Holmgren's State of the Flyers
Now at the NHL's unofficial midway point of the season, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his thoughts on the first half of the year.
Holmgren's State of the Flyers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- It didn’t have any of the tradition or pomp and circumstance of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washington, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his State of the Flyers this week.
Watching the Flyers’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, it was hard to fathom that 9 out of the 20 players on the ice were not even members of the organization at this point last year. And that number does not include players like Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, and Ben Holmstrom, who were with the Phantoms.
All things considered - devastating injuries, scheduling quirks and new faces, as outlined in today’s game story - Holmgren is pleased with what he’s watched through the first half of the season.
“We’ve shown a real resiliency to bounce back and hang in through a lot of tough situations that the team has dealt with,” Holmgren said. “Moving forward, we know we need to get better in a lot of areas. But overall, we’re certainly okay with where we’re at.”
The Flyers (29-14-5) are just 3 points back of the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers and are actually on pace to top last year’s total of 106 points.
In the big picture, few see a team other than the Rangers, Bruins or Flyers representing the East in June’s Stanley Cup final.
Since they’ve lost captain Chris Pronger for the foreseeable future, the only real knock on the Flyers is their lack of defensive depth. Only one team (Boston) has scored more goals than the Flyers. Their goaltending can be better but has been adequate. And they’ve got the intangibles to make a deep a run.
Holmgren lauded Bourdon and Gustafsson for helping keep the team afloat without a noticeable drop-off on defense.
As things stand, Holmgren said he doesn’t have a burning need to make a trade for more defense. But that could change. Holmgren does not deny that the Flyers have perused the market recently, as the Feb. 27 trade deadline is now rapidly approaching 33 days from now.
“I think we still have 4 guys who can play a lot of minutes in all situations,” Holmgren said. “I think the 2 young kids that we’ve got playing have held their own. So, I don’t feel it’s something we have to do.
“I don’t think we’re any different than a lot of team right now. We’re looking around to see what’s available. And if there’s something out there that makes sense, both now and for the future, we would look at that. But I like the way our kids have played. I think that was a real good experience for them [on Sunday], playing against the Stanley Cup champions, and they both fared OK.”
On Tuesday night, Peter Laviolette gave most of the credit to Holmgren and his scouting staff, for putting the team in a position to win nightly with a cast of players who don’t have the big names that they replaced in the lineup, like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.
With perhaps the boldest moves in the league, on par with Florida’s Dale Tallon, you could certainly make a case for Holmgren as the NHL’s GM of the Year.
Looking toward the second half of the season, Holmgren said his feeling now is the same as it was last year, when the Flyers carried the league’s best record into the All-Star break. And that’s saying something, given their tumultuous summer makeover.
“I don’t feel any different than I have the last number of years,” Holmgren said. “If you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. That’s where we are now, just trying to get in the playoffs.”
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
Comments (54)
Now he needs to get rid of Carle and Shelley. That should put them in a good cap area to get a defenseman that could play (Weber or Suter would be great). Getting rid of Carle (the expressway to the goal) might even help Bryz find his old form.— Matt Mac Isaac- Needs another goalie, BRYZ was a bad guess, not a clutch guy, gives up to many easy goals. To big a contract for much to long, hopfully theres somthing in his contract so we can trade him.— krautmef1
- Holmgren's clearly one of the best GM's in hockey. You can debate the merits of moves made by any executive in the NHL and find pros a cons with them. The bottom line is if he doesn't like the make up of the team and their performance on ice he'll make radical changes to find that winning formula. Who says you have build slowly and wait for a team to gel? I say blow it up every couple of years and make changes until the tumblers fall into place and you have that championship combination. It's taken a lot of guts for a man in his position to make the moves he has. He's exactly the type of person a fan would want running his team.
— slappywagflyers16 - Everyone who bashes Homer talks about the Bryz signing. Everyone that loves Homer talks about the return we got for Carter and Richards. I agree as to both, but....
....Homer signed Giroux, easily one of the best players in the NHL, through 2014 for a meager 3.75 mil per year.
Game, set, match. The Giroux extension alone makes up for Bryz, Lilja, Walker, and any other so-called "bad" signings people want to talk about. WHAT A STEAL.— snipesmorris - pronger has played his last game of professional hockey. there is pretty much zero doubt of that. and teams have insurance on their contracts so talk of paying more for tickets, concessions, etc is off the mark. it was a good signing and got us w/in one game of the cup.
and its been said by a few, but is worth repeating. dumping richards contract to get bryz was all eddie snider. so blame or credit (however you see it) really starts there. Homer did what he was instructed to do. though i loved richards i never like the rediculous length of his contract.
hate on bryz all you want (he has deserved it), but to criticize the signing is monday morning quarterbacking... unless you were enraged by it when it happened.
just hope they have to balls admit it didn't work and start bob in the playoffs is bryz hasnt't turned it around by then.— slowmutt - The "only real knock" is a lack of depth on defense?!
