The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had signed versatile forward Anthony Richard to a two-year, two-way contract worth $1.5 million ($775,000 AAV).
Richard, 27, is a 5-foot-11 forward who can play both center and wing and has developed into a prolific scorer at the AHL level in the last few years. The Val-d’Or Foreurs product spent the 2023-24 season in the Boston Bruins organization, scoring one goal, two assists, and three points in nine NHL games this year.
Spending most of his action in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, Richard appeared in 59 games, scoring 25 goals, 30 assists, and 55 points. Richard recorded one point in three games in the Calder Cup playoffs for Providence as they were bounced by the Hartford Wolf Pack in three games in the first round.
The year prior, in 2022-23, the new Flyers forward appeared in 60 games for Montreal’s Laval Rocket, scoring 30 goals, 37 assists, and 67 points, and adding one assist in two playoff games. Richard played in the NHL for the Canadiens that year also, notching three goals, two assists, and five points in a short 15-game cameo.
In total, Richard joins the Flyers with 24 NHL games played across four different seasons, including the last two with Montreal and Boston. In 10 seasons in the AHL, Richard has accumulated 144 goals, 156 assists, and 300 points in 481 regular season games–a balanced offensive producer.
Richard joins Swedish newcomers Rodrigo Abols and Oscar Eklind, who signed in recent months, as a veteran professional player competing for an NHL spot, though Richard is the only one with NHL experience. Abols and Eklind, however, are expected to have a learning curve as they move through training camp and preseason with the Flyers, thus giving Richard the early inside edge.
Given the Flyers’ cap space struggles and lack of depth at the forward position for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, they could certainly do worse than the 27-year-old Richard.
