If Bryzgalov Injury is Serious, Who Should Flyers Recall?

Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov inexplicably left the ice just 6:45 into the third period of the Flyers’ 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

According to Dave Isaac of Philly Sports Daily, Byrzgalov initially tried to play it off as an equipment issue, but then acknowledged he was a “bad liar.”

“It’s an old boo boo, that’s it,” said Bryzgalov. “It starts for a little bit.”

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren also told reporters, “It’s an injury issue, lower body… We don’t think it’s anything serious.  It’s an off-day tomorrow for the players… I would assume that he will be fine for our next game.”

An update provided by the team on Sunday stated that Bryzgalov was “doing much better” and “should be ready to play on Tuesday.”

Unfortunately, I’ve heard that line all too many times from the organization to trust that this issue won’t rear its head again over the next few days or weeks.  After all, this is the same organization that said “Michael Leighton should be ready by Thursday,” followed by “He has a herniated spine and will be out two months” over the span of four days last season.

Which brings me to my next question- if Bryzgalov’s injury is worse than the Flyers are letting on, who should the Flyers recall to replace him?

The Flyers signed waiver-exempt goaltender Jason Bacashihua in the offseason, but he is currently out of the Adirondack Phantoms line-up with a minor injury. That leaves Johan Backlund, who only recently returned from his own groin injury, and Leighton.

Leighton is 11-8-0 this season with a respectable 2.31 goals against average and a 0.925 save percentage (SPT).  He has been the hot hand for the Phantoms recently and has a 0.945 SPT over the last four games alone.

Leighton has performed well enough to earn the call-up, but he, like Backlund, is subject to re-entry waivers.  I’ve found in the past that I overvalue some members of the Flyers and what their worth really is to other teams (Walker, Zherdev, Leighton, etc.), but there is still a potential risk involved.

Backlund, who was loaned to the Trenton Titans recently for conditioning, has only played in one game this season.  Considering the streak of bad luck he’s had with injuries and the lack of playing time he’s seen this season, subjecting him to waivers would arguably be less of a risk than Leighton.  His $800K cap hit is also more manageable than Leighton’s $1.55 million.

In any event, whoever will be recalled will likely be warming the bench for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully the “lower body injury” affecting Bryzgalov is as inconsequential as the organization is making it out to be, but the Flyers will find themselves with a difficult decision to make if he isn’t up to playing for Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals.

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