Bucks County Native and Penn State Product Acquired for Cooper Zech
October 26, 2022
Lehigh Valley, PA – The Philadelphia Flyers announced the club has acquired forward Evan Barratt from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Cooper Zech, according to President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher. Barratt will be assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Zech now joins the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
Barratt, 23, is from Bristol in Bucks County and played his youth hockey with Team Comcast based out of Pennsauken, NJ. The team has since rebranded to “Philadelphia Flyers Elite” Tier I AAA Youth Hockey.
Barratt is a 6’0″, 180-pound center who has played in 92 AHL games with Rockford over parts of three seasons (2020-23) scoring 19-23-42. Last year with Rockford, he set career highs with 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points. He was a Round 3 (90th overall) selection of Chicago in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Barratt played at Penn State for three seasons (2017-20) scoring 39-56-95 in his career over 98 games. He set a Nittany Lions record with an 11-game point streak as a sophomore. Barratt was named to the 2020 All-Big Ten Second-Team and the 2019 All-Big Ten First-Team. He was also 2019 Hobey Baker Award Nominee.
On November 3, 2018, his lacrosse-style goal against Arizona State went viral after it was included in ESPN’s Top 10 Plays.
👀👀👀 @BarrattEvan @ESPNAssignDesk @Buccigross #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/Jy1zL1nNEH
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 4, 2018
Prior to Penn State, Barratt played two seasons with the U.S. National Team in the USHL. He won a gold medal at the 2017 Under-18 World Junior Championship and a silver medal at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships playing alongside Noah Cates, Joel Farabee, Jay O’Brien and fellow Team Comcast products Cayden Primeau and Mattias Samuelsson.
Zech, 23, tallied 1-10-11 in 53 games with Lehigh Valley during the 2021-22 season and has scored 4-32-36 in 131 AHL contests with the Providence Bruins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The South Lyon, MI native has not appeared in a game this season.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center this Friday and Saturday with their big “Haunted on Hamilton” weekend. Wear your costumes! The games will include trick or treating, face painting, and a Saturday in-game costume parade on the ice with meLVin for the kids.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, October 28 (7:05) vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – HAUNTED ON HAMILTON!
Saturday, October 29 (7:05) vs. Bridgeport Islanders – HAUNTED ON HAMILTON! SNHL Returns with DJ Angel B
Sunday, October 30 (5:00) at Hershey Bears
Friday, November 4 (7:00) at Belleville Senators
Saturday, November 5 (3:00) at Laval Rocket
Friday, November 11 (7:05) vs. Springfield Thunderbirds – Berks $1 Hot Dogs Night
Saturday, November 12 (7:05) vs. Laval Rocket – 90’s Night!! Saturday Night Hockey Live
Tickets for upcoming Phantoms games are available HERE
