Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Flyers are parting ways with the eccentric Ilya Bryzgalov.
The club announced Tuesday that they will buy out the remaining seven years on the 33-year-old goaltender's contract.
"I met with Ilya this morning and informed him that we are going to exercise a compliance buyout of his contract," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "This was a very difficult business decision to make for us and we want to thank Ilya for his time here and wish him all the best moving forward."
The news comes less than a week after the Flyers announced their intentions to use the first of their two compliance buyout options on forward Danny Briere.
Bryzgalov's time in Philadelphia was brief and tumultuous, featuring bouts of uneven play and memorable quips.
The Flyers signed the Russian to a nine-year, $51 million contract in June 2011 after acquiring his rights from Phoenix.
Bryzgalov finished with a 33-16-7 record, 2.48 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in 2011-12 while sharing the crease with Sergei Bobrovsky, who was dealt to Columbus following the team's second-round loss to New Jersey.
The Flyers missed the playoffs this year, with Bryzgalov going 19-17-3 and posting a 2.79 GAA and .900 save percentage.
Bobrovsky, meanwhile, went on to claim the Vezina Trophy with the Blue Jackets.
The move to buy out Bryzgalov will save the Flyers from a $5.667 million cap hit. However, the club will have to still pay Bryzgalov approximately $1.643 million per year for the next 14 years.
For his career, Bryzgalov has 208 wins with 30 shutouts and a 2.55 GAA.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.