Flyers' goalie decision looming; give us your spin
LOS ANGELES _ The Flyers aren't holding Michael Leighton's sub-par Finals performance against him.
Flyers' goalie decision looming; give us your spin
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES _ The Flyers aren't holding Michael Leighton's sub-par Finals performance against him.
They began negotiating with the goalie's agent, Mike Liut, in Los Angeles on Thursday. The draft will be held here at the Staples Center on Friday and Saturday.
If the Flyers sign Leighton, there are no guarantees he will end up as their No. 1 goalie.
Here are some possible options:
* Jonathan Bernier, Los Angeles.
The Kings are Flyers West, and the teams seem compatible. Los Angeles has former Flyer head coaches Terry Murray (head coach) and John Stevens (assistant) helping run things. The Kings also have two front-office executives _ general manager Dean Lombardi and assistant GM Ron Hextall _ making personnel decisions.
But will they part with the soon-to-be-22 Bernier, who has just three NHL games under his belt but was sensational for AHL Manchester last season? Bernier had a 2.03 GAA and .936 save percentage, and he looks like a star in the making.
The Kings would probably want high-scoring Jeff Carter, whom the Flyers are reluctant to deal. Would Carter for Bernier and a No. 1 pick get it done?
Perhaps.
* Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles.
Quick, 24, was the Kings’ starter this season, but Bernier could make him expendable. A former third-round pick, he was 39-24-7 this season with a 2.54 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.
* Cory Schneider, Vancouver.
With Roberto Luongo signed through 2021-22, Schneider’s future is blocked and he will have many suitors. Flyers scouts are enamored with Schneider, 24, who has been an AHL standout.
* Dan Ellis, Nashville.
Ellis, 30, lost the starting job to Pekka Rinne and is on the verge of becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Ellis had a 2.69 GAA and .909 save percentage last season. Three years ago, his numbers were outstanding (2.34 GAA, .924 save percentage), and he had a .938 save percentage in six playoff games. He made $2 million last season, and he seems like a safe choice if the Flyers take the free-agent route and decide Ellis is an upgrade over Leighton.
* Chris Mason, St. Louis.
With the Blues’ stunning acquisition of Jaroslav Halak, Mason, 34, figures to be gone. Mason, who made $3 million last season, can become an unrestricted free agent, and he is coming off a year in which he was 30-22-8 with a 2.53 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
From here, Mason and Ellis look like upgrades over Leighton.
* Josh Harding, Minnesota.
At 26, Harding, now the backup to Niklas Backstrom, is young enough to blossom. But he had a sub-par season _ 9-12 with a 3.05 goals-against average and .905 save percentage _ and he is coming off April hip surgery.
According to a league source, the Flyers have only minimal interest in Harding, who had a sensational 19-game stint two seasons ago.
Harding probbaly would only enter the picture if the Flyers couldn't re-sign Leighton.
* Michael Leighton, Flyers.
If Leighton hadn’t performed so poorly in the Finals, there wouldn’t be any goaltender suspense. But after a solid season and an outstanding playoff series against Montreal, he was pulled from two Finals games against Chicago. He compiled a 3.96 Finals goals-against average _ punctuated by a handful of soft goals _ and had a meager .876 save percentage.
The Flyers are trying to sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Leighton had a combined 2.83 GAA and .905 save percentage with the Flyers and Carolina last season.
“When you look at what’s out there,” said one NHL executive who wasn’t sure if Bernier would be available in a trade, “I don’t know if anyone is much better than Leighton.”
Your take on it?
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Potential free agents Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco are not on the above list because they are considered too expensive for the Flyers.
Tim Thomas, whom Boston is trying to unload, is another goalie the Flyers will not pursue because of his salary, a club source said. Thomas, 36, has three years left on a contract that has $15 million remaining. The NHL does not allow a team trading a player to pay any part of his salary.
In other words, the Bruins are probably stuck with Thomas _ who is now their backup _ and his hefty contract.
