Flyers' 'D' upgraded, but was money spent wisely?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Flyers' 'D' upgraded, but was money spent wisely?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
With Paul Holmgren as the architect, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals this past season. So there’s no arguing with the general manager’s abilities.
But….
Thursday was a strange, dizzying day in Flyerdom.
The Flyers upgraded their defense considerably and got more physical with the signing of Jody Shelley, but they failed to land a goalie _ basically conceding that Michael Leighton would be their No. 1 _ and, from here, they took a small step backward on offense.
Are they better than the team that lost to Chicago in six Finals games?
Defensively, yes.
By adding promising Andrej Meszaros and veteran Sean O’Donnell to an already top-flight defense, the Flyers have one of the deepest, biggest and best blue lines in the NHL.
But….
You can argue that the Flyers needed more help on offense _ specifically, at right wing _ than on defense.
You can argue that the Flyers would have been fine with O’Donnell _ who, at 38, was still effective last season, averaging nearly 19 minutes a game and registering a plus-14 rating for Los Angeles _ and Oskars Bartulis as the third defensive pairing. They could have used the money they will pay Meszaros (a four-year deal for $4 million per season) on a right wing like Colby Armstrong. Armstrong, a hard-nosed sort who scored 15 goals for Atlanta last season, signed a three-year free-agent deal with Toronto for $3 million per season.
Right wing was an albatross for the Flyers last season as they never did replace the combined 52 goals scored the previous season by Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul.
And with the addition of Shelley (two goals last season), it appears the Flyers will not re-sign feisty right winger Arron Asham (10 goals), whose game rose in the playoffs.
Perhaps Holmgren, who in a few years has molded the Flyers from worst-in-the-NHL to Stanley Cup finalist, has another move up his sleeve for a right winger. If not, defense will be the team’s calling card in 2010-11.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but one wonders if the correct needs were addressed.
Your thoughts?
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The Flyers have just $577,738 of cap space and still must sign restricted free agents Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe. The cap space will jump to about $1.1 million with the expected departure of Riley Cote.
The Flyers have the lowest amount of available cap space in the league, according to capgeek.com. But Chicago is in much worse shape; the Blackhawks have about $3.6 of cap space but only have 14 players under contract. The Flyers have signed 21 players.
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would gagne renegotiate his contract?— ralphj- @the sichee-ation, actually the King would have taken Carter for Bernier at the draft but the Flyers balked and offered Hartnell instead— robm0202
- 1republican - it matters if they spent wisely because there's a salary cap. You spend money on defense, there's not as much room under the cap for forwards or goalies. This isn't baseball.— JettMartinez
- Given the upgrade on D and re-signing of Leighton, I agree that the Flyers' focus now is squarely on adding a RW....but obviously some cap space is needed to accomodate. If Homer can find a way to afford and sign Raffi Torres, I think we'll see another trip to the finals in '11. Make it happen.— Marcus Hooke
- @robm0202 - I read and heard from sports analysts it was Giroux they wanted. Young talent for young talent. Kings could not take on Carter's salary and make a push for Kovalchuk also.— the sichee-ation
- I'm very happy with the moves so far. Defensive depth was easily the Flyers biggest need and they addressed it greatly. They can't play only 4 defenseman in every important game. Parent stunk(2 years ago thought he had some upside) and to get 7th and 3rd round picks for him is great. If Leighton is the starting goalie(depending on any trades) at least Reese has a whole offseason to work with him(and his 5 hole)— kingback
- The acquisition of Meszaros reminds me alot of the acquistion of Carle...I'm going to give him a chance to prove himself. O'Donnell was a good signing, You NEED a veteran to anchor the 3rd pairing, 2 rookies cant do it. Jody Shelley i dont agree with. I think they need to Trade Carter not Hartnell or Gagne. They are logjammed at center and need wingers. Trade carter for Bernier and, or 2 high prospect and a first, then use the 5,000,000 to sign Stempniack and Afinogenov.— SuPrimeau
- I hate to try to be sensible on these boards, but a major problem for Flyers fans like us (and I'm guilty of this as well) was pointed out on the CSNPhilly site by a commenter--every other team in the league has a shot at all the same free agents that we do. I realize that not every team has the same needs that we do and therefore not every team needs a goalie (although most do) or a RW like Armstrong, but every team wants scoring and defense, so to say that Homer could've gotten Armstrong or to get on him about not signing Hamhuis is really presumptuous on a lot of these philly.com writers' part. I do agree that 4m a year for Meszaros sounds *brutal*, but hopefully he can prove me wrong. And Carter--it's hard to just say "trade him" or whatever b/c his production in the regular season is tough to replace and we didn't see him healthy in the series against Chicago (so who's to say he wouldn't have been way more productive if healthy?), but it's almost like they have no option other than to get rid of him or Gagne. If you lose Gagne, though, does that mean Carter on the wing full time?— MaC130
- Im not so sure about Shelley, seems pointless to me. I would like to have seen Asham come back. As far as the wing goes I'd like to see them evaluate these moves, or lack of moves, and then not sit on their hands at the trade deadline next season. Although we got lucky this year I think Homer knows that you won't sidestep Crosby and Ovechkin every playoff year, so the D is paramount.— Chutley26
I hate the idea of losing Carter BUT... All the boneheads who want to trade Gagne or Hartnell instead seem to think there are only 3 positions in hockey; goalie, defense, forward. Remember how much Hitchcock RAVED about how lucky he was to have an RJ Umberger who could move around???? You can't just arbitrarily say 'move so'nso to wing- problem solved'. Richie and Claude are going NOWHERE and Briere, even if you forget his playoffs and want to move him, has a HUGE contract that's almost untradable. Simple math in both positions and cap space says Carter has to go. He has great trade value and can't be resigned after next year. If they can move him for a legit scoring RW at $3mil or less and get a high pick that's worth it. Or get an even cheaper RW and throw a lowball offer at Nabokov.- why do insist they have to sign Carcillo? If you base the Flyer's success in the playoffs , he had little to nothing to do with it including Powe— ghost78
- Im still not getting all the trade Carter talk. Especially when I hear keep gagne and hartnell. This guy was one of the top scorers in the league not too long ago. Sure he didn't show up in the playoffs but that was mostly because he was hurt. Dont understand why a guy like hartnell gets so much loyalty.— Chutley26
- The only position that worries me is Goalie. We need to find a young promising goaltender.— ChrisM
- Asham is WAY better than Shelley. That move bothers me the most. Why pay 1.1 million annually for three years to an old guy who can't score??? Asham has good hands, hitting, and will drop the gloves when needed. I'd take him over Carcillo or Shelley any day.— BroadStreet
- Chutley26- you missed my point. I would much rather KEEP Carter and would be fine moving Hartnell or Gagne instead. My point is -they are left wingers. We barely have enough LW's and have NO scoring RWs- what we DO have is about 7 Centers. You're not gonna move Betts, Richards, Giroux, and can't trade Briere's contract. WHat does that leave you as a movable piece? CARTER. If you can call Bettman and get the cap raised to $64 mil- then I'm all about keeping Carter and just signing a RW who can score.