What about Bryz's poor play?— VicM - I think homer did an excellent job getting good returns for Richards and Carter. Signing Bryz was an iffy move because he seems like a bust now, but he might get better. Just hang on to Bob in case things don't turn around for Bryz. Other than that I'm quite happy with this season so far. I really thought this team would take a while to gel but they clicked right away and we're sitting in 4th place with injuries galore. Not bad. I can't wait to see what the playoffs bring when everyone raises their game. I would still like to see a trade for a Pronger replacement because I honestly think he's done for good. Take your time and make a smart trade, Homer. Go Flyers! Keep it strong.— Kanayd
- Zoe is a moron...bryz never won a vezina if thats what you're implying....he was a finalist a couple years back, but thats it..kind of like a finalist for the #1 spot with us, but not going to win that either, despite the flyers best effort to get his play to match his pay...its over johnny. Swallow your pride and Play Bob! He's controlling rebounds and tracking the puck, and just plain deserves it. Short of getting Halak or Elliot from the blues, thats the answer.— philly thug
- Homer has done a great job. This team is so exciting to watch. Try to never miss a game - live, tv or radio. I think i was one of the very few who was actually happy when they traded Richards and Carter. They had no fight in them last year. Granted Richards was injured and I did like him more when he came over to where we were sitting at a game and threw over a puck w a big grin. But i digress. This year's team is super-exciting to watch. Go Flyers!!!— Cali7
- Step aside Obama...Homer for President!— Dfirst
- All this Bryz talk is really getting exhausting! Signing him was not Homers fault or even Mr.Sniders fault... It was our Fault! We all got on the ban wagon and blamed the (goalies) and Only the Goalies for last years play-offs loss! Need we forget we were only able to score a total of 7 goals, got man handled big time, and struggled to even get close to Timmy Tomas to try score. So, Management listened to our tears and went out and signed the best F/A goalie available! ( to get us to shut up! ) Knowing all the time that they already had a Solid young goalie in Bob that's going to be great within the next few years. It's time to stop Crying and blaming others for our own stupidity! ( Although, on the other hand, if we didn't complain, ( care so much about our team ) maybe we would not have the Bright future ( all these young guns ) we now do have...? Last game against Boston we did the man handling!! So much so that they got there butts kicked by Washington 2 days latter... while still trying to recover from the Philly kicking. ))) O yeh, O yeh.— Dfirst
- Absolutely,this site was red hot with fans having enough with the goaltending problems this franchise has experience
in the last...what? 20 some years.The carrousel of last year was the boiling point,enough was enough,,and they did something about it.Now let's see in the long run,if they got it right.
Good of you to bring that up Dfirst,I also think that the fans played a role in this equation,I certainly put my 2 cents worth,I had enough...Good post!!!— mean mean pride,mean mean pride. - I like homer, but the only knock on the team is defensive depth? Give me a break unless they are including Goalie in there. Bryz ahs been, and in my opinion, always was marginal at best. he's having a worse year now, but lets face it, he was never great. Vokoun was my choice this past off season, Niemi the one before, and Halak before that.. but what do I know. I would also dump Schenn while people still think he's good, but again, just me. Hopefully he proves me wrong, but I'd like to see him win a puck battle just once in a while.— philly thug
- Stop hating on Homer...he's done a great job. He got rid of Carter and Richards bec. he knew they would never lead them to a cup. Both had other goals in mind which involved Sea Isle City. Think about this...the Flyers are 2nd in our Div. and 4th in the Conference only by a few points......and WITHOUT Pronger (Hall of famer), Jagr (hall of famer), Briere (all-star), JVR (solid 3rd liner who's having an off year) and a goalie that isn't living up to expectation. Now picture if all were healthy? They'd be 8 points in front of the Rangers. The rookies are simply playing amazing and with a ton of heart. Take the top defenceman, starting goalie and top 2 point getters off ANY team and they'd be fighting for the 8th spot. Come on. This team has played VERY VERY well with what they've had to deal with. Pronger was the leader on this team and showed what he could do in the 2010 cup run. He's a beast and no one could have imagined him to be out all year. Look @ Sid the kid. Best player in the league but even the great ones get hurt.— westchesterhky
- The Bryzgalov signing was pushed by Ed Snider. He wanted a "franchise"goalie so far he's got an overpaid backup. All the other moves look good which is hard for me to say because I am a Richards fan.— t4tuck
- Holmgren has done a very good job. He made the tough trades in the offseason seeing that there were major issues in the locker room and just for whatever reason the team did not jel.
