Flyers add toughness with Tollefsen

The Flyers signed bruising defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen to a 1-year contract yesterday.

"We are very pleased to add Ole to our team," general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "Ole is a defenseman with size and defends very well. At 25 years old he is an ideal fit to the core of our team."

Tollefsen has been riddled with injuries over the last two seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He required two arthroscopic knee surgeries, and had an "upper-body injury" last season. He has been sidelined for 94 of the last 164 games.

The Flyers brought him to town Saturday for a physical and Holmgren told the Daily News earlier this week that Tollefson would fit the Flyers in the "sixth or seventh defenseman range."

"I feel great," Tollefson said. "I am really excited to be coming to Philadelphia. I have always been a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers and what they are all about. They play a gritty style of hockey and that is typical of me.

"I'm an energy guy. I bring a lot of energy every night, and I am very dependable in my own zone, making the simple plays and sticking up for my teammates."

Tollefsen appeared in 19 games last season with Columbus, with one assist and 37 penalty minutes.

A native of Oslo, Norway, Tollefsen is just the fifth Norwegian-born player to play in the NHL and the second player on the Flyers. Patrick Thoresen appeared in 21 regular-season games and 14 playoff games for the Flyers in 2007-08.

"Patrick is a really good buddy of mine," Tollefsen said. "I just talked with him last night, so he was pretty excited for me when I told him I would be playing for the Flyers. He had nothing to say but great things about the organization."

Over parts of four seasons in the NHL, Tollefsen has 10 points and 273 penalty minutes in 145 career games. He was originally selected by Columbus in the third round (65th overall) in the 2002 draft.