Below is one man’s opinion on various options and what I think it would take for them to land in Phialdelphia.I’m not endorsing any of them right now.

Shea Weber-Weber’s a 26 year old Norris candidate, who is arguably the best defenseman in the NHL right now. He’s on a one year contract and will be a RFA in July. Now, I have seen more trade ideas surrounding Weber than anyone else. One was Brayden Schenn, another prospect, and a couple of first rounders. Another was James van Riemsdyk, Sean Couturier and Erik Gustafsson for Weber and Jared Smithson.

To those proposals, I have one question. Is a 26 year old Shea Weber more valuable than a 34 year old Chris Pronger? In the summer of 2009, the Flyers traded Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and 2 1st rounders for Pronger. Lupul, at the time, was a 25 year old winger with 3 20+ goal seasons under his belt. Sbisa was a highly touted recent first round pick. To me, that’s a better return than the offers I saw above.

I’m thinking that, to be in the ballpark, Nashville’s going to want JvR, a healthy Schenn or Couturier, and a nice pick package, at least a 1st & 2nd, probably two 1st rounders. David Poile recently said as much in a recent interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennesseean. Anotherr factor is Weber’s salary moving forward. He’s going to cost a lot of money, upwards of $7.5mm a year. That means that if Pronger manages to come back next season, no matter how doubtful, the Flyers cap situation will be a mess.

Ryan Suter-Suter is Weber’s teammate. He’s not as big or physical, but he is a gifted two way defenseman. He likely will not cost as much as Weber, but he will still be expensive. Suter will be a UFA in July, so he will have to be re-signed, and I’d expect a hefty salary to be required to do that. Given Poile’s statements, he’s likely to want a guy like van Riemsdyk and probably another young player, such as Matt Read or Harry Zolnierczyk, plus a pick.

Bryan Allen & Tim Gleason-Allen is a big, physical stay at home defenseman, while Gleason is a smaller, but tough defender. Both are capable PK guys, but limited offensively. Allen is more of a stay at home type, while Gleason is more mobile and able to jump into the offensive flow. Both are UFA in July. Given Carolina’s position, they’d likely be looking for younger players and picks.

Nicklas Grossman-Dallas’ blueliner is similar to former Flyer Marcus Ragnarsson. Solid, doesn’t have a lot of flash, but you can plug him in and not worry about that 18-20 minutes of ice time. Grossman is also a UFA, and would likely be more costly than Allen or Gleason, since Dallas is in a better position to make the playoffs than the Hurricanes.

Francois Beauchemin-the Ducks defenseman is probably perfect for what the Flyers need. He’s physical, has a booming shot, can play 25 minutes, work on both the PK and PP. As such, he’ll probably cost more than Grossman, Allen or Gleason. He’s older, and also a UFA, but with Anaheim basically dead in the water, he could be pried loose once the Ducks decide how to proceed in their rebuild. One concern is that Beauchemin has struggled when he was not in Anaheim.

In the immediate future, quite frankly, the Pronger situation should have little impact. Pronger last played just under a month ago. The team has done well while he has been out, and they knew he was out until at least the end of December anyhow. Tonight marked the Flyers 7th straight win. To put it simply, the Flyers are rolling. They’re overcoming injuries to key players, periods of undisciplined play, weird bounces and determined opponents. Thus far, the 2011-12 Flyers have shown they can be a resilient bunch.

With the news that Pronger would be lost until training camp, at the earliest, came a flood of trade ideas. Names like Shea Weber and Ryan Suter topped the list. The trouble is, there’s not a lot of teams that will be willing to trade a number one defenseman during the season. If Holmgren can find a team willing to deal it’s top defenseman, you can be certain that the cost will be prohibitive.

When a franchise defenseman changes teams via a trade, it happens in the summer, not in January. Especially not in the salary cap era.

So, where does that leave the Flyers? Likely looking at mid-level defensemen like Bryan Allen or Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes. Nicklas Grossman of Dallas or Francois Beauchemin of Anaheim. The key thing with all those names, besides being solid defensive players who can be physical, is that all are going to be free agents in July.  That leaves the Flyers wiggle room in the summer to re-sign Matt Carle or go big game hunting in an effort to land a guy like Weber.

It also leaves the door open for a Pronger return next season.That’s probably getting ahead of ourselves.

The bottom line is, the Flyers need to recognize that they have had success without Pronger. They have a good, young nucleus and have managed to stockpile some draft picks in what looks to be a deep draft. The last thing they should do is rush into a panic deal. Recognize that as big a loss as Pronger is, they have done well enough to rise to the top of their conference and have their longest winning streak in ten years without him.

One player does not make a team.

Lyle Richardson, of Spector’s Hockey, does a very good write up on things this morning. He mentions nationally known pundits and their take on the cap and it’s good and bad points, and whether it’s been good for the game.

The salary cap was sold to fans as a way that small market teams could retain their key players and challenge for the Stanley Cup. The problem is, that before the start of the cap, the only team consistently in the top 5 of spending that consistently won was Detroit. The last post-lockout Stanley Cup Final was between Calgary and Tampa Bay. Since the lockout, the small markets have won 1 Stanley Cup-that being Carolina in 2006.

The other teams that have won? Detroit, Anaheim, Pittsburgh and Chicago. All of whom spent right up to the cap when they won. And all of whom failed to defend their title(except the Blackhawks, so far), in part, because of an exodus of players due to the impact of the salary cap.

Has the cap allowed small market teams to retain players? Ask Buffalo, Edmonton and Nashville fans. As Spector points out, the playing field is no more level now than it was in 2004. The difference is that the Rangers, Flyers, Red Wings and Devils have had to find new ways to creatively circumvent the cap.

Even the low spenders have to get over the cap hurdle. Without Alexei Yashin’s buyout cap hit, the Islanders would be under the minimum salary floor. The system is broken at both ends.

Respected hockey writers Steve Simmons and Dave Hodge point out that the cap punishes successful teams, like Chicago, who had to purge key pieces of their championship team to stay under the salary cap. They note that it’s more difficult to make trades, forced teams and players to walk away from mutually beneficial and happy situations to hit the bricks as free agents. It’s also banished veterans who might be on the downsides of their careers to be stuck playing in the minors or Europe if they wish to continue their professional hockey careers.

Obviously, some of those contracts were dumb ideas. Wade Redden, Sheldon Souray and Christobal Huet were overpaid and would have been had there been no salary cap. But now these guys are forced to play in the AHL or Europe because of big money deals that their employers can’t get rid of because of the impact of the salary cap.

I’m not crying for a guy who makes $6.5mm to ride a bus, but Wade Redden is a better hockey player than an Oskars Bartulis or Shane Hnidy, who hang on to a NHL job because they have small cap hits, not because they’re NHL level players. That waters down the talent in the league and is bad for fans.

Another writer I follow and enjoy, Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo.com’s Puck Daddy feels that the cap is a good thing.

He says it makes hockey a 365 day a year topic. It does, but is the added talk about the league a good thing? Or is it an embarrassment for the NHL like the Kovalchuk circus this summer? Hockey was already a nearly 365 day topic among it’s most ardent fans-August is really the lone month where hockey has little going on, and I’d rather be discussing a trade on August 21st than a ridiculous salary cap situation created because a team is trying to fit it’s star RFA winger under the cap.

Puck Daddy also says that it doesn’t hinder teams from building complete and deep teams. using the Pittsburgh example, he notes that the Pens could have retained Marian Hossa to give Sidney Crosby that long missing stud winger. They would have had to dump vital two way center Jordan Staal to do it, though.

To me, that’s a no win proposition. As much as the Pens would have loved to have a gunner for Sidney to feed, they realized that you need depth at center and PK ability-as well as a guy who always seems to score clutch goals-more than a top winger to play with their superstar center.

The Blackhawks managed to win a title with Hossa, but the aftermath was brutal as 9 popular and key player from the team had to be jettisoned in the summer. How does a fan who waited 49 years for that Stanley Cup parade feel when the speeches that follow it are good byes from guys that were popular and vital?

