With his prospect clock ticking, offensive D-man Ethan Samson is ready to put the ‘ups and downs’ behind him

How did Ethan Samson’s game look last season?

“Up, down, up,” Flyers assistant general manager Alyn McCauley said.

“He had a huge up, and he had a huge down. And right now … it’s been back,” added Ian Laperrière, former coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in April.

And if you ask the defenseman, it mimics what his bosses said.

“It’s had some ups and downs through the year, which is normal,” Samson told The Inquirer before the Phantoms started their postseason run. “It’s only my second year here, but I’m happy with the way my season has gone. I think it’s been good. I think I’ve shown improvement from the last year, and that’s all I can really ask for, is to keep getting better every year.”

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A sixth-round pick in 2021, improvement is critical for Samson because time is ticking. His entry-level contract expires at the end of this season, and, although he will be a restricted free agent next July 1, this past summer has shown that the Flyers are not averse to cutting ties with once-promising prospects.

But like forward Jett Luchanko and goalie Egor Zavragin, Samson was just 17 years old when he was drafted, and the Flyers knew then he was a project.

“He’s close to 6-2, and his frame is going to still fill out as he’s an August birthday,” Flyers amateur scout Mark Greig said in 2021 of the defenseman who played 22 games across a COVID-19-shortened Western Hockey League schedule.

“He’s got some room to develop. Right-hand shot, and for a D-man, it’s always an asset as we find them harder to find. I think he’s got a lot of development left.”

The British Columbia native has certainly sprouted in several aspects since. Now listed as 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, his game has also continued to evolve. Across his two post-draft seasons with the Prince George Cougars, the alternate captain had 103 points in 128 games and improved from a minus-23 rating to plus-11 in his final year.

After moving to the American Hockey League in 2023-24, the defenseman potted three goals and 12 points in 63 regular-season games. But his play impressed the Flyers, especially general manager Danny Brière, who mentioned Samson among the defensemen to keep an eye on in a Q&A with The Inquirer that March.

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“Ethan Samson, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, it’s a good thing that they’re playing a lot of heavy minutes, too,” he said of the AHL trio. “And, you know, if they’re ready, they’re ready.”

Samson wasn’t ready last season, but as he said, he’s shown improvement.

He quadrupled his goal total (12) — which led all Phantoms defensemen — and doubled his points total (24) across 69 regular-season games. The recently turned 22-year-old also led the team’s blueliners in power-play goals with four.

“I think training camp was a little disheartening, not to speak for him, but he didn’t get any preseason games in [last season],” McCauley said in April. “At this stage, I would think players, with that age, would be like, OK, I’m going to get a game now, and that didn’t happen for a variety of reasons. But what I did like is that his response to it was like, I’m going to show them.”

The question is, now what?

A two-way player who likes to “join the rush and try and create offense,” Samson does have some obstacles in his path as the Flyers have other puck movers and play drivers in left-shot defenseman Emil Andrae and fellow right-shot Jamie Drysdale. He has them beat in size, but, like them, needs to work on the defensive side of the puck.

“I think, talking to coaches and staff, I’m at my best when I’m moving my feet,” he said. “I think I have a good skating ability. I just don’t, maybe use it all the time, and that’s something I need to get more consistent with, is just trusting my feet and being able to kill plays while skating.

“And, that being said, you can always get better at skating, faster, more explosive, get bigger, stronger, all those things.”

Part of the shift is mental. “You just kind of get over that hump in your brain that this is what’s going to help you,” he said.

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The Flyers want him to get more explosive and stronger, and use his big frame and show more of an attitude. They love his size and skill, and McCauley gave his game a boost, stating: “He has the tools to make plays and create more than he’s going to give up.”

But, Samson also has the same issue that former Flyers coach John Tortorella said plagued Andrae, his defensive partner during the Calder Cup playoffs, in the NHL — you don’t always have to make the fancy play.

“Sammy is a great scanner. His problem is when he doesn’t keep it simple, like when he has that puck, he’s looking for a better play than what’s in front of him,” Laperrière said.

“Can’t do that here, can’t do that [in the NHL]. Whatever you see, it’s the best way you’ll have because guys are so good, they’re so smart, nothing’s going to open up. So when he gets away from that, that’s why he gets in trouble. When he keeps it simple and uses his feet, he’s been one of our best defenseman.”

One of the late-round picks that play a key part in the Flyers’ rebuild, patience was stressed by director of player development Riley Armstrong in April to The Inquirer. At this juncture, “a team just can’t rely on first-round draft picks,” he said.

But maybe, a year after not getting a preseason game, Samson gets a turn this fall with the big club in games that matter. Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to miss the start of the season as he recovers from elbow surgery, and, while the team signed veteran defensemen Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen to one-year deals, Brière said in July, “We wanted to make sure that we don’t block our young guys past next year.”

After all, Samson does have one specific intangible.

“Yeah, I think it’s hard to come by, right-handed defensemen, they always say, so it helps to have that going for me,” he said. “But you still [have] got to put in all the work and do everything to get there.”