Parise to Pens would be Flyers' worst nightmare
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Parise to Pens would be Flyers' worst nightmare
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
For the Flyers, the bad news coming out of Pittsburgh on Thursday was that superstar Sidney Crosby had signed a 12-year, $104.4 million extension, a cap hit of $8.7 million _ the same as this season.
It’s bad news because Crosby, arguably the NHL’s best player when healthy, probably could have gotten a shorter deal....which would have caused a higher cap hit per season.
By stretching out the contract, the Penguins have plenty of cap space for some moves, and it appears they will not be outbid for the best free agent on the free-agent market, Devils left winger Zach Parise.
You know, the guy the Flyers (and many others) covet.
Crosby and Parise have been close friends for several years. Crosby even shared a suite with Parise’s family at the Stanley Cup Finals.
If you connect the dots, it seems a good bet that they will be on the same line together next season.
The Pens have $15 million in cap space _ and will probably clear more room by dealing defenseman Paul Martin. The defensive-challenged Penguins would also like to sign free-agent defenseman Ryan Suter.
The free-agent frenzy starts at noon on Sunday. After Parise, the list of free-agent wingers includes Alexander Semin, an expensive one-dimensional player; Shane Doan; P.A. Parenteau; and Jaromir Jagr.
Stay tuned.
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Now that defenseman Dennis Wideman has signed a five-year deal with Calgary with an anuual cap hit of $5.25, Matt Carle's price probably has gone up. The Flyers have insisted all along they expect to sign him.
We shall see.
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As expected, the cap for next season will rise to $70.2 million, up from $64.3 million. This will help spend-to-the-limit teams like the Flyers. And, remember, teams can exceed the cap by 10 percent in the summer.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
I know Crosby will sell form merchandise but what is the over under on when the Pens will file for Bankruptcy for a 3rd time? His doctor is dumb and he is damaged. No way he even plays half those years of his contract.— siriusfan- penguins and flyers both need to upgrade defense and goaltending to be viable contenders...kings showed winning the cup is about tough play, defensemen who can hit and move the puck well, plus a stud goalie...luke schenn a good start, re-signing carle a must, but flyers going nowhere unless they get better goaltending...— vegasphllyfan
- I agree that a stud goalie is important, but keep in mind that Quick was available for the right price last summer, which kind of makes you think that they viewed him as expendable. Hindsight is 20/20, and there were just as many people who thought Bernier was Quick's equal or better goalie (including the Kings front office, since they were listening to offers). — MaC130
- If the Flyers really really want Parise, it is doable. Penguins will never pay any player more than Crosby or Malkin. That sets a cap. Though it would be nice to get Parise, I would rather have a couple of defenseman. I'd overpay for Suter. I'd like to see the Flyers make a deal for Shea Weber. If I could do that, I'd let Carle walk— Flyers_Fan
- Please please please let Carle walk. He is a turnover machine.— staup640
- Uh Staal was the Pens best all around forward and he is gone. I hope they get Parise and tie up $7mil per year on a winger who isn't even a top 25 player in the league.— sla6yer
- Crosby....WORTH EVERY PENNY!
No doubt Shero has a few more big moves....stay tuned!— Sidney Crosby 
Comment removed.- The Flyer don't need Parise. The pens do, as once Luke or Brayden Schenn cream the $100 million dollar baby he is done again for good. At least they will have Parise their to try and prop up that future bankrupt franchise.— wgagne12
- I hope they give parise a huge contract too! They hafta sign Fleury and Malkin too by next season! Spending doesn't make a team better. If any other legitimate cup team had fleury, malkin, staal, and crosby they wooda won more than one cup, don't you think? They and Washington had the most talent of any team this year. Hope they don't wake up any time soon, or the rest of us in the East will be in trouble!— Pocono Phlyer
- PUCK FITTURGH!The Pens are one good Crosby hit away from sitting next to Pronger. Parise would simply be a replacement for Crybaby Crosby.— Fahmunda Mahbalsaq
- I kind of agree that Parise to the Penguins wouldn't be as huge as this alarmist seems to think. Parise will probably get (minimum) 7 mil, Suter will want the same minimum and can definitely get more (esp. if Matt Carle is "worth" 5 mil), which means that the Pens will have about half of their cap space tied up in four players (Parise: 7+ mil, Suter: 7+ mil, Crosby: 8.7 mil, Malkin: 8.7 mil=about 35 mil or so). Fleury makes 5 mil a year as well. So unless those four guys are each going to play 40 minutes a game, I'm not terribly worried about it.— MaC130
- If the Flyers go after Weber look for a suspension to come down from the league for that playoff hit on Zetterberg. If not for that, then the league will find something else.— siriusfan
- Matt Carle doesn't suck, and in fact turned the puck over only 55 times all season. 5 of those led to a goal. 1 of those was a game winner. Giroux also had 5 turnovers that led to a goal, but nobody's calling for him to be traded or saying he sucks. Also, here's a list of some dmen who had more turnovers than Matt Carle last year: Yandle (75), Chara (68), Wideman (68), Doughty (65), & Girardi (61). Do all of these dmen suck worse than Carle?
You Carle haters are morons who don't actually know anything about hockey or defense. Period. If he agrees to stay for $5 million a year, it's the defenseman steal of free agency hands down. And on top of it, there isn't another dman available who is better at Carle's price. Not one. - americanitis has a man crush on Carle. That can be the only way that he really thinks Carle is that good. I would rather have Kerry Huffman.— Sasquatch
