Trade on the Flyers' horizon?
Daily News Flyers blog
Trade on the Flyers' horizon?
BUFFALO – Despite being snagged by the injury bug early in the season, a league source familiar with the Flyers’ thinking told the Daily News yesterday that the Flyers are not interested in making a move to bolster their roster’s depth.
Danny Briere, Matt Read, Brayden Schenn and Chris Pronger are four players who will likely remain out of the Flyers’ lineup tonight against New Jersey (7 o’clock, Comcast SportsNet).
In fact, Briere is the only player among those four who is a possibility to play in tonight’s game.
The hockey world was abuzz on Tuesday night, when the names of three Flyers front office members appeared on the attendance sheet in Washington for the Capitals’ matchup with Anaheim, including general manager Paul Holmgren, pro scout Al Hill and director of player development Dave Brown.
While it would not be unusual to have one member in attendance with a West Coast team in the region, three names raised eyebrows.
Holmgren, of course, has swung a deal in each of the last three calendar years with Ducks GM Bob Murray – the biggest being the trade for Pronger in 2008.
Holmgren, though, was actually with the Flyers in Buffalo.
And it’s not strange for Hill, who lives in the Hershey, Pa., area, and Brown to make a trip down south in order to catch teams from the West Coast that might not always be in the area, in order to cut down on travel.
The Flyers were thought to have interest in a Ducks depth defenseman, an affordable stop-gap to help tide the team over between prospect Erik Gustafsson – who has played in each of the last 3 games – and veteran Matt Walker.
Sheldon Brookbank, 31, who makes $750,000, was thought to be one of the names on the Flyers’ list.
Instead, as it stands now, the team is satisfied with its current makeup and would rather ride out the injury wave than make a rash move.
“They’ve made it clear that they are not willing to make a trade to just make a trade,” the source said. “They don’t have that much wiggle room under the salary cap and it’s not as if they’re in a tailspin. No matter, they would have no shortage of teams to deal with, as Columbus, Boston and others try to sort out their problems.”
The source also indicated that Walker’s demotion to the Phantoms appears to be temporary, saying that he was just sent to Adirondack briefly to allow the recall of two replacements (Harry Zolnierczyk and Ben Holmstrom) for the price of his $1.7 million salary.
“He’ll be back,” the source said. “That’s for certain.”
That does not mean the Flyers’ situation – with regards to willingness to make a deal – is something that will not change rapidly. They would like to wait until a semblance of a healthy roster is together before re-evaluating.
“One thing that Ed Snider will not stand for this year is a team that limps into the playoffs,” the source said. “They would much rather nip any problems in the bud early in the season to allow Peter Laviolette to have his roster clicking on all cylinders in March and April.”
SUSPENSION: Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta was suspended four games by the NHL for his hit on the Flyers' Jakub Voracek in Wednesday night's game.
THAT’S STRANGE: Speaking for the first time since the Flyers temporarily put a gag order on him on Monday during practice – in an effort to keep his mind focused on hockey – Ilya Bryzgalov spoke the media. He was far from his usual, affable self.
His quotes (below) are presented without comment:
Question: Was this win even more satisfying than the shutout [on Oct. 8]? You made a lot of big saves, especially late.
Bryzgalov: Why you bring [up] the word shutout? You know, it was a really tough game for us. The players played good in the first period. In the second period, they probably made too many turnovers with the puck and [we had] too many penalties. The game went in the opposite direction. Fortunately, we able to stand tall and win the game. We were able to battle hard and win the game, it was a great job.
Question: What was that last minute like for you? You made a lot of key saves, especially on [Tomas] Vanek in front of the net.
Bryzgalov: It was like normal. I’m just trying to stop the puck. That’s it.
QUICK START: Last night’s 3 goals in the first 6 minutes and 23 seconds – their best start to a game since Nov. 15, 2001 – was tied for the 16th fastest three goals in franchise history. Here are the first 15 games:
1. 2:19 01/05/2001 PHI 6 at ATL 4
2. 2:36 02/27/1982 PHI 9 at CGY 8
3. 3:10 03/08/1987 PHI 7 vs NJ 3
4. 3:40 11/15/2001 PHI 5 vs WAS 0
5. 4:20 03/15/1995 PHI 4 at NYR 3
6. 4:28 04/02/1994 PHI 6 at HFD 5
7. 4:31 04/01/1978 PHI 4 at LA 2
8. 4:53 03/22/1984 PHI 13 vs PIT 4
9. 4:56 11/27/1984 PHI 4 vs CHI 2
10. 5:39 03/22/1973 PHI 9 vs VAN 0
11. 5:44 10/09/1983 PHI 7 vs PIT 1
12. 5:52 12/12/1974 PHI 6 vs MIN 0
13. 6:04 12/18/1986 PHI 9 vs NYI 4
14. 6:07 02/07/1977 PHI 7 vs ATL 4
15. 6:15 10/17/1976 PHI 7 vs DET 4
16. 6:23 04/01/1976 PHI 11 vs WAS 2
SCOTTY TOO HOTTIE: Scott Hartnell now has 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in his last 5 games. He has scored in three straight games.
