Make that two buyouts.
The Flyers announced today that they’ll willingly pay Ilya Bryzgalov $1.6 million per season until 2027 to play for another team. They have bought him out of the remainder of his contract, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent on July 5. Holmgren has now used both compliance buyouts available to him and cannot exercise the option again.
Steve Mason is the only goaltender on the roster for next season, and that’s an uncomfortable thought. Here’s hoping Paul Holmgren has a backup plan, since Jonathan Bernier is in Toronto and Niklas Backstrom has re-signed in Minnesota.
Bryzgalov was a capable goaltender in Philadelphia at times, a head case at times, and genuinely entertaining most of the time. It would be overstating it to say he was responsible for all of the insanity that surrounded him during his two seasons in Philly, but he certainly wasn’t innocent either.
In the end, Bryz is a capable NHL goalie to whom the Flyers never should have given a massive nine year contract to in the first place. No goalie deserves that kind of money, let alone Bryzgalov, who has been at best a slightly above-average NHL goalie throughout his career.
He’s probably happy he’s leaving, both given the hell he’s lived here and the windfall he’ll receive from the Flyers until he’s FORTY SEVEN YEARS OLD. We’ll breathe a sigh of relief and turn the page, and hope Holmgren knows what he’s doing next.
