"Rich Winter, who has represented his share of competitive goalies over the years, doesn't mince words about Ilya Bryzgalov.

"If your study his performance the last couple of years, the only Flyer goaltender to have a statistical performance like that was Bernie Parent," Winter said of his newest client.

"Look at the best two seasons a Flyer goaltender ever had and the only one who ever had a performance like that was Parent in back-to-back seasons when the Flyers won the Stanley Cup."

Parent posted a .933 save percentage in 1973-74 and .919 save percentage the next season – the only two years the Flyers won a Cup.

Bryzgalov posted a .920 save percentage in 2009-10 and .921 this past year in Phoenix.

On Tuesday night, the Flyers acquired the 30-year-old Bryzgalov's negotiating rights from the Coyotes in exchange for left wing Matt Clackson, plus the Flyers' third-round pick in 2012, and a conditional draft pick.

Once again, general manager Paul Holmgren is attempting to strike first before Bryzgalov becomes a free agent on July 1.

Holmgren has employed this move before – acquiring rights before free agency – going back to 2007 with Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell.

He did it last summer, too, by trading for Evgeni Nabokov's rights (from San Jose) at the NHL draft. The Flyers failed to sign Nabokov.

"We're going to give it our best shot," Holmgren said of Bryzgalov. "You give up an asset to get in early, so we have every intention of trying to get a deal done."

Winter will be looking for a minimum of a four-year deal worth at least $5 million a season for Bryzgalov, who has six years of NHL experience."