So, let’s bottom line it. The cap has not helped small market, low revenue teams keep their star players, because of an inability to surround those players with top talent while retaining the star player. The cap forces teams that do win to lose key players the following summer. The cap keeps talented, but overpaid vets, in the AHL or Europe and out of the radar of most casual fans. It hasn’t prevented several teams from bleeding money.

In short, it hasn’t worked. At all. Instead of hockey discussions, I’d guess that 75% of message board chatter deals with the salary cap in some way, shape or form. The fans always have to temper their discussions with, if he fits under the cap. I want to be a hockey fan again, not a guy who has to always keep in the back of his mind that every great play his team’s top young player makes, the closer he is to plying his trade on another team-or the closer he is to forcing a veteran player who has been a fixture for years out the door.

Ask any fan that plunked down $85 to see the Devils dress 15 skaters last week if the cap works. It doesn’t.

This leaves Guerin at a crossroads. He only wants to play for a contender, but not many seem to have room for him. He also didn’t play well enough in his short time in Philly to really entice teams.

Guerin came into Philly asking for a try out, and then seemed to expect that his name alone would be enough to get him a contract. His play was ineffective. He didn’t show much in the way of full out effort. His comments to the media made it seem that he expected to be handed a job because he was Bill Guerin.

He found out today that his name didn’t mean half as much as his level of passion and play.

In fact, we’re already seeing calls for the inexperienced Bobrovsky to be named the Flyers starter. That’s insanity. First off, unless room is created, cap wise, Bobrovsky’s contract won’t even fit. He’s got the biggest payday of any goalie in the organization, and unless Michael Leighton is on the long term IR, Bobrovsky would have to bump a skater.

Secondly, Bobrovsky’s experience in North America consists of three pre-season games. He’s looked very good, but also pretty green. He covered a puck in the faceoff circle, and had no idea that it was a delay of game for him to do so.

Also, how many guys have come from European leagues and had high levels of success off the bat as their team’s starter? I can think of two Roman Cechmanek and Nik Backstrom. Both of whom were more experienced and established than Bobrovsky.

Leighton is currently battling a back injury, and no real timetable has been submitted. Hopefully, all that does is open a door for Brian Boucher to steal the starting job. Let Bobrovsky simmer for at least a few months in the AHL.

Matt Walker was the player acquired in the salary dump trade of Simon Gagne this past summer. He’s looked OK during the preseason, but with the Flyers toeing the line in terms of number of players and salary cap, Walker has to be better than OK.

He has to be playing at a noticeably better level than free agent addition Sean O’Donnell and holdover Oskars Bartulis. That hasn’t happened. Walker’s $1.7mm cap hit could prove to be his undoing as a Flyer, especially if Bill Guerin is signed to a NHL deal.

When it was announced that Guerin was getting a PTO, there seemed to be a kind of a wink-nod feel, as if they had hammered out terms, and didn’t want to put themselves under the gun to make room immediately.

That feeling increased when Guerin bumped free agent Nikolai Zherdev from #9 to #93. It’s also fostered speculation that Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe, Walker, Bartulis, or even free agent additions O’Donnell or Jody Shelley could be dumped.

Guerin’s play might make finding room to fit him a needless task. Guerin has looked slow, disinterested and sort of lost in the pre-season. That’s when he wasn’t invisible.

I know Guerin has a great track record, but based solely on the way he’s looked in the games, there’s no way I’d paint myself into the corner of having to dump Carcillo, Shelley or Powe.

Andrej Meszaros’ preseason might be the only one worse than Guerin’s. He’s been a flat mess. Hopefully, he gets things turned around, because he could easily surpass Chris Gratton as the most hated addition from Tampa Bay in Philadelphia Sports history.

Pronger signed the contract over a year ago.

Unfortunately, the NHL can revisit contracts that it already had approved, and it’s possible that Pronger’s contract could be voided.

What other professional sports league constantly goes out of it’s own way to give itself a black eye in a PR sense? I blame the NHL’s board of governors, commissioner Gary Bettman, his lackey Daly and the NHLPA’s even more inept leadership for taking hockey fans down an annual road of embarrassment from off ice issues.

Bettman at the NHL's Spelling Bee, halfway through the word "Hull"

Why is the greatest sport in the world forced to endure men like Bettman at the helm of it’s preeminent league? Why must the fans have to suffer the inane decisions made by the BOG. Why do things always seem to blow up in the face of the league, despite Bettman and Daly claiming they do due dilligence on everything from approving uniform changes to hiring refs to expansion?

Apparently, the other contracts under investigation, despite being signed over a year ago, include Roberto Luongo, Marian Hossa and Marc Savard. Going to be interesting if Hossa’s deal, which has already started, is voided.

If it takes another hockey free year to get rid of the current BOG set-up, the inept Bettman, the Napoleanic Daly and the stooges who currently run the NHLPA, I might actually root for another labor apocalypse.

I don’t think I trust these morons to run the night shift at a Wendy’s in Tombstone, Arizona.

Your 2010-11 goalie, Flyer fans

pat in goal with Michael Leighton as their starter.

Obviously an 11th hour surprise could happen, such as the Flyers signing Jose Theodore or even Anti Niemi, whose arbitration award of $2.75mm pushed him into unrestricted free agency when Chicago walked away and signed Turco as his replacement. Leighton is still one of just 2 goalies who were heading tounrestricted free agency this summer that have gotten a raise- Antero Niittymaki being the the other.

UPDATE: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has told the Philadelphia Inquirer that they have no interest in Niemi.

The Flyers came off their run to the Stanley Cup Final and made several significant changes. Long time Flyer Simon Gagne found himself traded after a farcical two weeks of uncertainty that seemed to be, in part, due to the Ilya Kovalchuk negotiations and in the end was a deal worked out by Gagne’s agent, Bob Sauve.  Ryan Parent, who looked like he could be a long time part of the Flyers top four on defense was dealt to Nashville for the rights to Dan Hamhuis. Arron Asham, a quality grinder for the past couple years is walking around without a job.

Brought in? Andrej Meszaros, a guy the Flyers seemed to have coveted for a couple of years. Two veterans who seem to be cut from the cloth of Flyers past-Jody Shelley and Sean O’Donnell…and one guy who seems to be the antithesis of being a Flyer-Nikolai Zherdev.

The funny thing is, looking at the Stanley Cup Final, it seemed clear that the biggest weakness was in goal. The sort of goals the Flyers allowed-and I’m talking both Leighton and back-up Brian Boucher here-were the kind of goals that were the fault of the goalies. The Flyers may well have tightened up the defense corps, and Zherdev helps replace Gagne’s offense, but Leighton and Boucher will have to improve.

Flyers goalie coach Jeff Reese is a huge key to the Flyers 2010-11 season

Flyers goalie coach Jeff Reese is well regarded and made a few technical changes to Leighton’s game that helped him improve from a guy waived by the 30th place team to the starter for a conference champion. Reese feels that a full camp and off season will make Leighton that much better. Reese deserves the benefit of the doubt here, as he has worked well with several goalies over his career in Tampa Bay and Philly. If he can do his thing again, the Flyers should be OK in goal.

Otherwise, by the time the deadline rolls around, it might be Leights out.

For a guy like Gagne, who was as classy as he was talented, the way his tenure in Philadelphia ended was deplorable. Faced with a huge cap problem after trading for Andrej Meszaros and his 4 year, $4mm per year contract, the Flyers let word get out that they had asked Gagne to waive his NTC.

The following two weeks were the  stuff of bad reality TV, reports that had the Flyers shopping Gagne around like Don Magic Juan would shop a runaway off the bus from Kansas. Sources claiming he was going to Los Angeles one day, Toronto the next, Montreal the next. Then we had Gagne himself telling RDS that he had NOT waived the no trade clause.

The last chapter in the saga was Paul Holmgren basically agreeing to give Gagne away, by telling his agent, former NHL goalie Baob Sauve, to find a trade that worked for Gagne.

Gagne’s ten years as a Flyer saw the team make a trip to the Stanley Cup final, three conference finals and make the playoffs in 9 out of ten seasons. It saw Gagne become and all star at the NHL level, an Olympic Gold Medal winner and a player who knew what it meant to be a Philadelphia Flyer.

