After losing Brian Elliott for a good chunk of time, the Philadelphia Flyers need to look elsewhere to solve their goaltending problem. While Buffalo Sabres’ netminder Robin Lehner was an option, he’s now dealing with a minor injury of his own and Darren Dreger of TSN instead reports the Flyers are in discussions with Detroit over Petr Mrazek.
Mrazek has been on the block for much of the season, once linked strongly to the Edmonton Oilers when Cam Talbot was dealing with an injury and just recently reportedly offered to the Flyers for a third-round pick. Instead, he’s stayed with the Red Wings and really played well when given the chance. In his last ten games, Mrazek has posted a .935 save percentage and two shutouts. Those numbers would be more than enough for an acquiring team to push towards the playoffs, but they don’t come without some concern.
The 26-year old goaltender has never been considered a consistent performer, and there has been speculation in the past on a poor locker room presence. While those things are difficult to quantify (if they’re even true), he also brings a hefty cap hit at $4MM and is a restricted free agent in the summer. If a team does not believe he can be their starter next season, he’s a prime non-tender candidate as he’d require a $4.15MM qualifying offer.
Philadelphia may be one of the only spots that could bring in Mrazek and extend him, as they’re only set to pay Elliott and Michal Neuvirth a combined $5.25MM next season. Burying one of them in the minors in favor of Mrazek would give the team a regularly priced goalie duo, though whether it is actually much of an improvement is still to be seen.
He’s been playing great the last month or so. Get him while he’s hot!
I wonder if we’ll obtain Samuel Morin for him.
Ummmm…no.