MUST BE DREAMING: TEMPLE IS 9-2?
The Flyers are about $2.2 million under the cap, so they have some room to add a rather inexpensive free agent.
Keep in mind that GM Paul Holmgren wants to leave himself a decent cap cushion _ say, $500,000 or so _ so he doesn't have the same cap problems that played a major role in losing home-ice advantage in last season's playoffs. That means the Flyers only have about $1.7 million to spend, tops.
That said, there are free agents available that are worth a look, including Mike Grier, a good penalty killer who scored 10 goals for San Jose last season. The 6-foot-1, 227-pounder made $1.7 million last year. Free-agent center Radek Bonk is also available and would help with faceoffs. Bonk has four 20-goal seasons on his resume.
Peter Sykora, who scored 25 goals for Pittsburgh last year, is also unsigned, but he would have to take a big pay cut for the Flyers to fit him under the cap. Sykora made $2.5 million last season. Todd Bertuzzi, who scored 15 goals with Calgary last year, is also unsigned.
If they don't add a free agent, the Flyers will dip into their farm system for a missing piece.
In case you missed it, former Flyer backup goalie Antero Niittymaki signed last week with Tampa Bay for $600,000.
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Left winger James van Riemsdyk, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, hopes to earn a spot with the Flyers in training camp this September. Rick O'Brien has an update on van Riemsdyk in Monday's Inquirer.
The Flyers' public-relations staff put together quotes from their six 2009 draft selections who are taking part in the Prospect Camp at the Skate Zone in Vorohees. They are among 34 players in camp.
Here goes:
Adam Morrison, goalie:
“I’ve enjoyed myself all week. It’s been a lot of work. You know it really kind of brings you down to earth on how hard these guys work to get here, so it’s been a lot of fun, but I definitely have to earn my stripes before I am going to be here.”
“Everybody’s got a shot, it’s not just one or two guys that can fire the puck. Every single guy out there can pick corners and do it at a hundred miles an hour, so I think that’s the biggest difference. The speed obviously – guys are faster, stronger, but you pick up on that after the first day.”
Dave Labrecque, center:
“Since the beginning it was pretty fun. Its tough, but you have to be in shape if you want to be a part of the Flyers, and you’re now in the NHL, so you have to be ready.”
Q: Biggest difference coming from junior to an NHL camp…
“I think it’s the physical part. Everybody is bigger, they’re more in shape. They’re stronger, so when you have to go pick up the puck in the corner you have to be more ready than in junior.”
Nicola Riopel, goalie:
“My first impression was, just feeling the ice – it was a pretty hard, long camp, we’re kind of getting tired a little, but you just have to keep going. They have a lot of talent in this room. A lot of good guys, so I made some friends and it was a really good week for me.”
“The biggest part to work on is that the guys are more talented. The quickness, the speed of the shot, the speed of the play, they’re smarter, they have more patience and that’s the biggest difference for me. I’m going to have to work on my patience and put my eyes always on the puck.”
Oliver Lauridsen, defenseman:
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s a lot of new things to get used to, but it’s been hard work. It’s almost over; we only have a few things left. Most of our games are on the big sheet [of ice] and this of course is a small sheet, it makes a big difference. The physical game is a lot different. The physical presence of all the players out there – you can feel you’re playing with bigger and stronger kids here.”
Eric Wellwood, left wing:
“It’s tough. I get to see what it’s like to be an NHL player. How much work it’s going to be and I definitely have to do a lot of work to get to where I want to be.”
“The guys are much faster; I don’t mean skating faster, but they think faster and they’re much more sharp and I think I have to use my head a lot more quicker and be able to stay up with the pack.”
Simon Bertilsson, defenseman:
“It went very well. It’s a bigger ice [surface] over in Sweden so you have to go faster here and there is much more hitting over here.”
Q: One aspect you learned from camp…
“The defense - I learned to hit the tape and make a good pass, good first pass and take the puck up through the zone.”
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Looking for a fun, quick-read beach book for the summer? Try Flyer'd Up, written by Brian Startare, with a foreword by Jim Jackson.
