Is Time Running Out for These Flyers Players?

The roads to the pros were bumpy to say the least for Flyer forwards Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski.

Both Tanner Laczynski and Wade Allison have suffered multiple injuries in the years leading up to finally making the Flyers roster.

Tanner Laczynski

A former 2016 sixth round pick, Laczynski was once thought to be a “diamond in the rough” type player for the Flyers. After being drafted in the summer of 2016, Laczynski would head off to play for Ohio State for four years. While in college Laczynski remained relatively healthy, even earning a few accolades along the way.

Upon turning pro Laczynski would play in just 44 games for Lehigh Valley between 2020 and 2023 and just 38 with the Flyers during the same time.

It was not until last season that Laczynski could make the Flyers roster out of camp and while he was able to score his first NHL goal, the injury bug once again reared its ugly head.

During the offseason the Flyers signed Ryan Poehling to presumably fill in as the steady presence on the fourth line. Poehling was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens and has 138 games of NHL experience between Montreal and Pittsburgh.

Poehling is a year and a half younger than Laczynski. His metrics are good, and he doesn’t have the same unpredictable injury history like Laczynski does.

Poehling is the clear favorite to win the fourth line center job in camp and Laczynski will most likely have to clear waivers before being sent to Lehigh Valley.

This is the final year of Laczynski’s two-year deal with the Flyers.

Wade Allison

While Wade Allison was healthy for much of the 2022-23 season, playing in 60 games. However, he was invisible in most of them. That alone is disappointing as most fans and pundits alike were excited to watch a healthy Wade Allison unleashed last season.

Although Allison’s negative play may not have been noticeable to the average fan, it drew the ire of new Head Coach John Tortorella. Tortorella stated multiple times throughout the year that Allison needed to play more of a north-south game.

Like Laczynski, Allison is also a 2016 draft pick and is also 26 years old with one year left on his two-year deal.

Over the summer the Flyers brought in competition for Wade Allison in the form of Garnet Hathaway. Hathaway is a 31-year-old NHL veteran with 457 regular season games under his belt and is one of the better bottom six players in the entire league.

Fans may not realize but the signing of Hathaway could be a massive blow to Allison’s future with the Flyers considering the talent coming up through the prospect pipeline.

Only the future will tell as Flyers Training Camp starts in less than a month.