Flyers deal for Kubina
UPDATE: The Lightning have acquired a second round pick in '12 or '13, a fourth round pick in '13 and left winger Jon Kalinski from the Flyers for Pavel Kubina, according to their Twitter account. FROM EARLIER: Pavel Kubina is heading to Philadelphia.
Flyers deal for Kubina
UPDATE: The Lightning have acquired a second round pick in '12 or '13, a fourth round pick in '13 and left winger Jon Kalinski from the Flyers for Pavel Kubina, according to their Twitter account.
FROM EARLIER: Pavel Kubina is heading to Philadelphia.
For now, the Flyers are just trying to figure out who is leaving.
According to reports, the Flyers have moved two draft picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Kubina.
The Flyers (and Lightning) have not yet announced the move – almost 2 hours after its reported closing – because the trade call has not even been made with the NHL’s central registry office. That’s because this deal for Kubina is pending on another deal the Flyers make, since adding Kubina would put them over the 50-contract limit.
The Flyers have yet to comment publicly on the matter.
The Flyers would need to drop a contract – including something as simple as trading a minor leaguer for future considerations or voiding a contract like Johan Backlund’s. Backlund, 30, started the season on a one-way NHL deal but has since left the Phantoms to play with Karpat in Finland.
But is this deal part of something bigger than that?
Rumors have been swirling that adding Kubina is just one piece to the Saturday night trading puzzle, which could include acquiring Columbus captain Rick Nash.
Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was back in Philadelphia for the second time in a week on Saturday, to watch the Flyers’ disheartening loss to Pittsburgh.
Either way, Kubina appears destined for Philadelphia.
The return to Tampa Bay, floundering at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, is a 2nd round pick in this June’s draft that was a conditional pick from Florida in last summer’s trade for Kris Versteeg, and a 4th round pick in 2013.
Kubina, 34, carries with him $3.850 million salary cap hit, which would be pro-rated for the remainder of the season. He is a veteran of 953 NHL games – with nearly 10 seasons worth played with the Tampa Bay franchise. He won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004.
Kubina would have needed to give Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman a list of teams to which he could be traded, to satisfy his limited no-trade clause. The Lightning kept him off the ice at practice on Thursday to “protect team interests” in case of a trade. He was a healthy scratch on Thursday against San Jose and again on Saturday night against Washington.
On the surface, two pretty good draft picks seems like an awfully high price to pay for an aging defenseman who will become a free agent on July 1.
Kubina, who is officially listed at 6-foot-4 and a whopping 258 pounds, is a much more offensive-minded defenseman than Nicklas Grossman, who made his debut on Saturday.
The common threads between both of these trades? The Flyers didn’t need to give up a player to acquire Grossman and Kubina. And both can walk at the end of the season if the Flyers aren’t satisfied with their play.
To make room for Kubina on the roster, the Flyers would need to demote a defenseman. That would likely be rookie Marc-Andre Bourdon, who has struggled lately after a promising start to his NHL career in November and December.
Now, with Kubina on the roster and Bourdon back on the Phantoms, the Flyers would appear to have approximately $939,000 in available salary cap cushion on the $64.3 million cap.
But we’re still waiting for that other shoe to drop. PAVEL KUBINA FILE
Born Apr 15 1977 -- Celadna, Czech Rep.
Height 6.04 -- Weight 258 -- Shoots R
Selected by Tampa Bay Lightning round 7 #179 overall 1996 NHL Entry Draft--- Regular Season ---
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1996-97 Moose Jaw Warriors WHL 61 12 32 44 116
1997-98 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 55 4 8 12 86
1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 10 1 2 3 22
1998-99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 68 9 12 21 80
1998-99 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 6 2 2 4 16
1999-00 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 69 8 18 26 93
2000-01 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 70 11 19 30 103
2001-02 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 11 23 34 106
2002-03 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 75 3 19 22 78
2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 17 18 35 85
2005-06 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 76 5 33 38 96
2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 61 7 14 21 48
2007-08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 72 11 29 40 116
2008-09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 14 26 40 94
2009-10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 76 6 32 38 66
2010-11 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 79 4 19 23 62
2011-12 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 52 3 8 11 59
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NHL Totals 953 110 272 382 1108
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
I trust Paul Holmgren's decision to get two seasoned veterans to replace the rookies. It is about winning now. They may not be Chris Pronger, but the Flyers just got very big on the backline.
