When John Tortorella took over the Flyers back in the early parts of the summer, one of the things he mentioned was he was going to reform this team and its culture. In the mold of some of his past teams, he was going to help to make the Flyers bigger and tougher with an emphasis on defensive-minded hockey. On Sunday, the Flyers signed veteran forward Antoine Roussel to a PTO. He will look to earn a contract during training camp.
The acquisition is similar to others made this summer. During the free agency splurge In July, the Flyers acquired Nic Deslauriers for his size. Similarly, Zack MacEwen was re-signed for similar reasons.
Roussel is not a huge guy; standing at around 6 feet tall. However, he has consistently been in the penalty box over his career. Starting his career 10 years ago in Dallas, he brought a physical touch with a bit of a scoring element to his game. While never one to light the lamp consistently, he was able to score 12-14 goals over a four-year stretch with the Stars. At the same time, he was spending lots of time in the penalty box, including a career-high 209 minutes in his second season; just four minutes behind league leader Tom Sestito.
Tortorella wants players who will bring a physically intimidating presence onto the ice. Roussel definitely brings that. Any skater looking to score could find himself plastered into the glass or knocked onto the ice. With this in mind, any line that consists of Deslauriers and Roussel would be reminiscent of the old Broad Street Bullies. Likewise, that comes at a cost. Will a line such as this put the Flyers into the penalty box too much with an anemic penalty-killing unit?
There is no guarantee that Roussel will make it out of camp. There is no guarantee that he will be assigned to the AHL after camp. However, the signing does show that Coach Tortorella and GM Chuck Fletcher want to make the Flyers stronger with a more intimidating 4th line. We’ll see if he makes the cut.