The Philadelphia Flyers want a more competitive culture under new coach John Tortorella. So it makes sense that they’ve brought in a feisty forward to push their young players for a job in training camp. They’ve signed free agent left winger Antoine Roussel to a professional tryout contract, as confirmed by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Roussel, 32, spent last season with the Arizona Coyotes. He was a casualty in the multi-player trade the Coyotes made last offseason to send Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks. Toiling on a struggling team, Roussel managed just four goals and eight points in 53 games.
In the prime of his career, spent between the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks, Roussel was considered one of the game’s more effective agitators. He chipped in double-digit goal totals four straight years between 2013-14 and 2016-17 while regularly registering triple-digit hit totals in his physical checking role. But his productivity has waned in recent seasons. He has just 12 goals in 129 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Roussel, however, will at worst be able to push the young Flyers harder to earn their jobs in camp or, at best, can catch on as a fourth-line depth winger.
Roussel has 85 goals and 197 points over 607 NHL games spread across 10 seasons. Born in Roubaix, France, he is his nation’s all-time leader in games played, goals, assists, points and penalty minutes.
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