A small move, but with Briere coming back to the Flyers, defenseman Ossi Vaananen was waived and Gillis jumped on him. Our GM sure does love the freebies.
But you can't fault him as not too many 6'4'' stay at home defenseman are just hanging around out there and it doesn't hurt to have a Finnish Willie Mitchell clone eating up icetime instead of Davison or Nycholat. If he can stay healthier than perhaps other Finnish defensemen on the team, then he'll do just fine.
A good move for the Flyers too, shedding his $1,000,000 payroll and upping the chances they get the D-man they've been looking for. Vaananen will be a UFA at the end of the year. And might this suggest a D-man on the way out for for Vancouver?
But for now, welcome Ossi. Just for kicks, here is video of him knocking a ref over the boards.