Flyers Make 8 Signings for NHL Depth/ AHL Upgrades, 2 Phantoms AHL Deals July 2, 2019, 6:25 AM ET [378 Comments] Bill Meltzer

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As expected, the Philadelphia Flyers were not active players on July 1 in terms of pursuing the players atop the National Hockey League's free agent marketplace. Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said on two occasions that his previous acquisitions -- forwards Kevin Hayes and Tyler Pitlick and defensemen Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun -- as well as the re-signings of goaltender Brian Elliott would likely comprise most of his offseason work before shifting his primary focus to re-signing the team's remaining restricted free agents (most notably Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny and the arbitration-eligible Scott Laughton).



On Monday, the team made eight free agent signings that were geared solely toward adding some veteran call-up depth to the NHL roster and surrounding a cadre of young players on the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms with veteran support and leadership around them.



Many of the signings were geared toward bolstering the Phantoms' blueline corps, because the Flyers farm system is presently in an in-between phase from players graduating to the NHL level (Travis Sanheim, Robert Hägg, Samuel Morin and, most recently, Philippe Myers) and the next wave debuting in the AHL. Other than Mark Friedman, veteran offensive defenseman T.J. Brennan and defensive defenseman Reece Willcox, the Phantoms were in need of replenishment for next season (side note: this coming season would have seemed to be the main window of opportunity to take an AHL look at Swedish prospect Linus Högberg, who joined the Phantoms in a non-playing capacity late this past season).



Up front, there was an emphasis on adding some more size/physicality to the NHL/AHL system, because it was an area of perceived need. There was also a goalie depth addition and a small, skilled AHL center with local ties. In total, the Flyers announced the following eight signings on Monday:



* Left winger Andy Andreoff, 28, was signed to a two-year, one-way contract carrying a $750,000 average annual value (AAV). A veteran of 159 NHL regular season games and one playoff game (2016) with the LA Kings, who originally drafted him in the third round (80th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Andreoff spent last season in the AHL with Tampa Bay's farm team in Syracuse (26 goals, 55 points, 150 PIM in 75 games). Fletcher noted that, among Monday's signings, Andreoff was one who had a chance to push for an NHL roster spot out of training camp; likely as either the 12th or 13th forward who supplies a physical and agitating presence. If the 6-foot-1, 198-pound winger is waived, clears and is assigned to the Phantoms, he is capable of playing significantly higher in the AHL lineup.



* Right winger Kurtis Gabriel, 26, signed a one-year, two-way contract with a $700,000 value at the NHL level. The player split last season between the NHL level with New Jersey (two goals, two assists, 59 penalty minutes in 22 games) and the AHL with Binghamton (two goals, six points, 28 PIM in 32 games). Fletcher and assistant general manager Brent Flahr know Gabriel well, having drafted him to the Minnesota Wild in the third round (81st overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft as an Ontario Hockey League over-ager. Flyers fans may remember Gabriel as the New Jersey Devils player who viciously boarded Nolan Patrick in a game this past season, for which Gabriel was suspended one game by the NHL. Previously, Gabriel appeared in 16 NHL games for the Wild over parts of two seasons, playing a fourth-line role for Mike Yeo and then Bruce Boudreau. At the AHL level, the 6-foot-4, 212-pounder was a physical and highly agitating forward who posted between 125 and 137 penalty minutes per season. During the 2016-17 season, while a member of the Iowa Wild, Gabriel was suspended six games by the AHL for inciting an off-ice fight with Chicago Wolves defenseman Vince Dunn in continuation of an on-ice altercation.



*Center Kyle Criscuolo, 27, signed a one-year, two-way contract that pays $700,000 at the NHL level. The Harvard University graduate is a native of Southampton Township in Burlington County, NJ. As a youth, he played for the Flyers Quebec Pee Wee team in 2005, and later participated in the Flyers Cup while attending St. Joseph’s Prep. Several years ago, Harvard alum Fletcher brought in several Harvard hockey players, including Criscuolo, as summertime interns, working with the Minnesota Wild's analytics department and filing reports on potential free agents based on a variety of different metrics. On the ice, Criscuolo signed his first pro contract (an AHL deal with the Grand Rapids Griffins) in 2016, which he parlayed into a two-way deal with the Buffalo Sabres. Primarily, he played at the AHL level but did make nine NHL appearances for the Sabres in 2017-18. A small and skilled player with an outstanding work ethic, Criscuolo has posted 95 points (38 goals, 57 assists) in 174 career American Hockey League games. The 2018-19 season was a bit of a down campaign for him, however. He was limited to 43 games, and posted 20 points (six goals, 14 assists).