Best of luck, Gags.

For the Flyers, what’s next? They now have 8 NHL caliber defensemen, 7 of whom make over $1mm a year-in most of those cases a LOT more. The goaltending still has some serious questions and there’s major cap issues looming next summer, when Claude Giroux, Ville Leino and Jeff Carter are all up for new deals.

This strange, twisted and whirlwind of a summer isn’t done yet…it might not be done until the trade deadline, to be honest.

New start, new team, new wife...Zherdev has a lot to be happy about

The Flyers announced that they came to terms on a one year deal with former Columbus and New York winger Nikolai Zherdev late this week. Reportedly, Zherdev will be paid $2mm, or half of the $4mm he supposedly was angling for.

The addition of Zherdev turns the gentle hand on the shoulder guiding Simon Gagne 0ut the door into a not so subtle kick in the pants.

Speaking of that, there’s rumors abounding that Gagne has already been traded, has sold the jersey he wore in game six of the Stanley Cup Final and has had the Flyers’ tattoo on his ass lasered off.

The truth is, Gagne still hasn’t agreed to waive the clause. He does seem to be able to read the writing on the wall, though. “The chances that I stay in Philadelphia are slim”, says Gagne. “We’re still at the stage of looking at our options.”

Sounds like a guy who will be wearing a color other than the orange and black vfor the first time in his NHL career in the fall.

Zherdev will be counted on to help replace the offense lost when Gagne is dealt. He’s a 3 time 20+ goal scorer, who has dazzling offensive skills and vision.

He also has a rep as a loafer, being moody and difficult to be close to. The Flyers are banking on their leadership group and coaching staff to ease the bad out and make the most of the good. They also hope that Zherdev’s time spent in the KHL opened his eyes to the opportunity he has now.

Zherdev has not been available for the media for the past few days, as he just got married and is on his honeymoon.

There has been nothing to report on the contract talks between the Flyers and either of their restricted free agents, Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe. Carcillo filed for arbitration and as a result could easily find himself elsewhere. The Flyers supposedly spoke with the agent for UFA Arron Asham the day after Carcillo filed.

Carcillo might be used as a sweetener in a potential Gagne trade.

The "other" new Flyer with roots in Ohio and NYC

The Flyers did sign journeyman forward Greg Moore to a deal. He will very likely be a member of the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms.  The US born Moore is a solidly built center, with 10 NHL games under his belt. Like Zherdev, he has played for Columbus and the New York Rangers.

The Flyers also held rookie camp this past week, in Voorhees NJ, with one day spent in Stone Harbor and Avalon NJ. I was unable to attend the camp, but got word that Eric Wellwood was a standout.

The younger brother of Vancouver free agent Kyle, Wellwood was a sixth round draft pick of the Flyers and a member of back-to-back Memorial Cup champs the Windsor Spitfires.

In an ironic twist, it’s felt that Eric needs to add some weight to his frame to make an impact in the NHL.

Simon Gagne may well stay a Flyer

“I have a no-trade clause and I didn’t waive it,” Gagne said. “The Flyers have a salary cap problem, and I’m a player that is on the tail end of his contract, with still a year to complete. The next few days may help us to see what’s going to happen for me.”

So….that might make things a little difficult, as other reports have the Flyers a few dotted i’s and crossed t’s away from bringing former Blue Jacket and Rangers winger Nikolai Zherdev back from the KHL.

If Gagne has not, or possibly will not waive his NTC to help the Flyers clear cap space, they do have other options. They could get one of their other big ticket players with a no trade or no movement clause to agree to waive. They could trade a younger guy with a sizeable hit, like Jeff Carter or Matt Carle. They could, er, ah….well, they have a couple options.

I’ll try to update later as I learn more on the Gagne situation

As for Zherdev, several European sources have been reporting that the Flyers were interested in the talented but inconsistent Zherdev. It seemed that it was a bid to fill the offensive hole left by a Gagne trade. Now…who knows. The story was picked up by the local media, and it seems as if Zherdev’s deal will be close to $2.75mm, if it goes down. Zherdev, the 4th overall pick in 2003, hass 99 career NHL goals.

The strange off season continues for the Flyers.

There was a sense that a Kovalchuk signing would unleash an avalanche of moves.

There was a ripple Friday evening, when the Philadelphia Flyers, one of the teams that had supposedly made an offer to Kovalchuk, asked forward Simon Gagne to waive his no trade clause, and Gagne reportedly agreed. This news was greeted with a wave of anger by a lot of Flyers fans, as Gagne is the longest serving Flyers’ player and a very popular guy.

The initial assumption was that Gagne would be moved to create cap room for a goaltender. That seemed to change when a Russian news source indicated that the Flyers had been involved in the Kovalchuk hunt. The story has changed several times-the original article was mistranslated from Russia and the Flyers had no interest, the Flyers had made a offer with a cap hit of $7mm per year, that the Flyers simply had feelers…in other words, the typical lack of hard information you can see when dealing with a Russian media source.

It might seem as if Kovalchuk is laying down on the job of choosing a new team, but his agents seems to be busy as a beaver.

Adding Kovalchuk would necessitate the trade of more than Simon Gagne. The Flyers have a couple of spots to fill and based on who they carry as a 13th forward or 7th defenseman, could have $2mm in cap room. They have 2 restricted free agents to sign, Darroll Powe and Dan Carcillo, with the latter filing for arbitration yesterday. Assuming that both Powe and Carcillo return, bringing Kovalchuk would likely result in trading Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Matt Carle or Danny Briere , as well as Gagne, to make the room-and open up another hole.

Personally,I feel that adding Kovalchuk would continue an underwhelming free agency period for the Flyers. Andrej Meszaros is a talented young defenseman. But to trade a second rounder for his $4mm a year cap hit, without even waiting to see what kind of deals would be offered to free agents Paul Martin, Zbyneck Michalek and Anton Volchenkov seems to be a little more aggressive than smart, considering what the other 3 signed for.

The Jody Shelley signing has been lambasted on many message boards, and it’s not hard to understand it. Shelley replaces Riley Cote as the team’s heavyweight at twice the cap hit. But Cote was basically a non factor. He played just seven games after Peter Laviolette was hired in December, and just three in the calendar year of 2010. Shelley’s addition means that Arron Asham will not be back.

Asham is a more talented scorer, but lacks the size and fighting presence Shelley adds. Still, Asham is more capable of filing various spots up and down the line up-he spent games playing on the team’s top offensive line when injuries stuck-and had a more modest cap hit than Shelley’s $1.1mm per year.

My guess here is that Shelley is going to be counted on to provide the Flyers with a heavyweight enforcer who can handle taking a regular shift, and allow the team to roll four lines. The Flyers seemed to be a far better team when they were able to distribute the ice time to more players and keep the wear and tear off Mike Richards, Carter, Gagne and others who saw a lot of time on both the power play and penalty kill units.

Very few complaints about Braydon Coburn’s new contract or the signing of veteran defenseman Sean O’Donnell, though.

It's still not a sure thing that Simon Gagne has scored his last goal for the Flyers.

Getting back to Kovalchuk, his agent, Jay Grossman, tweeted that they were getting close, but there would be no decision last night-despite an earlier tweet that said yesterday would be D-Day for the winger. It’s expected that Kovalchuk will sign in New Jersey, but that Los Angeles, Philadelphia or the Islanders might have lingering interest, despite denials of an offer from the Isles and the Kings saying they had made their best offer and were out of the running. Of course, with Kovalchuk being a Russian, there’s the obligatory KHL deal on the table.

What it boils down to, for the Flyers, Simon Gagne likely won’t be going anywhere until the Kovalchuk deal is completed, whenever that may be, and frankly maybe even not then.

Carcillo Files

Tim Panaccio observed via twitter that in the Bob Clarke Era, every player that filed for arbitration was gone within a year. Given the Flyers’ cap issues, it seems Carcillo’s filing could be his ticket out of town

UPDATE 12:24 PM-According to the team’s website, the new additions will be assigned the following uniform numbers: 6-O’Donnell, 41-Meszaros and 45-Shelley…having worn about 15 different numbers myself, it’s not a big deal to me, but some folks love to know these things.

