A day after signing Antoine Roussel to a tryout contract, the Flyers have signed 34 year old Russian forward Artem Anisimov to a similar deal. It is a paid professional tryout for the former Columbus and Chicago star forward. He gets paid for participating and tryouts and has a chance to play his way onto the team.
The signing of Roussel and Anisimov is widely being seen as attempts by the Flyers to fill the gaping hole in the lineup caused by the sudden and surprising injury of Sean Couturier. While neither of these players are at the caliber of Couturier, they do bring and provide some veteran stability.
Anisimov is a 13 year vet. He has experience playing with Coach John Tortorella as a young player in the Rangers. During those seasons, he scored 46 goals over three seasons. He was then traded in the blockbuster deal that brought Rick Nash to Broadway. While in Columbus, he put up 22 goals in his second year on the team. After a slumping season in his third year in Ohio, he was flipped to Chicago.
Anisimov spent four years in Chicago, topping the 20 goal mark in three of those seasons. In his final year, he scored 15, but notched 22 assists. He was traded to Ottawa in 2019. As part of the Senators, he struggled to stay healthy and put up pedestrian numbers. He took his talents to the KHL for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. In 27 games, he scored eight goals with 11 assists.
His best days are most likely behind him. However, he still retains a lot of hockey intelligence. His veteran experience will help out a lot on the third and fourth lines; especially if other injuries rack this team.
Likewise, his experience playing for Torts could come in handy. This deal, much like Roussel, is a low-risk, high-reward deal. If it pays off, Chuck Fletcher could look like a genius.