With the increasing likelihood that the Flyers will buy out Ilya Bryzgalov this summer rather than giving the relationship a third season, there has been much recent speculation on candidates to either compete with Steve Mason for the starting job or serve a backup goalie capable of handling a significant chunk of playing time if Mason falters or gets hurt. There are no current international candidates for the spot, so the player would have to be brought in either via trade or free agency.
Here's my two cents on some of the more commonly mentioned names, and a few that I'll add to to mix for discussion purposes:
Ray Emery: The former Flyer has made an extraordinary comeback from a career-threatening hip injury and experimental surgery. He performed well in both Anaheim and Chicago and is an unrestricted free agent this season.
A lot of folks have commented on the dramatic way Emery has transformed himself off the ice since his wild child years in Ottawa that resulted in a one-year KHL exile from the National Hockey League. The Flyers took a chance on him in 2009-10 and, prior to being lost for the season with his hip issues, he was rewarding their faith by being a solid citizen off the ice and an effective goaltender on the ice.
Something less commented upon but equally noteworthy is the way Emery has changed on the ice since his return from the hip problems. He has had to compensate for the lost mobility and quick recovery skills -- among his biggest strengths as a young goalie -- following his return to the NHL. He's altered his style to have more economy of motion and is now more positionally sound, with less reliance on pure athleticism.
In purely hockey terms, my biggest concern with the current-day Emery is that he may not be a great stylistic fit with the Flyers' team defense in front of him. I also have concerns about him holding up physically for the long haul, even though he's just 30 years old.
Jonathan Bernier: There have been rumors of trade talks involving the Flyers and Kings for Bernier. Eklund's blog today suggested Los Angeles may be looking to trade Bernier before July 5. Both Ek and a previous BSH piece by Travis Hughes raised the issue of Los Angeles being vulnerable to an offer sheet to Bernier that would carry a second-round pick as the required compensation level if they did not match.
With Matt Read as the (alleged) Los Angeles target player from Philadelphia in a Bernier trade, the offer sheet route is the more intriguing of the two possibilities to me assuming the Flyers buy out both Bryzgalov and Danny Briere. It be noted, however, that Bernier is still an unproven NHL player, having played in just 62 games to date. He is also rather undersized, at a shade under six feet tall, for a current-day NHL goalie.
With those two caveats aside, the 24-year-old Bernier appears ready to take the next steps in his career toward fulfilling the promise that made him the Kings first-round pick back in 2006.
Jaroslav Halak: The 28-year-old Slovakian goaltender has one season remaining on a contract with a $3.75 million cap hit. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. According to reports, he has burned his bridges in St. Louis after feuding with Ken Hitchcock and behaving unprofessionally on the bench as well as behind the scenes. Halak shared the Jennings Trophy with Brian Elliott in 2011-12 and had an excellent playoff run in 2010 while still a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Niklas Bäckström: The 35-year-old Finn has been one of the NHL's steadier goalies when healthy, although he's never quite been regarded as ranking among the elites. A freak injury in warmups before the start of playoffs kept him out of postseason play. It sounds like the impending UFA will either re-sign with Minnesota or seek a deal that will likely exceed the Flyers budget with the salary cap ceiling decrease. He carried a cap hit of $6 million per season on his soon-to-expire contract signed in 2009.
Evgeni Nakobov: The soon-to-be 38-year-old impending unrestricted free agent did nothing this year to shake his career-long reputation as a good regular season goalie who inevitably melts down under playoff pressure. He had an overall solid regular season in getting the Islanders into the playoffs but then played mediocre hockey against Pittsburgh in the playoffs.
Roberto Luongo: It remains to be seen what the Canucks end up doing with Luongo, but they almost certainly will not end up with him returning for another season of competing with now-primary starter Cory Schneider. There have been a lot of recent rumors about Luongo going to the Islanders, not to mention the ever-present Toronto rumors. The cap hit and length of contract that Luongo carries ($5.33 million cap hit through the 2021-22 season) makes him a buyout candidate. Why would ANY team want that contract? If Luongo is bought out, then it certainly wouldn't be ought of the realm of possibility that the Flyers pursue him with some newfound cap space following Briere and Bryzgalov buyouts.
Ryan Miller: I simply do not see a Flyers trade for Miller happening. The trade cost would still be prohibitively high, and Miller's $6.25 million cap hit would create a bigger salary cap strain than keeping the status quo with Bryzgalov. Also I don't think Miller's sensitive personality and shoot-from-the-hip tendencies in expressing his feelings about any situation would be any better of a fit in the hypercritical Philadelphia market than Bryzgalov's personality has been.
Anton Khudobin: The Bruins' backup goaltender, who opened his NHL career with a shutout against the Flyers while he was a member of the Minnesota Wild, is an unrestricted free agent this summer. While he has some detractors and could be a candidate to go to the KHL rather than staying in North America, the 27-year-old with the fireplug build has generally done well in his limited number of career NHL games (21) to date. He did not look very good in a late season start against the Flyers, but the Bruins as a whole were out-of-synch at that point before getting back on track in the playoffs.
Niklas Svedberg: Assuming Khudobin does not come back to Boston next season, the 23-year-old Svedberg could be promoted from the AHL to be the backup to Tuukka Rask. Svedberg has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two seasons. He is coming off a sensational rookie season in the American Hockey League, where he won the Baz Bastien Trophy as the league's best goaltender along with first-team All-Star honors. The previous year, Svedberg backstopped Brynäs to the Swedish championship. In the Boston organization, he figures to be blocked by Rask for years to come as a potential starting goalie candidate. It may be worth kicking tires to see if the Bruins would consider trading him and, if so, what the cost would be. Svedberg can become a restricted free agent next summer.
Tim Thomas: If the two-time Vezina Trophy winner wants to return to the NHL next season after spending the last year away from the game, the 39-year-old could become an unrestricted free agent. The Islanders, who currently hold his rights, may not toll his contract. It would be a Flyers-like move to throw the NHL a curveball by bringing in Thomas on a one-year or two-year contract after buying out Bryzgalov.
I'm certainly NOT saying that I expect pursuing Thomas to the Flyers' number one plan right now even if Thomas ultimately elects to return to hockey (which is pretty much a now-or-never proposition at his age). What I'm saying that if he does return, it wouldn't be totally out of left field -- or perhaps more fittingly in Thomas' case, right field -- if the Flyers were the team that ended up signing him if he becomes a UFA. There is also a chance he plays in Europe instead of the NHL.
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