Flyers sign Fedotenko, Gervais
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Flyers sign Fedotenko, Gervais
Bruno Gervais and Ruslan Fedotenko have signed with the Flyers. (AP Photos)
The Flyers signed two players on Thursday, bringing back former Flyer Ruslan Fedotenko and adding defenseman Bruno Gervais, who was previously with Tampa Bay.
Fedotenko, 33, collected 20 points in 73 games with the Rangers last season. He is a two-time Stanley Cup winner who made John Tortorella’s team in 2010 as a training camp tryout. Last season was Fedotenko’s least productive of his career, marking a 16 point drop-off from his rookie year in 2000-01 with the Flyers.
Fedotenko will be skating on a one-year, $1.75 million deal according to reports.
“Moving forward here, we’re still a pretty young group. I think the opportunity to add Ruslan, and his ability to play a lot of different roles on a team… he can play any wing, he can probably play center if you need… the fact that he’s won a couple times, the fact that he’s been here before, both played into the decision to move forward with him," general manager Paul Holmgren said in a conference call. "We’ve actually tried to sign Ruslan a couple times over the last few years and we’ve always missed out. I like him, and I think he’s going to bring a lot to our team in terms of leadership, and I think he’s a winner, I really do.”
About Gervais, Holmgren said: “I think he’s going to fit nicely into our group of whether we carry seven or eight defensemen, we’ll see. But he’s a righthand shot, and that gives us two right-hand [defensemen] shots in Luke Schenn and Bruno, something we haven’t had since I can’t remember. Probably goes back to Bob Dailey and Mike Busniuk. Bruno’s a good kid, he works hard, he’s got over 350 games of experience in the league. I know he’s bounced around a little bit, but he’s an unassuming, quiet, good player that’ll provide enthusiasm and experience, and I think he’s a really good fit on our team.”
"I just know they’re good friends. I think Max is actually Bruno’s best man, I think he’s getting married here in a few days. Did that play a role… anytime you have players that know players, they can give you a little bit of an inside scoop on something about them that you don’t know. But we’ve always liked Bruno, even back to his Islander days early on. He’s just a quiet, steady player.”
Gervais, 27, will earn $825,000 a year over the next two seasons.
Gervais is the childhood best friend of Flyers forward Max Talbot. He is viewed as a depth defenseman, who could likely fill in as the Flyers’ sixth blue liner. He played in just 50 games last year with the Lightning. Gervais has never finished an NHL season as a plus or even player in his 7 years in the NHL.
"I just know they’re good friends," Holmgren said. "I think Max is actually Bruno’s best man, I think he’s getting married here in a few days. Did that play a role… anytime you have players that know players, they can give you a little bit of an inside scoop on something about them that you don’t know. But we’ve always liked Bruno, even back to his Islander days early on. He’s just a quiet, steady player.”
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
Comments (79)
Not a bad price at all for Gervais, an upgrade over Lilja. Rusty has had some good seasons but lets hope lets year wasn't his career wall.— Sidewinder7- Still money under the cap. The kids will be alright this year! Let's Go Flyers!— mikeyo27
- Well, that is something...not much, but something.
