Another new tough guy in town?

Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is reportedly in Philadelphia today undergoing a physical with the Flyers, and should he pass it, the Flyers are expected to sign him to a contract. Deleware County Times reporter Anthony SanFillippo reported the story this morning and also mentioned that the team has no plans of using Tollefsen as an AHL defender, but instead, keeping him on board with the big club.

Tollefsen has been a Blue Jacket since being drafted in 2002. Last season, he’d only played in 19 games before a knee injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year. Tollefsen hits a LOT and should be a fan favorite in Philly, if he can stay out of the penalty box. He accumlated 37 penalty minutes in his 19 games last year and 111 in the previous season. While Tollefsen is very defensive minded and has great instinct, the major down side of his game can be his toughness. Should he be able to tone down a little bit, there’s no reason he won’t be an effective 3rd pairing defender here in Philly.

Should the Flyers end up signing Tollefsen, it would almost be a certainty that they would also trade away one of their other defenders. Presumably, that defender would be Randy Jones, and his excruciating 2.75 million dollar cap hit. Tollefsen seems to be a much cheaper replacement for Jones, and I think anyone can agree that as long as Jones’ cap hit is gone, any move mirroring it would indeed be a success.

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