Flyers prospect stars of the week: Back in action

2 years ago  /  Broad Street Hockey

Zack Hill / Flyers


Your weekly rundown on the Flyers’ prospects standout performances... Back by popular demand, it’s the prospect report! Now, the Flyers over the last few years have been quite consistent in making most, if not all, all their draft picks, so the number of prospects in the system is… many. So we’re going to be tackling this prospect check-in a little differently, and now we’re just going to be be highlighting some of the standout performances of the week. It’s a new format, and we’ll be supplementing it with other prospect pieces—some broader, some more granular—but if you, dear reader, have any thoughts or suggestions, we will gladly take them.
Okay, housekeeping complete, let’s get into the report!
Three Stars
1. Elliot Desnoyers
The big news of the week has come out of Hockey Canada’s World Junior selection camp, where Flyers 2020 fifth round pick Elliot Desnoyers has earned himself a spot on the team, and that is no small accomplishment. Canada is set to have another loaded team, and Desnoyers came into camp as a player with just an outside chance of making the team, but he put in the work needed to come in and steal away a spot. He had a goal in Sunday’s exhibition game against USports, and brought his standard tough, hardworking style of play to the mix. That’s going to be big in the tournament as well—if Canada is looking to model some of their play after last year’s gold medal winning USA team, they would be looking to a quick, tough forechecking, details oriented bottom six to win matchups and get some production, and Desnoyers would thrive in a role like that. He has a big opportunity ahead of him, and it’s a great reward for all of the stellar work he’s done in Halifax and in World Junior camp.
2. Jack St. Ivany
Don’t look now, but St. Ivany is having a quietly very productive second year at Boston College. After BC had to pause due to caution and Covid protocols two weeks back, they’ve been easing back into action, and this weekend’s rivalry game against Boston University (their second since the break) was a good one for St. Ivany. He assisted on two of BC’s three third period goals, and looks to be gaining confidence. He's up to two goals and 13 assists in 16 games, well surpassing his total of one goal and five assists in 18 games after his transfer from Yale.
His is a game that doesn’t always bring a ton of flash, but it’s quite well rounded, and we’re seeing that offensive upside starting to kick back up again. He’s a more under the radar prospect who’s quietly producing very well in a tough collegiate conference.
3. Isaac Ratcliffe
The scoresheet doesn’t completely capture his impacts on the weekend, but rest assured, Ratcliffe did have himself two very good games this weekend. He scored on a breakaway shot after having a couple of chances in his previous game that were only just stopped (hey, if at first you don't succeed, right?), and put up three shots on goal in total. He brought good speed to these games and was able to create a good bit of space for himself and his teammates, and showed some good chemistry with new linemate Matt Strome. They were creating some really good chances, and were one of the Phantoms’ most dangerous lines on the weekend.
He’s been a bit streaky to date in his professional career, but if we’re looking for some good news, it’s that it looks like Ratcliffe is heating back up again, and that would certainly be a big boost to the Phantoms.
Honorable Mentions
Wade Allison
We broke it down with some video yesterday, but after nearly three months away from playing with a high ankle sprain, Allison was able to make his season debut with the Phantoms over the weekend, and he really impressed. Allison was flat out flying in his two games this weekend, somehow looking like he’s added a step, even in coming back from an ankle injury. He was shooting from all over the place, going hard into the corners and forechecking well, and overall just bringing a ton of energy to a team that has looked, at times, a little listless so far this season. He put up 10 shots on goal, probably about just as many the missed or were blocked, picked up an assist on Gerry Mayhew’s teddy bear toss goal, and scored in the shootout on Sunday to push the Phantoms to a win. He’s still getting his timing back, but it was really hard to find fault in his performances this weekend.
Zayde Wisdom
And speaking of season debuts, Wisdom also made his on Sunday after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. It was a relatively quiet game for him back in Kingston—with two shots on goal and four penalty minutes—but he was still buzzing, and his excitement to get back was pretty palpable. With a season (albeit abbreviated) in the AHL under his belt, we should expect him to find some real success now going back to the OHL, but it’s going to take some time for him to get back up to game speed and adjusted to the team. But, if nothing else, it was nice to see him back on the ice, and this game was a good step in the right direction. ...

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