Will trade winds blow for Flyers?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Will trade winds blow for Flyers?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio _ The Flyers insist they are not having a hangover from last season's remarkable playoff run.
Could have fooled us.
Their power play has been alarmingly bad, and their offense has resembled Ryan Howard in the post-season - lots of chances, but little productivity.
They are 3-4-1 after Monday's listless 2-1 loss in Columbus, and they have failed to put together any winning streaks in eight games.
If not for Brian Boucher's oustanding goaltending, Monday's loss could have been 5-1.
Afterward, coach Peter Laviolette ripped his team in the media, saying they had no energy and no passion - and that they played "mindless" hockey.
The Flyers will try to ride this out for a while, but the hunch here is that if things don't improve by, say, Thanksgiving, major charges are in order.
The team is overloaded with quality centers. Claude Giroux, who is currenly playing out of position at RW to accomodate Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Danny Briere aren't going anywhere.
So....
If things don't improve, Carter - who can become a restricted free agent after the season - could be offered in a trade for a much-needed, high-quality winger. (Thus far, Nik Zherdev has been a disappointment.)
The Flyers don't want to trade Carter, but if the puzzle pieces don't fit....
Give me your take.
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Time to change the "C". Its Richies' job to get this team up to play and lead and motivate these guys. Whatever "style" he's tryin to captain with isn't working!— sirRichardsvalium- Carter makes sense - for the right price. It's hard for me as a fan to get excited about Columbus on a Monday in Oct after last year (and the Phils), but with the money they are making they need to get over the so called "hangover".— jking91
- my thought is do not trade Carter. trade Zherdev, Nodl, and a draft pick to the NYI for Matt Moulson. If the Flyers need to fix something from their Stanley Cup run, it is not removing their 6'5" former all-star, reserve Olympiad, leading goal scorer, that plays quality hockey all over the ice. if you believe Carter fails on the biggest stage, you will wait 10 years before seeing a Flyer have the opportunity to do the same. In the absence of the Moulson trade, the Flyers should not trade and be happy they might field the most talented team in hockey. Chemistry is another story.
- should have traded him instead of gagne. oops did i say that?— juggadore
- They proved last year that making the playoffs is all that is required, but I think it would be a good idea to qualify early and then work in some younger players to build depth and rest some of the players that play so many minutes.
Richards has shown flashes of what it takes to be the captain, that being said the captain needs to show that all the time (off-season, before, during and after the games). They probably should have gave it to Pronger last year until he is ready.
The injured players appear to need more off time to mend if they will be expected to be effective in the playoffs.
Pronger needs to take a few games off, Betts #1 thing is face-offs and he hasn't been effective, maybe a little more rest might help.
Losing defensive zone face-offs and not having Knuble cleaning up the Carter rebounds shows. They should bring in Kerr to work with Hartnel, JVR & Shelley. Knuble was a journeyman until he started committed himself to doing the dirty work that made him allot of money.
I think they should quietly approach Richards about a move. My #1 move would be Richards, Carter & JVR for Getzlaf, Ryan & Selanne.
I think they Ducks would look at this as 3 for 2. Selanne is short term, but is being wasted of a marginal team.
The Flyers will still have a solid young core Getzlaf, Giroux, Ryan, Leino, Coburn & Carle to build on as older players transition while they draft, trade and develop others.— McCrimmonMellanbyBrindAmourSvobodaWilliamsUmberger - Jeff Carter is not a clutch player....long run, he might get 20-30 goals a year, but he will never be the guy that scores the first goal in a must win game or score the thrid period goal that ties the game or puts you ahead...he will continue to get goals in games where either the team is loosing or winning by more then 3 goals...— kadhia
- What I can't figure out is why does Jeff Carter have a A on his shoulder...he hasn't earned it— kadhia
- Why is Richards untouchable? Everyone acts like the guy is a superstar and he's not, at least yet. He plays best on the PK and hasn't really seemed to click (on the ice) with any other of his teammates. I would never trade Giroux, and Briere has really stepped up, working with Leino. But I think Richards still needs to step up.— VicM
I for one woulldn't LOVE to see him go but who else could we trade to get quality in return? Its simple math...You have too many centers (and blueliners) make a trade and get a real goal scorer!— Neebo- I say see what you can get for him, the main reason is that I think he's pretty highly regarded around the league and you could get a lot for him.— bleedmidnightgreensection236
- Carter has to go. The guy is too worried about the game being over and getting to the bars. Think I'm lying? Go to PBR in the city; 2nd and Market he's there almost every night gettin after it. Don't you think you should take it easy in season? Richards isn't much better he's usually there as well, hockey isn't baseball you need to be better than 100% to play.
- Can someone explain to me how it is that a guy who has scored a MINIMUM of 20+ goals seven of his last eight seasons CAN'T find a spot on this team? Are we so teeming with puck-burying talent that this guy just simply can't cut it? Did anybody on this team NOT named "Carter", "Richards" or "Briere" score 20 goals last year? And Guerin is sitting at home scratching his head with his still-shiny Stanley Cup ring. And don't we need a WING?? We have exactly TWO men on this team with rings, neither of them forwards. How about a guy who knows how to get it done and can prove it? Yeah, let's keep playing the likes of Nodl and Shelley and wonder why we can't win.— shatterdparadigm
- the flyers play as if the regular season is absolutely meaningless in hockey... which it is.— PhillyPhan4for4
- Hell I'd trade Carter just so I wouldn't have to watch him anymore. This guy is another Lindros but without the talent level. He has zero work ethic, zero heartbeat and zero creativity!— fff
- Carter has the best wrist shot on the team. Be careful what you wish for.— VicM