If you look at the players they received Simmonds, Schenn, Voracek the draft pick getting Couturier and getting other draft picks, this was a well thought out strategy. The Talbot signing was fabulous as he brings so many great intangibles to the ice each game. He moved Versteeg who while he is playing well in FLA just did not fit in here. Do I feel he could have done some other things differently? Sure. I would not have signed Lilja as the veteran 6th or 7th dman. The goalie situation just has not worked out to this point. There is obviously still time. Would I have signed Bryzgalov to a 9 year deal? No, absolutely not. Would I have taken Vokoun on a 1 year deal, yes. But long term Bryz was younger and had a pretty good track record despite very shaky playoff showings. Obviously, the other ideas were to try and pry Schneider or Bernier from their teams...even Enroth from Buffalo.
He needs to be better hands down. He has not been good enough. For them to make a run in the playoffs Bryz needs to be better and Holmgren needs to get a physical presence on D (Gleason?)— Back up the Bus for Gload and Bowker - Michael Zoe...perhaps you should brush up on YOUR hockey! Vokoun has a career .917 save percentage, 2.56 goals against and 46 shutouts on inferior teams like Nashville and Florida. This year Bryz's save % is below 9 and GAA of essentially 3 with 1 shutout. Bryz isnt THAT much younger, but he was MUCH more expensive. Vokoun would've been better pickup hands down. The thinking was that Bryz would help Bob since they are both Russian and Vokoun is Czech. Not to mention Bryz played on better teams than did Vokoun. So your assessment and condescension to Vorxty is unfounded, unwarranted and plain wrong! Brush up on YOUR hockey!
— Neebo - If the Pens keep their defense healthy, they might crack that list of teams in the final— tph60
- perhaps one day they will get a legit goalie ....perhaps one day the Eagles will get a legit passer...perhaps one day Sixers will get a legit scorer ...— warbiscuit
- You fools do know after year 4 bryz cap hit is minimal compared to his deal right? We can also trade him to another team that needs to hit the cap floor (phoenix, Florida, Atl, Calgary etc). Holmgren is top 2 GM's in NHL by far.— fman727
- I wanted them to pick up Tim Thomas when he was available. I am sooooooooooooo glad they didn't. There is no way I could cheer on a goalie that admires Glenn Beck. But it's much easier for me to root against him now.— stonelamb
- Funny how noone remembers the great performance Breezy put in last year in the playoffs.Detroit Redwings.... how many goals did he let in? How many playoff games has he won?— starlight
- The team they had with Carter and Richards was old and tired. They needed a change in the locker room and an overall change in the structure of the team. They replaced Richards and Carter party boy and lackadaisical attitudes with big young forwards who show up to play every night. Simmonds, Couts, and Voracek all play their hearts out ever night and they are all 23 and under. I applaud Homer for his guts in making this trade and shaking up the team. Now the Flyers have great makeup and a real face (Giroux) of the franchise for years to come. No team can come in here and bully these guys. As for Bryz, it was a move Homer had to make, he got the decree specifically from Snider to sign the best goalie and make sure this goalie problem never happens again. Say what you will about Bryz, but he is definitely a better goalie than Vokoun and they basically had to sign him to that deal or else he wouldn't have come here. You can't say a guy is a bust in the first year of his deal, wait til the playoffs and wait til the start of next year to write him off.— robm0202
Comment removed.- Indeed. It was worth suffering through yet another shootout just to see the "Bob Shuffle" after the last save. That was a highlight all its own, and a good moment for him. He earned it.
