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
- I agree...Shelly needs to go. he is a no talent player and just takes up a roster place. with rinaldo in the lineup he adds energy is a great legal hitter and can actually win fights and contribute with some skill. Never could understand why they signed shelly!!!!!
— yntwinmdk - Rinaldo may skate faster, but Shelley creates space for other players. Rinaldo isn't a heavy weight. Holmgren has built solid teams for us, and Lavi has gotten a lot out of them. I know it's crazy, but let's trust that he and Lavi know what they are doing. — macd41144
- Isn't saying that he's not his usual, affable self presenting his quotes with a comment?— JSaq
- We finally have 2 very good goalies, and people want to trade one for another forward? How about we let the offense gel for a bit, first?— jpb
- Bob will likely have more value towards the deadline. I think this teams depth is fine. Let Gustafsson play, see what he can do.— Sidewinder7
- jpb, Bob has talent but he makes 1.75M. Bryzgalov is here for the next 10 years. I would not give Bobrovsky away but if we can trade him and get a young d-men back why not? Both Coburn and Carle are UFA's next year.— Nitroglycerin
- "director of player development Dave Brown"
wow, is that a misprint?— recoveryroad - Shelly gets in a fight tonight with jersey, and Jagrbomb gets another goal.— arcadegm
- yeah, trade schenn for prospects when he's 20 years old one listed as one of the best prospects out there. great call. give him a chance to develop. Start bryz tonight. the guy can play 70 games a season. let him go for 3 straight and gain more confidence.— daoust555
- I would trade Harnell while he is hot. He is going to revert back to the long hair days and then he will take 4 penalties a game and run around like a drunk irishman. Trade Hartnell and Bob for a solid defenseman.— Atlee
- I think at some point they have to think about moving Briere. Maybe a swap of Briere for Jason Bouwmeester from Calgary or move Bob for Keaton Ellerby from Florida.Bouwmeester could use a change or scenery and Ellerby is having trouble cracking a Panthers lineup loaded with high draft picks. I know all of you are going to trash the idea of trading Briere but he's 34 with 3 or 4 years left on his deal and you have to make room at some point for Schenn and Couturier to play thier natural positions. I know he also mentors some of the younger players but with his size he's a defensive liability at center.— Njtod10
- Briere has a NTC and NMC. At that age at that contract he isn't going anywhere. And no one is going to take an older guy with that contract even if Briere would waive his clauses. Plenty of room for Briere and the kids on this team. — Sidewinder7
- Bryzg actually said "I need some tail, but Richards is gone", we need to stand and find some tail. Ah, the good ol days.— MichaelZoe
- daoust555: Mark my words, Schenn is a "miss", Courturier is already proven to be capable. the point is, Holmer has this so STRAPPED for cash under the Cap and signed contracts on the roster, that we have LITTLE room to pick up ANYONE. If this team had the track recordof developing players like the Red Wings, I wouldn't say it. But I'm looking at a team that has actually mentored very few players in the past 2 decades. After the Tochett, Smith, Zezel, Mellanby, Hextall core, they have truly crapped the bed when it comes to developing their core, long-term impact players. No goalies, no defensemen, a few forwards like Gags. Why start now?— MichaelZoe
- No development of players? Justin Williams, Roman Chechmanek, Patrick Sharp, Dennis Seidenberg, Joni Pitkanen, Carter, Richie, Downie, Giroux, JVR?
I would say we've made some bad trades more than we have not had talent develop:
'04 Justin Williams for Danny Markov
'03 Chechmanek for Kings 2nd Rdr (though Roman was done after 2 consecutive poor playoffs)
'05 Sharp and Meloche to CHI for Matt Ellison and 3rd Rdr
'06 Seidenberg to PHO for Petr Nedved
'07 Pitkanen, Sanderson and a 3rd Rdr to EDM for Jason Smith and Lupul
— AirBosco
