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.
Hi Sam - I like your work - but - you mention that the Flyers didn't replace the 52 goals scored by Knuble and Lupul from the previous season - last season the Flyers goal differential was +11; the year before (when we had Lupul/Knuble) it was +26. Maybe they weren't "right wings" scoring 'em but if you factor in forward defense (not Lupul/Knuble's strength) I'd say the Flyers replaced most of those 52 goals. Factor in (RW)Hartnell's decrease from 30 to 14 goals and they replaced all of 'em. That's just how I see it - Keep up the good work.— timpduffy- You can't go wrong having a deep blue line, especially one that is in front of a goalie who is still trying to prove he can be THE #1 GUY, which is tough to do in this town. As for the offense, we need a winger to play with Gags and Richie on the top line and a winger to play with Giroux and JVR on the third line. Trading Carter makes the most sense (he has the talent to bring back a decent package, he is the odd man out at center on this current roster and we wil not be able to resign him when his contract expires), so hopefully we can fill those 2 holes (and maybe get a future pick as well) and let Powe, Betts and Shelley rock the fourth line.— The Reddgie
- La is not giving up a goalie. Ideally, you clear space for turco or nabby. Do i want them no. But I will say id take them over Leighton. Sorry Leighton theres a bunch of teams (Nsh, Buff, Stl) that need a goalie. Maybe Holmgren trades him to them for a low pick. That with a carter trade to a team with young wingers (edm, phx, la maybe) like Eberle and a pick. Open space, bring in a solid goalie until the young ones mature, and bring in a young winger or two. Eberle, Gagner, etc would be dynamic with giroux and JVR.— flyguys67
- Since they're adding aged vets, Dave Babych is probably available for a few mil a season.— RightWingHypocrite
- I would rather see the Flyers trade Briere than Carter, but Carter is the much more tradable commodity. The problem is that the Flyers have too many people at center and not enough at either wing really. RW is worse than LW, but they need wingers. While Carter was capable of playing a wing better than many of the other centers, he would still be much more tradeable than Briere. However, Carter will be gone after this season. I think everyone agrees with this. That would be the reason to trade Carter now. He would probably bring a nice price for his services. However, I could see the Flyers trading Gagne before either Carter or Briere. There are teams besides Montreal that Gagne would likely waive his no-trade clause to go to. Gagne wouldn't bring as big a haul, but the Flyers would be able to get something in return for Gagne.— buttermilk67
- Hey Right Wing . . . Pronger is an / aging / Vet . . How'd he do . . this past season ?? And if your referring to O'Donnell . . he was paired with Pronger with the Anaheim Ducks . . AND how'd they do ? Well they won the CUP . . you moron !— ingy9
- Why in the world do people think to trade carter or even briere. Carter has lead the team in goals the last two seasons, Briere was lights out in the playoffs. So what carter doesnt pass or he shoots wide, i will take that over not scoring any goals. Unless im getting Ovechkin and a goalie or all star center i dont trade either. Would have been nice to get a goalie though in FA aside from Leighton.— shanehockey28
- Armstrong is a joke. A sports writer who knows little about hockey starts throwing his name around and suddenly the guy is a hot commodity. He is average and not worth that money.— MichaelZoe
- thrilladelf: If you thought watching Colton Orr dangerously run Claude Giroux was "OK", then I guess Powe is your man. Otherwise, Carcillo or Asham couldn't repond. And if you thought that was bad, then wait until you get a load of Derrick "I broke Todd Fedoruk's face" Boogard in action for the Rangers. Shelly is insurance against Orr and Boogard. Period. Cote can't come close. So relax, it's a move to get them THROUGH the regular season so they can win the Cup. Even Joey Kocur has TWO CUP RINGS. It's an upgrade for the grueling season, even though I love Asham. Add that to O'Donnell, a plus 14 last year at his age in 78 games and another CUP WINNER. Upgrade.— MichaelZoe
- Shane, because Carter is the only high-priced, highly paid, highly sought after forward without a no trade clause that they could move to give themselves 1) draft picks 2) another player to better the team 3) MORE CAP SPACE. Seriously, you guys need to do some reading-up on the salary cap already. the Flyers didn't seem to miss the total # of goals from Knuble or Lupul last year evidanced by making it to the Cup Final Game 6, but they were INCONSISTENT along the way and need home ice next year to play Pens, Wash, Devils, etc. Carter makes financial sense.— MichaelZoe
- Everyone who thinks Leino is the answer must calm down. Think back to the playoffs.....he is a player who just happened to be in the right place at the right time on his goals(many empty netter rebounds). His assists were a case of him touching the puck second to last. He rarely had the first assist. He never really made a great play. He is not a great player, just opportunistic in the playoffs last year. Luck will run out and better players rise to the top, not spend most of the time on his knees in the corner. He falls quite a bit. Don't be too quick to annoint him. You heard it here first. They should've used that Coburn money to sign and ACTUAL defensemen, not one who just carries around Kimmo's jock. I am not Oppressed, but I'm getting there.— kozykoz26
- I wish they would have tried to sign Kurtis Foster ,I see he signed for about 1.5 mil a season which was similar to what they gave O'Donnell ,they had the extra 500k whichever the case was and the guy is 6'5 with a offensive upside.Why sign Shelly when you could have signed Asham and just cut Cote if you wanted a heavyweight besides that Pronger would drop the gloves if there were a need.— scotty_one
- wonderful, the flyers sign another guy (shelley) who can't pass, shoot, or score and who won't be dressing for playoff games. he must have impressed the heck out of holmgren in that home and home with the rangers to end the season. bottom line, while they did improve their defense,the rest of the team is status quo, and that was shown to not be good enough in the finals.— famar
- shanehockey, we already have 4 centers (Richie, Briere, Girouz and Betts), why would we trade for a center who has no open spot to play. Trade Carter for a RW, someone as close to Knuble as you can find, a Goalie prospect and a high draft pick (assuming there is someone out there who wants Carter and the potential 40 goals he brings with him, which shouldn't be a problem).— The Reddgie
- Say what? Promising Meszaros? what games do you watch? -14 last year and has faded like coburn the last 3. Colby Armstrong please, he's not hard nosed, he's a dirty player, keep him Toronto where the usual cheap shot artists go. Shelley can do the jobs that Asham,Cote and Carcillo did so stop that nonsense. Cote was going to get around 600,000 so you take his salary and give it to Shelley so when you look at it, you're paying a enforcer and team player 500,000. You writers need to get some knowledge before you go rambling on. If you really were concerned about the spending, ask yourself why they got a defenseman that's declined for 3 years for 4 million a year when they could have had Volchenkov for a half million more and alot better.— twpman1