— Ohmy - Just what we needed another #6 defenseman...that gives us 7— flyers1000
- Nice moves PAUL— StewieLavin27
- And here comes the trading....— fman727
- actually it gives us 8 defenseman. But Bourdon will be in a trade we make for Ryan, Nash, Evander Kane.— fman727
I like what the Flyers are doing here as far as trades go. They may not be signing marquee names but they seem to be building a team of guys that will play well and jive together. First reuniting the Schenn brothers now bringing on a friend of Talbots. You play better with a group of guys you care about.- Gervais spent most of his career on the island, reason enough for a horrendous +-— Sidewinder7
- No, flyers1000 is saying we have seven #6 (not great) D-men. i don't agree per se but laughed pretty hard at his comment :)— halfhonk
- What is it this year with reuniting brothers and best friends throughout the NHL???— toph314
- Welcome back Rusty!! A type of player the Flyers needed. One with a ring.— stickman
- Hey, Gervais is a body who can take minutes and compete for a spot. Carle looked like Paul Coffey with Pronger, so he could surprise. I like the Rusty sigining. He's won the Cup, twice, and can provide some solid minutes.— macd41144
- Talk about a consolation prize.— dcm220
- Just another ex Flyer who already has his Stanley Cups......how motivated will he be to skate through a brick wall for Lavy and his style of play?— Mark1npt
- Rusty..heres hoping for thrice.— Romus
- Fedotenko is an ideal third liner for this team. Although if Fedotenko is the only forward they add, either Voracek or Schenn will have to be used on the first line.— broadstreetblogs.com
- These are the moves Stanley Cups are built on!— JBinPA
- Action for the sake of action. Don't confuse movement with progress.— casehop
- Good depth moves. For everybody who complained that we might lock up longterm Cap money on Parise and Suter, instead we added depth for cheap. Still lots of available money for this year or next. Rusty is a 10yr vet, two time Cup winner who averages about 15G/yr. Replaces current JVR output.— thawthor88
- While waiting for the Suter and Zack to make up their minds Hommer and the FLYERS lost out on some other players and loosing Carle may hurt but I won't miss all the turnovers that lead to goals against! Gervais is a solid D-man. I think he will give us a guy on the back line he will work well with Gus allowing Gus to play more offensive style. He is better over all than Lilja and give us over 300 games in the NHL this is going to be a nice move in the long run he can move better than Lilja too. As for Ruslan last season was an off year for him I think he will regain some of his scoring touch with the FLYERS I am thinking 15 goals for him this up coming season. Now Hommer needs to make another move to strengthen the Right wing! LETS GET IT DONE HOMMER!— srcdaddy1216
- Now we need something"spectacular" between the pipes...Holtby....— jcpaul
- i have no problem with Voracek on the first line. Fast and skilled. I'm still not sold on B Schenn's hype. Not sure how anyone else can be. I don't see him getting around .55 pts per game which is where Giroux and Richards were at after their first full season. At this point, Couturier is much more promising.— daoust555
- I'm surprised Homer even thought this is worth calling a press conference.— 1980
- Better off bringing C Note off the bench! Brings speed to the game.....would score 40 or more with G!!— StewieLavin27
- Wow! You lemmings are comical. Snatched a 20 point a year guy. Look out Lord Stanley. Morons.— FlyersLosersFor38Years
- Trade Read and Schenn for Ryan...and then get rid of the coach...
If this is the "big" move of the summer, 2012-13 could be almost as apocalyptic as 2006-07...here's why:
no replacement for Pronger
no replacement for Carle (Schenn is no Carle, don't kid yourselves)
no replacement for Jagr
no replacement for JVR
Coach will stick with HIS system...lets face it, the man refues to adjust...even though they have lost scoring threats...and they have lost defensive depth...and they have an unstable situation in net.
Rather than playing a defense-first-system he goes run and gun, without the guns...that exposes the defense, and Bryz gets lit up...rinse, repeat.
If this is the roster, Lavy and maybe Homer will be gone by Jan.— Dangler9 - Hence why they hired Terry Murray. You don't expect Homer to announce it, but think about it. They just hired a former NFL head coach that's never coached in the AHL to coach the phantoms, behind a lame duck head coach going into the last year of his deal without a new contract. Peter's lease is going to be short, win with what we give you now or Terry is coming in to coach a young nucleus after our free agency bonanza in 2014.
- ...unfortunately, you are right...
I can't fathom how a team, no better yet a regime (Homer, Luukko, Big Ed, Robert Earle) that has not won in 30-whatever-years and just traded away their two cornerstones who went on to win a Cup are allowed a "throw-away" season?!!!
Go Kings Go...— Dangler9 - Not like they're gonna win anything with this goalie tandem anyway, so......Meh.— jibberjabber
- Snyder always spending big $ on these underachievers.....Ed spend this type of $ on the sixers & they would've 1........It's been 30 years.....another pilgrim getn a free pass— Wizmix
- uhhh, super.— Jeffritoe
- Fillng roster spots, we'll see how it goes. I'm sure Homer isn't quite done, just sayin'...— DJ
- I like the fact that we didn't tie a lot of cap money up in a mediocre free agent crop and will be in position to contend for a cup in 2014. Let's face it, unless Homer makes a huge trade and gives up our core of youth, which I would be totally opposed to, this team will not be as talented as the team that was eliminated in the 2nd round last season. Sure guys might and should be better, but we had so many guys have career years that it's far from a given. I think going for the big name every year hasn't worked so I'm going to support Homer's stand pat and play for it all next year approach.
