Bam, bam, bam. Salary cap? Hurdled. Goaltending problem? Solved*. Core? Broken up.
To complete today’s craziness, the Flyers signed unrestricted free agent goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million contract that will give him a $5,666,667 cap hit until he’s 40 years old. Ed Snider got his goalie, and all it cost was Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
The youth movement is alive and well, the foundation has been blown up, and this is now Bryzgalov and Claude Giroux ‘s team.
This should be the final move of the day (crosses fingers. Damn you Travis’ friends’ wedding!), so toast to Scott Hartnell, Kris Versteeg, Matt Carle, Paul Holmgren, and Ed Snider. One more year.
Ben Rothenberg adds…
This is the third huge, HUGE move the Flyers have made today, and yet it pales in comparison to trading both Jeff Carter AND Mike Richards earlier this afternoon.
You know those times when the stock market blows up and shit is going crazy? And the Dow falls like four billion points in five seconds? And people start jumping out windows, landing on taxis and CNBC reporters? And the frantic brokers scream “Make it stop! Make it stop!” so they freeze trading for the day? And then, once the dust settles and the tears, blood, and cocaine have all dried up, everything is calm, if only for that moment?
That’s what the Flyers need right now. Put the phone down, Paul Holmgren. Put the phone down.
