(Photo: Dan4th Nicholas/flickr)

Freddy Meyer always seemed to me like one of those real under-the-radar types of defensemen. At 5’10 and 192 pounds, he is and was not what one would call physically imposing. At least, not until he checked you.

Meyer went undrafted and signed an entry-level contract with Philadelphia in 2003. He won a Calder Cup with the Philadelphia Phantoms during the lockout year of 2004-05, was subsequently traded to the Islanders for Alexei Zhitnik in 2006, and waived in 2007, where he landed in Phoenix. In November of that same year, he came to the Island again via waivers, and stayed for two seasons before signing with Atlanta in 2010 as a UFA.

In four seasons as an Islander, Meyer was injured often, and he was not an offensive type of player. He posted just 39 points (11 G, 28 A), and during one horrendous season in which he played only 27 games, he was a -19 all year. With all of that said, Freddy was always hard-working and willing to throw a big hit, as witnessed here:

The Islanders, however, let him go to Atlanta after his best offensive season in 2009-10 (15 points). Meyer lasted one year with the Thrashers (and had this terrifying episode) before leaving North America for Sweden, where he played with fellow ex-Isles Thomas Pock and Rob Schremp for MODO. Now… I’m not quite sure where he is. (Toward the bottom, where it says “Lamnar”? That apparently means “left team,” or some variant, in Swedish. Pock and Schremp also took their leave of MODO, apparently.)

Is Freddy Meyer possibly trying to come back into the NHL? It wouldn’t be TOO far-fetched, in my opinion. He’s older, but not that much older at 31, and I can’t really find anything suggesting he wants to stay in Sweden or go to another Euro league. However, I wonder if he’s at a disadvantage, with lack of both size and real offensive upside against him. NHL teams today want size and/or point production even from their blueliners, and if you have neither, you’ll have a tough time stating your case (see Jack Hillen, who also went undrafted, played for the Isles and is now on a two-way contract with Nashville — or was. More on him later). (Psst… the Isles have a spot or two open on defense… I know he’s small, guys, but we could welcome him back a second time, couldn’t we? I mean, he can HIT. Milan Jurcina couldn’t hit…)

Then again, I know nothing most of the time, so… maybe not.

Wherever you end up, Freddy, I wish you luck. Go get ‘em.

UPDATED: Meyer retired from the NHL in April of this year and is now assistant coach for the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs. Great to see him still involved with hockey at some level.