Philadelphia Flyers: Bryzgalov’s out, who’s in?

With the Flyers playoff hopes dissipating in the final weeks of the 2013 season many questions are being raised about Ilya Bryzgalov’s future in the City of Brotherly Love.

Ilya, has been adequate for the struggling Flyers this season and although he is not to blame for their poor performance (you can blame that one on offense production, and porous defence), he hasn’t been much help, and that’s enough for him to be crucified by Flyers fans in the vein of Roman Cechmanek circa 2003.

Philadelphia loves to blame their goalies for all their problems since they were treated to one of the greatest goalies of all time in Bernie Parent in the seventies, but if you look at some of the teams that won the cup without crazy stellar goaltending, such as the Red Wings with Chris Osgood in 98 (in 08 and 09 he played spectacular) and Blackhawks with Antti Niemi in 10, it’s quite clear that goaltending isn’t everything. But things have gotten so bad in Philadelphia that getting rid of Bryzgalov is probably the best for each party.

If the Flyers opt to buy out his contract this summer, which is more than likely considering no one will trade for that contract, Philadelphia will be in the hole for $23 million dollars over a 14 year span. This means that they’d finish paying him in 2027, at the ripe age of forty-seven. But at least they’ll have space for a goalie and this is where things get interesting.

There seems to be more NHL quality goalies than teams these days which has pushed some people out of jobs leaving them ready to be scooped up by desperate organizations; aka Philadelphia Flyers. And that’s not a bad thing because here are some of the guys out there: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Bernier, Jaroslav Halak/Brian Elliot (one of those guys), Tim Thomas, Kari Lehtonen (Dallas might use him as trade bait), and Niklas Backstrom.

Brian Elliot is a gamble and much like Ben Bishop in Ottawa, is the benefactor of a solid defensive team. Bernier will more than likely pan out, but Philadelphia doesn’t have the patience to develop a young goaltender so their best option is Ryan Miller.

Ryan Miller has been stupendous for the Buffalo Sabres since his breakout season in 2006. He’s posted seven straight seasons of thirty wins or more, won the Vezina Trophy in 2010, and received a Silver Medal for his play in the 2010 Winter Olympics. To say the least, he’s qualified for the job.

And unlike Bryzgalov who came from relatively small hockey markets, Anaheim and Phoenix, Ryan is used to a strong media presence. This is a big one because there are sure to be trying moments in a season for every team in the league and so being able to block off the media scrutiny will be a major skill to have in a hockey crazed city such as Philadelphia.

Miller will come with a price tag that’ll probably equate two first round picks and a few prospects but that’s nothing for the Flyers who know that their small window of opportunity to win a Cup is closing.

As for Bryz, well he might find himself on a team like Calgary, Florida, or (most likely) Tampa Bay. Calgary is a long shot because chances are Ilya doesn’t want to move from one intense hockey market to another. Florida always seems to need a goaltender so that might be his stomping ground for a while. Tampa Bay is starting to figure out that it doesn’t matter what new amazing goalie you put in net if you don’t have defence so they might jump on Bryz who could bring some consistency to their offensive minded team, even if that consistency is average.

It’s almost a guarantee that Ilya won’t be back come the 2014 season. He’s burned as many bridges as possible in Philadelphia, and his comical persona would be tolerable if it went alongside some wins which he hasn’t had many of lately. Miller would be the perfect fit as his past playoff experience and international play show that he’s a big game player (which is even better when you consider how awful Buffalo’s defence is). He could fix some gaping holes in the Flyers game and give some confidence to the forwards who wouldn’t be checking back to see if another goal was going in. It might cost them a lot but who knows how far the Flyers could go if they had a truly exceptional number one goaltender.