It's full of stories, trivia and behind-the-scene anecdotes. I especially liked the "What if...." section that looks at how things might have turned out if a certain development didn't take place. For instance: What if the Eric Lindros trade with Quebec had never happened? And: What if Bobby Orr hadn't been called for a late penalty in Game 6 of the Stanely Cup Finals against the Flyers in 1974? And a lot of others.
The Flyers still think they are being penalized, literally, for the sins of their ancestors, a.k.a. the Broad Street Bulllies.
Some say it’s no coincidence that the Flyers led the NHL with an average of 17.5 penalty minutes per game last season. The referees, they claim, watch the orange and black more closely.
And now, with the addition of rugged defenseman Chris Pronger (nine career suspensions, an average of about 100 penalty minutes per season) and feisty forward Ian Laperriere (163 PIM last season) _ and having Dan Carcillo (league-high 254 penalty minutes) for a full season _ the Flyers are expected to fill the penalty box in 2009-10.
“Trust me. This is on the top of my to-do list this summer _ addressing some of those issues,” coach John Stevens said Monday after a news conference in which Pronger was introduced at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.
Stevens thinks the addition of Pronger will actually help the Flyers DECREASE their penalties.
“With Chris Pronger, we’ll have the puck more because of his patience, composure and his passing ability,” Stevens said. “I don’t see our team taking more penalties when you have the puck more.”
Pronger, coupled with the maturity of the Flyers’ young defensemen, should help the team “make better decisions,” Stevens said.
Stevens has been reviewing the Flyers’ 2008-09 penalty statistics in an effort to learn from past mistakes.
“I’ve got the breakdown of how many penalties we took by period,” he said. “We took 170 in the first period, 174 in the second and 116 in third. And we were plus-27 in the third period in goals-for and goals-against,” he said.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist” to figure out their third-period success.
Stevens has charted which Flyers have taken penalties in different periods.
Scott Hartnell took the most first-period penalties. “And you have players like (Kimmo) Timonen and (Braydon) Coburn who are right there,” he said. “To me, one of our focuses is playing in the other end more and cutting down on turnovers. I don’t see Chris taking a lot of penalties if we’re playing above the red line more.”
With maturity, Stevens said, Hartnell “can eliminate the unnecessary penalties, where you don’t even have to force the referee to make a decision. I think we have a style of play that suits us, and Chris fits that style great. But I think there are some things we can do to drop penalties.”
Stevens said Laperriere “gets penalty minutes, but he doesn’t put teams at a disadvantage…with bad penalties. Carcillo? How many bad penalties did he take? The one in Ottawa comes to mind late in the year; other than that, I can’t think of one.”
In any event, this is an area that will surely become a hot topic during the season.
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Pronger is in the final year of his contract and he can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Pronger's agent, Pat Morris, and Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren have had talks about an extension.
It may not be easy. Pronger figures to be seeking a four-year extension in the $25 million neighborhood.
“We’re just getting started,” said Morris, referring to the contract talks. “Whether we can finish is up to both sides, but we’re going to try. And if we can’t, then the player’s got a little bit of a risk and the team probably has a lot of risk because there will always be another place for Chris to play.”
Morris said Pronger “looks good in a Flyers uniform, and hopefully he doesn’t have to ever take it off. Chris wants to set some roots here in Philadelphia; his wife is here on the trip to look for a house, and all those things point to good things.”
The Pronger family may settle in Haddonfield, Morris said.
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Adding Pronger and the 35-year-old Laperriere, a forward known for his defense, should enable the Flyers to improve on last season’s 44-27-11 record, Holmgren believes.
Holmgren said the Flyers were too inconsistent last season.
“I attribute that to youth,” he said, “but having Chris and Ian will help, and I also think the maturation process of our young players will be a factor, too. It’s all part of the process.”
Learning to beat the arch-rival Pittsburgh Penguins is also part of the process, one that excites Pronger. He is already plotting ways to contain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
“You have to be physical and take away their time and space _ and make sure they pay a price when you get a chance,” Pronger said.
