Flyers shopping in free-agent market
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Flyers shopping in free-agent market
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers are about $9 million under the cap and should be a player as they head into the first day of free agency Thursday.
But the cap numbers are tight. Very tight. And they limit their options.
Let’s play the numbers game here and assume they do not have character guys Brian Boucher and Riley Cote on their payroll next season. That’s a savings of about $1.5 million and would bring their cap space to $10.5 million.
Now let’s assume they will shell out at least $5 million to re-sign restricted free agents Braydon Coburn, Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe. That leaves $5.5 million of space.
That’s not a lot to sign a goalie, a winger and a defenseman in free agency.
Would it be enough to sign goalies Dan Ellis or Chris Mason, defenseman Kurtis Foster (who made $600,000 with Tampa Bay last season) and Arron Asham?
Or they could decide to make Michael Leighton the No. 1 goalie (with Boucher as the backup), and perhaps have enough money to sign one of the market’s elite defensemen, Anton Volchenchov, and then ink Asham.
Or they could make Leighton the No. 1 and sign winger Colby Armstrong and Foster.
Or they could stick with Leighton as their No. 1 and sign defenseman Zybnek Michalek (or Henrik Tallinder) and center/winger Matt Cullen, who played for Peter Laviolette in Carolina.
The possibilities, of course, are limitless.
What would you do?
Comment removed.
yea, this is where i'll come for chatter, just like the false report that we offered turco a contract.— spittooncj- Didn't Dan Ellis get picked up by Montreal yesterday?
- I'd trade for Scottie Upshall, then make plans for a parade next June.— sla6yer
- Dump Carter and his contract in LA, pick up Bernier and a #1 pick, and go from there. We need a stud d-man as our 3rd pairing were outright awful in the Finals. Carter doesn't show up in the playoffs anyway, so no loss there. You figure Leino will chip in with some offense we didn't know about last season, so it will help somewhat. I am tired of this team overpaying for old goalies who are past their prime and have nothing left to offer (see Turco, Marty). Get a young prospect and stick with them for a change.— horhey
Ellis - picked up yes, signed no.— potus- I certainly wouldn't overpay for a 3rd pair d-man. If the price is right, I would make a play for Kurtis Foster -- he has a monster slap shot from the point and there always seems to be a lack of right-handed shooters on this team. I would not have signed Leighton -- he came back to Earth at the worst possible time and he is no better than Boucher. I've been saying since January they need to get Bernier. horhey I agree with you 100%. Why keep Carter and compromise Giroux and Briere? Carter will command big money after next year anyway. Might as well deal him now and get something substantial in return.— UncleEddie
- With a stellar 3 pair of d-men, we can survive with Leighton and Backlund. Resign Coburn and go after 1 more maybe Volchenko.— Al Lefer
- Anton Volchenchov and Asham/Cullen works for me. Let Leighton be #1 again. They should not trade Carter. You don't trade durable 6-3 40 goal centerman.....— spowlick
- You don't have to make all the team's moves right now. Get a D man in FA and maybe a winger. Then sit back and let the season roll into late fall. Then you deal Carter and Gagne - and potentially get better value for them. If they are playing lights out - then maybe you change your philosophy, but otherwise - just demonstrate they are still healthy and productive. They should both have good trade value... for a goalie, a more youthful winger or some picks.— davids44
- ^thats the most rational thought i've ever read on these boards— robbnthahood
- LA doesn't want Carter - They want Giroux.— mikegdj
- Who replaces Carters scoring? 'Character guys'? fancy talk for someone who doesn't contribute on the ice--Leighton is the starter (amazing how many forgot that he was the one who got them into the finals)--resign Asham and try to secure Giroux long term at some point--What happened to the 'dump Hartnell' campaign?(oh ya I forgot he got a goal or two in the play-offs)--Get rid of JVR while you still can (not a goal scorer and way,way too soft--needs a couple years in the minors)--What has Baklund proved?--and please get rid of Carcillo immediately!— petemagoop
- Why are we resigning goons like Daniel Carcillo? I don't understand the mentality of the NHL, and especially the Flyers, for wanting an enforcer on the team to protect the rest of the players. Don't we have Mike Richards and Chris Pronger? Aren't they enough of a deterrant? Why do we need not one, but two garbage boxers-on-ice that suck up roster spots, limit our cap space, and continually put the team's chances of winning games in jeopardy by taking dumb penalties in key moments of games? This isn't 1975 anymore. The NHL has changed, and if we're honestly flipping the coin between Nabokov/Hamhuis and resigning players like Carcillo, Cote, and Hartnell, I take package one.— obama
- uh, i'd start with not trading for meszarov, an underachiever who they just gave up a 2nd rounder for, and who will hit the cap for $4-mil plus. couldn't have persuaded hamhuis for that?— EaglesWest
- Just traded a 2nd round pick for Mezaros and his 4 Million/year salary....not a bad move but does this mean no Coby or they're trading Gags or Carts?— JohnnyN
- Carchidi's Thinking - "Boy, I'm used to covering girls' HS Volleyball. Since I really don't know a damn thing about the NHL, I am just going to throw out a bunch of UFA names and hopefully if the Flyers sign one...I'll look good." Sam...come on! Can you do some damn research or investigation and give some insight on what you are hearing? You did absolutely nothing productive in this blog piece. We can all look up who the UFA's are.— WadeThroughTheIdiots
- Anton turned down 5 years for $20 million from Ottawa after the all-star break. He isn't coming to Philly.— puffthomas
- Flyers acquire D Andre Meszaros from Tampa Bay for a 2nd round pick— WadeThroughTheIdiots
- Everyone who wants to get rid of Carcillo must've forgot that he pretty much was the life of the Flyers for about a month during the regular season when all of our stars were in a slump. He also played a lot more disciplines under Lavvy. He plays his role, an enforcer that has enough skill to score. Don't forget his OT winner against NJ in the playoffs or the pumbling of a certain rangers player that everyone has to admit was great.— the sichee-ation
- with the signing of Shelley, Carcillo is finished— petemagoop
