[Jlg-28]

Source: Philadelphia Flyers.com

The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have signed 6?3?, 225-pound left wing Ben Eager to a new two-year contract, according to General Manager Paul Holmgren.

?Ben is another one of our younger players that continued to develop last season,? said Holmgren in making the announcement. ?He is a big, physical presence on the ice and adds a key dimension to our lineup. We expect Ben to be an important part of our core of young players that we?re going to continue to build upon.?

?I?m really excited,? said Eager. ?The team is looking ahead and I?m happy to be a part of things, especially with the core group that we have here. There?s going to be a lot of excitement over these next few years and I?m happy that I?ll get to be a part of it.?

Eager, 23, recorded six goals and five assists for 11 points and 233 penalty minutes in 63 regular season games for the Flyers this past season. His 233 penalty minutes led the NHL. He was also scoreless with 21 penalty minutes in three games for the Flyers? American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, this past season. He was voted the 2006-07 winner of the Pelle Lindbergh Trophy as the Flyers? most improved player as voted by his teammates.

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Eager has registered nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points and 251 penalty minutes in 88 regular season games for the Flyers over the last two seasons.

Eager was acquired by the Flyers, along with Sean Burke and Branko Radivojevic, from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Mike Comrie on February 9, 2004. He was originally drafted by Phoenix in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

nice to see Big Ben will be back for the next two years, hopefully he wont be the lone enforcer

[tmcc]

Good, they better dump Fedoruk.

[dutch74]

Just saw a news report from Churck Gormley that the Flyers won't give the Fridge more than 450k to come back. Looks like he'll have to move elsewhere unless he's willing to take the same.

Good move to lock up Eager though... I didn't realize that he is a former 1st rounder from the Coyotes... he should have more upside than just being an enforcer

[flyers90]

yeah, i think they should let fedoruk go, or sign him very cheap. And let Eager play instead!
"He was voted the 2006-07 winner of the Pelle Lindbergh Trophy as the Flyers’ most improved player as voted by his teammates." that has to mean that the other guys on the team like him as well.

[Blindside]

I think if Eager keeps developing his offensive game and reduces the amount of bad penalties (and phantom penalties) that he takes, he could be a great replacement for Knuble in a couple years.
He definitely has the potential and work ethic to be the next scoring power forward like Bertuzzi, Tkachuk, Shanny, etc. Perhaps a bit less offense, but if he's plunked on a line with Gagne in his prime and a 1st line playmaking centre, you never know. At the very worst, he could be part of a very intimidating line with Downie and another grinder-type forward.