Phantoms prep for start of new era with new coach
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The puck is about to drop on a new era for the Youngstown Phantoms. First-year coach Nathan Paetsch is now at the helm, hopeful to continue the successes Youngstown achieved in the last five years.
The 2026-27 Phantoms have a good blend of returning players as well as some new young talent eager to put themselves on the map. Paetsch has plenty to be excited about.
"I think we got a lot of talent," Paetsch said. "We're going to play fast. We've got forwards that can put the puck in the net and make high-end plays. Then just as a team, they've had really good team defense. Hopefully, we can continue on that trend, making sure we're locked in that area as well. I'm excited about our group."
Youngstown's forward group has plenty of reasons for Paetsch, and Phantom fans as well, to be excited for the season.
It starts with returning forward Malachi McKinnon. McKinnon leads the group of returning players coming off a 50-point season, and Paetsch expects more of the same this year, calling him one of the most talented players in the USHL.
This year, McKinnon will have the extra responsibility of wearing a letter, as he was announced as the team's captain at the tail end of Tuesday's practice.
"It's a huge honor, and I'm really excited to get to lead an amazing group of guys," McKinnon said. "We have such a good group here coming in, so I'm excited to get started here on Thursday."
Second-year player Logan Anderson and USHL veteran Jesse Orlowsky are two names to watch as returners to the forward unit. Another returner to keep an eye on this year is Alexander Svitov. After a growth spurt, Svitov is someone who could break out this season.
"I think there's a chance he can really pop," Paetsch said. "He's 6-3 1/2 now. I think the guys are saying he might have grown an inch and a half since last season. That's a young player that's still growing with his body and understanding he's a big player. There's loads of talent there, and he's an amazing kid. He works hard every day, and he's just a joy to be around."
As for newcomers, Austin Hall, Spencer Anderson, Jackson Conroy and Lukas Zajic are other names to watch.
"Overall we've got a really nice mix," Paetsch said. "I love how our lines are different one through four, but they all just seem to be able to work within the system and play as a group. I've been excited about it so far."
The one unit where the Phantoms will look the most different is on the blue line. Brody Berard, Jackson Adams and Brayden Thompson return to the unit. They'll be joined by Wilhelm Hasselhuhn, Axel Brøngel-Larsson, and Royce Pietila.
If that last name rings a bell, it's because Pietila is cousins with former Phantoms Chase and Adam Pietila.
Paetsch expects to deploy his defensive units roughly equally.
In net, Owen Lepak gets his time to shine, as he's expected to be the team's top option. He'll share duties with 18-year old Ukrainian goaltending prospect Nikita Oleksiienko.
While expecting a learning curve with his rookie, Paetsch is excited about his goaltender duo.
"He's learning the league and he's just getting better every day," Paetsch said of Oleksiienko. "Yesterday I thought it was his best practice coming out, so it's going to take some time for him to learn the league, but we have two goalies that we're very comfortable with."
The Phantoms played in three preseason games and have improved throughout each of them. With a new coach taking over, comes a new offensive system, which takes time to fully implement.
"The biggest encouragement is game one to game three," Paetsch said. "I thought by the time we got to game three, what we're trying to instill in them, a few of the concepts, especially offensively that we went over started to come to fruition, and we really saw success out of it. It's an exhibition game, so I don't want to get too crazy about it. But the last exhibition game was against Muskegon, we found a way to win that game, and it's not even about wins and losses in preseason, that I don't really care about. It's about the process, and I thought by the third game, what we were trying to get across really was starting to come together.
"I think the guys are seeing the success in it, and they all have personal success and team success. So I'm excited about that moving forward."
That pairs well with Paetsch's central goal. He's not thinking about the playoffs yet. While obviously wanting to compete and win, the first-year coach is focused more on improvement. With the Phantoms' roster this season, if they continue to improve, the rest will take care of itself.
"I want to just keep getting better every day," Paetsch said. "The third (preseason) game was our best game, and I think if our next game's better than the third game, that's great. That's all we can ask for. They're young kids. There's a lot of stuff. I'm throwing a lot at them in a short period of time, so these (Fall Classic) games, we're going to see how much we can handle."
The year begins today as the Phantoms square off with the Des Moines Buccaneers in their first of two USHL Fall Classic games. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the USG Arena in Chicago.
Youngstown opens its season at home on Oct. 2 with a two-game set against Fargo.