— icarus - Bob was sharp last night.— Northcountry
- @heyeaglefn. This Flyers team, right now without Pronger and even with a shaky Bryz (or Bob in net), is a much tougher out in the playoffs than last year's version was. He traded away two pieces and made the team (and the locker room) better. It's clearly a better team if you watch, even if the record doesn't show it yet. Ask any team around the league if the Flyers are tougher to play against this year with the amount of depth (guys like Matt Read) they have. I think the answer would be yes.— Realistic One
- Play Bob!— dontlikeneocons
- What Homer failed to address was how his team played in the 2nd half of last year. Its no sense of comparing it to the team of the first half of last year. You redid this team you should be comparing it to the 2nd half or last year. There is still a goalie carousel here so my pick so far would go to Florida's GM he didn't sign a head case for a goaltender maybe Bob will be more affective this year with less time in net. So far he is doing all the little things that Ilyia doesn't. Puts himself in a better position when he is down low to stop deflections and been getting better at stick handling. Now if they can only get this guy to do some interviews on TV. translater or not this guy knows how to speak some english. Oh JesseH your an idiot Sean O'donnell was useless here.— ONLYinPhilly
- I have a great idea. Holmgren should trade two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick for a defenseman in the last year of his contract. That defenseman should play poorly for the Flyers, get hurt and miss the second round playoff series where the Flyers lose to the Bruins. The defenseman is so expensive the Flyers decide not to offer him a contract, they stick with the young guys who do ok. The 1st round pick they traded away turns out to be a solid 40 goal scorer from Sweden who wins a Cup with that team. In 14 years the Flyers pick up this Swedish goal scorer via free agency and he is hailed as the final piece of the puzzle to bring a Cup back to the Flyers after 51 years. We must win the Cup. FYI all trades and signings can be looked at in a million ways. I get it. The only thing that matters is how that player plays on the ice and if we win a Cup. The fact is Bryz was a great signing who has played poorly. Michael Leighton's stats compare favorably with Bryz this year. I want a Cup before my kidneys fail me. My coffee is cold. My teeth are yellow. My blood runs orange and black.— derkaiser
- I have a great idea. Holmgren should trade two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick for a defenseman in the last year of his contract. That defenseman should play poorly for the Flyers, get hurt and miss the second round playoff series where the Flyers lose to the Bruins. The defenseman is so expensive the Flyers decide not to offer him a contract, they stick with the young guys who do ok. The 1st round pick they traded away turns out to be a solid 40 goal scorer from Sweden who wins a Cup with that team. In 14 years the Flyers pick up this Swedish goal scorer via free agency and he is hailed as the final piece of the puzzle to bring a Cup back to the Flyers after 51 years. We must win the Cup. FYI all trades and signings can be looked at in a million ways. I get it. The only thing that matters is how that player plays on the ice and if we win a Cup. The fact is Bryz was a great signing who has played poorly. Michael Leighton's stats compare favorably with Bryz this year. I want a Cup before my kidneys fail me. My coffee is cold. My teeth are yellow. My blood runs orange and black.— derkaiser
- But that said, I applaud the Flyers for signing Bryzg. Holmer's related weakness is the Cap/Contracts"...too many long-term deals and poor Cap management. But hey, they went out and got one of the best goalie's in the league. Don't believe me, then let me know the last time the Flyer's had a Vezina Winner and we'll talk. The fact that is playing poorly stinks, but he's not that bad. Let's just hope he gets hot, like goalie's do, and is a game stealer going into the playoffs. It's completely within the realm of possibility.— MichaelZoe
- So is Bryzgalov stopping a deflection or a wrap-around. But that doesn't make it likely, based on the first half of the season. — icarus
- I always argue that Holmer gets the big moves correct, but struggles with the little moves. O'Donnell was worn out in the playoffs, but would have be a perfect guy to keep around this year. If they were sure of their young guys, they should have dumped Nodl and Powe. But Powe was a good fit, better than resigning Nodl only to demote him. Getting Walker's salary cap hit and bad hip for Gagne was bad. And signing Lilja was a waste. The group of Harry Z, Rinaldo, and even Seistio remind me of the young guys from Detroit (Maltby, Holmstrom, McCarthy). So we have a good team, but are strapped by the Cap. And we need to replace Pronger, period. Goaltending, ya can't win. But I would seriously consider moving a prospect or current player if someone wanted Bryzg's contract (for the cap floor). And they MUST, they MUST, trade, jockey or position themselves for the next #1 round draft pick for a goalie and snag him. They appear to have finally found a group of forwards and even decent 4-6 defensemen to groom. If I'm looking at Schenn/Couturier/Giroux as Towes/Kane/Sharp plus the other young guys, we're in great shape. Burn through goalies until Bob is a game stealer or we draft a great one. Bryzg is a stop gap who if he doesn't rebound, will end up backing up Leighton in the AHL.— MichaelZoe
- Hind sight is alway 100% correct. Overall,Holmgren has made some very smart moves and his team, despite a huge face lift is right there and very young. I really hope that they will give Bobrovsky a shot. He seems much sharper this year. I think it's due to the lighter work load. As it stands now he is the one I'd go into the playoffs with.— djlen
- I wouldn't pass judgement on Bryzs yet, wait until the playoffs.
