The American Hockey League (AHL) is one of the toughest leagues to win in. Players move up and down all the time, making it hard to find chemistry and have players buy into the team’s system. “This league’s hard because you lose guys for a few months, and all of a sudden they come back and we get three guys who weren’t on our radar,” noted Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere after a 3-2 victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That win allowed the Phantoms to sweep the Penguins to advance in the Calder Cup Playoffs and reflect how, despite all the moving parts, they bought in to pull off an upset. Related: Lehigh Valley Phantoms Have The Physicality to Upset WBS Penguins The Phantoms were not a great team by any stretch. They had an average offense, below-average defense, and terrible goaltending (which Philadelphia Flyers fans can relate to). They started the season with only one win through six games and only six wins in their first 16 games, and they looked like a team with no direction or identity. Yet, they snuck into the playoffs with a strong finish to the season and then upset a Penguins team that, for most of the season, looked like the best team in the Atlantic Division. It starts with how the team bought into a checking, physical, and North-South style that they played all season, and it’s translating in the playoffs. “I’m a big believer in checking,” Laperriere mentioned after the Game 2 win. “Look at Florida, look at Hershey,” he continued, referencing the NHL and AHL champions from the 2024 season and two model franchises. The Hershey Bears, the back-to-back Calder Cup champions, are the team the Phantoms are chasing, and they are the best team in the league because they do it all, but they make their plays off the forecheck and pressure. “It might be boring hockey, but when you get to the playoffs, you feel comfortable,” Laperriere noted. Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (Photo credit: JustSports Photography) The Phantoms hovered around the .500 mark all season, yet they played playoff hockey since opening night. Fast-forward to the playoffs, and they look like a team that has matured to play a complete game and make a deep playoff run. In a league built on development, this team matured and is playing its best hockey down the stretch. Their series against the Penguins was a short one, which they controlled for the most part, winning Game 1, 5-2, and then Game 2, 3-2, and while one or two lines stood out, the entire team is stepping up. The Young Phantoms Developing Into Regulars The Phantoms are one of the younger teams in the AHL, certainly in the Atlantic Division, and they only got younger with Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, and Nikita Grebenkin, a trio of prospects, joining the team late in the season. At this point in the season, many of the skaters have developed and become integral parts of the roster. Emil Andrae is a 23-year-old defenseman who had a great series against the Penguins as he played the shooting lanes and added two assists on the offensive end of the ice. Zayde Wisdom is 22 and added depth to the forward unit all season, with 13 goals and 19 assists. Jacob Gaucher is perceived as a veteran in this lineup, yet at 24, he does it all for the Phantoms, including scoring in the dirty areas, as he did in Game 2. Those last two players aren’t star prospects that fans have on their radar to make it to the NHL. However, they are playing great across the board and making the Phantoms a tough team to stop. “We have a young team but we play a really mature game, we play like a team that’s been together for a long time or a team that is willing to do the little things,” noted Anthony Richard, one of the handful of veterans on the team, after the 3-2 win. The Phantoms have multiple skaters in their early 20s who can still be classified as prospects, and they’re learning at the AHL level that you can’t win with just skill. The offense is clicking at the right time, with eight goals in the last two games, yet it’s the forecheck and defense that’s made them stand out. Richard is 29 and emerging as a mentor on this team, and is one of the players who has played a key role in allowing the young skaters to thrive. “When you do have a good leadership group like we do, it helps so much because they take the young players under their wing, and when I’m not in the room, they push my message,” Laperriere noted about not just Richard but a handful of veterans. Players like Louie Belpedio, Givani Smith, and Oscar Eklind help establish the culture while bringing that physicality to the lineup. “We got some big bodies, we’re heavy, we probably got the heaviest fourth line in the league,” Richard stated, which references Smith and Eklind’s ability to chip the puck into the offensive zone and set up the forecheck. The physical play stands out, but the Phantoms are also playing a more structured game. The young skaters have learned not to push the puck into tight areas and instead, let the game come to them and settle down. “In the AHL you get younger guys who are trying to make plays, force plays, and they’re kinda learning to play pro hockey, but I feel like the guys we fit in our lineup, they kinda bought in to the way we want to play and they play the simple game,” Richard continued. The Phantoms set the tone and made the Penguins, a team that lives on pace and speed, look like the less-experienced hockey team. Now, they have a quick turnaround where they’ll look to prove they can play a 200-foot game against any team in the league. The Youth Movement Helps Luchanko had four assists in the recent series, and his passing has stood out since he joined the AHL team. His burst of speed off the wing and his ability to find the open skater near the net make it easy to see why the Flyers took him in the first round in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. While Luchanko is the prospect who has made the biggest impact, Alex Bump is the one who might be on the NHL roster next season. He scored two goals in the first game of the series, leading to a 5-2 victory, and while he was left off the scoresheet in the second game, it was the one that showed why he can last at the next level. The Penguins went after the Bump early and often, trying to deliver the big hit to rattle him, and he was unfazed by the physicality. The NHL pushes around skaters with skill and humbles them quickly; the AHL does that as well, to a lesser degree. He’s proven he can take those hits and still make an impact on the offensive end of the ice. It’s made him a player who was overlooked and slid to the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft to a prospect everyone is keeping an eye on. It usually takes time for young skaters to acclimate to the AHL, especially the Calder Cup Playoffs. Yet, these players remain unfazed. With Luchanko setting up scoring chances and Bump finding the back of the net, the Phantoms have a forward unit that is tough to stop and will give the next opponent a tough series. The Next Step for the Phantoms The Phantoms will play either the top-seeded Bears or the Charlotte Checkers in the next round. Both teams check off all the boxes of a great team, and they do everything the Phantoms do, only better. One of the Phantoms’ few losses down the stretch came on April 4 against the Bears in a game where they controlled the pace, but the few mistakes were their undoing in a 2-1 defeat. Both the Bears and Checkers are not only prepared to play the 200-foot game, but they are also well-rested after earning a bye. On top of that, both teams take advantage of mistakes and will make the Phantoms pay if they continue taking penalties. The Penguins went 1-for-9 on the power play in the series (interestingly, Luchancho took four penalties in the two games, not something any coach can be too happy about). “Whoever we’re playing in the next round will have a good power play, they’ll be ready for us,” Richard noted after the game, and if they take penalties against either the Bears or the Checkers, the series could get out of hand quickly. The Phantoms are far from the best team in this league or even in this division. That said, they are playing the right way at the right time. It not only makes them a tough team to play against but at makes them a team capable of going on a run, and this week reflected that. “This week we played hard and I’m proud of the guys,” noted Richard to wrap up a big night in Allentown.