- this is the flyers splash into free agency? Lets hope Luke Schenn turns into Bobby Orr.— Mottz
- Haaaaaa. Rusty!
Nice move— Sidney Crosby 
I'm so glad Homer didn't trade Courtier or Schenn for Nash!!!
Gervais will add depth to our defense, somebody's going to get hurt during the season. Fedotenko is one of those guys who really turns it on in the post season. During this year's playoffs Darryl Sutter says he still has nightmares about Fedotenko scoring, twice including the game winner, in the 04 Cup Finals.- I'm glad they signed Rusty if only to exorcise the ghosts of the Joni Pitkanen trade. I've had enough of that guy winning Cups for conference opponents.— sklandog
- Isn't this like the Phillies signing guys like Ty Wigginton and Laynce Nix?— PhillySubsMac
- 37 years and still counting with no cup...tick, tock, tick, tock!!!— jmmdk5
- I'd rather have Ricky Gervais.— socfiend
- Wouldn't Batman or Spiderman look good in the orange and black....— StewieLavin27
- Funny reading the 20-20 hindsight comments. You can't always predict outcomes. Bryz was the best goalie available, based on stats. Didn't work out. The Jagr acquisition received a lot of negative comments last year. Obviously, Homer knew more than we did as his recent departure is being portrayed as a huge negative. Talbot is a medicore journeyman, right? Wrong. Even though the Kings won the Cup, the Flyers got more for the trades of JC and MR than they contribited to their teams. Nothing matters but Bryz this year. If he returns to form, the team will be more than good enough. If not, it doesn't matter who we bring in.— thawthor88
I like this....I'm just scared we're not going to sign Voracek now that Rusty is back. We should have cap room now.
SIGN VORACEK!- Marginal moves...they needed another D and got him...Rusty replaces Jagr who was out of gas in the playoffs...scoring was never the issue...if Bryz can get comfortable playing in Philly and the D does not hang him out to dry we'll be alright— dec-a-dent
- It's over folks...
Holmgren: "You could argue that we lost a lot of good players and we did. There is a maturation process for our younger players ..."
Welcome to 2006-07 all over again.
Kyle Calder = Rusty Fedotenko
Steve Eminger = Luke Schenn
Wake me when it's over.— Dangler9 - I didn't know Ricky Gervais played D.— P Even
- Come on! 20 points for the entire year? Do we really need him back. Save the money. Maybe they can save up enough to buy out that stiff Bryzgalov's contract. Another year of him in the net and we're doomed. Can Ruslan play goalie???— Flimbis
- it is better than resigning specer hawes as your big move so far. carle @ 6yrs/$33mm is nuts, i should have learned to skate when i was a kid...if he can pull off nash or ryan that would be huge...doan would be unbelieveable...a good move, maybe 2, with hopefully 1 more to come— zachary1
- hope Fedotenko bumps Rinaldo down to Phantoms! Do not like Rinaldo in the line up and rather see him as part of trade package for Ryan or on Phantoms— connorjr
- And the lemmings nod their approval.— bvl390
- Yes, sign Voracek. On the edge of my seat looking for big trade but would be happy with one more solid d-man. I like everyone on D, but injuries could be a problem. No way D should have gotten spanked by Devils, and they were SPANKED!— NYPHILLYPHAN
- As the days go by, a trade is less likely— flyfightinbullies
- As the days go by, a trade is less likely— flyfightinbullies
- wish i could earn will earn $825,000 a year over the next two seasons
— jamarder - I'm, once again, underwhelmed.
Several #6 defensememen = bad defense— VicM - Is that Fedotenko in the Penguins jersey in the picture? He played for the Rangers last year. Couldn't find a more recent picture?
