Ilya Bryzgalov agrees to go to ECHL Las Vegas Wrangers’ camp on tryout.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) October 3, 2013
The enigmatic Ilya Bryzgalov has decided to stay in North America, hoping to earn another shot in the NHL the hard way. The Russian netminder/existential thinker will attend training camp with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers.
After struggling mightily last year, the Flyers used a compliance buyout to rid themselves of Bryzgalov’s nine-year $51 million dollar contract.
Known for being “out there” Bryzgalov’s personality was partly to blame in his exile from the City of Brotherly Love. Despite his antics it was still pretty surprising that no NHL team thought Bryzgalov would be worth even a tryout contract. It was a goaltenders market in the offseason with many teams needing help in net, and yet despite having some success in his NHL career Bryzgalov never got the call.