* Goaltender J-F Berube, was signed to a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $700,000 cap hit if he plays at the NHL level. Fletcher said the signing of Berube, who has played 34 games in the NHL along with 168 in the AHL, is designed to give the Flyers depth in the event of injury to Carter Hart or Elliott. The GM also said that it is not the intent to have incoming Phantoms rookie Felix Sandström serve as an AHL backup but, rather to have him play as many games as possible. At the same time, the Flyers now have four goaltenders -- Phantoms young veteran Alex Lyon in addition to Hart, Elliott and Berube -- who have varying degrees of NHL experience in case of injury attrition. There is also incoming 20-year-old rookie Kirill Ustimenko, who is likely ticketed for the ECHL's Reading Royals for a year of seasoning before he gets AHL consideration. It remains to be seen how, if everyone is healthy, the AHL goaltending rotation will be handled.



* Veteran defenseman Nate Prosser, 33, signed a two-year, two-way contract. This is another player whom Fletcher and Flahr know very well, as the Minnesota native spent 353 of his 354-game NHL career with the Wild. Most came during Fletcher's GM tenure in Minnesota. Prosser served as the Wild's seventh defenseman for much of his career, periodically slotting into the starting six. This past season, he was back in the AHL for the first time since 2011-12. Prosser spent 31 regular season games and 11 Calder Cup playoff games with Iowa in 2018-19 after dressing in 31 NHL games for Minnesota. With the Flyers organization, the 6-foot-2, 200 pound blueliner's role will primarily be to serve as an AHL veteran leader and secondarily as a potential NHL call-up in case of injury.



* Defenseman Andy Welinski, 26, signed a one-year, one-way contract for $750,000. Previously, he had spent his entire pro career in the Anaheim Ducks organization after the Ducks selected him in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He split the last two seasons between the NHL with the Ducks and the AHL with their San Diego Gulls farm team. In his 26 NHL games with Anaheim this past season, Welinski played third-pairing minutes (average 16:02 TOI) and chipped in one goal and three assists. In 27 AHL games with San Diego, he took on an all-situations role and produced 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 27 games. Overall, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Welinski has appeared in 33 NHL games (eight points) and 146 in the AHL (24 goals, 59 assists, 83 points).



* Defenseman Chris Bigras, 24, signed a two-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level. Drafted as an offensive-minded OHL defenseman by the Colorado Avalanche early in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft, 2014 WJC player (Team Canada) Bigras faced significant adjustments at the pro level. Primarily, he's played in the AHL while in the Colorado and New York Rangers organizations but also appeared in 46 NHL games with the Avalanche over parts of two seasons (2015-16 and 2017-18), during which time he averaged 13:31 of ice time per game with a goal and three assists. He spent the entire 2018-19 season in the AHL with Hartford. Injuries were an issue but he managed 22 points in 52 games.



* Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon, 26, signed a two-year, two-way contract with a $700,000 AAV at the NHL level. Originally a Calgary Flames second-round pick (57th overall) in 2011, the large-framed (6-foot-2, 225 pound) blueliner has spent more time in the AHL than the NHL but does have 30 NHL games with the Flames to his credit over portions of four seasons. Wotherspoon sent the entire 2018-19 season at the AHL level with the San Antonio Rampage, chipping in 22 points (four goals, 18 assists) in 70 games. In 355 career games in the American League, Wotherspoon has posted 120 points (22 goals, 98 assists) and posted a career plus-59 rating to date.



Additionally, the Phantoms announced two AHL-only contract signings:



1) Forward Greg Carey has been re-signed to a one-year AHL contract for 2019-20 season. He had 29 goals and 61 points in 74 games last season; a consistently productive season in a tumultuous campaign for the team that was waylaid by a massive stream of injuries and callups.



* Former Iowa Wild captain and five-time AHL All-Star Game selection Cal O'Reilly (the older brother of Conn Smythe Trophy and Selke Trophy winning St. Louis Blues center Ryan) has been signed to a two-year AHL contract. The 32-year-old center has been one of the AHL's most prolific playmakers in recent years and has 99 assists over the past two seasons alone. Overall in 2018-19, he posted 67 points (16 goals, 51 assists) in 67 games. O'Reilly also has 145 games in the NHL to his credit but has almost exclusively played in the American League the last two seasons.