The rumor was soon confirmed by several mainstream media members, notably TSN’s Darren Dreger, ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun, and local Philadelphia writers Tim Panaccio and Anthony San Fillippo.

Gagne, the longest tenured Flyer, could be heading to a new team as soon as next week

San Fillippo and Panaccio were the first to break the news that Gagne agreed to waive the clause. Subsequent reports by both men say that the main team involved is the Los Angeles Kings, whose GM is former Flyer scout Dean Lombardi, and whose assistant GM is long time Flyers netminder Ron Hextall.

The Flyers moves on the opening day of free agency-trading for Andrej Meszaros, re-signing Michael Leighton and Braydon Coburn and signing veterans Jody Shelley and Sean O’Donnell-have pushed the team to the brink of the salary cap. There was probably enough room after some minor tweaks to re-sign restricted free agent forwards Darroll Powe and Dan Carcillo, but little else.

The Gagne trade speculation started yesterday with Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean saying that Gagne was being shopped and that he’d played his last game as a Flyer.

Other speculation surrounded Jeff Carter, who GM Paul Holmgren had basically called untouchable, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle. However, Gagne makes the most sense. He’s a UFA next July, at the same time as Carter and playoff studs Ville Leino and Claude Giroux  will be RFA’s. It would have been impossible to keep all 4, and Gagne was the only one that could have walked for nothing.

I won’t get into the potential return for Gagne, except to say that the Flyers are unlikely to take much salary back. If any deal is made, it appears that it will happen after the July 4th holiday weekend. One very likely result of Gagne being dealt would be the Flyers using the resulting cap room to sign former Dallas goalie Marty Turco.

Personally, I am torn on the probable departure of Gagne. He’s been around so long, it’s hard to remember a time when he wasn’t a key part of the team. I have always respected his play and work ethic, yet I could never call him one of my favorite players. If he is dealt, I certainly would wish him all the best in his new city.

Anyhow, it looks like after the 4th of July, the Flyers will be unleashing some fireworks.

Fast forward many years. Unlike that 1975 team, the Flyers have, shall we say, a weakness in goal. Of course, it’s not a gigantic hole. Michael Leighton provided solid, sometimes spectacular, work as the Flyers drove to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, Leighton’s play dipped when they got there, the Flyers top line failed to score much and they were toppled by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The good news? There was a very solid looking crop of free agent goalies. Past all stars, Vezina winners and guys very comparable to Craig Anderson, who went from back-up in Florida to getting Hart Trophy votes as league MVP. Obviously, the Flyers didn’t sign any of them as yet-7 hours or so into the free agency period.

So, what did they do? They solidified their defense corps, re-signed Leighton and RFA Braydon Coburn, and made a curious signing up front.

Step One-was before free agency began. On Wednesday evening, the Flyers re-signed Leighton to a 2 year, $3.1mm deal. That sent a clear message that he’d get an opportunity to at least compete for the starting job. I’m fine with having Leighton compete for the gig, but I did not want to see him handed the role. I fully expected to see Dan Ellis, Chris Mason or even Jose Theodore signed as competition…but more on that later.

New Flyer Andrej Meszaros hopes to put a rough stretch in Tampa behind him.

Step two was this morning, shortly before noon. The Flyers sent a 2nd round pick to Tampa Bay for defenseman Andrej Meszaros. Meszaros was coveted by the Flyers a couple years back, when he was an Ottawa Senators RFA. He was traded to the Lightning and seemed to really find his way…into the dumpster.

Meszaros has considerable tools, but he was nowhere near the big cap hit he brought to Tampa. His offensive game sputtered, he suffered through various injuries and seemed to simply be prone to horrid decision making. If he can get back into form as a 2nd or third pair guy, with less pressure and responsibility, this deal could be a really good one for the Flyers. The Flyers also traded for Matt Carle who had struggled for the Bolts and he was solid all year for the Flyers, showing flashes of brilliance.

Of course, Meszaros’ $4mm cap hit is more than those of Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder, and just slightly less than those of guys who signed this afternoon, like Anton Volchenkov and Paul Martin. None of those guys are as big a risk as Meszaros is. He could be a steal and provide excellent two way play with a bit of a physical edge, or he could be a disaster…

Once the bell rung on free agency, the Flyers added another defenseman, former Duck and King Sean O’Donnell. The gritty veteran has a lot of miles, but there’s still enough tread on the tires for what his role will be-that of experienced sixth defenseman with grit and smarts. He’s a former defense partner of Chris Pronger and a former teammate of forward Ian Laperriere.

Next came the real inexplicable move. The Flyers signed veteran enforcer Jody Shelley to a 3 year deal worth $3.3mm. Considering that current enforcer Riley Cote was a healthy scratch for all but two games after Peter Laviolette took over behind the Flyers’ bench, Shelley’s addition is a head scratcher for a team so close to the salary cap.

Shelley is a better fighter and player than Riley Cote, and great for the room.

It could be that Shelley is a replacement for lost tough guy Arron Asham, who was not offered a deal. The trouble is, Shelley is making almost twice what Asham did and is not as good a player as the departing energy line stalwart. The Flyers seemed to thrive under Laviolette when they could roll four lines. Shelley makes it easier to dress a heavyweight enforcer and do that, but he’s a downgrade as a player.

Braydon Coburn re-signed for 2 years, $6.4mm just as the festivities got underway at noon.

So, what does this mean for the 2010-11 season? Well, the Flyers could still grab a solid free agent goalie to battle Leighton. Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco, both of whom were spoken too by the Flyers prior to the official opening of free agency, are still out there. So is former Vezina and Hart winner Theodore, who had a solid year in Washington.

The thing, I guess , that bothers me about goal is that Leighton signed for more money than Dan Ellis got from Tampa Bay. Chris Mason got $300,ooo more from Atlanta. Both guys, IMO, are slight upgrades to Leighton. It’s troubling to me that the Flyers were not involved in those talks more significantly.

So, bottom line-the forwards take a slight hit, the defense potentially is better and in goal they tread water. All this while Pittsburgh and New Jersey add solid players on their bluelines and get better.

It could be worse. I could be a Rangers or Flames fan, writing a suicide note that prominently featured the names Sutter, Sather, Boogaard and Jokinen.

The word is that the team is done for now, but if Turco and Nabokov are still out there in a few days, they might revisit their talsk with the veteran backstops. There’s also some rumblings about possible trades, including a tweet by Nick Kypreos saying that Simon Gagne’s name had been tossed about in the Meszaros talks.

UPDATE: There are several rumors going about concerning Simon Gagne. Former Panthers and Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean posted on twitter that a Flyers source had told him that Gagne had played his last game as a Flyer. Other Flyers bloggers who generally have an ear close to the ground seemed to confirm that Gagne was being shopped.

It will be interesting to see if Gagne, the dean of  the Flyers, is dealt and for what.

Michael Leighton did take the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final, after all

Twenty-Four hours before one of the deepest free agent goalie crops in recent memory, the Philadelphia Flyers went out and re-signed Michael Leighton for $3.1mm over two years.

I for one am surprised-I have mentioned in this forum a few times that I didn’t expect Leighton to return. However, now that it’s done, what are the ramifications?

For one, I doubt that Leighton is the only goalie that the Flyers sign this summer. I’m sure there will still be noise about Evgeni Nabokov or Marty Turco, but given the Flyers cap situation a guy like Dan Ellis makes more sense-if he refuses to sign with Montreal. I suspect that whomever it is, there will be an open competition for the starting job.It’s also possible..maybe likely…that the Flyers turn to an old friend such as Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, or KHL All Star Robert Esche to compete with Leighton.

How does Leighton’s cap hit affect the re-signing process for the team’s key RFA’s? There’s already been hints that the Braydon Coburn negotiations could be difficult. Rumors say that the Flyer tried to work out an extension during the season but were rebuffed. Getting Coburn re-signed or getting value in return is vital for the Flyers.

