The Philadelphia Flyers have signed veteran goaltender
Jason LaBarbera to a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced on Thursday. The 35-year-old netminder has appeared in a total of 187 career regular season games for six clubs, including five with the Anaheim Ducks in 2014-15. He spent most of last season in the American Hockey League with the Norfolk Admirals, where he posted a 2.62 goals against average and .912 save percentage in 34 appearances.
LaBarbera will serve as the starting goaltender for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms next season as well as being an emergency NHL callup in the event of injury to starter
Steve Mason or recently signed backup
Michal Neuvirth.
Over the course of next season, the hope is that second-year pro
Anthony Stolarz earns more playing time for the Phantoms. Stolarz appeared in 31 games during his rookie season.
Most likely, the Flyers opted for LaBarbera instead of
Rob Zepp because the former has played in many more NHL games. He also has past ties to Hextall.
The 33-year-old Zepp was an NHL "rookie" last season, making his NHL debut for the Flyers en route to appearing in 10 games. However, Zepp was arguably the Phantoms' most valuable player last season as well as an upbeat and positive presence in the dressing room. He brought a wealth of international experience despite his late arrival to the NHL.
In comparing the two netminders, Zepp has superior feet to LaBarbera and tends to fare better on breakaways and shootouts. The latter is bigger (packing 230-plus pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame) and swallows up a lot of net. Both possess a strong work ethic and Zepp is fanatical about his conditioning, which enabled him to stay sharp last season despite playing 60-plus games between the preseason, the AHL and the NHL.
LaBarbera was originally a third-round draft pick (66th overall) of the New York Rangers in the 1998 NHL Draft. He has enjoyed considerable AHL success during his career. He won the Les Cunningham Award (AHL Most Valuable Player) in 2003-04 and is a two-time winner of both the Baz Bastien Award (the AHL version of the Vezina Trophy) and Hap Holmes Award (the AHL version of the Jennings Trophy, going to the qualifying goaltender with the lowest goals against average).
At the AHL level, LaBarbera is accustomed to being a starter. In the NHL, he has mostly been a backup. He appeared in 45 games for the Los Angeles Kings (a career high) in 2007-08, while
Ron Hextall was the second-year assistant general manager of the Kings and the general manager of the AHL's Manchester Monarchs. LaBarbera logged 62 games for Manchester the previous season.
Zepp should not have a problem finding a good situation for himself. His goal is still to compete for at least the second spot on an NHL depth chart. Such opportunities are limited. However, there are still clubs who can use a proven starter for their AHL farm team as well as a third option for their NHL club.
The Phantoms have lost three highly respected veteran players this offseason: Zepp,
Andrew Gordon and
Zack Stortini. With
Brandon Manning competing for an NHL job with the Flyers, new leaders will have to emerge. LaBarbera can help in that department.
LaBarbera's wife, Kodette, appeared on the Canadian-produced reality show, Hockey Wives. The family's oldest son, six-year-old Ryder, has autism. The show detailed the challenges Kodette faces in raising Ryder and three-year-old Easton while Jason lives away playing hockey. The couple made the difficult decision to live apart during hockey season so as not to disrupt the continuity and structure that Ryder needs.
Kodette detailed her familly's story in an
article for Today's Parent. She has become an advocate and educator for families dealing with the challenges of autism.
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