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?
* * * * * * *
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.
* * * * * * *
For constant updates, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BroadStBull.
kozykoz26: you say he's opportunistic, I say Leino knows how to play without the puck - that's we he's in position to knock home rebounds. Also, you seem to forget that he WAS the MVP of the Finnish Elite League, one of the best leagues in the world that isn't the NHL. It's taken him a couple years to adjust to the North American game, but now that he has, I'd say he's got a bright future ahead of him here.— Phantoms9805- Carter for a spare part player and more importantly PICKS.— tdcuse
- The Shelley deal baffles me.— elpel
- @1Republican: we care if they spent wisely because the NHL has a salary cap. I agree with the posters who said that Carter and Gagne are the Flyers' most tradeable assets. They are good players, but they don't quite fit with the team's current structure, and they would be valuable on the market to acquire some role players to fully fill out the roster. They'd fit better on a team like the Sharks, quite honestly.— Michael J
- Oh, and: Leino is the real deal.... must keep....— Michael J
- Keep Carter. Trade Gagne. Carter is the future, Gagne is the past. Carter's playoffs sucked, but he didn't play center which is his natural position. Trading the top goal scorer from an anemic offense is horrible - Gagne clears enough $$ to get a goalie AND a decent right winger!— sportgenie
I'd like to see what JVR and Leino can do offensively next season before doing anything too over-the-top. Giroux has emerged as a young star, as well. What I'm trying to say is that even in goal, I'd rather see the Flyers not make a deal right now, than make a bad deal that will stick them with high-dollar, aging players with multi-year deals. If there isn't a goaltender that makes sense now, Leighton is good enough to get them through to the middle of next season when someone will shake loose.— Hame of Famer- I just dont see anyone taking on Gagne's 5 mil, plus he has a NMC. Would be interesting to see what the Flyers get if they do trade. Without Gagne we dont win Game 3 (OT goal) vs Boston and maybe not Game 7 (GWG with minutes left).— shanehockey28
- For the love of god, Carter is NOT the prototypical flyer or really a desirable hockey player for any organization. A player with his size and skill should be extremely physical and play like the season is on the line every game. There is no question he is a terrific athlete but his performance in the playoffs was mediocre at best and honestly his shot directly into the center of Antti Niemi's mask to win the game in Game 6 was despicable.— taintaugustine
- Gagne's already waived his NMC. http://anthonysintheroom.blogspot.com/— stormrider
- Seriously NO ASHAM ! Wong Answer— PhillyfanNohio
- You can't question Homer's abilities? R U Kiddin?! He has totally mismanaged the cap for three years and got lucky to even make it to the playoffs because Leighton, a journeyman, got hot. This team has not prioritized the goalie for decades and that is THE single reason they have no Cup. If they go into the season with Leighton as No. #1, my tickets are for sale.— VicM
- Hey 1republican, there is a thing called a SALARY CAP, so no matter how much the ownership group has, you have to spend wisely. You must be a Yankee fan.— bleedmidnightgreensection236
- therev, true to a point on the offense, but ultimately if Leighton plays solid in game 1 and 6 we hoist the cup in game 6. 2 of those last 3 goals in game 6 of sc finals(maybe all of the last 3?) but 2 of 3 for sure you could say he should have definetly come up with the save. In truth, they made it to the finals mainly because of matchups(still kudos to them) Had they had to play Wash or Pitt with Leighton or Boucher, it would have been another early playoff exit and we would all be talking about blowing up this team.— Big D phillies fan
- gagne to la for bernier and a 5-6 defenseman sign RW Bobby Ryan from Anaheim and include Carter as compensaton sign FA wingers Bill Guerin (he's 40, but still can score 25 goals on 1st line) and Ruslan Fedotenko as solid No. 3 winger for giroux to work with. Get rid of $11M and outlay about $10M for Ryan ($5.4M, Guerin $1.5, Fedotenko $2M) freeing about $1M in cap space for later in the year).— yardbyrd