The other RFA’s-Dan Carcillo and Darrol Powe-should be fairly easy to sign. UFA’s Arron Asham, Lukas Krajicek, Ray Emery and Mika Pyorala will not be back.  Getting Powe, Carcillo and Coburn re-signed for under $5mm would be a coup for Holmgren.

I’d also be surprised to see Brian Boucher or Riley Cote back as Flyers, despite their being signed for next year. Cote could possibly go back to the AHL, but I suspect that Boucher would be traded or bought out.

The Flyers also need another defenseman or two. Big tickets like Anton Volchenkov, Paul Martin and Dan Hamhuis are probably not

Could Henrik Tallinder be the Flyers big addition on D?

realistic options, but the Flyers reportedly have interest in Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder of Buffalo and Zybynec Michalek of Phoenix. It’s also been suggested that have looked at Masterton finalist Kurtis Foster from Tampa Bay.

If they add any of those defensemen, it’s likely they’ll have to find a way to shed more money.

There’s also a strong possibility they will look at some FA forwards to add some scoring depth and balance the top 9 a little better.

So, an early summer recap-

The Flyers trade a 23 year old defenseman for the rights to a 27 year old defenseman who either wants to play top pair minutes, or on the West Coast or both. They salvage that by sending the defenseman to Pittsburgh for a third rounder, where it appears they will not be able to get his autograph on a new deal, either.

They get permission to talk to the two big name free agent goalies, seem to try and low-ball them and 24 hours before free agency begins, they re-sign the guy that took over as their starter last year with a raise and a chance to be the starter, and probably pissed off a big chunk of fans…and it’s not even July yet

The Flyers hit a snag in discussions with Hamhuis and his agent, Wade Arnott, and decided that rather than continue the shadowboxing, they’d move forward.

Ray Shero did his old buddy Paul Holmgren a solid. Shero dealt a 3rd rounder in 2011 for a player who he might not be able to sign

The interesting part is that the reports about the negotiations were as varied as the suits that Don Cherry wears on Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada.

Tim Panaccio, veteran Flyers beatwriter wrote that Hamhuis had agreed on term and dollars, but was unhappy with the role Holmgren say him filling. However, Arnott refuted this by saying to ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun that he had made no demands or took any stance.

Regardless, it seems pretty obvious that Holmgren’s gamble on Hahuis was going to fail. Either the defenseman wanted to be guaranteed a bigger role, wanted to test the open market on the 1st of July or simply didn’t want to be a Flyer. Holmgren needs to be better aware of little tidbits like that in the future when he ships an asset off for a UFA.

As Friday wore on, Holmgren fielded offers for Hamhuis’ rights, finally agreeing to move them to cross state rival Pittsburgh for a 2011 3rd rounder. If one rationalizes, Holmgren made a good deal to get a third rounder for Ryan Parent-who was originally traded to the Nashville Predators for Hamhuis’ rights.

Also towards the end of the first round, Holmgren was seen talking with San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson. Speculation was immediately that the Flyers were trying to trade into the first round…but that soon evaporated. Holmgren left the draft floor and closeted with super agent Don Meehan, whose clients include current Flyer Chris Pronger…and maybe future Flyer Evgeni Nabokov.

Will Nabokov Have to Fight Pronger for Number 20?

Today it was reported by Panaccio that the Flyers had been granted permission to talk to the veteran goalie prior to July 1st. The condition? If the Flyers were to sign Nabokov PRIOR to July 1st, the Sharks would receive a 2011 7th round draft choice from Philly.

Nabokov would step in and instantly be the most accomplished goalie the Flyers have had since Ron Hextall’s first tour in Philadelphia. He’s posted a career 2.39 goals against average, a smart .912 save percentage, had 50 career shutouts and has 293 career wins.

He’s coming off another good year and despite his age-35 next month-shows no signs of fading.

He has a reputation of coming up short in the playoffs, but his playoff numbers are similar to the one he has in the regular season-2.29 GAA and a .913 svpct.

The Flyers also traded AHL center Jon Matsumoto to Carolina at the draft for the 206th pick.

He also traded young defenseman Ryan Parent to secure Hamhuis’ rights.

Now various reports, some from the “legitimate” press, indicate that the Flyers and Hamhuis are “NOT close to a deal”. One website tossed some hard to fathom numbers out, saying that Hamhuis wanted between $3.75-$4mm and the Flyers were offering a shade over $3mm per year.

My feeling is, had Hamhuis asked for $3.75mm per year, he would have been signed within 60 seconds.

Most reputable media and analysts feel Hamhuis is worth far more than $3.75mm-TSN’s Bob MacKenzie tweeted that he’d be surprised if Hamhuis signed for less than $4.5mm per year.

The Flyers may own his rights, but Hamhuis isn't likely to give them a hometown discount

Obviously, Holmgren and Wade Arnott, Hamhuis’ agent, haven’t exactly had a ton of time to hammer things out-and that isn’t an issue. Maybe I am a bit discouraged, because when the deal went down, I figured it was closer to the 2007 trade that saw the Flyers secure Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen from the Preds, and had them agreeing to terms before the news of the trade even broke.

In the Hamhuis case, Holmgren had no talks prior with Arnott or Hamhuis, which I find a bit troubling. Why trade an asset, such as a former first rounder like Parent, for a guy you can just negotiate with freely in another week to ten days? It’s not as if Holmgren was going to get a home town discount. When he acquired Timonen and Hartnell he pretty much paid what the open market would have dictated. So did Calgary when they acquired Jay Bouwmeester at last year’s draft.

The only reasonable reason to trade an asset is if you expect somebody else to swoop in and trade for a player’s rights. That’s understandable, but why not demand to be able to talk to the player to get a ballpark idea before hand?

It’s a moot point if the Flyers sign Hamhuis by July 1st, before another team can drive the prices up. But it is a concern. There have been times where Holmgren used assets that could have been kept and the end result was just that an asset was wasted. Hopefully this isn’t one of those.

Flyers Talk to Boston about Tim Thomas

According to a tweet from Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia’s Tim Panaccio, they Flyers have indeed spoken with the Boston Bruins about former Vezina winner Tim Thomas.

Thomas, 36, signed a 4 year $20mm contract after the 2008-09 season.  He lost the starting job in Boston to rookie Tuukka Rask and his agent has been given permission by GM Peter Chiarelli to search for a trade.

Thomas is a good goalie, obviously, who had a nomadic journey, going to Europe for several years before getting a shot with the Bruins. He’s a firey guy, who has tremendous reflexes and an very unorthodox style.

The knocks on Thomas are mostly based on his age. Being a reflex goalie-and a small one at that-one has to wonder if he’ll still be a capable starter at the end of his contract, which has three season remaining on it, counting the upcoming 2010-11 campaign. Thomas will be 39 when his deal expires.

Could Tim Thomas find himself as a Flyer sometime in the next week?

The other age based issues are that Thomas was 35 when he signed the deal, meaning that it’s an “Over 35 deal” and subject to the salary cap, whether he is in the league or working construction. He also has a fully vested no movement clause, which is in effect until 2012, per www.capgeek.com. The $5mm per year cap hit means that even if the Flyers don’t come to terms with Hamhuis, they’ll likely have to make a deal to fit the money under their strained cap.

One other concern is, stylistically, I wonder if Thomas is the right kind of goalie for the way the Flyers play defense. A bigger goalie, such as Michael Leighton, who relies on taking up as much of the net as possible seems to be a better fit. However, Thomas has had his doubters from day one, and has proven the large majority of them wrong. I wouldn’t bet against him.

Carter should continue having his goal celebrations in Orange & Black

So when Holmgren sat down with Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia’s John Boruk and stated that not only have the Flyers never tried to trade center Jeff Carter, also took it further, saying, “I can’t foresee (Carter) on another team”, it’s hard to imagine the big guy being traded anywhere, unless a king’s ransom is headed back to Philadelphia.