Maybe instead of a goalie, they should just stack the two new "big boys' in the net. Nothing would fit past them and then play four on five with the speedsters!
Rick Nash? A dream or a possibility? With Trader Paul you never know but regardless of all else, the new roster is far more alive than last year's version. Last year, the team was unwatchable. I think the proof of the pudding is the kind of season Richards and Carter are having this year. Between them, they have one less goal than Scott Hartnell.
What is the story with Bryz? The guy looks like he is asleep out there!— gotedge- this trade has my spidy sense tingling that something bigger is in the works not sure how with the cap situation and all but something tells me, there is another deal in the works. As far as the goaltending goes bryz was brutal yesterday & bob is starting to flop around again. Both their fundamentals seem to be off, (just like a baseball pitcher or when a batters swing is off) for example basic goalie mechanics 101; if you go down to your knees in the butterfly to stop a shot, you stick needs to be positioned solidly in front of your 5 hole, so if the puck hits you there you can either swallow the rebound or flick the puck towards the corners depending on which hand you hold your stick in. Bryz has been goin to his knees with his stick off the ice towards his right pad. Bob was make really great stride fundamentally & now seems to be reverting back to his small play, I say small because the guy is 6'3 their is no need for him to go down so quickly or crouch down so low in his stance. These are issue that can be corrected in practice, my opinion we need a new goalie coach. I know you don't have to had been a great player to be a good coach but steve weeks? come on and in my opinion this guy should be working overtime with these goalies to get their fundamentals straightened out not taking time out to appear on NHL highlight shows— mos19delta
- Bryz is Doug Favell re-incarnated!— larryv
Comment removed.- Ok. Bryz is not on the same page as a lot of Flyers fans. He likes to think, and he expects Flyers fans do the same, but let's be realistic, Philadelphia fans aren't generally known for being the sharpest knives in the drawer. One of his mistakes is assuming that he can relate to them on an intellectual level. Hopefully, getting a good D in front of him will give him what he feels he's deserved/needed in order to play his game. The booing, while understandable, didn't help, but he needs to be a little thicker skinned, and when he talks to the media, remember the wattage of some of the dim bulbs listening. Simplify. Maybe throw a few "yous guys" in. And lets see how he plays from here on out.— stonelamb
- You said it Theo1980 and bradco!!— NHLfan
- When your goalie closes his eyes and ducks on every long shot like Bryz does.even an all star defense is going to look suspect. I've seen Bryz badly miss on so many long shots lately, he looks like a blind man with a fly swatter. How about we all boo him so severely that he wants out of here and demands a trade? Kubina and Grossman are ok but we'll never solve the problem until Bryz is gone..— bradco
- You can add Bobby Orr, Mark Howe and Ray Borque... it will not matter when the goalie can't stop wrist shots from the blue line.— Theo1980
- was an ok pickup, a little early for Holmgren to be done though, just sayin'...— DJ
- As long as they don't bring back Carter, pretty sure I'll be ok with whomever they get from Columbus.
- Bob not much better and you have Leighton. Bob will never get to be the starter with Bryz's 9 year deal so they don't have much choice. he makes too much to back up— philly thug
- With solid D in front of the goalies, we should be able to see if it is, in fact, bad D in front of scapegoated goalies or just poor goalie performance.— stonelamb
- Bob, JVR, and Carle make enough room for Nash— philly thug
- No one in the NHL wants Bobrovsky. He is overpaid and under-talented.
Carle is a free agent at season's end, and JVR for Nash is switching jerseys on similar players. The funniest thing about the fans demanding Nash, is that Nash is a defensive liability. He is known as a cherry-picker with great skills. This team has enough people cheating, and not enough workers.— Hexy4GM - Carle is a free agent after the year so Columbus would have no interest in him. — hey buddy
- Comment removed.
- LOSEADELPHIA...where all we do is LOSE,LOSE,LOSE....— warreninrochester
- Kubina aint fixing what we saw today...only halak could do that— philly thug
- Not buying the Nash speculation. Regardless, the Kubina move is smart & low-cost. Flyers have stockpiled picks over the last couple years (thanks to the Carter/Richards deals) so this really doesn't cost them much. He & Grossman solidify the defense (one hopes). Maybe this will help settle Bob & Bryz. I like the move.— thomaspfoolery
- Woo! Hoo!
— mediatedviscera
