Revisiting Patrick Thoresen

Although Thoresen's stint with the Flyers only reads 35 games, his play is well remembered by Flyers fans. Known in his days of North American hockey as a fourth line utility player, Thor has grown into a prominent scorer in the KHL only three seasons removed from his NHL days.

This past season, Thor became the first Norwegian born player to win the Gagarin Cup, the KHL championship trophy award to the team who wins the playoffs. Now with one cup and over 120 points under his belt over the past two seasons Thoresen will make yet another run at playing in North America.

Every offseason since leaving the Flyers for European Hockey, Thoresen has sat in the open market and has received plenty of contract offers. The main problem has been his demand for a one-way contract when teams consistently offer him two-way deals.

One-way contracts mean a player would have to pass through waivers before being sent to the AHL. Two-ways contracts do not entail a player to pass through waivers before being sent down.

Thoresen has proven over the past three seasons that he has changed his game post over 20 goals and 50 points in both the Swiss and Russian professional leagues. One could make a case that he has always been a scorer, as Thor tallied 108 points on 75 assists in his final year of juniors in the QMJHL.

So will this be the year that the journeyman will return to the NHL? What team will he return with?

I would doubt the Flyers would offer Thoresen a one way deal with already so many players signed on their top three lines. However, if Leino and Zherdev aren't re-signed the Flyers would be in the market for a winger to patch up their 3rd line. A hungry Thoresen would most likely not charge much for a shot at redemption.