The Philadelphia Flyers signed Rodrigo Abols to a one-year, two-way contract on Saturday. The deal is worth $775,000.
One of the most notable things about Abols is his size at 6-foot-4 and weighing over 200 pounds. Although it’s most like a depth signing for the Flyers for their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley, Briere hasn’t been afraid to take low risk shots in the dark on players as was the case this past season with former Dallas Stars forward Denis Gurianov. The Flyers picked up Gurianov at the deadline from Nashville this past trade deadline in exchange for Wade Allison. Worse case scenario is the forward isn’t able to make the cut and there’s no harm done. Perhaps he catches on, has a great camp and with his size can make an impression and maybe make the power play no worse than it was last year.
It’s not the first time the Flyers have kicked the tires on an SHL player after signing Oscar Eklind on an one-year, entry-level deal in April. Eklind has similar size to Abols but is a bit heftier at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds.
Abols played for Örebro HK in the SHL from 2020-21 to 2022-23 where over three seasons he scored 20, 14 and 19 goals respectively. This past season as a member of Rogle BK Angelholm Abols had 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 50 games. In 15 playoff games last season he had five goals and seven helpers for 12 points.
Abols, 28, hasn’t played one NHL game yet in his career. Originally drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round (184th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft, Abols never saw any action with Vancouver but spent time playing with the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL in 2015-16 and the following season in the QMJHL with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. In 2017-18 returned overseas to play in Sweden. He was also invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs development camp in 2018 but obviously never gained any traction there. In May, 2019 the Florida Panthers took a swing on Abols. Then Panthers general manager Dale Tallon signed Abols to a two-year contract worth $1.85 million. But after 36 games in the AHL (and another four in the ECHL) in 2019-20, the forward once again returned to Europe to play in Sweden where he’s played ever since.
The player, who was born in Riga, Latvia, has also played in a number of international tournaments for his homeland including the IIHF World Championships and Olympic Games qualifiers. In 2022-23 he played in the Spengler Cup for Örebro HK where he registered four points in four games.
Abols would not be the first Flyers player from Latvia if he should make the roster and play for Philadelphia. Oskars Bartulis played 66 games for the Flyers over two seasons (2009-10, 2010-11). Previous to that the Flyers were the first NHL team to draft a Soviet player when they selected Viktors Hatuļevs (who was born in Riga, Latvia according to Elite Prospects) in the ninth round (160th overall) in the 1975 NHL draft. He never played an NHL game due to the geo-political situation with the Cold War