MINUTE MAN: Claude Giroux saw 25:01 of total ice time, undoubtedly an up-tick with Danny Briere and Matt Read out of the lineup, his second-most ever in a regulation-time game, playoffs or regular season. His previous high? 25:27 in Tampa Bay on Feb. 1, 2011. Giroux spent 4:05 on the penalty kill last night, his most this season. Before last night, most of Giroux’s penalty killing duties had been shifted to Max Talbot, Sean Couturier and Read.
SHOOTING GALLERY: The Flyers are outshooting opponents, 135-94, in the first period of games this season. They have outshot their opponents in 25-of-36 periods played this season.
UP NEXT: Since the Flyers do not have a morning skate today at the Wells Fargo Center, it’s impossible to have any sort of idea whether or not Sergei Bobrovsky will start in the second end of back-to-back games tonight against New Jersey. Peter Laviolette could also very well stick with Bryzgalov, as he has won two straight starts.
Tonight’s game is also a back-to-back game for the Devils, who fell to Toronto, 5-3, in Newark.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
Bryz seemed to have lost his focus but, he's regained it in the last two games. All three goals he has allowed in the last two games have been flukes going in off skates or weird bounces off the wall. He has definitely made some big saves too. I would let Bob start tonight and see if we can get his confidence going again.— Gord Grimmier- Are the writers really shocked at Bryz starting to give the stock answers that come from most players? This is what happens when a bunch of hacks go into a feeding frenzy over some colorful quotes and embarrass a player. Did you really think that after filing some bush league complaint against the team they wouldn't just tell him to speak but give cut and dry answers?— emoser
- Easy decision to put in Bob tonight.— P Even
- No way, ride Byz-giggy. Paul, make a move for a 4-6th right after everyone is healthy, Weather the storm, deal from a position of power and depth. Dump Walker's salary somewhere, and Lilja, and a couple of those minor leaguers or just admit they're AHL players still. And please, can we get SOMEONE in the top 10 in faceoffs? Too late for Nicholls or Malhotra, but maybe Schenn goes for a D-Man or draft picks? Nodl proved last night with a lousy elbow PIM in the last minute of the game that he's got a short window to respond to Lavvy or be gone.— MichaelZoe
- Let that be a lesson to the media. That's what happens when you have an honest guy who says after a 9 goal meltdown" I felt lost tonight", and you try to turn it into armegeddon. Now you get name, rank, and serial number, which is what you deserve. And , no, you don't do this for me, I don't care what he says, just that he wins.— drbob1
- I say start Bryz....he needs to show he can be consistent. Plus we need to kick the Devils while they are down.— otown philly fan
- brzygalov needs to brush up on his english skills in the article it should say we were able to stand tall. not we able to stand tall— doug2k11
- *bryzgalov.— doug2k11
- The way Matt Carle plays we really only have 4 capable dmen. He gets beat liked a rented mule regularly and his only claim to fame is that he can "move" the puck out of the defensive zone and has some offensive talent. Give me a dman that will stand up people at the line and take the puck from the other team without ole'ing it every night, we have enough guys on offense who are capable of scoring goals.— Bob Sacamano
- Dave Brown....You THE Man! #21 forever!— Tar Heel 1
- What is wrong with what he said? He was lost! This guy is going to be great and when he gets hot the flyers are going to ride him all the way to warm weather.— Atlee
- Bob should be traded without question. Bryz is sined for 9 years. Bob has value but he 's only going to play 10-15 games. We need another scorer and another solid defenseman. Back-up goalies come cheap, so there will be extra cash to pick up and everyday player.— Howard32
- Trade Bob and pick up another scorer or solid defenseman. Bryz is signed for 9 years. trade Bob while he has value— Howard32
- Pick up another scorer??? Are you crazy. do you even look at the stats??? Flyers lead the nhl in goals for at 44!! I think once this team really gets going and they're firing on all 8 cylinders they will be unbeatable. many of the goals against have been deflections off skates and bad bounces. bryz needs to develop chemistry just like any of the centers, wingers and dmen. — yntwinmdk
- Do we actually need to make a trade right now? Why do we need Brookbank?
Replace Shelley with someone who can actually skate and contribute on the ice. He had 3 in a half min of ice time yesterday. No hits, no SOG, nothing. RInaldo had teh sam eice time but threw 3 hits and recorded 12 penalty minutes.
Go with some your kid from Phantoms on our 4th line.— Nitroglycerin
