Flyers trade for goaltender Steve Mason
The Flyers acquired 24-year-old goaltender Steve Mason from Columbus. Does the move spell the end of Ilya Bryzgalov's tenure in Philadelphia? The Flyers were noncommittal about Bryzgalov's future.
Flyers trade for goaltender Steve Mason
Ilya Bryzgalov will start his 20th straight game on Wednesday night against Montreal, something Peter Laviolette said he doesn’t have much choice about given the Flyers’ position in the standings.
Well, now Laviolette has a choice. And so do the Flyers this summer in retaining Bryzgalov’s rights.
The Flyers acquired goaltender Steve Mason from Columbus before Wednesday’s trade deadline, the same team they traded backup Sergei Bobrovsky to last summer. The Flyers were also reportedly in the hunt for Ottawa’s Ben Bishop, who was dealt to Tampa Bay.
Backup Michael Leighton was sent to the Blue Jackets along with a 2015 third round pick. Leighton is a pending unrestricted free agent. This is the Flyers’ first trade deadline day move since 2009.
When asked if the Flyers view Mason as a backup, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren was quick to not pigeon-hole Mason into a specific role. Holmgren passed up an opportunity to stress that Bryzgalov is the Flyers' long-term starter.
“We see him as one of our two goalies, not only the rest of this year, but moving forward," Holmgren said. "We’ll just leave it at that for now.”
That would seem an ominous response for Bryzgalov's future here, with the option of a contract amnesty coming in the summer.
Bobrovsky, 24, was a March “Star of the Month” and he’s the big reason the Blue Jackets are in the playoff hunt. He’s got a 2.13 GAA and .927 save percentage.
Mason, also 24, was the 2009 Calder Trophy winner as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. He was pulled in his first game the following season and has never really recovered.
Mason was looking for a change of scenery after Bobrovsky took over Columbus’ starting role by force. Mason said he is “just looking for the opportunity to go there and get my game back on track.” He is in the final year of a 2-year, $5.8 million deal.
“I’m super excited to get into Philadelphia,” Mason told Rogers Sportsnet. “It’s a tough place to play, fans expect the most out of their goaltenders. I’m looking forward to getting into a market like that. When you’re playing well as a goaltender in that situation, there is no better situation.”
Mason said he re-tooled his game last summer with the Blue Jackets’ goaltending coach, calming down his style. His save percentage averages under .900 over the last 4 seasons since winning the Calder, but he is still young.
“We’ve changed a couple things, with the depth I’ve been taking off the rush. When your calm, the game seems to hit your sometimes,” Mason said. “It’s definitely a great feeling. With the players they have in that organization, and the history they have there ... I’m really just looking forward to starting off on the good fit.”
Holmgren said Flyers goaltending coach Jeff Reese saw something he liked in Mason.
“I think he’s bounced back a little better this year,” Holmgren said. “Steve is still a young goalie, still has a lot of upside. Jeff Reese, our goalie coach, studies a lot of goalies around the league and likes Steve. He thinks there is something there. We still think there is tremendous upside there.”
Now, with Mason in the fold, it sure seems as if the Flyers have plans to use the amnesty clause on Bryzgalov in the summer. The Flyers would still be required to pay Bryzgalov his remaining salary, over a longer period of years, but they would be relieved of his salary cap hit and he would become a free agent.
The Flyers owe Bryzgalov $34.5 million over the remaining 7 years on his deal after this season. Bryzgalov is 48-30-10 with a .905 save percentage since joining the Flyers. The buyout formula is two-thirds money remaining divided by double the term remaining, so $23 million divided by 14 years is $1.64 million per season until 2027... to not play for the team.
How much of this trade is a sign that the Flyers might be cutting Bryzgalov loose in the summer? Mason is due more than a $3 million qualifying offer as a restricted free agent to retain his rights. Of course, Mason could re-sign prior to the summer for less money, which is possible given his decreased numbers recently.
If Mason does not sign for less, the Flyers would be spending an all-time franchise-high $8.7 million in goaltenders with both Bryzgalov and Mason. Holmgren said he has already held discussions with Mason's agent and expects to re-sign him before this season ends.
“I don’t think it will be $9 million (total spent on goaltenders)," Holmgren said. "I think there is a way to work with Steve and his agent to get that salary down."
