Adrian Fedkiw
It’s been a quiet trade deadline day so far for the Philadelphia Flyers, but they are reportedly “close” to re-signing goaltender Michal Neuvirth.
Hearing that the Flyers are close to re-signing goalie Michal Neuvirth (pending UFA July 1)
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 1, 2017
Neuvirth and fellow goalie Steve Mason are both free agents at the end of the season. Neuvirth, who missed 22 games this season due to a left knee injury, has struggled with consistency. He is 10-9-1 with a 2.90 goals against average and .887 save percentage, a sharp contrast from his first year with the Flyers in 2015-16 when Neuvy posted a 2.27 goals against average and .924 save percentage in 32 games.
Re-signing Neuvirth potentially allows the Flyers to expose him as a potential goaltender for the new Las Vegas Golden Knights franchise instead of a younger prospect like current Phantoms goalie Anthony Stolarz, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
UPDATE: The Flyers have signed Neuvirth and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare to multi-year extensions,
Neuvirth's two-year deal with the Flyers is worth $5 million in total; $2.5 M AAV, according to Pierre LeBrun. Neuvirth’s deal is two years at a total of $5 million, making the cap hit $2.5 million. Bellemare also signed a two-year deal with a $1.45 million AAV. Re-signing Neuvirth doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be in orange and black next season. It's expected that the Flyers will make Neuvirth available for the expansion draft and protect Anthony Stolarz, as their only goaltender. — John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 1, 2017 Yikes. Stolarz as the starter next season? Yikes. Though, why would they re-sign Neuvirth for two years and not protect him? Will they try and re-sign Mason in free agency? What the heck’s going on? You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.