— TexColorado - I live in NY, and have watched both players a lot. I'm happier about Feds coming back than I am about Gervais.— Sean_King
- My confidence in Paul Holmgren has fallen a couple of notches. Two weeks ago neither Gervais nor Fedotenko would have been on his short list of "must-signs" unlike Suter and Parise. The Luke Schenn trade, attaboy Homer, good deal, but since then his engine has been sputtering. Please write on the board 100 times "I will not trade away our draft picks" like the Kubina deal with Tampa Bay. That one is coming back to kick Homer in the teeth.— schultz08
- I like the addition of Fedotenko. Semin would be a great acquisition. He is a two way player with talent. In the right situation with good leadership, he could flourish. Even if he doesn't pan out, he will always have some trade value. I would rather acquire Semin than trade for Nash. If you get Nash for a 1st round pick and Read, sure but if you start throwing in Schenn or Courturier; it is too steep. I just don't think the bargaining position of Columbus is very strong. Nash is probably worth 2 first round picks and a good young player but that is too costly in my opinion. Sign Semin. With Semin's signing, I believe the Flyers are the best team in the Eastern Conference next year.— feudal_nobility09
- i hope he is not done....these players will help us more than the ones that are leaving. but if we lost carle, don't we need a mobile d man?— deatheater
- I think you guys aren't giving Brayden Schenn a fair shake. he was limited to just over 50 games due to injuries, so even when he DID come back he was still adjusting to the NHL and shaking the rust off from being out of commission. When he DID get healthy he was fast and fierce, throwing his body around like a guy twice his size. This kid is our type of player and you will definitely see that very soon. Not to mention he is still only 20 for God's sake! This kid's gonna be a stud for us!— Neebo
- Let's not lose sight of the fact that Homer drove up the bidding on Parise and Suter...knowing full well neither would sign....effectively pricing them out of our rivals reach (Parise to NJ or Pittsburgh). Absolute BRILLIANT move!— Harry Callahan
- Gervais will be a great roommate for Matt Walker in upstate NY!— jaybakes
- C'mon Harry. You really think that? No one wants to come here with a goalie that bites. Period!. We are doomed with sievgalof to the point that good players see no chance here at all. It's sad.. Very sad.
To my buddy Dave. Gonna miss you buddy!!— Boston Flyer - These arent overwhelming signings, but nice depth/character signings. Get rid of Shelley, who is worthless. Fedotenko can take that role. Still need to figure out who to plug into the type line RW spot in place of Jagr. Im confident Homer has some plans, if not we are looking a little thin on offense. However, I believe B. Schenn is gonna take a leap and Voracek and Simmonds step up. The youth is looking good.— Neebo
- Sadly, a defensive mind frame, size, being heavy on the boards, and solid goaltending gets you the cup. (see LA Kings) Youth is what this league is all about now (see LA Kings) The Kings and the Rangers are both younger than the Flyers......The Flyers need to start building a team for the Playoffs , not the 80 game show....— Mike Boryla
- I can see terry murray replace Lavy,then win a cup,since he lost out in LA.Be quite a comeback story.— bill the pill
- I'am glad we did not blow 200 mil. on 2 players the Wild willbe cap hell before they no it.— angrywhtguy
- Chemistry is more important than a bunch of me-first superstars. This team sounds like it can click and grow together. Now if Lavi can bring a little more D into his game plan we might be on to something good.— Fly Guy
- Homer doesn't make any big moves because of the impending new CBA and the relative lack of quality of the available players. Letting them grow is the right thing to do.— flyerdommo
- Frank likes to play with the numbers. Last year Rusty played 73 games. The year before it was 66. And how was he used, Frank? Checking forward.
On DNL last night, he tried to compare Jagr and Fedotenko and how he won't make up Jagr's numbers. But Frank should know that Fedotenko isn't going to play on the top line. Isn't it more likely that Read or Voracek move up to that line, while Schenn and Couturier move up a line as well? I think all those guy are capable of replacing Jagr's numbers. In fact, Voracek's numbers weren't far off Jagr's while playing on the second and third lines. Matt Read's numbers were comparable, too, while playing 2nd/3rd lines. Think those guy will have better numbers playing up top with Giroux and Hartnell?
Rusty was a good move and I am glad that he's back. Never should have traded him to Tampa. Joni Pitkanen = stiff.— Chasev - glad to have Rusty back and not a bad price for Gervais. I think friendships among players helps to build teamwork and allegiance. Time will tell...Congrats to Max on his wedding.— philly ereader
- oops, congrats to Bruno!— philly ereader
- Still the same team. Playoffs, but no cup! Try to move Bryz outta here.— Pete60
- BOOOOOOOO— mold1103
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Frank Seravalli
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