Murchison Thrives in NHL Debut
“Something I’ve Been Dreaming About my Whole Life”
December 10, 2025
Take in the moment. And then it’s Go Time.
Ty Murchison became the first Lehigh Valley Phantoms player this season to enjoy an NHL “Rookie Lap” when he made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.
He was told by Phantoms head coach John Snowden. He immediately placed a teary and emotional facetime call to his parents to share the big news with them. And then things got emotional.
“I was choked up trying to get the words out,” Murchison said. “As soon as I told my mom, she was screaming for my dad to get in the room.”
Eventually, Murchison had a gathering of 20 friends and family converge on Philadelphia to cheer him on as they arrived from California, Arizona, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
And the timing worked out well in the Phantoms schedule for Lehigh Valley teammate and good friend Carson Bjarnason to make it down to Philly for the game as well…proudly decked out in a Ty Murchison holiday-themed Phantoms warmup jersey!
“There’s been a lot of periods in the last 48 hours where I’ve been getting a bit choked up and just thinking about it,” Murchison said. “Because, I mean, I’ve been thinking about this every day of my life.”
No pressure there.
Then the pregame rookie lap of which he admitted his major goal was simply, “Don’t fall.”
Meanwhile, teammates kept his helmet from him and then had the visor removed when they eventually let him know where they had put it. All to keep it light and perhaps distract him and settle his nerves a little bit.
But he pushed through his emotions. Or perhaps thrived on them. And ended up playing well. Beginning with some physicality against a strong veteran like Ryan Reaves of the San Jose Sharks who came charging at him in a classic moment of “Welcome to the NHL, Rook!”
“He’s heavy,” Murchison admitted. But it got him into the game. At that moment, the Flyers’ fifth-round selection in 2021 out of Arizona State became the 48th Lehigh Valley Phantoms player all-time to join the Philadelphia Flyers for his rookie lap and NHL debut. And the first this year and also the first since Jacob Gaucher on February 2, 2025.
By the end of the night, following a 4-1 win, Murchison was honored by his teammates with the handoff of the Bernie Parent mask in the room as the team’s player of the game. But it was his family and support group that he was also immediately thinking about in the postgame.
“It’s a good crew and I’m itching to go see them right now. I’m sure it was great for them in the stands as well.”
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