Philadelphia Flyers Sign Six Players To Respective Contracts

General Manager Chuck Fletcher signed a couple of players who will likely see most of their time in the AHL next season.

I said in my Philadelphia Flyers Free Agency Primer article this morning that the team would make some depth signings and Fletcher did just that this afternoon. The Flyers announced that they’ve signed forwards Andy Andreoff and Kurtis Gabriel, defenseman Nate Prosser, Tyler Wotherspoon, Andy Welnski, and goaltender J.F. Berube to respective contracts. Andreoff, Berube, Wotherspoon, and Prosser got two-year deals while Gabriel and Welinski received one.

Andreoff posted rock-solid numbers as Alternate Captain of the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL last season with 55 points (26 Goals, 29 Assists) in 75 games. That ranked fourth on the team and helped the Crunch reach the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round. He also racked up 150 Penalties in Minutes with Syracuse as well, which is just…flabbergasting, to say the least. Andreoff hasn’t seen NHL action since the 2017-18 season with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring nine points in 45 games, and will likely stay that way unless the Flyers suffer injuries.

Philadelphia was rumored to have been the front runner for Prosser before the free agency period officially began and has ties to Fletcher as he played for the Minnesota Wild while Fletcher was GM. Prosser, like all of the players, spent most of his 2018-19 season in the AHL, netting eight points in 31 games with the Iowa Wild. He played a brief stint with Minnesota last year, too, going scoreless in 15 games with the club. Prosser will add depth the Lehigh Valley Phantoms blue-line that was needed after David Schlemko was bought out.

Berube, 27, posted a 3.01 Goals Against Average with a .896 save percentage in 43 games as a member of the Cleveland Monsters last season and, like Andreoff, hasn’t played in the NHL since 2017-18 where he played in 15 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. His signing is an interesting one as the Flyers have Alex Lyon, Felix Sandstrom, and Kirill Ustimenko set to play in the AHL and ECHL next year, but it’s possible they brought in the 2009 Kings Fourth Round Pick for insurance in case anyone of them gets sidelined.

Flyers fans should remember Gabriel when he boarded Nolan Patrick last year in a game against the New Jersey Devils that drew a one-game suspension. If that reckless hit showed you anything, it’s that Gabriel is nothing more than a goon who will provide a physical element to Lehigh Valley. He scored four points in 22 games with New Jersey and six in 32 with the Binghamton Devils.

Wotherspoon hasn’t been in the NHL since the 2016-17 campaign, which is the longest of anyone on this list, where he saw four games with the Calgary Flames. More recently, he potted 22 points in 70 games with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL. Welinski played in 26 games with the Anaheim Ducks this past year, scoring four points, while netting 19 points in 27 games as a San Diego Gull. Like Prosser, both Wotherspoon and Welinski will help fill out the Phantoms defensive core.

All of the players mentioned signed contracts with an Average Annual Value at or below 750k. The Flyers also signed Philadelphia-area native F Kyle Criscuolo to a one-year, two-way deal worth 700k and defenseman Chris Bigras.

*all AHL stats are courtesy of Elite Prospects*