Gervais signed a two year deal worth $825,000 per season to be the Flyers 6th defenseman. While he certainly won't replace the departed Matt Carle, Gervais, a 7 year veteran who has played for the Islanders and Lightning, gives the Flyers good depth in the back end. There is no expectation that Gervais will develop into a big contributor for the Flyers but he probably won't embarass himself on the 3rd defensive pairing.
As for Fedotenko, he is certainly a blast from the past for Flyers fans, as he last suited up for Philly in 2001. Since being traded to the Lightning in 2002, Fedotenko has won a Cup in Tampa and also played for the Islanders, Penguins (where he won another Cup) and Rangers. The Flyers signed him to a one year, 1.75 million dollar contract to play on the third line and chip in about a dozen goals. Nice pickup but certainly not something that will drastically improve the Flyers and certainly not a move that will replace the production of the departed Jaromir Jagr.
The Flyers moves in free agency have been fairly underwhelming to this point, not that that is necessarily a bad thing. With a ton of young talent that figures to still be improving, the Flyers have plenty of room to grow into a better team. Of course, Paul Holmgren could also just be biding his time before he pulls the trigger on a huge trade for Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash.
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