It would appear that former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov's days in the NHL could be done as reports have indicated that he is preparing to sign a deal with the East Coast Hockey Leagues' Las Vegas Wranglers after he has been unable to land a job between the pipes for an NHL team. T Flyers used an amnesty buyout on him after the 2013 season.
Bryzgalov entered last season with an average annual salary of $5.667 million before the Flyers bought him out, and now it seems as though he'll enter this season playing in a league that is two levels below the NHL. After a promising career with the Phoenix Coyotes, Bryzgalov signed a nine-year $51 million contract in 2011, but after struggles on the ice and some bizarre media appearances, Bryzgalov was bought out.
One such strange appearance from the Russian net minder came on HBO's 24/7 program where the Flyers and New York Rangers were featured in the month leading up to the 2012 Winter Classic and Bryzgalov gave some bizarre insight to the universe and how it works:
Bryzgalov, 33, will now look to play in 'AA' after not generating much interest from teams in need of goalies around the NHL. There were rumors that Bryzgalov might end up with the Pittsburgh Penguins to play behind starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after backup goalie Tomas Vokoun will miss three-to-six months as he undergoes treatment for blood clots, but Pittsburgh denied the rumors saying there was "no interest at this time," according to CBS Sports.
Bryzgalov appeared in 40 games with the Flyers in 2013 during the 48-game lockout-shortened season, and posted a subpar 19-17-3 record with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in the second year of his hefty contract. The Flyers went 23-22-3 and didn't qualify for the playoffs, leading to Bryzgalov's contract being bought out.
To put it in perspective, in his final year in Phoenix before signing the long-term deal in Philadelphia, Bryzgalov posted a 36-20-10 overall record with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage while leading the Coyotes to the Western Conference Finals.
It would appear that if Bryzgalov has any aspirations of competing at an NHL level again, he'll have to go through 'AA' to eventually get there.
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