The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are entering a new era, not just with their rebuild but where they stand in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are a team on the rise with an influx of young talent and a new head coach suited to lead them, as they hired John Snowden this offseason.
Related: Lehigh Valley Phantoms Announce John Snowden as Head Coach
The new coach gave his opening press conference on July 16 and outlined a bright future for the Phantoms and the Philadelphia Flyers. “This is where the rebuild for the Flyers is going to start. It’s going to start with us,” Snowden stated in his opening remarks. There are some notable differences that are clear early on with how he’ll want the team to look on the ice, and it’s why there’s a chance the Phantoms could become one of the best teams in the AHL with a prominent pipeline of talent to the NHL team.
There’s also a chance that Snowden, while 43 and still young by AHL standards, isn’t in Allentown for too long and will eventually move up in the coaching ranks. Every coach looks great in their first press conference, yet Snowden gives off a different energy and looks like the type of head coach this team has lacked for years.
Snowden Will Run a Fast Phantoms Team
One of the early themes from Snowden was how important offense and playing fast are. It’s understandable considering his background is in the offensive end, and he ran the Phantoms’ power play for the past two seasons. The Phantoms will move the puck up the ice and put pressure on the opposition.
“I want to drive our offense up,” Snowden noted on Wednesday. “We’re going to move the game from the defensive zone to the offensive zone as fast as we can, and when we get there, we’re going to stay there and grind them down.” The Phantoms averaged only 2.98 goals per game last season. For Snowden, it’s not just about getting the most out of the forward talent but also making sure that’s the group taking over games.
The unanswered question, and something everyone will only find out once the season begins, is what type of pressure and style of offense Snowden will run? Cleaner defensive zone exits and offensive zone entries will be a priority and, by default, improve the offense. That said, will the Phantoms look to generate 40 shots per game and come at teams in waves, or will they look for value in their shots and be a possession-based team looking to fire the puck from the high-danger areas?
“I want to be very aggressive. I want to value the puck,” Snowden mentioned on Wednesday, two statements that at first glance, contradict. It’s why the Phantoms will probably have a balanced offence and, more importantly, it’s one of the areas for Snowden to adjust and adapt as the season plays out.
Snowden Working With Tocchet
One of the necessary qualities of an AHL coach is great communication, not just with the players and the coaching staff but with the NHL and ECHL teams. The Flyers are in a rebuild and eager to move to the next phase, where they are playing competitive hockey and making a push for a playoff spot. The Rick Tocchet hire signals this team wants to compete, and for Snowden, it’s about being on the same page as the NHL head coach.
“The way we’re going to mesh our systems together. So when players move up, it’s not going to be so much thinking,” Snowden stated when asked about how the prospects will be ready once they jump from the AHL to the NHL. “‘Toch’ and I have a very similar approach on what makes a player very good and what makes a player hard to play against. So for us, it’s about being able to play with people around you,” he continued.
The Flyers, with their draft and offseason overall, sent a message to the league about what type of players they are targeting. They want skaters with skill but also size and physicality. They want players that are tough to play against in more than one way, and it’s something Tocchet desires while Snowden is looking for in his players as well. The Phantoms have plenty of prospects who are on the cusp of making an impact in the NHL, and the ones who check off all the boxes for Snowden will likely thrive under Tocchet as well.
How Will Snowden Adjust to the AHL
This season will be the first for Snowden as an AHL head coach. He was an assistant for the past two seasons with the Phantoms and was with the Toronto Marlies beforehand but now, he’s the leader behind the bench. “I think it is hard, it seems like everything changes daily,” Snowden noted, well-aware of the roster movement that happens throughout the season, forcing coaches to work with new players every night.
“It’s not new, the ECHL wasn’t very much different,” Snowden remarked as he coached in the league below the AHL before joining the Marlies staff. His experience at both levels and notably as an assistant has prepared him for the long season ahead. “If you have a process, which I’m a very process-driven person, and if you do that with all your players, then you set them up for success,” he added.
It’s also worth noting that Snowden moving from the assistant role to the head coaching role also has its downsides. Oftentimes, an assistant who becomes the head coach of the same team struggles as they go from a player-friendly coach to the bad guy and either lose the locker room or struggle to hold the team accountable.
And for the Phantoms, accountability is essential. They need a coach who can lead a disciplined team and not make mistakes defensively or take costly penalties. It’s what cost the Phantoms in the Calder Cup Playoffs against the Hershey Bears, especially Game 4, where the surplus of penalties resulted in two power-play goals for the Bears in a 6-4 loss. There’s a saying about how there are the arts and sciences of coaching. Snowden is focused on the arts but it’s unclear how he’ll score with the science and the ability to get the most out of the players.
A Pivotal Hire For The Flyers’ Rebuild
The Flyers are a team starting to see the progress from a patient rebuild. Matvei Michkov is a young star to build around, and between Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone, the Flyers have more young skaters on the way. Having a coach at the AHL level who can get the most out of the prospects, to give the NHL team a roster with minimal weaknesses, will go a long way.
Snowden will get the most out of the forward talent in the Flyers’ prospect pool. The prospects will take off in his system while Zayde Wisdom and Samu Tuomaala might have a resurgence good enough to put them on the NHL roster at some point in the season.
Now, the defense remains an issue both from a prospect standpoint and with the system Snowden wants to play. Teams that play fast often run the risk of costing their defense on the other end of the ice. Bruce Boudreau had the Vancouver Canucks playing that way, and ironically, Tocchet was hired halfway through the 2022-23 season to balance the team out. The Phantoms might have an explosive offense, especially with the offensive-minded Snowden behind the bench, but if it comes at the cost of great defense, they won’t be a great team or develop their prospects correctly.
That said, the Flyers are building from the forward unit out and not from the net out, as many teams do. They saw how many difference-makers the Florida Panthers had in their forward group and know if Snowden can provide them the same at the NHL level, they’ll be one of the teams to beat.
This is the time of the year when every fan base is optimistic. With the Flyers, there’s a different feeling in the air (both in Philadelphia and Allentown) with how the offseason has gone. Now, it’s about seeing how the rebuild translates on the ice. “I’m just ready to get going,” Snowden stated on Wednesday, which is how the rest region feels as well, especially after his first remarks.
