I think Bartulis' strong play as opened up the door to possibly using Parent (an impending RFA) as a bargaining chip later in the season. Parent has been mediocre at best and because of our top 4 - he's never going to get the big minutes here unless there's an injury, but because of his youth and the fact that he was a former first round draft pick - I think he could be used to bring in an experienced veteran forward to help us score some more goals in the playoffs - Whether it be Ryan Whitney or if the Blues fall out of the playoff race - a guy like Keith Tkachuk. One of the things that hurt us the most going into the playoffs last season was that we weren't able to bring in that veteran forward like we did the year before with Prospal. The Flyers obviously need to make a move and acquire help at the deadline this year if they are really thinking Cup run and when you look at the roster, Parent is a great choice that makes a lot of sense. Gagne and Briere are going nowhere (and I'm glad) and I don't see them trading Coburn unless they are getting a huge return.

Carcillo and Cote can be used to clear cap space

Why do you want to see Carcillo gone? Hopefully you're able to see value in a player outside of points and goals. Carcillo has drawn a bunch of penalties for the Flyers this year who have either the 1 or 2 best power play in the league... how many goals has this team scored because of penalties he's drawn? He's been a great player for the team this year and even though I'm critical of Stevens, I think he deserves a ton of credit for the way Carcillo has played so far. Who screwed up on Syvret? Syvret was given an opportunity and had awful statistics and lost his job. Nobody to blame for that but himself. Tollefsen was originally brought in to be the 7th defenseman here and that's what he is. You're talking about players who make close to the league minimum - so what difference does it make that they are on the team? If you're looking to clear cap space, you're going to have to look for a contract more significant than Bartulis, Cote, or Tollefsen.

Okay, I just can't keep my mouth shut today: DRocco - star-caliber defensemen do not grow on trees - especially not in this organization. We've had some guys with potential that were dismissed I think I bit early, but they have not starred anywhere else either. Parent is has a lot of possibilities. I wouldn't want to give up on him yet. As exciting as it is to bring in a "name" guy, I don't think we really need to ADD to this team as much as need get the guys here to perform. Case in point: when 100% healthy we have TOO many upper-echelon forwards that are languishing in 3rd line roles, which they're really not suited for. If you're a playmaker or a goal scorer, and you wind up checking, that's not really your thing. You'll achieve roughly about the same results as asking a checker to handle all the scoring - it doesn't work. 1) Getting rid of Parent might be a huge mistake and 2) Whomever you'd acquire for him I highly doubt would contribute THAT much. We have the guys here, they just need to play. If healthy at the deadline what I WOULD do is waive Tollefsen and Cote and pick up another utility/mid-line guy we can squeeze in that cap space. KNIGHT - Just HOW MUCH cap space do you think getting rid of Carcillo and Cote will free up? Who are you going to sign with that money? Some scrub, castoff from some other team. Let's essentially trade our garbage for your trash. Wonderful idea. Carcillo has been moderately productive given his role. I'm okay with him staying, but Cote, as much as I like his effort just isn't worth the roster space or the even small cap hit. Total waste.

Carcillio's Cap hit is ~900K, Cote ~550K. I think Carcillo is more a liability that an asset. Yes he draws penalties but he also takes them and takes them at bad times. His constant badgering and yapping the other day from the box is proof. This team needs solid STABLE line combinations. Use these roster spots and $ for potentially productive third and forth line guys. We have no one on the Phantoms that can fill this role? Matsumoto? Legein?

DRocco, you think you know more about hockey than you do. Getting Prospal didn't put us over the top and we lost Picard...NO ONE at the time thought giving Randy Jones a monster contract was a good idea and it wasn't. And now we're paying 1/2 his salary. Add up the Bartulius, Jones, Carcillo, Asham, Powe, Cote, Lapierre, Betts, OKT, Syvert, Pylora roster spots and you'll see that instead of cutting dead weight in the off-season, the Flyers added players...but not the best options out there. They would have made hard choices, but so what, this is hockey. How can you tell me that Betts, ranked 62nd in the league in face-offs last year, was that big of a step up over Richards (64th) and Carter (68th)? so maybe he has a good season when he's healthy...but he's not? And what is this nonense all of a sudden that people accept OKT is a "7th d-man"?? we don't have the cap space to carry a guy who is mediocte at best and ALWAYS huirt (and isn't that good of a fighter). BOTTOM LINE, Holmgrem got dazzled by his Emery and Pronger moves and lost sight of making it work with guys like John Madden, Manny Malhotra (top face off guy), or Jay McKee (a TRUE 7th D Man for the playoffs).