With the AHL season coming to a close, Lehigh Valley Phantoms goaltender Carson Bjarnason was reassigned to the ECHL’s Reading Royals on Wednesday. Yaniv Perets was recalled in a corresponding move.
The 20-year-old netminder was making his professional debut with the Phantoms this season after having signed his entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers last year.
On the year, Bjarnason posted a 13-11-4 record with a .877 SV% and a 3.45 GAA, but really struggled over the last few months. He allowed 58 goals on 341 shots in 14 appearances en route to a 4-7-1 record, which was good for a .830 save percentage and a GAA over 4.40.
That was in stark contrast to the beginning of his season when we posted a .911 save percentage and a GAA just above 2.50 with a 9-4-3 record.
It’s not exactly how the Flyers were hoping the former 2nd round pick would finish off his rookie season, but perhaps it’s just the growing pains of a 20-year-old goaltender translating his skills from the Western Hockey League in the CHL to the American Hockey League.
Bjarnason posted a 21-19-6 record with a .900 SV% and 3.08 GAA in his draft year for the Brandon Wheat Kings. He improved to the tune of 24-17-5 with a .907 SV% and a 3.01 GAA in 2023-24 and a 22-15-3 record with a .913 SV% and a 2.93 GAA in 2024-25.
The Wheat Kings were not a strong team and were easily bounced out of the playoffs in both 2024 and 2025. Bjarnason went winless in 7 games and allowed 33 goals on 216 shots.
Both the ECHL and AHL play a 72-game season with the former having 8 games left compared to the latter having 7 games remaining, respectively. Bjarnason will be joining the Royals on their push to the playoffs, whereas Perets will be looking to provide stability as a backup for Aleksei Kolosov.
The 26-year-old Perets posted a 13-8-3 record, a .906 SV%, and a 2.92 GAA in his first year within the Flyers organization. He also appeared in 3 AHL games, where he posted a .873 SV% and a 3.21 GAA en route to a 1-2-0 record.
The Royals have 3 games in the next 4 days against the Worcester Railers (ECHL affiliate for the New York Islanders) including a back-to-back set on Thursday and Friday. Bjarnason should get his first opportunity for game action at some point this week.
