Special to the Phanatic Magazine
The Philadelphia Flyers continued to make headlines on Thursday.
Not long after trading captain Mike Richards and leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter in two separate deals, the Flyers signed recently-acquired goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
Philadelphia obtained the rights to the 31-year-old from Phoenix two weeks ago and, by dealing both former 2003 first-round picks, the club created enough cap space to ink the pending unrestricted free agent to a reported nine-year contract worth $51 million.
Bryzgalov made $4.5 million in 2010-11 for the Coyotes. He finished with a 36-20-10 mark, 2.48 goals-against average and seven shutouts in 68 games (67 starts).
Acquired off waivers from Anaheim in November 2007, just months after he was a part of the Ducks' Stanley Cup win, Bryzgalov was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy in 2010 after going 42-20-6 with eight shutouts and a 2.29 GAA.
Since breaking in with Anaheim during the 2001-02 season, the Russian has racked up a 156-116-35 record, 2.53 GAA and 23 whitewashes in 326 games (312 starts) with Anaheim and Phoenix.
In 27 playoff tilts, he has gone 12-13 with a 2.55 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Bryzgalov also represented Russia in three Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010), winning a bronze medal in '02. He also took home a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships and a silver in 2000.
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