For all of those who have been dreading a possible Ray Emery signing with the orange and black there are a few quick things to take note of. While it is true you can come up with a laundry list of reasons he could tear apart the Flyers lockerroom I find it hard to believe that for all of his off-ice issues there are just as many problems with his teammates. While there are some, the vast majority of his downside comes from outside the lockerroom where he seems to employ a lawlessness not witnessed since Burress shot himself in the foot. If signed his lifestyle problems would quickly become the new “goon” factor of the Flyers. While the Broadstreet Bullies may have been “goons” on the ice so to speak they were all classy guys when not dressed to destroy their opposition. Emery is by no means an example of what the Flyers are or were ever about.
That being said it is important to look at other factors. His distractions left him without a home during the 2008-09 season, and while he would’ve liked to play in the NHL he was offered money to go play in the KHL of Russia. He could’ve easily found himself an AHL club, but Emery is not the type of man to sit back in the minors nor would that make him very much money. Promised some financial backing and a starter position in Russia, Emery decided that it was his best bet if he was ever going to make his way back to the league. Unfortunately he was not exactly from Russia. It’s not easy to connect with a lockerroom completely made up of players from a world away, let alone language issues. All of those minor things came to the forefront when the checks started to bounce. When the money promised is not coming in you can expect that most players would become a little upset.
There were other problems with Emery’s contract in the KHL including his type of payment, the payment itself, inflation, and bonuses. To make a long story short the one year contract that he signed with the Atlant Moscow was becoming a lie. He was producing for them of course, but the organization was not keeping its end of the bargain.
Emery on the other hand was playing incredibly. 36 starts yielded 22 wins, a .926 sv%, and a great 2.12 GAA. While the KHL is different stylistically than the NHL that goals against average is still very good. His playoff performance was even better though it finished with only 3 wins and 3 losses. A 1.86 GAA and .941 sv% tells the story of a goaltender who was getting very little help offensively.
His lifetime NHL stats show that Emery is a proven and capable NHL starter complete with 71 wins, 40 losses, a 2.71 GAA, and a .907 sv% already at the age of 26. Biron’s lifetime totals at the age of 31 are 199 wins, 163 losses, a 2.59 GAA, and a 0.912% sv%.
Biron certainly appears to be a better NHL goaltender, but nobody is questioning that. The real question is how much is Emery’s services worth to the Flyers’ organization, and where can they use him? It’s hard to believe Emery could get a contract worth more than $2.00m a year. In fact even $1.50m might be a stretch. It likely won’t be a long contract either, and if he does sign here it will be as a backup or as a veteran presence for a young, potential franchise keeper. He is not going to be expected to carry the team all on his own.
That being said, don’t expect Niittymaki to ever wear a Flyers’ uniform again. The organization has had concerns about his hip and his stability. Emery is a certain upgrade to Antero between the pipes, and would easily cost less on the market.
On top of that he offers some pressure on Biron to lower his price. $5.00m a year over 4-5 seasons for a goaltender like Biron is not something the organization wants to get into. Emery is young, he has plenty of potential, but he has to be controlled. If the Flyers can bypass Biron and sign Emery along with acquiring a potential future goaltender like Harding, Schneider, or Halak the offseason can be considered a huge success as long as the Flyers upgrade the defense.
While everyone is complaining about the goaltending situation the position that the Flyers are likely looking to truly upgrade is the defense. While rumors about Luongo and Nabakov and Vokoun are a nice pipedream, Bouwmeester, Ohlund, Komisarek, and others are likely hitting free agency as stud defensemen. If you think another Hextall is the solution to the Flyers you very well could be right, but star goaltenders are made, not sold. The Flyers seem uneasy about drafting them so getting a young netminder to bring up in the system may be their best option. In the meantime bolstering the defense is just as good an approach if not a better one.
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