Goaltender Ray Emery was reportedly close to re-signing with the Chicago Blackhawks a few days ago to be Corey Crawford’s back-up again. Once the window for free agent visits opened up, though, Emery found he could be expecting offers from the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders if he was patient.
Ten minutes into free agency, the Flyers announced that they had signed Emery to a one year, $1.65 million contract.
The signing provides Philadelphia with a respectable (and inexpensive) tandem for the 2013-14 NHL season. Mason needs to be challenged in net for the starter position if he is going to truly succeed, and Emery is the best candidate to do that.
Emery, 30, has a career 0.908 save percentage, which is not ideal. He had a great start to last season, though, becoming the first NHL goaltender ever to go 10-0-0 in his first ten starts.
The short term nature of the contract, similar to Emery’s first contract with Philadelphia in 2009, reduces the risk of the signing. Emery’s first season was cut short due to the unfortunate development of avascular necrosis of the hips. It’s nothing short of a medical miracle that he has been able to resume his career, but there’s no guarantee that his health issues don’t crop up again in the near future.
The contract also doesn’t preclude the team from seeking out a more “pedigree” goaltender either later in the 2013-14 season or in the next offseason. Goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist, Corey Crawford, Jonas Hiller, and Jaroslav Halak (among others) will be available as free agents.
As reports continue to flood in one some of the other signings made today, the Flyers have actually looked favorable in comparison.
- Evgeni Nabokov- one year, $3.25M to New York Islanders
- Ryane Clowe- five years, $4.85M per to New Jersey Devils
- Mike Ribeiro- four years, $5.5M per to Phoenix Coyotes
- Nathan Horton- seven years, $5.3M per to Columbus Blue Jackets (he’ll be sidelined till December after shoulder surgery)
- Daniel Alfredsson- one year, $5.5M to Detroit Red Wings (astonishgly)
The Flyers remain over the salary cap by around $2.7 million. There is still work to be done in moving one of Andrej Meszaros or Braydon Coburn (or both) to become compliant. The defense still isn’t much improved from last year either, Mark Streit signing notwithstanding.
It’s not a bad start though.
Danny Briere signed a 2-Year Deal for $8 Million with the Montreal Canadiens also…
Pronged on ltir makes us compliant actually. Still need another forward and move mezaros
It doesn’t. Players aren’t allowed to go on LTIR until the second day of the season. I don’t know what the penalty is if the organization isn’t compliant on Day One, but have to imagine the NHL would not be pleased.
In other news the man always linked to the flyers was traded but not to us
Bobby Ryan has finally been traded by the Anaheim Ducks.
He has shipped to Ottawa in exchange for Jakob Silfverberg, prospect Stefan Noesen and a 2014 first-round pick . Ryan registered 11 goals and 30 points in 46 games with Anaheim last season. He should fit in well as a member of Ottawa’s top-six forward group and will probably play alongside Jason Spezza next year.
Jul 5 – 3:41 PM
Ryan is a nice replacement for Alfredsson.. but I still think he hits free agency in 2015.
A Big 7 Player Trade between the Bruins & Dallas Stars..
Alfredsson signs Deal with the Red Wings, hence the move/trade for RW B Ryan from Anaheim.. Teams making Deals