Flyers sign four to AHL contracts, including goalie Nic Riopel

by Travis Hughes on Aug 25, 2010 11:47 AM EDT in News

Nic Riopel at the 2009 NHL Draft. Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images

Twas mentioned in the Fly By this morning, but it does deserve its own story. The Flyers signed four players to AHL deals today, according to a bunch of different reports. The team confirmed via Twitter.

2009 draft pick Nic Riopel, Phantoms defenseman Logan Stephenson, and new acquisitions J.P. Testwuide and Jesse Dudas all are under contract with the organization now.

Riopel has been kind of a question mark in recent months. There were reports that he was a free agent, there were reports that he wasn't. There were reports he was under contract, there were reports that he wasn't. Now, it's all cleared up.

Stephenson was a solid defenseman for the Phantoms this past year. He very well could project to the NHL one day, and Tim McManus has said several times on Twitter this morning that he's a solid leader and a candidate for captain this year.

As for the other two, Testwuide is not like his younger brother, at least according to his stats. In 58 AHL games last season, he put up just eight points and 111 penalty minutes. Do the Phantoms need to beef up?

Dudas played in the International Hockey League and the Central Hockey League last year, so that's probably all you need to know. It seems like he'll be an AHL player and nothing more.

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And now the “where do all these goalies play” speculation gets fun.

Backlund, Bobrovsky, Riopel, and Stewart need to find playing time. Can’t wait to see how the organization handles it, so that I can then criticize them for how they solve another self-made problem.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 11:58 AM EDT reply actions

It’s a good problem to have, though.

Contributor at The Brotherly Game, SBN's Philadelphia Union blog

by Ben Feldman on Aug 25, 2010 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed — applauding them, not faulting them one bit for this one. Make them all earn jobs.

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by Travis Hughes on Aug 25, 2010 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed. I’m not upset that the team has BBR looking for playing time.

Certainly, my criticism would focus on ahem the guys in the NHL taking up a spot.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Right

We have a lot of exciting goaltenders except for the guys who play in the NHL.

Simon Gagne may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home, but at the end of the day, he will always be a Philadelphia Flyer.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Aug 26, 2010 5:00 AM EDT up reply actions

You can’t wait until Boucher gets waived?

by Snevik on Aug 25, 2010 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Honestly, in this goalie environment, that won’t solve the problem.

But really, this team can’t have all 3 of Leighton, Boucher, and Backlund. They’re too close to the same skill level, but the team went from having only 1 under contract to signing all 3. If Boucher is the odd-man out (which is the smart money), so be it. But my gripe is with:

a) Signing Stewart before signing Riopel;
b) Re-signing Backlund after signing Bobrovsky and Stewart;
c) Re-signing Leighton, thus forcing yourself into having three recently signed goalies in the AHL;
d) Signing Riopel, making four recently signed goalies in the AHL.

Having multiple goalie prospects is good. Having twice as many goalies as positions is bad.

Everyone assumes Stewart is the odd-man out, so why sign him in the first place? But really, you signed 5 goalies to contracts this summer, only one of whom has played more than 40 minutes in the NHL. Where the hell do you expect those guys to play??

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think problem solving has much to do at all with Flyers personnel decisions.

by Snevik on Aug 25, 2010 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Elaborate, please.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think the look at issues and address them with rational personnel decisions to correct them. Waiving Boucher wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would create room for Backlund in the NHL, Bob and Riopel in Glen Falls, and Stewart in…Greenville?

I’m not sure how the contracts work, but you get my point. They can see waiving Boosh as the opportunity to move everyone under Leights up one rung.

by Snevik on Aug 25, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Where does Boucher go? If you waive him, he either gets picked up by another team (unlikely because of the current goalie environment, i.e. no jobs left), doesn’t and is left on the roster (a la Riley Cote) or he goes to the AHL (a la Mika Pyorala).

In only one scenario (another team grabbing him) does waiving Boucher solve the problem. And that scenario is highly unlikely, at least until a goalie gets injured, which still leaves the problem in the interim.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think it would be as hard as you say to find someone to acquire him for cheap or for free. Chicago might be interested in him. They could afford to spare the $125,000 increase to have him instead of Crawford.

Contributor at The Brotherly Game, SBN's Philadelphia Union blog

by Ben Feldman on Aug 25, 2010 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Boosh could be traded, he’s done a good job in the last two seasons. He might even pick up a Gagne-esque return.

Simon Gagne may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home, but at the end of the day, he will always be a Philadelphia Flyer.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Aug 26, 2010 5:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Crawford had a bad 4 game playoffs last year, but since turning pro, he hasn’t had a save percentage below 0.907 since his first year out of juniors. The Blackhawks are probably good with Crawford.

Even if they’re not, who else is there? Boston (if Thomas is exiled) and Nashville (instead of Chet Pickard? Maybe.)

That’s at most, 3 teams. Who could choose to sign Jose Theodore, Antti Niemi, or Manny Legace instead. So he’s one of 4 options for 3 teams. I’m pretty sure it would be hard to move him before an NHL goalie goes down with an injury.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2010 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions

But… an NHL goalie will go down with an injury. Probably sooner rather than later.

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by Travis Hughes on Aug 28, 2010 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

And then it’s a question of whether the teams want Brian Boucher instead of a free agent, their AHL goalies, or a long-term solution.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
SB Nation Philly - Associate Editor

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 29, 2010 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

To the tune of "Camptown Races"

Guess who’s under contract now?
Dudas, Dudas!
AHL and nothing more,
All the Dudas day!

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Aug 25, 2010 1:01 PM EDT reply actions

Geoff is there a chance we could loan out one of these guys? I’m sure there are plenty of AHL teams that could use a goalie this good.

Formerly... "You don't have to be sweet, to be good"

by Ed Van Chimp on Aug 25, 2010 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

The problem is that most teams have plenty of goalie prospects in the AHL. 30 NHL teams, 30 AHL teams. What NHL team only has three goalies?

It’s possible, but again, what NHL team wants to have their farm team give playing time to another team’s prospects, especially in goal?

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2010 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

For some reason I thought players could be loaned. Is that the ECHL?

Formerly... "You don't have to be sweet, to be good"

by Ed Van Chimp on Aug 26, 2010 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s a little tricky… there’s some special provisions for it in the NHL CBA if the players is on an NHL contract (a la Huet going to Switzerland and Chicago agreeing to loan him there), but because Riopel and others are on AHL-only contracts, they’re under the jurisdiction of the AHL CBA. I don’t have a copy of those rules yet, since I’m not paying 10 bucks to download a CBA that expires next week.

by DragonGirl0583 on Aug 26, 2010 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Yay, we finally signed Riopel! But we won’t be seeing him this year unless the injuries get crazy again, so I do hope he gets some playing time in Glens Falls.

I’m going to hope that someone else has already heard the answer to this so I don’t have to dig too deeply… The AHL CBA expires August 31, 2010, but I can’t find anything indicating whether or not everything is on track for signing the next one. I can’t find either confirmation that it’s good to go or anything indicating signs of trouble; so I’m hoping that no news is good news. Has anybody actually heard anything?

by DragonGirl0583 on Aug 25, 2010 9:45 PM EDT reply actions

That’s funny. I was just thinking a few hours ago re: Fehr finally taking the NHLPA job how at least we probably wouldn’t have to worry about a double-lockout, since how much could issue could there be between AHL players and management?

Contributor at The Brotherly Game, SBN's Philadelphia Union blog

by Ben Feldman on Aug 25, 2010 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions