The Flyers have acquired the rights to negotiate with goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, of Phoenix Coyotes fame.
For the right to the thirty-year old netminder, the Flyers gave up Matt Clackson, a third round pick in 2012, and a conditional pick.
You may remember Bryzgalov from his work in the 2011 playoffs…unless of course you missed the first week or so of them, after which he was long gone.
Bryzgalov was a Vezina trophy nominee in 2010, which indicates that he has done pretty nicely in the regular season in his time. He earned seven shutouts in the 2010-11 season, which is seven more than Boucher, Leighton, Bobrovsky, and Duchesne combined.
Being a Russian, Bryzgalov speaks Russian, which Bobrovsky, also a Russian, speaks as well. Russian Russian Russian.
Personally, I’m optimistic. The last time the Flyers acquired the rights to negotiate with a player in the off-season, they gave up Ryan Parent for the right to talk to Dan Hamhuis. It was wonderful. The Flyers got rid of Ryan Parent, and Hamhuis led his new team to the Stanley Cup final. That Hamhuis’ new team was Vancouver, not Philadelphia, is something I’m going to overlook for argument’s sake.
