ALLENTOWN, Pa. — If only Phil Myers had been a goalie. The Flyers have needed five extra of those. Defensemen, on the other hand, they haven’t had to recall all season long.

The seven they started the season with have been enough and Samuel Morin is on the mend too, so there’s even more competition. At the same point last season, the Flyers had already recalled four defensemen: Mark Alt, Will O’Neill, T.J. Brennan and Morin.

The wait continues for the undrafted Myers to make his NHL debut and based on merit he’s done plenty to deserve it.

“I feel as ready as I’ve ever been,” Myers said Tuesday. “Just working hard every day and I’m not trying to get too wrapped up into that. You can, but it’s just gonna bring you down and I’ve been through that. Just trying to focus on what I need to do today, bring my work ethic to the rink every day and whether it’s on-ice or off-ice, when you need to relax…we’ve had a busy schedule lately and it’s important to take the time to just relax and get an extra nap in. We’ve got 10 games in 16 days, so recovery is really important. I’m just trying to focus on recovering my body right now.”

Myers, the 6-foot-5, 212-pound right-handed blueliner, has been a horse for the Phantoms. He’s on their top pair, averaging roughly 23 minutes per game. It wasn’t always that way.

Because of a preseason injury to Andrew MacDonald, there was a buzz that Myers was a shoo in to make the NHL roster. He probably believed it at some point too, but after the team loaded up his schedule with exhibition games and his play dipped, he didn’t make the cut.

“Obviously you don’t want to get frustrated about that. Whether you like it or not it’s gonna have an impact,” Myers said. “You want to be up there. You want to be in the NHL. It’s been my dream since I was a kid. I think it was maybe a little bit in my head but now it’s all out.”

Consistency was an issue to start his season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and he admits now that thinking it was ready in training camp and being demoted took a big toll on him.

It wasn’t until late November that he felt he finally hit his stride.

“I think in terms of consistency at the start of the year it was…I had a really good game and then a not-so-good game and it was always one or the other,” Myers said. “These past couple months I’ve been playing a lot more consistently. Ever since the Canadian road trip where we went to Toronto, Laval and Belleville, I had a really good weekend there and that was the first really good weekend that I had all year.”

“I think Phil, what he’s recognized, it’s similar to what Travis (Sanheim) went through,” Phantoms interim coach Kerry Huffman added. “We always say less is more and sometimes I think Phil was just trying to take games over early in the year and that’s not a good way to play pro hockey at any level, whether it’s up there or here. That’s the hardest thing with young defensemen to learn. Sometimes you have to let the game come to you a little bit and not try to win games by yourself. I think he’s recognized that now. The last 20 games he’s been really, really good for us. He’s gonna be a really good player (in the NHL).”

He signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers on Sept. 21, 2015 with Ron Hextall at the helm. Now it’s Chuck Fletcher who Myers has to impress and he’s eager to do that. He’s eager to meet him but hasn’t had the chance.

“Hopefully we can do that soon,” Myers said.

Fletcher first showed up in Allentown the night that the Phantoms had a 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Monsters. He figured that meeting everyone after a game like that wasn’t the best route.

“It was a tough loss, obviously not the way we wanted to start that off,” Myers said, “but I’m not exactly sure how many times he’s been here.

“Obviously you want to make a good first impression. When I knew he was in the building I was trying to keep it as simple as possible and play my game, do the things I do best. To be honest I’m not trying to think about it too much. In the room I think guys have been taking it really positive. Huffer’s the new coach and we want to play for him, we want to win for him.”

Depending on what happens with the Flyers before the Feb. 25 trade deadline, perhaps he shows that this season. The team has two right-handed defensemen in Radko Gudas and Christian Folin for the first time in a while. Sanheim, Robert Hägg and Shayne Gostisbehere have all played the right side as well. If there is a trade and an opening on the back end, Myers figures to finally get a shot.

“I’ve learned over the years that you can’t read in too much to that,” Myers said. “Even if you read something on Twitter, it hasn’t happened yet so I’m trying not to get wrapped up in that too much but obviously you’re aware of what’s going on up there. The guys are going, they’re hot lately. I’m aware of how they’re playing but not getting wrapped up too much into that.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com