Philadelphia Flyers Sign Ilya Bryzgalov to Long-Term Deal

After the two huge trades the Flyers made on Thursday, they still continued to make news.

ESPN is reporting that the Flyers have signed former Phoenix Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a long term nine-year, $51 million deal.

Last week, the Flyers traded for the rights to negotiate with Bryzgalov, and they made sure that they signed him before July 1st. The two trades made earlier today opened up cap space for the team to lock up Bryzgalov.

The Flyers in the past few years lacked a solid number one goalie. They had Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher splitting time when they made their run for the Cup. This past year, the Flyers made it to the second round with Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky.

Ilya Bryzgalov won the Stanley Cup in 2007 when he was a back up for the Anaheim Ducks. Bryzgalov was a finalist for the Vezina Award in the 2009-10 season. Last year Bryzgalov went 36-20-10 with a .921 save percentage for the Phoenix Coyotes. He also registered seven shutouts.

Getting Bryzgalov is huge for the Flyers. It gives them a No. 1 goalie for many years. Ilya Bryzgalov who is 30 years old, should get almost all the playing time with Philly.

What a day for the Flyers. Two huge trades and now a big signing. Will they pull off anymore big moves? The only thing we can do is wait and see.