Some have speculated that the NHLPA voting for the 5% escalator clause prompted Holmgren decision to emphatically deny the Carter rumors swirling. Me? I’m not surprised, simply because Carter is the only center in town with size. People can nitpick his playoffs performance, but they over look that he was playing with 2 broken feet and was supposed to be done for the year in round one.  He played out of position on a wing and is still more the guy who scored 79 goals in the past two seasons than the broken footed winger we saw in the final. Even with Holmgren tossing out the old “Never say never, ” cliche, I think Carter stays in Philly.

It would be a dreadful mistake to deal a guy with Carter’s abilities for less than a huge return.

GOALIES!

Holmgren also mentioned that he has not yet spoken to Mike Liut, the former NHL all star goalie who represents Michael Leighton.  Leighton obviously performed as well as could be expected, and despite my misgivings, remains an option to return in some capacity.

Holmgren has to address goal in the same way he struck to address his defense corps.

The Flyers have two goalies with NHL experience under contract-Brian Boucher and Johan Backlund. It’s being assumed now that Boucher will be pushed for the back-up role by Backlund, who admittedly has seen less NHL ice time than one would like for a team with serious Stanley Cup aspirations.

If Leighton is brought back for money close to Boucher, one would have to assume he’d take over the top spot in the race to be the team’s back-up. I wouldn’t have any issues in bringing Leighton back in such a role. He’s proven he can be a decent NHL goalie.

I do hear a lot being made in the local media about how costly it could be for the Flyers if they resolve the position in free agency. I beg to differ. There might be 3 good teams looking for starting goalies-Philly, San Jose and Washington. Guys who are unrestricted include Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco, Jose Theodore, Dan Ellis, Marty Biron, Antero Niittymaki and Chris Mason.  I bet a few of those fellas would sign a reasonable tender in Philly, for a chance to play behind the Flyers new defense.

Dan Hamhuis is the latest Nashville Predator to be dealt to the Flyers.

Parent was the Flyers sixth defenseman for much of the season, at least when he was healthy. He is a former first round pick of the Preds and was acquired from the Flyers in the Peter Forsberg trade near the 2007 trade deadline, along with Scottie Upshall and a first round pick-which was traded back to Nashville for the rights to Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. Dizzy yet?

We do know that Hamhuis is a good two way defenseman, with tons of hockey smarts and decent size, although he’s not overly physical. He can be used as a shutdown type defender, doesn’t commit many turnovers coming out of the zone and is a fluid skater.

We also know that Parent lost the trust of Flyers coach Peter Laviolette in the playoffs. Parent was touted as being a future shutdown defenseman, but injuries have hampered his development. He’s had stretches as a Flyer where he looks as if he’s been in the NHL for 10 years. But those have been too infrequent.

One other thing we know about Parent is, Ron Hextall had more offensive upside at age 24 than Parent does. He’s strictly a defensive player, capable of making smart outlet passes and having good mobility.

We can prove that being issued uniform #77 for the Flyers means a short and disappointing tenure in Philadelphia-whether your name is Paul Coffey, Adam Oates, Chris Gratton or Parent.

Now, what do we think…Many, many things. Some interesting, some not.

First, does this sent a clarion call that Braydon Coburn Flyers jerseys will soon be 50% off at the Flyers Fan Shop? It was reported during the season that Paul Holmgren approached Coburn’s agent to work out an extension and either Coburn was insulted by a low offer or he simply wanted to wait until the summer. Regardless, you have to think Coburn wants a deal in the neighborhood of Boston’s Dennis Seidenberg, who just signed a 4 year deal worth $3.25mm per season.  Hamhuis will probably get just north of that neighborhood, perhaps as much as $4mm per year.

With the Flyers fairly close to the cap, it’s hard to imagine a 5th defenseman making over $3mm per year.

What Else could the Flyers be doing to clear space? Guys like Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Simon Gagne have been mentioned in rumors-some more prominently than others. With a need in net, plus figuring out where to get a reliable 5th defenseman, moving a big contract for draft choices or cheaper young players is a possible route open.

Even this version of Van Halen has some great songs to crank up when you're in the car

Van Halen is the perfect band to have on the radio when you’re driving by the beach.

If the Flyers do deal a center like Carter or Briere for cap room, do they hit the FA market looking for a good scoring line winger that might have a lot of mileage, but comes at a easy cap hit? Ray Whitney, I’m looking at you, buddy.

Could adding Hamhuis lead to re-signing the young and full of potential Coburn and trading veteran Kimmo Timonen away? Timonen has a few years left on his deal, but he has one of those good ol frontloaded contracts that the NHL apparently realize existed only last summer. Timonen’s salary drops dramatically in the final two years of his deal, perfect for a team short on dollars who needs to get over the cap floor.

I’m pretty sure that at some point the Flyers will sign a goaltender to a new contract. My gut says that Dan Ellis…another Predator, will join his former teammate Hamhuis in Philly. Ellis tweeted last night that his favorite movie, Law Abiding Citizen takes place in a pretty cool city…Yeah, grasping at straws, I know.

Miller Lite’s Vortex Bottle is almost as bad as the “beer” itself. Of course, since it was free, I shouldn’t complain.

Does anyone else think that Stan Bowman woke up after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup sort of like Ed Helms did in The Hangover, when he realized he couldn’t match any sort of offer sheet tossed at his RFA players?

Jesus, this room is saved under my Visa!!!

Anyhow, per Tim Panaccio of Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia, Holmgren and Hamhuis’ agent have touched base on a new deal and talks will begin in earnest Monday morning. Wade Arnott says that “anything is possible” when asked about getting a deal done prior to Friday’s NHL entry draft.

It’s very possible we could see more trade activity prior to the Friday night kick off, since as it stands the Flyers will not be making a choice until the third round-plenty of time for Holmgren to harass other GM’s with trade ideas.

The Philadelphia Flyers fall into that final group. They had a complete turnaround from an inconsistent regular season and had a near dominant playoff run. Unfortunately, they ran into a better team in the Stanley Cup Final and came up a bit short. One reason they did-get ready for it-was goaltending.

Price, if traded to Philly, would be the Flyers' most heralded young goalie since Pelle Lindbergh

To be fair to the men guarding the Flyers net, they did as much as they possibly could. But the way the finals played out, had the Flyers goalies managed to steal even one game, like Anti Niemi did for the Blackhawks in game two, we could have seen a different team ending it’s Cup drought.

The long standing criticism of the Flyers, since 1989, has been the goaltending. Like an long running story, it’s not entirely true, but there’s enough validity for a case to be made. I won’t rehash things, but I’d like to see the Flyers force Scott Burnside and others to do more work when exploring the reasons why the Flyers will not win.

That brings me to the title. Montreal faces a bit of a logjam in goal. They have former organizational golden boy, Carey Price, and current playoff dragonslayer Jaroslav Halak vying for one crease. The Canadiens also have several key free agents and a notable lack of size among their top six forwards. They could certainly use more scoring, too.

Carter's size and scoring touch seem perfect for the Canadiens

The Flyers have a glut of players that are better fits at center. Leading playoff scorer Danny Briere, captain Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and Blair Betts have been used as centers in the past season, and most who have seen time as wingers have seen a decline in their play. The Flyers also face a bit of a cap crunch, with a couple of key free agents-Braydon Coburn being the biggest.

On paper we have two teams that seems perfect trade partners.

So Flyers and Habs fans, does a deal along the lines of Carter, Andreas Nodl and Ryan Parent for Carey Price, Josh Georges, Aaron Palushaj and a second rounder seem fair and make sense to both teams?

I’d be tempted by a deal along those lines if I was Paul Holmgren or Pierre Gauthier. Would you? Is there another combination of players and picks you consider? Or would you prefer a straight up deal?

Obviously, the playoff run showed the true mettle of this hockey club, but the fact remains they need to be better-not only to win the Stanley Cup, but to make a better showing in the regular season. With limited cap room and a few needs, general manager Paul Holmgren will need to get busy.  To be fair, he already has, re-signing goalie Johan Backlund to a two year extension.

The man with the plan, GM Paul Holmgren

However, Backlund isn’t expected to be more than a back-up at the NHL level during that contract. The big questions remain:

-Which direction do the Flyers go in goal?

-What steps can be taken to keep the two thirty-five year old top defensemen from having to average 35 minutes a night in the playoffs next year?

