After a bit of speculation from the team’s insiders this morning, the Flyers made it official and sent forward Connor Bunnaman back up to Lehigh Valley:
The @NHLFlyers have loaned forward Connor Bunnaman to the #LVPhantoms. Last season, Bunnaman netted 19 goals and tallied 13 assists for a total of 32 points in 62 games with the Phantoms. https://t.co/TB0wSHp0sg
— LehighValleyPhantoms (@LVPhantoms) October 18, 2019
After a strong training camp that earned him a spot in the bottom six to start the season — along with Phantoms’ teammate Carsen Twarynski — Bunnaman has struggled for the Flyers, recording precisely zero points in four games and playing just a little over 38 minutes total for the team.
Attention now turns toward who will come up to take Bunnaman’s place on the fourth line. The Phantoms play tonight in Allentown so it’s unlikely we will have an answer to that question today, but the aforementioned insider seem to think that the likely candidates are German Rubtsov and Mikhail Vorobyev.
Own speculation, not based on anything I have heard on or off-record: I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s a player who goes down to the Phantoms soon (Bunnaman, perhaps) and another who comes up (Vorobyev or Rubtsov). I’d think the move would be geared toward the 4C spot.
— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) October 18, 2019
Looking back, The Germ had a much stronger camp than Misha and is also having a stronger start to the year with the Phantoms, recording three points in three games played, so look for the former first-round pick to be the guy to get the call.
Updates to come…
