club in almost all major offensive categories.
The Philadelphia Flyers have lacked offensive depth from the minor league affiliate for quite some time. Most of their NHL players have either had short stints in the minors or jumped from their respective junior levels straight to the NHL.
Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, and Cam York have had long(er) stints in the minors and they’ve also tried players like Olle Lycksell, Elliot Desnoyers, and most recently Emil Andrae and Anthony Richard. One more player that should get a look very shortly is former second round pick in Tuomaala.
Similar to Andrae, Tuomaala had a rough draft+1 season, which almost entirely forced him out of the conversation and prospect hierarchy. However, he worked his way through the second-tier of the Finnish league – as did Andrae in the Swedish circuit – and made a good enough impression to stake his claim with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Initially he earned 2 games with the Phantoms after he was drafted in the summer of 2021 before heading back to the SM-liiga, where he split time with both Sport Vaasa and Jukurit Mikkeli. He only combined for 1 goal and 2 assists in 21 games in what was deemed a very disappointing developmental season.
2022-23 was split between Peliitat Heinola and Kettera Imatra of the Mestis where he tallied 27 goals and 48 points in just 31 games. He then returned to the Phantoms as a brand new player, where he finished his rookie season with 15 goals and 43 points. He’s continued off that stellar season with 8 goals and 20 points in the first 19 games this year.
The 21-year-old leads the team in goals with 8, assists with 12, and has a 5-point edge over Lycksell. Scoring has been a problem in the minor leagues as well with not much help outside of Tuomaala, Lycksell, Richard (12 points in 10 games), and Jacob Gaucher (7 goals and 12 points).
The Phantoms dropped both games last weekend to the Providence Bruins by a combined score of 5-1, and they had lost 4 straight games with just 7 goals scored during that stretch. Tuomaala was responsible for 3 of those goals with a goal and 2 assists coming against Hershey alone.
They returned to the ice last Wednesday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack and came out victorious with a 5-4 win in overtime. Tuomaala scored 2 goals including the overtime winner and Lycksell and Richard picked up 2 assists apiece before finishing off the month with 2 more assists in the final 2 games – both which they ended up on the winning side.
The NHL roster is currently full of healthy and capable wingers, which will force his promotion to wait. While Ryan Poehling was on IR, Sean Couturier was day-to-day for a little bit, and Morgan Frost was in the press box, Richard got the call and enjoyed a successful 7-game stint where he tallied 2 goals and 4 assists, while holding a +4 rating.
Another player that could be called up is Lycksell, who has had a few opportunities with the Flyers in the past. He had an 8-game stint in 2022-23 and he appeared in 18 games last year.
Lycksell has 1 goal and 6 points in 26 games, while averaging a shade over 10 minutes a game at the NHL-level. However, his AHL numbers have been far superior with 36 goals and 84 points in 91 games between 2022-23 and 2023-24. It’s been a good start to the season for the Swede as he has 5 goals and 15 points in 19 games and the Phantoms currently rely heavily on Lycksell, Richard, and Tuomaala.
The wings on the Flyers’ top-9 are currently populated by the likes of Foerster, Brink, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Joel Farabee. The fourth line has Scott Laughton and Garnet Hathaway, while Nicolas Deslauriers sits in the press box.
So barring a trade or another injury, Tuomaala will have to wait but if he continues to produce for the Phantoms, he will get a call sooner rather than later as he embarks towards his NHL debut.