Hot goalie.— Willysoup - Other than the ridiculous contract given Bryz and his associated performance, I think Homer essentially hit a grand slam with his off-season trades/acqusitions. The Flyers had a very strong first half, and if Bryz can get it together going into the back end of the season - this team can go all the way.— CTL
- Um, yeah, I guess you didn't like how Pronger guided the team to Game 6 of the Cup? After he did it witht he Ducks and Oilers?— MichaelZoe
- vorxty: Um, yeah, Vokoun, it you like guys with good GAA but can't seem to make ANY of the teams he is on successful winners. Please refer to "CuJo" in the handbook and go brush up on your hockey.— MichaelZoe
- That's a reasonable argument if you ignore the context that the poster was referring to (Bryzgalov). Who has Bryz made into a successful winner? About as many teams as Vokoun: none. And spare us the Anaheim Cup year. Anaheim waived him. — icarus
- Homer, You Da Man! Great job on making this team younger, tougher, and more competitive! Exciting team to watch!— Dfirst
- Vokoun only took a bargain cause nobody wanted him. I think he signed at least a week after FA started cause he was said to want #1 goalie type money and at his age the offers werent there. Bryz was the younger of the two and was thought to be better thats why he was signed.— shanehockey28
- "He was the best FA goalie out there this offseason"
um i think you have your facts wrong on that one..
Washington picked up Vokoun for $1.5 million. That was a steal.
— vorxty - Not to mention Mike Smith, Bryzgalov's replacement in Phoenix. He wanted out of Tampa and could've signed here, but he didn't have the marquis name Snider was looking for. — icarus
- @heyeaglefn - you don't win the cup in the first half of a season. THey fizzled badly in the 2nd half last year and barely got [ast Buffalo. This team is so much better prepared for a Cup run this year (assuming they are reasonably healthy... especially Jagr). Would you really rather have Jeff Carter than Sean Couturier AND Jake Voracek? Richards than Schenn AND Simmonds? Bob/Boosh/Leighton over Bryz/Bob? The only trade / trade-off that I don't get was signing Lilja instead of resigning Sean O'Donnell, but that's minor.— JesseH
- Yes, Holmgren should be GM of the year, for taking a team that lead the NHL in points last year at the All star break, blowing them up for no apparent reason, and now he has a team that is 4th in the East.
Servalli is acting like Richards and Carter were retiring or something, he made those decisions on his own, he isn't GM of the year.
He made possibly the worst offseason signing in the league in Bryzgalov, and now their Goalie situation is worse than it was last year (Boucher and Bobs played very well during the regular season last year)— heyeaglefn - @william20 - I guess you didn't enjoy the Cup run in 2010? Pronger was worth every penny until now, but they have LTIR'd him so that frees up cap space. Bryz's contract is $5 mil a year. He was the best FA goalie out there this offseason following an embarrassing goalie carousel in the playoffs last spring. He's had a rough year so far but some really good games mixed in, just needs to hit his stride and the D needs to play better in front of him.
— JesseH - Just to clarify, Bryz's contract actually front loaded and pays him $10 mil this year. However, his cap hit is discounted to $5 mil. So yes, his cap hit is only $5mil, but his actual cost is 10.
This would get spread out over ticket prices, merchandise, concessions. I personally dont want to pay more to see the kind of stinkers hes been putting up lately. Could he get better? Yes, but its not worth the cost to the organization.— jpatt6 - One Cup run is worth 2 players, 2 first-rounders and a 7 year extension with a big cap hit until he's 42? I remember last year when injuries kept him out of dozens of games and then he was a non-factor in the playoffs. He'll also be a non-factor in this year's playoffs because wearing a helmet isn't cool. He was worth every penny for 1 year I would argue, which I think talks to williams20's point, that the contract was just way too long for someone who's body was inevitably going to break down
- Thank goodness they held onto Bobrovsky.— mikemaddog
- They are a good team. there are a lot of young, skilled players on this team. Some luck in the health department, a goalie hitting stride and they are legit contenders.— shamdog
- Sure like to see Olly Luaridsen come up...him and Sestito can really crate some havoc.— Romus
- I agree the only issue with Homer I feel is the crazy long term contracts, Bryzs,Pronger, then Carter and Richards. he drafts well and signs some good player's minus Bryzs, and Pronger. I never like the Pronger move, I thought we gave way way too much for a guy who has been around and his age and I feel I was right because he only played his first year the last 2 hurt all the time I thought Sibsa was going to be a beast and all those draft picks like 2 first and a second and thrid I think just way too much that would be right for Weber who is young. Anyway let'sgo Flyer's rest up and get ready for the big run— william20
- Luca Sbisa has 2 goals and 12 assists and is a minus 12 overall this year. I don't see the "beast" yet.
— djlen
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