Ray Emery To Sign with Philly?

It looks as though former Ottawa Senators bad boy Ray Emery will be granted a second chance in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers.

After a solid OHL career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, which included winning goalie of the year honors in 2002, Emery was projected to be the Senators' starting goalie for years to come.

But after enjoying a 33-win season and posting a tidy 2.26 GAA in taking his Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007, things drastically fell apart for the 26-year-old. 

Emery, who as a free agent re-signed with the Senators that summer, came into camp hampered by a nagging wrist injury. During the first month of the 2008 season, Emery went down to the minors for a rehab stint, and upon returning to Ottawa was not thrilled about losing his starting job to fellow veteran goalie Martin Gerber.

Instead of accepting the situation, Emery, who was Ottawa’s fourth round pick in 2001, turned into a disruption. Besides being late to numerous team practices and having arguments with his coach, Emery got into some fights with teammates Brian McGrattan and Chris Neil during practices.

After Ottawa suffered a first round playoff exit to the Pittsburgh Penguins that spring, many pointed the finger at Emery even though it was Gerber who was in net during that first round. Critics pointed to the fact that with Emery, who posted a 12-13-4 record with a 3.13 GAA upon his return to Ottawa, the team started its downward spiral after getting off to a great start.

Not surprisingly, Emery, the once solid prospect, was eventually put on waivers by Senators general manager Bryan Murray, who was fed up with Emery and referred to him as being a negative presence. 

With all other 29 teams not wanting to take a gamble on Emery, he spent this past season in the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League. On July 8 he signed with Atlant Mytischy where he perked the interest of the Philadelphia Flyers after posting a 22-8 record and a 2.12 GAA.

“We have internal discussions about many players and their potential availability, including Ray Emery,” Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said. “I have spoken to his agent a few times about Ray as well. Any further speculation about this would be very premature.”

On July 1 both Philadelphia goalies Martin Biron and backup Antero Niittymaki will be free agents and Holmgren has voiced his desire to add more consistency to that position. His agent, J.P. Barry, admitted to have held talks with the Flyers and is optimistic with how things have been progressing.

Last summer Emery signed a two-year deal with the Kontinental League, which lets him get out of that second year if an NHL team shows interest in him.