Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Flyers had a really good player on their hands were they signed undrafted college hockey player Matt Read and they really saw that in his first season with the team in 2011.
Read led the rookies in points and should have been blowing fans minds, but everyone seemed so enthralled by youngsters Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier. We didn’t get to see much of his on-ice talents last season since it was shortened to 48 games and he suffered a crushing injury by bruising his ribs early on. Even so, he was doing some impressive things and the Flyers were liking what they saw. Or so it seemed.
During the offseason, it looked like the Flyers were lining him up for a trade, especially when word got out that they offered him up in hopes to acquire goaltender Jonathan Bernier from the Los Angeles Kings. The deal never panned out, but it made sense why the team tried to get it to happen. Read would have been a good deal for the Kings, however, he will become a free agent after next season, so this is likely why the team choose to pass on acquiring him.
Since the Flyers really like what they see in him and they don’t want to deal with other teams trying to grab him up next summer, they decided to just extend his contract. On Friday, the team and Read agreed that he will be with the team for another four years for $14.5 million.
Since Read has done well and can only improve during this season, this was a really smart move for the Flyers to make. Read is old enough to know what he’s doing on the ice, but young enough that he still has a lot of years left to play the game.
Deanna Vasso is a Flyers writer for Rant Sports. You can follow her on Twitter, like her on Facebook or join her Google network.
