NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers Close To Deal With A Defenseman?


Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

As a condensed training camp is ready to kick off in Voorhees, New Jersey, the Philadelphia Flyers are attempting to put the finishing touches on their roster. One of those last moves may be the signing of a defenseman.

According to the reports, the Flyers have shown a lot of interest in free agent defenseman Kurtis Foster. The 31-year old Foster was a journeyman last year, spending time with the Anaheim DucksNew Jersey DevilsMinnesota Wild, and the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. During the lockout, Foster went over to Finland to play for Tappara of the SM-Iiiga, contributing six points in 13 games, while totaling 78 PIM.

Frankly, Foster is a player who would see little to no ice time even if he does make the team out of training camp. The sixth defenseman spot will likely go to offseason acquisition Bruno Gervais, with Andreas Lilja as a healthy scratch. Furthermore, the Flyers have youngsters Brandon Manning, Marc-Andre Bourdon, and Eric Gustafsson stashed in Adirondack, and they would, in all likelihood, be called into action in case of injury. That said, it certainly wouldn’t hurt for Philadelphia to take a flyer on Foster. He’s just three years removed from the best offensive season of his career where he scored eight goals and added 34 assists as a member of the Lightning, and the Flyers may be able to squeeze the last bit of offensive juice out of his game.

With camp beginning Sunday, it’s expected he’ll ink a deal sooner rather than later.

Jake Pavorsky is a contributor for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JakePavorsky.

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