Up front, the Phantoms may have up to 11 different Flyers-drafted first-year pros (Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Isaac Ratcliffe, Matthew Strome, Maksim Sushko), second-year pros (German Rubtsov, Connor Bunnaman, David Kase, Carsen Twarynski, Pascal Laberge) and third-year pros (Mikhail Vorobyev) vying for roster spots this season. Additionally, waiver-eligible fourth-year pro Nicolas Aube-Kubel may return to the Phantoms if he does not claim an NHL roster spot out of training camp and clears waivers.



The following players of note either will not return to the Phantoms for 2019-20 or else their status remains undetermined:



* Phil Varone, who won AHL Most Valuable Player honors in 2017-18 and spent 47 games in the NHL with the Flyers this past season in a fourth-line role (three goals, four assists, seven points) under Dave Hakstol and Gordon, reportedly prefers to seek a new opportunity with potential to play in NHL games rather than committing to a probable full-time return to the AHL. He is an unrestricted free agent.



* Justin Bailey, whom the Flyers declined to tender a qualifying offer to retain his restricted free agent rights, is an unrestricted free agent. He shuttled between Allentown and Philadelphia -- both in on-paper moves and genuine commutes -- last season after the Flyers acquired him from Buffalo in exchange for Taylor Leier. Bailey dressed in 11 NHL games for the Flyers last season in a fourth-line role, as well as 17 for the Phantoms (six goals, eight points). It is likely that Bailey, who turned 24 on Monday, can find a two-way NHL contract as a UFA. His degree of hockey sense and skill development level after four pro years is questionable but a 6-foot-4, 214-pound winger with well above-average straight-line skating and outstanding natural athleticism should find a taker. Bailey has dressed in 63 career NHL games to date (five goals, nine points).



* Mike Vecchione, whom the Flyers signed out of Union College in the spring of 2017 but apart from two NHL games with the big club to fulfill an agreement to burn his ELC, has exclusively spent the last two seasons in the AHL with the Phantoms, became an unrestricted free agent. On Monday, he signed a one-year, two way ($700K in NHL, $275K in AHL) contract with the St. Louis Blues.



*Right winger Colin McDonald, the Phantoms captain in recent seasons, signed an AHL contract last season in order to remain in Lehigh Valley because no two-way NHL/AHL deal was available any longer with the Flyers. He remains a free agent but the signing of O'Reilly and the jam-packed roster already in place in Lehigh Valley does not portend a Phantoms return. The veteran of 148 NHL games (including eight regular season games with the Flyers) and former 42-goal scorer in the AHL will turn 35 on Sept. 30.



* Left winger Tyrell Goulbourne, who dressed in 11 NHL games with the Flyers over the past two seasons, became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. On Monday, he signed a two-year, two way contract ($700K in NHL, $300K in AHL) contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.



* Right wing Chris Conner was second on the Phantoms last season with 51 points and has spent each of the last four seasons in Lehigh Valley. The first two years were on a two-way NHL/AHL contract, the last two on an AHL deal. The Phantoms alternate captain, who will turn 36 on Dec. 23, is now a free agent. The 5-foot-7 winger has exclusively played in the AHL (save for two games with the Capitals in 2014-15) over the last five years but does have 180 NHL regular season games and nine Stanley Cup playoff matches to his credit.



* Swingman forward Cole Bardreau, who will turn 26 on July 22, has been repeatedly set back by injuries both in his collegiate and pro career. He was limited to 40 games (seven goals, five assists) for the Phantoms last season in his fourth full pro season. The energetic and agitating Cornell grad is now an unrestricted free agent.



* Center Byron Froese, whom the Flyers acquired from Montreal in the Dale Weise trade, spent the remainder of the 2018-19 season in Lehigh Valley. He scored a combined 21 goals at 44 points last season in the AHL between Laval and Allentown. An unrestricted free agent on July 1, the 28-year-old veteran of 110 NHL games (five goals, 16 points) signed a one-year two-way contract with the Calgary Flames ($700K in NHL, $400K in AHL).



* Defenseman David Schlemko had the final season of his contract bought out by the Flyers on Sunday. The Flyers will carry a $900K cap hit in 2018-19 and $600,000 in 2019-20. He is now an unrestricted free agent.



* Defenseman Philip Samuelsson played for the Phantoms on a one-year contract in 2018-19 (67 GP, four goals, 15 points, +2) after leading the AHL with a +44 rating in 2017-18 as a member of the Charlotte Checkers. The soon-to-be 28-year-old son of former Flyers defenseman Ulf Samuelsson is now once again a free agent.