Preview: Phantoms vs. Penguins - Preseason
Published on October 4, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are back at home! The Phantoms appear at PPL Center for the first time in 2025-26 as they play their first home preseason game taking on the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Tonight is Game 2 out of 3 in Lehigh Valley's preseason and also marks the official debut of head coach John Snowden at the Phantoms' bench.
Last Time
Carson Golder scored on the power play to give the Phantoms the initial lead but the Hershey Bears rallied back with three straight goals to open the second period en route to a 5-1 win on Wednesday night at Giant Center in a matchup featuring mostly AHL contract and ECHL tryout players looking to impress. Carter Berger and Massimo Rizzo assisted on the loan goal. Kyler Kupka led the Chocolate and White with two goals and one assist while Gavin Bjorklund recorded the win with 23 saves. Yaniv Perets and Keith Petruzzelli split goaltending duties for the Phantoms. Perets started and made 12 saves on 15 shots in 40 minutes of work.
The Roster
A crowded field of 30 players comprises the Phantoms roster entering tonight's game. But that is down from 39 players just three days ago! Lehigh Valley currently has three tryout players remaining on the roster. A large group of 11 players were assigned from the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday including several familiar names from last year's team including Emil Andrae, Helge Grans, Anthony Richard (on waivers), Alexis Gendron and more. Three more have since arrived on Wednesday and Thursday including returning leading goal-scorer Jacob Gaucher, free-agent veteran Lane Pederson and rookie forward Karsen Dorwart from Michigan State.
Who's Back
17 returning players from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' playoff run last year include several top players and fan-faves. Emil Andrae, Helge Grans and Hunter McDonald are going to be key cogs on the blueline again. Veteran captain Garrett Wilson brings his toughness to bolster the forward group along with experienced wingers Cooper Marody and Zayde Wisdom. Anthony Richard, Alexis Gendron and Jacob Gaucher were the top three goal scorers last year. Samu Tuomaala, Massimo Rizzo, Oscar Eklind and Sawyer Boulton are also back. Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov is aiming for a big campaign in his second professional season in the U.S.
Who's New
Some exciting new prospects are jumping into the professional ranks as well. Forward Alex Bump and defenseman Ty Murchison already got their initial taste of the AHL at the end of last season.
Bump is part of the "Killer B's" quartet of talented rookies also including forward Denver Barkey and goaltender Carson Bjarnason as well as defenseman Oliver Bonk (still in Voorhees with the Flyers due to injury).
Newcomer Tucker Robertson joins from Coachella Valley in California after a trade for his good friend and former teammate, J.R. Avon.
Lane Pederson is an AHL veteran center who is playing in the Eastern Conference for the first time after recent stints with Bakersfield, Abbotsford and Tucson
AHL contract players looking to make an impression include defensemen Emile Chouinard, Carter Berger and Ben Meehan while forward Carson Golder and goaltender Yaniv Perets are all aiming to make a big statement in this preseason as well. Perets was a record-setting goaltender at Quinnipiac where he led the Bobcats to an NCAA Championship.
Who's Out
Two Phantoms players remain at Philadelphia Flyers Training Camp due to injury.
Ethan Samson - D (6-8 weeks)
Oliver Bonk - D (Day-to-Day)
Getting a Look
Three tryout players remain in camp. Center Jordan Frasca used to play for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Free agent Nolan Burke had a 50-goal campaign in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting and previously played in the Nashville Predators organization. Forward Vincent Sevigny has 91 games of AHL experience with Bridgeport and Laval.
Coaching Staff
John Snowden was named the fifth head coach in Lehigh Valley history. He joined the Phantoms as an assistant coach in the 2022-23 season after spending two years as an assistant coach with the Toronto Marlies.
Nick Schultz is a 15-year NHL veteran as a player who is entering his first season with the Phantoms and first season as an assistant coach. He spent the last six seasons with the Flyers organization as Assistant Director of Player Development and as a player development coach.
Assistant coach Terrence Wallin enters his first season with the Phantoms arriving from the Maine Mariners of the ECHL where he served as head coach for the past three seasons. The Yardley, PA native grew up cheering for the Flyers and was a Flyers Cup and Pennsylvania State Champion with LaSalle College High SChool in 2008.
Video coach Patrick McDonough enters his first season with the Phantoms following five years with the University of New Hampshire.
Previewing the Penguins
Former Reading Royals bench boss Kirk MacDonald enters his second season at the bench with a few familiar faces and plenty of newcomers. The Penguins opened their preseason yesterday morning with a 2-1 shootout win over Hershey. Fourth-rounder Chase Pietila from Michigan Tech scored the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Gabe Klassen provided the shootout winner. NHL veteran Danton Heinen cleared waivers yesterday and was loaned to the Baby Pens. He split time with Vancouver and Pittsburgh last year and hasn't played in the AHL since the 2017-18 season with the Providence Bruins. Defenseman Sebastian Aho is a three-time AHL All-Star and former New York and Bridgeport Islanders skater who was limited to just 27 games last season due to injury. Penn State product Brett Murray has scored 100 goals in 325 career games with Rochester over five seasons as he enters his first campaign outside the Buffalo organization. Valterri Puustinen has 65 goals in 216 career games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. AHL veteran Kyle Criscuolu has joined on a PTO. The 33-year-old undersized speedster from Southampton, NJ scored 19 goals for Charlotte last year and has played exactly 500 career AHL games including 40 with the Phantoms in the 2019-20 season before a February trade to Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Broadcast
Tonight's game can be seen on FloHockey.tv
Fans can also listen to the game on the Phantoms 365 app and 1470-WSAN in Allentown and on iHeartRadio.
The broadcast is also available on your smart-speaker device at "Play Phantoms Radio on TuneIn"
What's Next
The Phantoms are back at home on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. hosting the Hershey Bears in the preseason finale.
Opening Weekend on Saturday, October 11 at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, October 12 at 3:05 p.m. will have the Phantoms hosting the Belleville Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins back-to-back to kickoff the 12th season of Phantoms Hockey in the Lehigh Valley. Fans will receive Rally Towels to ring in the new season on October 11 and then will get their own Phantoms Trading Card sets when they arrive for the October 12 game.
American Hockey League Stories from October 4, 2025
- Bears Reduce 2025 Training Camp Roster - Hershey Bears
- Syracuse Crunch Loan Forwards Reece Newkirk, Spencer Kersten and Defenseman Chris Harpur to Orlando Solar Bears - Syracuse Crunch
- Preview: Phantoms vs. Penguins - Preseason - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
