Losing Sbisa stings; Flyers draft 2 goalies
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Losing Sbisa stings; Flyers draft 2 goalies
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
I applaud Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren for his moxie, for going out on a proverbial limb and trying to win a championship this season.
Chris Pronger, whom Holmgren acquired from Anaheim Friday, is just the type of physical defenseman the Flyers needed to become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
But the Flyers paid too much.
The Ducks received Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, two No. 1 draft picks and a conditional third-round selection.
Sources tell me the St. Louis Blues made a late bid to acquire Pronger, and that may have caused the Flyers to "up" their offer.
Trading Lupul, a 25-goal scorer last season, was actually beneficial because his big contract ($4.25 million during each of the next four years) was weighing down the Flyers’ salary cap. And I can understand that giving the two No. 1 picks was necessary to acquire a player of Pronger’s stature.
But including Sbisa in the deal is what I don’t like.
Sbisa, 19, spent about half of last season as one of the Flyers’ regular defensemen _ and he showed poise beyond his years and was one of the team’s best skaters. The kid looks like he’ll be a star someday.
In short, this deal would look a lot more attractive if the Flyers had included one of their other defensive prospects instead of Sbisa.
That said, assuming Pronger, 34, signs an extension on his one-year contract _ all signs point to that happening _ the Flyers should battle the Penguins and Bruins for Eastern Conference supremacy in the next few years.
And maybe, just maybe, bring Philly its first Cup since 1975.
* * * * *
The Flyers continued their Great Goalie Search Saturday by selecting goaltenders Adam Morrison (third round) and Nicola Riopel (fifth round) in the NHL draft.
The raw-but-promising Morrison was taken with the club’s first pick in the draft.
For those scoring at home, the Flyers have now selected 23 goalies in the last 16 drafts. They have not had one of their drafted goalies turn into their No. 1 netminder since Ron Hextall, who was selected in the sixth round (119th overall) in the 1982 draft.
A look at the Flyers’ picks:
Adam Morrison, Goalie (6-3, 166 pounds), 18 years old _ selected in the third round (81st overall).
Comment: Had a 9-1-1 record, 2.47 GAA and .907 save percentage in 13 appearances for Saskatoon in the Western Hockey League.
Simon Bertilsson, Defenseman (6-0 185), 18 years old _ selected in the third round (87th overall).
Comment: Ranked 17th among international skaters by the Central Scouting Bureau, the hard-nosed Bertilsson is a defensive-minded defenseman who managed 31 points in 30 games in the Swedish Junior Elite League.
Nicola Riopel, Goalie (6-0 170), 20 years old _ fitfh round (142d).
Comment: Posted a 43-15 record, 2.01 GAA and .931 save percentage in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League _ and was named the league’s MVP.
Dave Lebrecque, Center (6-0 174), 19 years old _ sixth round (153d).
Comment: In his first full season in the QMJHL, Labrecque recorded 61 points (13 goals, 48 assists) in 59 games and was a plus-23.
Eric Wellwood, LW (5-11 179), 19 years old _ sixth round (172d).
Comment: Playing for Windsor in the Ontario Hockey League, he had 16 goals and 18 assists in 61 regular-season games, then notched 10 goals and 11 assists in the playoffs to lead the Spitfires to the title.
Oliver Lauridsen, D (6-6 220), 20 years old _ seventh round (196th).
Comment: The only Denmark native taken in the draft, the towering Lauridsen recorded one assist and 38 penalty minutes in 28 games as a freshman at St. Cloud State in the Western Collegiate Association.
_ Sam Carchidi
Agreed. Holmgren gave up a King's ransom for a guy who is on the downside of his career. Anaheim gave up less to get this guy - when this guy was 4 years younger!!! Terrible deal and it will look much much worse in 5 years.— Repubrebirth- In 5 years this deal will not be a factor but the Flyers could be owning a Stanley Cup or two.— Phillydave
- agreed... good deal if pronger is 26. ahh, he's not!
- Giving up Sbisa is going to be turn out to be very, very costly - whatever happened to doing away with trading the future for the present? If you look at our record in games he played last season versus games he didn't, you'll find that we won more with him in the lineup. Stupid, stupid, stupid.— xphile101
- You know, you go to all the other blog pages and all you here are more passionate fans of our other teams complaining about management. At least we know have one team in town that maintains a 'win now' attitude with every transaction...and they're not afraid to spend for it. Championships are won overwhelmingly by teams who stay aggressive all the time. Sometimes they get 'lucky' by having a Tom Brady or Tony Parker fall into their laps. Sometimes they put it all together like the Red Sox or Lakers. Kudos to the Flyers for being the one team in town we never need to doubt. They don't always get it right, but their actions show us that they care as much as we do.— jmk1512
- Sam-who will the the Flyers back up goalie this year? Are they going to re-sign Nettimaki?— Dr. Michael
- The GM of the Avalanche did the same "win now" attitude when they got Ray Bourque years ago and won a cup. People here in Philly praised him and said why can't we do that? Well, they just did, the only difference is we here didn't know any of the Avalanche's players as well as we did Sbisa. This was a good move, especially in the salary cap era where, as stated, Lupul will be overpaid for the next 4 years.— awl
- explain why "all signs point to him staying long term with the Flyers"!?! it's pretty much a one year shot at the cup. if the flyers fall short, flyers blew it big time, trading their future. if (and a HUGE if) emery goes back to his ottowa cup-talent and has a cool head, and IF pronger plays like he is younger, and IF briere finally has a good injury-free season, then Homie looks like a genius. he's really put himself out on a line here— Stanley Cup
- Gotta take a chance to win sometimes. We're not a team that gets 4 #1 and #2 picks in row. Pronger's attitude alone makes this deal worth it.— LetsGoFlyers
- The Ray Bourque trade also got them Dave Andreychuk. And they paid only 1 first rounder, Brian Rolston and 2 stiffs. Flyers paid more for Pronger.— P Even
- They drafted Roman Cechmanek, and he was the number one goalie for 3 years.— JSaq
- we did give up a lot here, but i think its a good move,if we can get a cup or two. the only thing that concerns me is that bouwmeester was had for a song. (jordan leopold and the 67h pick)wouldn;t it have been wiser to go with the 25 year old defenseman instead?— Bryan_Mc
- after further reading, i guess they weren't sure bouwmeester would sign.— Bryan_Mc
- bryan_Mc -- calgary is gambling right here. they have until wednesday to sign bouwmeester to a contract or else he becomes a free agent. what calgary gave up to the panthers was a player and a pick for exclusive negotiating rights, that's it. bouwmeester technically belongs to calgary now for a few days. it doesn't change bouwmeester's status as unrestricted free agent by july 1st. the gamble is that during these next few days they can negotiate a contract with him w/o the headache of other teams negotiating with him at the same time. there is no guarantee that he will sign a contract with calgary now, nor is there even a guarantee he will listen to any offers from calgary even though he is their property now. the fact that calgary gave up anything at all was pretty stupid; even worse than the flyers, if you can call it that. at least we have pronger for a season at least. calgay made this trade to obtain a player for three days. now if bouwmeester ends up signing with another team calgary will look like idiots b/c they woud have traded for nothing.— dkimny
- You know what, only time will tell if this trade was worth it, and the way to judge the trade is simply. If we win the cup with Pronger as a part of this team, then no price was too high to pay, if we don't, then giving up Sbisa was too much. Simple as that.— srf466
