Flyers Taking a Peek at Ray Emery

Strange news today as Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren admitted that he’s looking into goaltender Ray Emery. Known for his bad temper, speeding tickets, and punching out a trainer on his current Russian team, the potential of adding Emery to the current roster would steer the team even more towards the style of the mid-1970s Broad Street Bullies, especially considering the presence of two clear-cut enforcers in Riley Cote and Dan Carcillo.

Signing Emery would certainly bring a questionable attitude into the locker room, but he would likely be willing to sign a one-year contract, leaving the door open for the organization to use him as a temporary replacement and take a look at next year’s free agent goaltender class. Marty Biron, who is now an unrestricted free agent, is currently demanding at least three years.

In 134 career games between the pipes, Emery has a .907 save percentage to go along with a 2.71 GAA average. Biron averages 2.59 GAA and .911 save percentage.

Replacing Biron with Emery would be an ironic way to deal with the goalie situation, considering Emery won a rare goalie fight against Biron in 2007.

Next year’s free agent goalie class includes Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom (2.24 GAA, .923 SV%), Boston’s Tim Thomas (2.62 GAA, .918 SV%), Edmonton’s Dwayne Roloson (2.62 GAA, .910 SV%),  and Los Angeles’ Erik Ersberg (2.58 GAA, .911 SV%) to name a few.