-How do the Flyers correct the glut of centers and get a better balance at forward?

The most pressing area is goal. Michael Leighton was a big part of why the Flyers made the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, he was also a big part of the reason the Flyers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks. Leighton has shown that he not only belongs in the NHL, but can be a starter for a decent team. He deserves a shot.

The problem is, the Flyers are a team with championship aspirations.

I’m not sold that any of the available free agents are worth the expense or capable of doing the job. Evgeni Nabokov will be too expensive. Marty Turco seems to have slipped a bit. Jose Theodore has battled consistency issues. Vesa Toskala’s issues in Toronto are well known to all readers of www.downgoesbrown.com . Martin Biron is coming off a dreadful season in New York. Chris Mason is 35 and has just come into his own in the past few years.

It’s not that any of these guys wouldn’t be an improvement, at least on paper-Leighton himself was waived by the worst team in the NHL-at the time-and has bounced around the NHL waiver wire several times. But when you have under $10mm in cap room and several spots to address, you can’t settle for simple improvement for a major investment.

Marty Turco is a free agent option for the Flyers, after Dallas signed Kari Lehtonen to a new contract

Another route is by trade. There are several good young goalies that could potentially be had. Some name have been kicked around to varying degrees-Vancouver’s Corey Schneider; one of Montreal’s tandem of Jaroslav Halak or Carey Price; one of Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick or Jonathan Bernier. They could also go the trade route for an established number one guy, like Tomas Vokoun of Florida or even Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff.

One big potential trade chip is center Jeff Carter. Considering the Flyers’ center depth, his name has been bandied about as a potential trade chip to address either goal, defense depth or both, if he’s dealt for a package. Right now, the Flyers have Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Carter, Claude Giroux and Blair Betts as centers. Betts is locked in as a key PK guy and top notch 4th line pivot. Briere and Carter both show significant drops in their level of play when used at wing….something’s got to give, whether it’s a trade or somebody moving to wing or a combination of the two. Personally, I don’t trade Carter unless it’s for a mountain of assets

The Flyers could use a good top six right winger. If Giroux is used there, it would eliminate the need to go out and acquire one.

Never hurts to have a guy who has lifted this thing around

As for defense, Braydon Coburn’s salary will double. Ryan Parent and Oskars Bartulis will be the sixth and seventh defensemen. There’s a need for a solid reliable guy to step in and provide quality minutes and also help Parent to mature. Several media members have hinted that Dan Hamhuis would be a nice addition-and he would. He’d push Coburn to the third pair, and probably be the team’s second best defeseman upon arrival. He’s also going to be expensive. Think a guy like Mark Eaton here.

Whatever is done, the Flyers should still ice a very solid, competitive hockey team. I feel they are closer to the team they showed in the playoffs than the one that staggered into game 82 needing a win to simply qualify.

Changes are needed to reach that big prize, but not gigantic ones. As much as I’d rather be in Philadelphia on this lovely June day to see a Stanley Cup parade, I remain proud of my team and what they accomplished. I am ready for the fall to get here and start anew.

Congratulations to the 2010 Stanley Cup champions. To the entire organization, every executive, scout, manager, coach and player-you guys are worthy champions.

As has been their habit this post season, the Flyers didn’t go down easily. They battled back to tie the game late in the third after blowing a 2-1 lead earlier. However, Patrick Kane ended the 2009-10 NHL season by slipping a shot from a difficult angle under Flyers goalie Michael Leighton  for the 4-3 OT win.

It’s quite possibly the most surreal Cup winning goal of all time. It seemed that the only one who knew it was in was Kane himself, who started celebrating immediately. No reaction from the crowd, refs or goal judge at first, but the proof was in the net.

As a fan, I am proud of what the Flyers accomplished this year. Disappointing as it is, these guys should hold their heads high and be proud of their run. Who will be back next year to try and take that next step?

Leighton did all he could, but likely won't be a Flyer next season

Leighton probably won’t. With Brian Boucher signed for next year and Leighton’s pedestrian work in the finals, I see the Flyers doing something aggressive in goal. I’m not blaming Leighton for the Final loss, but he did get outplayed by a fair margin by Anti Niemi. Leighton did everything one could expect from a waiver wire goalie, but to carry the Cup next June, the Flyers need to upgrade.

On defense, Braydon Coburn will be a restricted free agent. With the recent Dennis Seidenberg signing, Coburn could easily see his pay double, and that might be a ticket out of Philadelphia. If the Flyers can keep Coburn, they’ll still need to add a reliable veteran to the blue line corps.

Up front, there’s a logjam at center. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Blair Betts are all lumped there now. Betts obviously has the 4th line role, but one of the others will likely have to move to wing. I’d lean towards Giroux-his game seems to drop less than the others when he’s on a wing.

Dan Carcillo had a solid regular season, but as the playoffs wore on, his unpredictability became a big issue. Before the playoffs, it was a sure thing that Carbomb would return. Now, after being a healthy scratch 4 times in the finals, it’s not a sure bet.

Ville Leino probably locked up a top six job for next year with a record setting playoff. acquired from Detroit for a song and a late round pick, Leino was a near dominant player for the Flyers.

The Flyers face a short, but crucial and interesting off season.

The banged up, beat down and nearly broken Philadelphia Flyers were facing the juggernaut Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Gretzky in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Flyers had guys like Tim Kerr, Dave Poulin and  Murray Craven miss significant time throughout the playoffs. Journeymen Al Hill and Don Nachbaur played roles for the eventual Wales Conference champs.

The Flyers dropped the first two games, the second in OT. They rebounded in game three, winning 5-3 despite falling into an early 3-0 hole.  Game four saw the Oilers handle the Flyers easily. In an otherwise uneventful game, Flyer goalie Ron Hextall two handed Oilers’ forward Kent Nilsson across the back of the leg with his goal stick. Nilsson was uninjured and Hextall was suspended for 8 games starting in the 1987-88 season.

Down in a 3-1 series hole, the Flyer seemed dead. The Oilers had a bevy of future Hall of Fame players. In fact, it seemed so sure a thing that the Oilers would be holding Lord Stanley’s Cup that newspapers published the route of the victory parade. Again the Flyers fell behind only to claw back. After the Flyers took a 4-3 lead late in the third they clamped down in a stifling zone defense that would make Jacques Lemaire smile.

Game Six.

The Flyers started out tentatively, falling behind 2-0 early. The Oilers absolutely dominated the game, even with Lindsay Carson scoring around the halfway point of the second. The Oilers seemed like they were going to hoist the Stanley Cup as the game went on, continuing to keep the pressure on Philadelphia and forcing Hextall to stand on his head.

But, with about eight minutes left in the third, future HOFer Glenn Anderson took a careless high sticking penalty. Brian Propp converted the opportunity and tied the game a 2.

Just about 90 seconds later, JJ Daigneault scored the game winning goal, often called the loudest moment in the Spectrum’s history

Click here to view the embedded video.

The title was very clever-Philadelphia, The Mother of All Places Most Foul.  I actually had to stop and wonder why McNeil isn’t being brought forth on the American sports journalism Mt Rushmore, next to Grantland Rice, Ring Lardner and Shirley Povich.

Then, I decided to read the article. He takes the Mike Wise route of criticizing the looks of a female Flyers fan who had the temerity to yank the back of a Chicago fan’s jersey when he stood in front of her. He regales us with the tale of his visit to the men’s room, where a guy wearing a Hawks jersey is told to be timely, or the guy behind him in line would eschew the urinal and use the back of his Toews Jersey.

How horrible.

Yeah, we all shop at the same place, too

Obviously, Dan has never been involved in any sort of childish or rude behavior…Hmmm

He was suspended from his job for shoving his former radio co host Harry Teinowitz, over a disagreement about how to fill airtime on their show.  Now, call me crazy, but physically assaulting a co worker in a disagreement is a tiny bit worse than grabbing a guy and asking him to sit down so you can see a hockey game you paid a couple hundred bucks to enjoy.

It’s certainly worse than any bathroom comment or expletive filled tease given to a fan of the opposing team during a game.