Historically, Holmgren does not believe in spending a lot of money on goaltenders. See: Leighton and Brian Boucher as a tandem in 2010. Bryzgalov joining the Flyers was at the mandate of chairman Ed Snider. With the salary cap decreasing to $64.3 million next season, you can bet on the Flyers not spending nearly 15 percent of the cap on goaltending.
Instead, the Flyers could amnesty Bryzgalov and bring in another young, affordable goaltender to work in tandem with Mason. At the very least, if the Flyers don't have interest in moving away from Bryzgalov, the question is: why Mason? There were a myriad of other less expensive backups available with fewer performance question marks.
Bringing in Mason opens a world of possibilities. Buckle your seatbelt. It will be fascinating to see how Bryzgalov responds to Wednesday's somewhat surprising move.
"I didn’t know (the Mason deal) was going to happen and, to be honest, even if I knew, I wouldn’t have talked to (Bryzgalov) anyway," Holmgren said. "His job is to stop the puck when he’s in the net. It’s not to worry about other things like that."
FLYERS SPENDING ON GOALTENDERS UNDER HOLMGREN
amount listed is salary cap hit:
Antero Niittymaki - 2008-09 - $1.375 million
Martin Biron - 2008-09 - $3.5 million
Michael Leighton - 2009-10 - $783,000
2010-12 - $1.55 million
2012-13 - $900,000
Sergei Bobrovsky - 2010-12 - $1.75 million
Ray Emery - 2009-10 - $1.5 million
Brian Boucher - 2009-11 - $925,000
2011-13 - $950,000
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
What a freaking mess. The Flyers haven't stuck with a goalie for more than a year since the days of Ron Hextall. I expect this to be more of the same.— cmp1968- They just gave up Leighton and a 3rd round pick. And they have no backup whatsoever. You can't blame Lavi for starting Bryz in so many games this year. Boucher was a decent backup a couple of years ago but he is now past his prime. After Game 6 I never wanted to see or hear from Leighton again, but there he was, on the bench, mocking us all.
- Not sticking with goalies is a product of not having goalies worth keeping. The only one I recall showing ANY promise at all was Brian Boucher, and when he started the next season poorly, they immediately started benching him, then dumped him.
GOOD GRIEF! ANY path to being rid of Ilya Bryzgaloot is a GOOD path! He was never worth anything like the $51M they gave him. Gave IS the operative word, in this, too, since he never showed ANYTHING before he came here that could excuse that contract, and absolutely NOTHING since he arrived here.
The Ilya Bryzgaloot deal, ALONE, calls for the end of Paul Holmgren as GM!— BEMiller - "another young, affordable goaltender to work in tandem with Mason"
...oh you mean like Bobrovski?? The one we gave up for nothing who's about to carry a perennial last place team to the playoffs?????????????
Please bring back Hextall as GM ! ! ! ! !— BuddyBall92 - So the Flyers selected Nodl and a Russian joker (d-man) who never played in the AHL or NHL that year in the draft. Giroux was their first pick. Mason was available when Nodl and said Russian loser were drafted. Now, years later, we've sent the undrafted goalie Bob to Columbus. And he's finally hot again. So we give up a 3rd rounder for Mason. Wow. Can someone please teach these guys how to manage a roster? That said, I liked Mason his rookie year. Could be the change he needs.— MichaelZoe
- Man there are a lot of typos in this article.— mbrown3
Are they simply rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic?— Professor1982- Don't worry about it Professor1982,the ship is already
at the bottom of the Atlantic...— Mean mean stride,mean mean pride - in·san·i·ty Noun
1. The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
2. Extreme foolishness or irrationality.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Thanks, none of us have ever heard that one. Sheesh. — The Truth Hurts
- You're welcome. None of us have seen a goaltending carousel like the one in Philly, or a coach that handles goalies like Laviolette, or a pertinent comment from you.
The backup goalie we traded is now receiving Vezina consideration, so now we get his backup to be our backup...Or will Mason become our starter, and replace the goalie we kept instead of playing Bobrovsky? Insanity. - Count the errors: "We’ve changed a couple things, with the depth I’ve been taking off the rush. When your calm, the game seems to hit your sometimes,” Mason said. “It’s definitely a great feeling. With the players they have in that organization, and the history they have there ... I’m really just looking forward to starting off on the good fit."— mbrown3
- Not a huge pickup, but a solid one. When Mason is on, he is really good and already has 19 shutouts in his young career. If the Flyers can put some D in front of him, he should be decent— CTL
