Photo Credit: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On July 28th, 2021 a virtually unnoticed Flyers signing happened that general manager Chuck Fletcher has great familiarity with. While this signing may seem insignificant given its limited media exposure, I assure you it is one that will end up paying out major dividends.
That move was a one-year two-way deal that totaled just $800,000 given to a player by the name of Gerald “Gerry” Mayhew. While you may not be familiar with that name, you soon will be. Mayhew is a 28-year-old diminutive winger who stands at just 5’10 but he is extremely elusive and versatile. Gerry can play both sides of the center and has even been known to line up within the faceoff dots in a pinch as well. But just who is this Mayhew guy and why haven’t you heard of him?
Well, very early on in Gerald’s life it became quite clear that he was destined to make a career out of playing this game we all love. But this began to be solidified when, back in 2011, he was awarded the coveted United States High School’s (USHS) “Mr. Hockey Award” (which is given to Michigan’s best high school player every year).
After high school, Mayhew attended Ferris State University where he competed for the Bulldogs for four years. While there, he played in 150 collegiate games and scored 52 goals and 67 assists for 119 points. Sadly, even though Gerry was in consideration for the Hobey Baker Award (trophy given to the best player in college hockey every year), he went undrafted.
However, even this would not deter Mayhew from reaching his goal of turning pro because, in Gerald’s case, his relentless determination would prove to pay off when he was able to turn a tryout with the Minnesota Wild into a contract for the ‘16- ‘17 season. Since then, he has managed to play the last five seasons within the Wild’s organization, with his breakout year coming in the ‘19- ‘20 season where- at the time- he was playing for the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Iowa Wild. In that season, Mayhew scored a league-leading 39 goals that year which won him the Willie Marshall Award (a trophy given to the AHL Player who amasses the most goals in a single season). But beyond just his goal totals that year, Gerry scored 22 assists as well which left him a total of 61 points (3rd best in the league) in just 49 games played. If you do the math, that averages out to Mayhew scoring at a rate of 1.24 points-per-game (PPG) for that season. While that is impressive, what may be more so is the fact that he was able to achieve those figures while remaining a +16 average that season. With Mayhew being able to attain these new heights, he was also named to the AHL All Star game that year and given the honor of being named the league’s Most Valuable Player- even though he got called up to play in 13 NHL games with Minnesota that season.
While that type of year would be hard to follow up for just about anybody, Gerry managed to do so quite gracefully this past season by scoring 18 points in just 19 games played in the AHL (that’s a 0.94 PPG average). The only reason for Mayhew playing in so few games last season was because his services were deemed needed as a member of Minnesota’s taxi squad for most of the year where he was gifted once again with an opportunity to dress in four games with the NHL’s Wild last season.
If you watched the videos provided you should have noticed that Mayhew is a hard-working player who loves to make some hard cuts to the center of the goal mouth where he likes to let ‘er rip, which leaves the goalie with little to no time to react. Gerry is a very effective forward with a skill set any GM would love to have in his system. For that reason, don’t be surprised if you see this player coming into Lehigh Valley and immediately taking on a leadership role. If Chuck’s coaching changes/additions of Ian Laperrière and Jason Smith were to tell you anything it should be that Fletcher wants his youth to be taught the right way to play the game- which Mayhew should have no trouble showing them as he tends to lead by example and was the reason why in Minnesota often times his name was the first one the Wild were to call up to join the big club when a player went down with an injury.
For all these reasons- and more- this previously-unnoticed signing will not only have fans flocking to Phantoms games this season but will serve as an on-ice tutor for the Flyers’ top prospects as well.
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From all of us here at Flyers Nitty Gritty, our hearts, thoughts and prayers remain with the Hayes family during this difficult time.