Of course, McNeil also is capable of verbal assaults, such as when he called Comcast Sportsnet Chicago producer Lissa Druss Christman a “bitch” while on the air. Danny Boy found himself suspended after that incident, too.

One wonders why an eminent newspaper like the Tribune would give a loudmouthed bully like Dan McNeil a pulpit to attack the fans of another city.

It’s certainly nothing new to assign a hack sports “reporter” to poke fun at the opposing team and their fans when a playoff series starts. It’s easy to recall LA Times hack TJ Simers criticizing Philly during the 2001 NBA Finals and the 2008 NLCS. It’s fun to remember the Wise, the Washington Post inkwaster, who opined in 2008 that the women and children among the Flyers fans would make great security guards for Megadeth.

Even Philadelphia papers do it-John Gonzalez, who is to sports reporting  what Heidi Montag is to Shakespearean theatre, routinely writes these columns of tripe.

The best part is, Philadelphia fans who watch their teams on national broadcasts are usually reminded of booing Santa Claus, cheering the career ending injury suffered by Michael Irvin, or the three stooges that have invaded Phillies games this year, the puking guy, the Taser kid and Captain Stonehenge who ran onto the field the night after the Taser kid with pot in his pocket.

However, when I see the Green Bay Packers, I rarely hear of the fans that hung head coach Dan Devine’s dog from a tree in the man’s front yard. I rarely hear about the two imbeciles who attacked the Kansas City Royals first base coach or the nitwit who decided to jump umpire Laz Diaz when I watch a Bulls or Cubs game.

The point is, there are idiots, jackasses and lunatics in every major city in the United States. Taking shots at the fans in Philly is hackneyed, overplayed and just downright lazy.  I just find it ironic that Dan McNeil is every bit as vile a human being as he attempts to paint the fans of Philadelphia as being.

Mr McNeil, you are a joke.

First move is one of necessity. Ryan Parent will be sitting for fellow rookie Oskars Bartulis. Parent has had a rough ride in the postseason, from getting abused by opposing wingers, to injuring teammate Brian Boucher in the second round against the Boston Bruins.

Bartulis is one of a couple of options, the other being Danny Syvret. Bartulis gets the call, not only because he played in the first two games of the post season against the Devils, but also because he has good size and is a solid defender. Syvret is a smallish player, who has a reputation as being somewhat weak in his own end.

Regardless, Bartulis is unlikely to see a great deal of ice time. Parent saw just 41 Hellish seconds of ice time in game one, where he lost his stick, blew coverage and did little but get in the way of the other defenders on a Chicago goal.

The second change is the return of Daniel Carcillo to the Flyer line-up.

Carcillo was relegated to the sidelines when forwards Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere returned from injuries in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals. With Carcillo coming back, rookie James van Riemsdyk will find himself out of the line-up.

van Riemsdyk has struggled with bringing a top level effort for every game, and since he’s not a regular penalty killer or powerplay guy, he’s the one likely to sit instead of Darroll Powe or Arron Asham.

Carcillo will provide jump and physicality...he also needs to play smart to be effective for Philadelphia

Carcillo and van Riemsdyk have both scored some big playoff goals this spring. Carcillo’s OT winner in game three of the first round seemed to drive a dagger in the hearts of the Devils. van Riemsdyk scored the Flyers first goal in their game seven comeback against Boston.

The key for tonight is to get the team defense back to the level it had been at for most of the playoffs. Carcillo, for all his faults, is a better two way forward than van Riemsdyk is right now. Bartulis has to be more solid than Parent, who not only seems to many observers to be playing hurt, but is also suffering from a case of shattered confidence.

Goaltender Michael Leighton also needs a bounce back game. He was pedestrian at best in game one, but he did get hung out to dry. If he struggles in game two, Brian Boucher will probably be in net for game three-and he doesn’t look to be 100% after injuring both knees.

Memorial Day

Many thanks and remembrances go out to all those who paid the ultimate price in defending my country, the United States of America. Today should include some time set aside to remember those who served and died our nation in times of war and conflict. Regardless of your political affiliation, these brave men and women died to defend our rights. Please, never forget them and their sacrifices.

Flyers beat writer Frank Seravalli, of the Philadelphia Daily News, reports that Brian Boucher is optimistic about being ready to serve as the back-up goalie in game one of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night in Chicago.

Boucher was crunched under Flyer defenseman Ryan Parent after making a save in game five of the East semifinals and reportedly suffered MCL sprains to both knees. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said a day later that Boucher’s season was likely over.

Boucher's injury re-opened the door for Michael Leighton to make history in the ECF against the Habs

However, with all the miraculous returns from injuries the Flyers have seen this postseason, is anyone really surprised that Boucher is returning?

Recap? Sure.

Jeff Carter suffered a broken foot, similar to the injury suffered by former Flyers Rod Brind’Amour-that cost Rod the Bod half a season-and returned for the final two games of the regular season.

Game four of the opening round against the Devils, both Carter and Simon Gagne take pucks off their feet. Gagne blocked a Devils’ shot and immediately went up the tunnel. Carter took a shot from Chis Pronger off his good foot, and buried it for his second goal of that game.

Gagne was immediately expected to miss three weeks with his injury, while Carter’s was dismissed following the game-despite a noticeable limp.

Jeff Carter staged a Lazarus like comeback

The next day, Carter was announced as probably having to be on crutches for six weeks. It could have been an absolutely devastating blow, losing two forwards out of your top six 4 games into the playoffs.

The Flyers didn’t seem to bat an eye. Ian Laperriere came with in a few centimeters of losing one, though.

The veteran winger, who had already lost 7 teeth and took over 100 stitches from a puck to the face in the regular season, blocked a shot with his right eyebrow in the series clenching game five win.

Laperriere expected to be ready for the second round, but during the 9 day layoff between rounds, it was discovered that Lappy had a mild concussion and a brain contusion. Again, the term season ending was tossed around. It was even said that Laperriere wouldn’t even be able to get a definitive answer on next year until a month had passed and a new MRI could be done.

Seems like the Hockey Gods were piling on a bit, huh?

The Flyers replaced their missing offensive stars and their heart and guts with AHLers Andreas Nodl, David Laliberte and Jared Ross. The played gamely against the Boston Bruins for the first three games, but dropped all three.

Gagne returned for game four, which was a full week ahead of his timetable. Anyhow, most epic comeback in sports history, yada, yada, yada, making history, yada, yada, yada…led to the Eastern Conference Finals against the other team of destiny, the Montreal Canadiens.

The first two games were won by the Flyers in convincing fashion, as reports leaked that Carter AND Laperriere might return to action sooner than anticipated…like maybe game 3…but, neither did.

The Flyers came out, played flat and got their asses kicked. It inspired Flyers captain Mike Richards to call out his teammates for the first time I can recall. It also ended talk about rolling the dice on team chemistry. It was widely reported that Laperriere was a go for game 4, and Carter likely for game 5.

Lappy, before he vowed to wear a visor for the rest of his career

Well, the Habs not only had to face an angry Flyers team, they had to deal with the returns of BOTH Carter and Laperriere.

The Flyers played stifling defense in front of Leighton, who became the first Flyers goalie to record 3 shutouts in a playoff series, and won game four 3-0 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Of course, the Habs had come back from being down 3-1 before. In fact they scored just 59 seconds into game five. But Richards went out and carried his team to a 4-2 win and a berth in the finals. Carter scored a pair of goals, including the icing on the cake into an empty net with 30 seconds left.

After Leighton’s performance against Montreal, it’s unlikely that Boucher would unseat him at any point of the finals, unless there came a point of complete desperation or injury. But Boucher’s simple desire and hard work to return speaks volumes, not only about Boosh, but about the entire team and how they overcame injuries, a reportedly dysfunctional dressing room, off ice issues and a coaching change that saw many players lose the only coach they had had as professionals.

They have become a hard working, opportunistic team that will not back down, will not quit and have full belief in their ability to bring home the prize. For fans, it was hard to love this team at times this year…now it’s impossible not to love them.

Sign Man, Dave Leonardi, captures the spirit of the thing, as usual