The Philadelphia Flyers signed Rodrigo Abols to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 on Saturday.
One of the most notable things about Abols is his size: 6-foot-4, 200-plus pounds. It's more of a signing for the Flyers as a reinforcement to their AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, but Briere isn't afraid to make low-risk, blind acquisitions like they did with former Dallas Stars forward Denis Gurianov last season. The Flyers acquired Gurianov from Nashville in exchange for Wade Allison at the last trade deadline. The worst-case scenario is that the forward doesn't make the cut and is harmless. Maybe he'll work out, perform well in camp, impress with his size and not be worse on the power play than he was last year.
This isn't the Flyers' first move to acquire an SHL player, having signed Oscar Eklind to a one-year entry-level contract in April. Eklind has a similar build to Aborz, but is a bit heavier at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds.
Abols played for Orebro HK of the SHL from 2020-21 to 2022-23, scoring 20, 14 and 19 goals, respectively, in those three seasons. Last season, he had 14 goals, 12 assists and 26 points in 50 games as a member of Rogul BK Ängelholm. He also had five goals, seven assists and 12 points in 15 playoff games last season.
The 28-year-old Abols has never played a single NHL game in his career. Abols was selected by the Canucks in the seventh round (184th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft, but never made a single appearance for Vancouver. He played for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL in 2015-16 and the Acadie-Bathurst Titans of the QMJHL the following season. He returned overseas to Sweden for the 2017-18 season. He was also invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs' development camp in 2018, but unsurprisingly did not make an impact there. In May 2019, the Florida Panthers made a move to acquire Abols. Then-Panthers general manager Dale Tallon paid Abols $1.85 million on a two-year contract. However, after 36 games in the AHL (plus four in the ECHL) in the 2019-20 season, the forward returned to Europe again and has been playing in Sweden ever since.
The Riga, Latvia native has played in numerous international tournaments for his country, including the IIHF World Championship and Olympic Qualifiers, and will play in the Spengler Cup with Örebro HK in the 2022-23 season, earning four points in four games.
If Abols makes the Philadelphia roster, he won't be the first Flyers player from Latvia. Oskars Bartulis played 66 games over two seasons with the Flyers (2009-10, 2010-11). Prior to that, the Flyers were the first NHL team to draft a player from the Soviet Union, selecting Viktor Hatulevs (a native of Riga, Latvia, according to Elite Prospects) in the ninth round (160th overall) of the 1975 NHL Draft. Due to the geopolitical situation of the Cold War, he never played in an NHL game.
