Turco to Philly?
With Kari Lehtonen being sent to Dallas on Tuesday from Atlanta, does that mean Marty Turco will be heading to Philadelphia?
Turco to Philly?
NEWARK, N.J. – Before a flake of snow could accumulate on the ground in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, the internet was brimming with a flurry of Flyers rumors.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t about Ray Emery and his injury concerns.
Rather, it was about another goaltender: the Dallas Stars’ Marty Turco, who quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
Turco officially became expendable by the Stars on Tuesday when they acquired Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta for defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 4th round pick. The deal was finalized late Tuesday night.
Turco’s name, though, has been connected with the Flyers in the rumor mill for weeks.
Rogers Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos was the first to report on Tuesday that the Flyers are at the top of the list for Turco, helping fuel the frenzy.
That potential move could be interesting, given Ray Emery’s current health situation and Michael Leighton’s experience in the NHL playoffs – coupled with the fact that Turco will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1.
But here’s why Turco coming to Philadelphia is more than a long shot:
1. Salary - Turco’s cap hit is $5.7 million. That means the Flyers would need to sacrifice about $5.2 million in salary in a trade with the Stars just to fit him under the cap this season.
To recap, the Flyers’ list of no-trade or no-movement clauses: Simon Gagne, Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen.
2. Playoff history: Is Marty Turco the goaltender that the Flyers think will put them over the top? Turco holds a bunch of Stars records (wins, shutouts, games played) and a modern NHL record (1.72 GAA in a season, 2002-03) but his success has never converted to the playoffs. Since Turco became Dallas’ full-time starter in 2002-03, the Stars have gone to the playoffs every year but one. Those trips have included four first round exits and one trip the Western Conference Semifinals.
The Flyers went that far with Marty Biron in 2007-08. He walked as a free agent last July.
3. The short-term: Do the Flyers want to sacrifice a potential impact player for their playoff run in order to acquire Turco, who wouldn’t be guaranteed to be Flyers’ property come 2010-11?
That’s the same dilemma this franchise faced when weighing Ilya Kovalchuk.
4. The long-term: If the Flyers do acquire Turco, is he definitely the Flyers’ long-term solution? A change in scenery may do Turco some good. While his stats have never been horrible, this season hasn’t been his best in Dallas.
But if the Flyers trade a decent piece or two to acquire him – and are willing to lock him up for a few years – they need to be sure he is the right piece.
It’s important to keep in mind that Turco turns 35 in August when thinking long-term.
Chew on this: Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren is on the record last week, saying the Flyers don’t have any interest in Turco. Then again, Holmgren insisted the Flyers didn’t have any interest in Kovalchuk.
We know he was involved in some way in those trades talks. How much? We’ll never know.
The same applies for this situation. But I’d bet Holmgren will be on the horn with Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk at some point on Wednesday just to check in.
For now, Nieuwendyk told the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that “it’s still [Turco’s] net” and he will stick with three goalies for now.
Nieuwendyk’s hand was forced, really, as Lehtonen was the only young and unproven goaltender that was available for a reasonable price. The Stars were set to enter the offseason with four goalies as unrestricted free agents.
Just three points out of a playoff spot, is Lehtonen – who hasn’t played a game this season – the Stars’ goalie for their playoff push? That’s not the Flyers’ problem. But if he isn’t, will the Stars hang on to Turco and let him walk in July?
Before push can come to shove, Holmgren needs to make a few decisions:
-Does Emery require surgery on his hip? If so, does he need it now or can he finish the season? Not fully healthy, does he give the Flyers their best chance to win?
-Is Emery the Flyers’ goaltender of the future?
-Does Emery’s health have any impact on whether the Flyers would be interested in Turco?
The heat is on: the NHL roster freeze sets in on Friday night at midnight and lasts until Feb. 28 – when the Olympics end. After that, Holmgren will have just four days to talk shop until the NHL’s trade deadline on March 3 at 3 p.m.
The clock is ticking.
For an update on any possible weather-related changes to the Flyers’ game in New Jersey on Wednesday night, stay tuned to Frequent Flyers and Frank Seravalli’s Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.
