Interesting note from CBC’s Elliott Friedman in his most recent 30 Thoughts column:
It’s interesting to hear other teams talk about the Flyers. If there’s one thing they really respect, it’s Philly’s willingness to make bold decisions. That’s why there’s a suspicion that if Ilya Bryzgalov or Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t grab a stranglehold on the net, Philadelphia may look at someone else (on a short-term contract) to calm the position.
Some thoughts on Friedman’s thought:
-- Viable netminders that currently fit the bill (cheap, short-term contract) include Evgeni Nabokov, Antero Niittymaki, Curtis Sanford, maybe Scott Clemmensen...yeah, it’s not exactly a Vezina shortlist. Two teams to keep an eye on are Minnesota (Josh Harding) and Winnipeg (Chris Mason) -- both teams are teetering on the edge of the playoffs and could fall off, and both of their backup goalies are impending UFAs making less than $2 million annually. Harding’s a steal at $750,000, though there’s probably a lineup of GMs wanting to acquire his services.
-- The thought of Philly acquiring Nabokov and curbing the market on Russian goaltenders is intriguing. Intriguing in a cultural sense, not a “this will improve things” sense.
-- It’s crazy that, after spending $51 million to solve their goaltending problem, the Flyers could potentially end up having another three-goalie season like in 2009-10, when they went through Ray Emery, Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton.
-- Here’s a question PHT readers can fight to the death about in the comments section: Which goalie contract would you rather have right now -- Roberto Luongo’s (expires in 2022, annual cap hit of $5.3 million) or Bryzgalov’s (expires in 2020, annual cap hit of $5.7 million)?