The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Reading Royals, announced that forward Jacob Gaucher re-signed for the 2024-25 season.
Gaucher is a 23-year-old, 6’3″ 185-pound, right-shot forward preparing for his second season under an AHL contract. During the 2023-24 season, Gaucher played in 59 regular season games with the Phantoms and ended the season with 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists.) During the 2023-24 season, Gaucher played in three games with Reading. Over six games in the Calder Cup playoffs with Reading, Gaucher secured one goal and one assist. One of those goals was a playoff-series clinching overtime goal in game two of the Atlantic Division First Round best-of-three series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Gaucher’s rookie season in 2022-23 was spent playing with Reading. He finished the season with 61 points over 71 games and finished second in assists, with 39 over the regular season. Over 11 games during the Kelly Cup playoffs, he got another 12 points under his belt with six goals and six assists.
Gaucher was key to the Phantom’s success during the 2023-24 season. He thrives in faceoffs and is a valuable penalty killer. He spent time throughout the season working to gain Ian Laperriere, head coach of the Phantoms, trust and confidence, becoming one of the team’s most reliable players. At the end of the season, Laperriere said “At the beginning of the year, I didn’t even know what he was doing here because we had so many guys in front of him. I even felt he should have gone to Reading but thank God he didn’t because he was a big part of what we did towards the end of the year. And then that overtime goal was the loudest I’ve heard that crowd for us.”
Hopefully, Gaucher continues to be an integral part of the Phantoms roster during the 2024-24 season, which kicks off on October 12 against the Hartford Wolf Pack at the PPL Center.
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