The NHL free agent signing period is in full swing right now and so is the Flyer's offseason as they made 2 additions to the team today. First they finally found their backup goalie in former Flyer Brian ,Boosh!, Boucher who had been Evgeni Nabokov's backup in San Jose with the Sharks the last few seasons. He's been a pretty good backup too, with a 12-6 record, 2.18 GAA and .917 save percentage last season, all very good totals for a backup. Ultimately, he is good insurance in case Ray Emery turns out to be a bust, and a reliable backup if Emery plays well. Next the Flyers added 35 year old 14 year veteran defensive minded winger/center Ian Lapierrere who's been with the Colorado Avalanche the last few seasons. Basically he simply adds to the higher level of defensive grit the Flyers had already added with Chris Pronger. He's the type of with 600+ penalty minutes last season who is willing take on anybody and use his body to block shots on net. He's also reportedly a very good faceoff guy which is something else the Flyer's lacked last season. So you can pretty much rest assured that with Pronger and now this guy around, the front of net will be cleared out for whoever is in goal, Emery or Boucher, to make saves this season. The only negative for the Flyers today is that Mike Knuble signed with the Washington Capitals, which removes another 25 goals from the roster. Couple with Joffrey Lupul that 50 less goals the Flyers will have this season. Of course, is Danny Briere actually stays healthy this season he could make up most of that on his own and the improved the defensive toughness will help cover some of that as well. Still, it might be nice if the Flyers added one more scorer just in case.
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