Hodgson Returns to Phantoms

Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday

April 5, 2022

Lehigh Valley, PA – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have received forward Hayden Hodgson from the Philadelphia Flyers, according to Flyers’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher.

Hodgson signed an NHL contract on March 23, 2022 and made his NHL debut on March 24 scoring a goal and recording an assist in a 4-2 win at the St. Louis Blues. Hodgson played in five games with the Flyers with one goal and one assist.

Hodgson, 26, is tied with Cal O’Reilly for the team lead with 18 goals this season. The Windsor, Ont. native also has 11 assists for 29 points in 44 games.

It has been a break-through season for Hodgson who arrived to Phantoms Training Camp as a tryout candidate while on an ECHL contract with the Reading Royals where he had played in 2019-20. Hodgson impressed in camp and was signed to an AHL contract before the start of the season.

In his first games in the AHL in four years, Hodgson continued to thrive and catch the attention of head coach Ian Laperriere.

“He’s been the biggest surprise on our team,” Laperriere said. “I feel like he came out of nowhere. I didn’t know about him. Nobody here knew about him. I was wondering, ‘Who is this kid?’ and he came on the ice and I saw what he can do. What I like about him is he does everything hard and it starts in practice. And you see the results. The sky’s the limit for him.”

The Sarnia Sting product has played in 98 career games in the ECHL scoring 22-22-44. Last year, he split his time between the Wheeling Nailers and Utah Grizzlies. Two years ago, he scored 12-8-20 with the Reading Royals in 36 games. Hodgson had not played in the AHL since his rookie professional season in 2017-18 when he suited up in 41 games with the Cleveland Monsters scoring 3-3-6.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms return to action on Wednesday night at the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Phantoms next play at PPL Center on Friday against the Hershey Bears with fans invited to participate in a Postgame Skate. It is also U.S. Senior Open Night.