_ Sam Carchidi
Free-agent winger Chad LaRose re-signed with Carolina Thursday _ and that wasn’t good news for the Flyers.
LaRose scored 19 goals last season and had looked like he would be a nice fit for the Flyers. He was relatively inexpensive and would have given the Flyers some needed scoring punch at right wing, a position that has been decimated by the departure of Mike Knuble (27 goals last year) and Joffrey Lupul (25).
GM Paul Holmgren is still investigating the thinning free-agent market.
As it stands, some of the Flyers’ lines have been weakened because their projected right wingers scored a combined 27 goals last year _ the same total as Knuble, who signed with Washington.
Though it could change, it’s possible the right wingers will be Ian Laperriere (7 goals last year), converted center Danny Briere (11 in an injury-plagued season) Arron Asham (8) Andreas Nodl (1).
LaRose signed a two-year deal for $1.7 million per season; the Flyers have about $2.3 million in cap space, so they would have been able to sign LaRose.
Without Knuble and Lupul, the Flyers’ lines will look drastically different. Coach John Stevens has lots of options and will probably try numerous combinations. Here is how they might look:
1. Gagne-Giroux-Briere _ The Flyers’ version of the French Connection. Could be sensational.
2. Hartnell-Carter-Laperriere _ Lappy replaces Lupul.
3. Carcillo-Richards-Asham _ The CAR Line is loaded with scrappy, hard-working players. But would Carcillo and Asham be good enough finishers to work with Richards?
4. Cote/van Riemsdyk-Powe-Nodl/Kalinski _ Cote’s roster spot could be in jeopardy. Jared Ross could also fit into the mix.
The defensive pairings could look like this:
Timonen-Coburn _ Will they be reunited?
Pronger-Carle _ Carle supplies the speed, Pronger the physicality.
Parent-Jones _ Would be a good duo if Jones has recovered from hip problems.
Send me the lines and pairings you think would be the most effective.
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In Friday’s Inquirer, Flyers chairman Ed Snider tells why the Flyers mortgaged the future to acquire Pronger, who is expected to help give the Flyers one of the league's top defenses.
The Flyers made a quick strike in the free-agent market Wednesday, signing goalie Brian Boucher and feisty right winger Ian "Lappy" Laperriere.
Boucher's two-year deal is believed to be for $1.85 million, a cap hit of $925,000 per season.
Boucher, 32, was the Flyers' No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft. He was superb as a backup in San Jose last season, going 12-6-3 with a 2.18 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
He's the perfect fit as the backup to unpredictable Ray Emery.
Laperriere, 35, signed a three-year contract for a reported $3.5 million ($1.17 million per season); he collected seven goals, 12 assists and 163 penalty minutes with Colorado last season.
The Flyers, who would like to add a center who is adept at winning faceoffs, are about $2.4 million under the cap.
The Flyers will find it difficult to replace the combined 52 goals scored last season by Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul.
General manager Paul Holmgren said the Flyers are trying to add another forward to make up for the offensive losses.
At this point, the Flyers are much strong defensively than last season, but the offense has taken a hit. Holmgren is hopeful that having Danny Briere (injured most of last year) and Claude Giroux (who began last year with the Phantoms) for a full season will dull the losses of Knuble and Lupul.
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It's official: Knuble's four-year career as a Flyer is over.
The right winger signed a two-year deal with the Washington Capitals Wednesday for a reported $5.6 million.
Knuble, who will turn 37 on Saturday, became an unrestricted free agent at noon Wednesday. The Flyers at first were offering a one-year deal filled with incentives, but Holmgren said last night they had later offered Knuble a two-year contract.
Last season, Knuble made $2.8 million and scored 27 goals. His presence on the power play _ and in front of the net _ will be severely missed, but the cap-strapped Flyers could not match the Caps' offer.
In the first four hours of the free-agency period, 21 players had signed, including former Flyer Donald "Broadway" Brashear (Rangers).
The Flyers had been high on Florida goalie Craig Anderson, but he signed with Colorado.
