Free agency shaping the Flyers
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Free agency shaping the Flyers
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers failed to sign free-agent winger Simon Gagne, who opted for a two-year deal with Los Angeles on Saturday that will pay him a total of $7 million ($3.5M per season).
The Flyers have about $3.3 million in cap space _ $4.4 million after Ian Laperriere goes on the LTIR list _ and still need to sign RFA winger Wayne Simmonds.
A deal with Simmonds is expected to be finalized in a few days.
"Even if we don't do anything else, I'm very happy with the team we've put together," said Peter Luukko, president of of the Flyers' parent company, Comcast-Spectacor.
The Flyers are counting on their defense being one of the NHL's best.
They are also relying on newcomers Simmonds, Jaromir Jagr and Jakub Voracek to have big seasons and help compensate for the loss of Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Ville Leino, three players who combined for 78 goals last season.
Here is how the Flyers' lines may look:
** Hartnell-Briere-Jagr.
** JVR-Giroux-Simmonds.
** Talbot-Schenn-Voracek (Talbot can also play C)
** Shelley-Betts-Nodl.
NOTE: C Sean Couturier, the team's highly touted No. 1 dratt pick, is a threat to crack the lineup. Ditto promising Matt Read.
Still, it's far from an overpowering group, which means the Flyers will have to rely on strong goaltending and defense if they are to end their 36-year Stanley Cup drought.
* * *
The Flyers will hold a prospect development camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees from Wednesday through July 11.
Many of the Flyers top prospects will be at the camp, including highly regarded center Brayden Schenn, who was acquired in the deal that sent Richards to Los Angeles, and Couturier, the eighth overall pick in the recent NHL draft.
The camp, which is open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on July 6, 7, 9 and 10, and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on July 11.
On Thursday, there will be a public skating session from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Selected players will be on the ice with fans at various times throughout the session.
On Friday, the camp shifts to Stone Harbor for the annual Trial on the Isle. The day-long event includes a 9 a.m. mini-triathlon competition, followed by a youth hockey clinic, an autograph session and a charity softball game.
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Hopefully the team chemistry will be improved, and they will play like a team that cares. If the team can jell, JVR and Giroux continue to grow, and the new young guys play close to their potential, things will turn out well this year. If not, we are struggling to make the playoffs. Beyond this year though, I think thinks look very bright - I really do like what we got back for Carter and Richards long term. But for now it's baseball season - Go Phils!— psumet51- The most glaring thing through this free agency is teams way overpaid for the players. B Richards, 12 mil the first few seasons, you kidding me? Leion gets 6 per year then down to 4.5. Mike Richards and Carter were a bargain at 5.5 mil a season, no wonder Flyers had takers for them dont care what there nightlife was. Glad to have Bryz but would have been happy with Vokoun and Bob in net.— shanehockey28
- Quit whining people. For one, we didn't lose "78" goals unless the people replacing Carter/Richards/Leino score ZERO, which I highly doubt. So say the replacements score 40 goals total (which likely will be a low figure), we lost 38 goals. How many less goals will we give up with our defense and a top notch goalie? It all evens out. So chill.— vvvmetallicavvv
- There's no way Lavy will stick Briere--a defensive liability--with Jagr--another defensive liability. That would be foolish. Moreover, Homer keeps describing Voracek as a "bigger Ville Leino," so you'd expect them to try slotting him into Leino's old spot. It would also be odd to put Simmonds--a banger--on a scoring line where you already have a big guy in JVR, but lack a finisher. Schenn has some experience at the wing, and I doubt Lavy is going to want to match him up against the likes of Crosby, Malkin, and Ovechkin in his rookie year. So, when the season starts, I'd expect to see:
Hartnell/Briere/Voracek
JVR/Giroux/Jagr
Schenn/Talbot/Simmonds
Nodl/Betts/Shelley
In reality, though, I'd like to see Homer make a move on a 3rd line center or left wing with some experience and maybe a bit of a scoring touch. That way, you could move Talbot down to the 4th line, where he'd be a more natural fit (you could switch Nodl and Shelley in the lineup, depending on whether you need a thug on a given night), and Schenn would be protected a bit, even if he's starting at center. Gagne would have been nice, but $3.5M per year is too expensive for a guy who misses so much time.— Mike P - Couldn't agree more - Carchidi doesn't know what he's talking about. I could even see swapping the first and second lines or Holmgren making another move that would fill in Schenn's spot because this is assuming Schenn will be ready to play in the NHL.
Don't know why everyone is fretting over Gagne; he is DONE. Maybe we could have held onto Versteeg, but the only guy who's absence will be felt is Leino.— JUtahNo9 - I guess everyone is writing off big RW Mike Testwuite.— Romus
- Guess what? Washington just improved without destroying their team. Vokoun signed 1 year contract 1.5M a year.
Homer, are you drinking again? I thought you already passed that point in your life.
— Nitroglycerin - They lost their young goalie Karmovlov (sp) yesterday, I think. — Romus
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My bad----in exchange for Varlamov, the Capitals will receive the Avalanche's first-round pick in 2012 and a conditional second-rounder in 2012 or 2013---it was a trade.
This also tells me if Homer wanted to trade Bob----he could get pretty good draft picks in return.
— Romus - While an exciting prospect, Schenn is 19 years old and has played a grand total of 8 NHL games. Don't think you can count on him being a force right away let alone making the roster. Homer better have a good Plan B or this team will struggle to make the playoffs. And who says Captain Pronger will be playing at the start of the season. Bring back John LeClair isn't he the same age as Jagr?— debbyt
- Schenn actually did play about 10 games in the AHL, before the NHL, and did rather well---so it was close to 20 with big boys.— Romus
- Who cares about 80 goals when we only scored 22 goals in 11 playoff games this year? I would've liked to keep Leino but he clearly wanted too much money. Leino(3)/Richards/Carter scored 5 goals in 2 rounds. And don't tell me Richards was injured -- why didn't he get his hand fixed in the fall? Good riddance!— halfhonk
- It's an easier team to play against. Older D anchored by Pronger who is in the very late innings of his career. Rangers signed Brad Richards and will be better.......we'll see who is right - but I don't see this team advancing beyond round 1..........section 104 - row 21.........— Northcountry
- Just glad I'm NOT a season ticket holder. Trading Carter was justified, but trading Richards will prove to be Homer's demise.— dri_as_a_bone
- Let's not forget this team squeaked into the playoffs and played mediocre hockey before going on the cup run two yrs ago. Let's not forget this team choked and played extremely subpar the second half of last season. So let's stop acting like this was dynasty. Carter had 14 pts in 47 playoff games he played not counting injuries. Richards was becoming a malcontent. They were the Flyers Abreu and Lieberthal. Good but not good enough and their attitude showed they could care less. I wonder how many people in Boston 2 or 3 yrs ago heard of some of the young guys that raised a cup this year. I do wish they would have done better in free agency but can we stop whining like we just dismantled the late 80s Oilers?
