Flyers recall Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski; could they play on Sunday?

The Philadelphia Flyers kept hope alive with a regulation win against the Bruins on Saturday afternoon. Now, they’ve recalled a pair of prospects as they may be looking toward the future as well. Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski were both recalled to the Taxi Squad on Saturday evening.

Transactions: We’ve recalled forwards Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski to the Taxi Squad from the @LVPhantoms.

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 10, 2021

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms games this weekend were postponed due to COVID, so this provides an opportunity for both Allison and Lacznyski.

Wade’s World

Allison, 23, spent four years at Western Michigan before turning pro this season. He was near a point-per-game player in the NCAA with 97 points (45 goals, 52 assists) in 106 games. Last year, in his senior season, Allison had 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 26 games.

After missing the beginning of the season with an injury, Allison has been picking it up as of late with the Phantoms. He scored a goal in each of his first two professional games. He has only played eight games in total but he already has nine points (four goals, five assists).

Per Brad Keffer‘s tracking at PhancyStats, Allison has a 61.16% Corsi For (+17.47 CF% Rel) and 71.43% Scoring Chances For (+24.09 SCF% Rel). He has been on the ice for 10 goals for and just one goal against. On top of that, he has drawn four penalties while only taking one. The kid is feeling right at home at the professional level.

Check out some of Allison’s highlights from this season:

Flyers prospects Tyson Foerster and Wade Allison score first professional goals in Phantoms win
Wade Allison, Tyson Foerster, and Tanner Laczynski shine in Phantoms OT win

Laczynski back up

This is Laczynski’s second time being recalled to the Taxi Squad in as many weeks. Here is what we had to say about Laczynski back on April 1st:

“Laczynski, 23, had an impressive NCAA career during his four years at Ohio State. He recorded 143 points (48 goals, 95 assists) in 138 games across his four seasons.

In his first AHL season, Laczynski has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 14 games. He is playing better as of late with a two-goal game on March 21st and his first career hat trick on March 26th. He picked up another goal on the 27th as well.”

Laczynski made his NHL debut in last Saturday’s shootout loss to the Islanders and played in the overtime win in Boston as well. Alain Vigneault liked what he saw from Laczynski but wanted to get Oskar Lindblom back into the lineup.

Could Wade Allison debut, Tanner Laczynski return on Sunday?

The Flyers may have called up Allison and Laczynski with Sunday’s game in mind. It is the second half of a back-to-back set and the Flyers’ fifth game in seven days. It’s also against the Sabres, so if the Flyers want to rest anybody, that would be the game to do it.

Who could the Flyers sell at the trade deadline?

The Flyers could want to rest players simply to keep them fresh for the upcoming week, or they could have an ulterior motive. With the trade deadline just 25 hours after the start of tomorrow’s game, the Flyers may want to keep potential trade pieces out of the lineup to not risk injury. Scott Laughton and Michael Raffl are two of the forwards that could be moved.

Nolan Patrick is also reportedly being “shopped hard” by the Flyers.

Either way, Allison and Laczynski are two exciting Flyers prospects. Allison has a higher ceiling as a potential top-six sniper, but Laczynski is a solid two-way forward that should be able to stick in the lineup once there is room for him.

The Flyers host the Sabres at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.