We survived the first day of free agency, and it certainly was an active day for the Flyers! They made their first round of additions early on, in signing Andy Andreoff, Kurtis Gabriel, Nate Prosser, and Jean-Francois Berube. Our pal Kyle recapped those additions here.
But the Flyers weren’t done just yet! Later that afternoon, they announced that they had also signed:
Defenseman Andy Welinski to a one year contract with an average annual value of $750,000. Welinski played 26 games with the Anaheim Ducks in the 2018-19 season, where he recorded four points, and 27 regular season games with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, and recorded 19 points. Additionally, he put up 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in 19 playoff games with the Gulls.
Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon to a two year, two way contract worth $700.000 in AAV. Wotherspoon spent the whole of the 2018-19 season with the San Antonio Rampage, where he played 70 regular season games, and recorded four goals and 18 assists for 22 total points.
Defenseman Chris Bigras to a two year, two way contract also worth $700,000 in AAV. The Phantoms saw a lot of Bigras last season, when he played for their divisional rival the Hartford Wolf Pack. He played 52 games with the Wolf Pack, during which time he registered three goals and 19 assists for 22 points.
Forward Kyle Criscuolo to a one year, two way contract worth, you guessed it, $700,000 in AAV. Criscuolo is coming off of a very solid season with the Rochester Americans, which saw him put up six goals and 14 assists (20 points) in 43 regular season games. He was held pointless in three games, in the Amerks’ first round sweep by the Toronto Marlies.
Additionally, the Phantoms gave out two contracts of their own. They announced that they had brought back Greg Carey on a one year AHL deal, and also brought in forward Cal O’Reilly on a two year deal. Carey was the Phantoms’ top scorer in 2018-19, putting up 29 goals and 61 points in 74 games played, and O’Rielly was the Iowa Wild’s top scorer, recording 16 goals and 67 points in 67 games. Both were invited to represent their teams in the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic.
And that’s all we’ve got for now! We’re hoping we’re done, because that was a whole lot, but we’ll see what happens. But as it stands, we’ve got some exciting additions who should help fill out the Phantoms’ roster nicely. Good stuff.