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The NHL Board of Governors approved a rule change that provides for a major penalty and a game misconduct for a “lateral or blindside hit to an opponent in which the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact.” The rule change, proposed by the league’s 30 general managers, was approved by the Competition Committee before being ratified by the Board.
The new rule also empowers a referee, at his discretion, to assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the penalized player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.
Any player who incurs a total of two game misconducts under this rule, in either the regular season or playoffs, will be suspended automatically for his team’s next game. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension will be increased by one game.
Supplementary discipline also can be applied.
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For continual Flyers updates, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BroadStBull.
Mike P: I didn't watch many Sharks games this year, but tell me the last time ANY of the above goalies mentioned won 40 games in a season? Let alone for 3 years in a row? Is our Defense better than the Sharks now? When is the last time a Flyers goalie won 40 GAMES IN A SEASON?? Yeah, Nabokov really stinks, lol. Leighton & Boucher take the team to Game 6 and you don't think Nabokov is an upgrade? You, sir, do not know hockey.— MichaelZoe- Leighton had his run and never will have trust of team after letting in cup winner.I was there and still haven't seen it.All I saw was sticks ,gloves getting thrown across ice and thought was bench clearing brawl.Trade Carter get Bernier if possible and pray he's the 1.If Carter leads the league in scoring next 10 years still won't miss him .We had much better chance to win cup with CARCILLO ,RICHARDS AND Gagne.Carter makes no one around him better and with him that line what?-20?— lawrence2465
- Michaelzoe---all the stats you have on Nabokov are so true. However I am not sold on guys like him and Luongo who make a ton of money and then lower their level of play in the playoffs. The game Chicago beat SJ 2-1 in conf finals if you look Nabokov should have had both those goals stopped. Not just that game he has had many of those in his playoff career. I just dont see him raising his game when it counts. He plays for a solid team the last 3 years--best in the regular season. I want a guy who raises his game come playoffs(like Briere does as a forward in his playoff career) but if that guy isnt available, and it seeems not to be, then I will take a shot on a guy who doesnt tie my sal cap up like Nabokov and can maybe prove to me he can raise it up in the postseason. Nabokov has proven year after year he cant do that. And remember for a goalie, its not always stats--its the type of goals they let in. Leighton is a great example. His stats with the Flyers were very good, among the tops. Yet you see his penchant, even when he was playing his best, to regularly let in weak, soft goals. That will always catch up to you at some point in the playoffs, and it did vs a really good chicago team. Now im not saying Leighton is as good as Nabokov, but for the money Nabokov makes he needs to be a money goalie--and he isnt.— Big D phillies fan
Turco has talked about wanting to go to a winner, and that's San Jose or Philly and he'd have to take a pay cut to do both. Thomas is up for grabs meaning the ceiling for any Goaltender is gonna be 5 mil. 3-4 mil is sensible for either Nabokov or Turco.— flyler- Leighton's true colors came out vs Chicago - the Flyers always learn the hard way. They'd be nutz to sign him after a few lucky gms & glimpses of strong play.— grant44
- OK, seriously, someone's pulling out a Mitch Williams reference? Does no one remember that if Kim Batiste doesn't make a costly error in the 8th inning, Williams doesn't even have a chance to be the goat? It's like Bill Buckner - the Sox blew a 3-run lead to get to that point.— Phantoms9805
- If Carter is traded for a goalie, who will make up for the loss of his 30-40 goals? Last summer, we dealt Lupul and let Knuble go. Both of those guys are 20-goal scorers. If Carter is dealt for a goalie, that's 80 to 100 goals missing from the lineup without hardly anyone to pick up the scoring slack. If you think that will be made up by Leino, JVR, Giroux or legit seasons from Briere or Gagne, think again. A strategy like that -- based on hoping and wishing -- is for losers. That said, we still need a goalie badly.— Snap Crackle Propp