This possible scenario does not address the team's true needs and shows a lack of vision. Turco is way overpaid, had one good playoff series and is 35. If I was going to make a drastic roster change it should have been in pursuit of Kovie and in the end we saw that the scenarios just didn't work for us given the inflexibility of some contracts. I think we can win with the team we have...beginning of the season and that win streak a couple weeks ago prove that. Our biggest problem again is lack of consistency, the constant question is which team is going to show up to play? We may think that we match up poorly against other playoff teams, but most likely is that Philly will be the team no one wants to face b/c we have the POTENTIAL to beat any team in the league. But again, we come back to the question....which team is going to show up? And Turco does nothing to answer that.— ferg_1977- Go for Mason and build around him. Emery and Mason is a nice tandem. I bet hou could get Biron cheap right now for the short term.— LaCroix,Nolet,Gendron
Comment removed.- Good goalies win championships,,, Name the last stanley cup winner that had an average goalie,,,,,??... There isnt any,,,,,Do whatever it takes holmy.....Great saves are as good as goals,,,— jackhanna
- You all are all so quick to sell out Hartnell. It's not going to happen. Marty Turco? I think I remember him from when I used to play NHL '94. Just stop. We don't need another mid-season disaster trade like last year...remember bye-bye Upshall? Also, remember letting Knuble walk away this summer? That's where all your offense went. To other teams who currently have better records than us. Thanks Holmgren.— phillyphan11
- I think looking back, Pronger trade was a mistake. he is not playing up to what he was traded for. What happend to the nastiness? I thought he would teach coburn how to be tougher, now, neither one of them are playing tough. Timonen and Giroux are the best flyers by far!— PEFF
- Phillyphan11, Hartnell is not worth the 4.5 million he is making. He takes way too many stupid (did I say dumb) penalties! Where is this guys head sometimes! Needs to go!— PEFF
i don't think that homer is to blame for all the cap issues. remember that clarke signed some of these fools for long time deals, its going to take a while for homer to straighten this stuff out. plus danny B doesn't help, him and gags havent had the best of years. if we could move one of them for a solid left wing, this team will be up there with chi and wash.— azguz- FIRE HOMER ALREADY!!! knuble has 20 goals in washington. Upshall was having a career year in phoenix(18 goals)till he tore his ACL. umberger 19 goals. ville leino trade WAS A WASTE. he has another year on his contract when tollefson did not. basically a million for another year GONE UNDER THE CAP because of that trade....his recalling of randy jones was a waste of 1.5 million of cap space.....signing briere was a panic move and not needed with prospects richards and carter about to become regulars. Emery is here cause he is cheap...etc........Holmgren destroyed this team by his inability to comprehend the salary cap. the ntc/no movement clauses were unnecessary and made it near impossible to improve this team for years...hartnell is overrated and still takes too many penalties. NOOOOO TURCO!!!!! work on clearing cap space and recouping draft picks. that is the only goal holmgren should have as there is no way this team will go far in the playoffs. toronto is making big moves to change things, yet holmgren gets leino??? AND ANOTHER FLYER(EMERY) HAS HIP GROIN ISSUES. HE CAME BACK TOO SOON AND WAS OVERWORKED. THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME WITH THIS TEAM. CAVEMAN MENTALITY WITH THE TRAINING STAFF AND MANAGEMENT IS WHY THEY ALWAYS GET HURT AND SCREWED UP THE SALARY CAP. need to fire homer and get someone with the ability to do basic math to handle the cap.— bill on the hill
- no no no no no please don't!— Stanley Cup
- Turco has played great in the playoffs the last few years. I would definitely try and get him. Trade Gagne, He is a girl anyways.— ChrisM
- No way on Turco, he may be a decent goaltender but not worth sacrificing anybody that can score to get him. Plus he is way overpaid. Right now we have 3 goaltenders that have actually all played good in their own way. Rarely has it been mentioned that any of the 3 were playing badly, just the team in front of them. Even if Emery needs surgery Leighton and Boucher can handle the position as long as the team is scoring. All 3 of these guys are better than Biron was the past 2 seasons.— babyray2002
- No reason to get a 35 year old goalie. Trade hartnell for Halak. Stop with the rent/old veterans. Enough already! Leighton can handle it for now but we need a goalie for the future to go along with all of our young players.— fman727
- It's a GREAT deal if we can trade Holmgren to get Turco. The Flyers can try trading their past, as opposed to the current trend.— FlyFifty8
- Comment removed.
