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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For constant Flyers updates, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BroadStBull.
Not sure a trade is going to make this team think the regular season counts. That being said Carter is a soft player and over-rated.— chham57- Bench Carcillo and lets see what Testuwide can do.— gob1234
- yeah gob, that will solve our problems on offense. Benching carcillo for an AHL player. Thanks for playing.
and Reddgie, if we traded carter for a wing and then had an injury, we would still be fine with depth. we would still have Richards, Briere, Giroux, Powe and Betts that can play center. Not to mention, whatever wing they get, may be able to fill in for an injured player at center.
And i agree with most, i am sick of watching carter skate into the zone and wrist a shot into the goalies chest.— TheCaptain18 - uh captain, so what would be your genius move since you don't like every other suggestion thrown up there? Wait, let me get my popcorn so I can enjoy learning from your knowledge prowess.— gob1234
- Carter is soft and we need to trade him. Wait until he gets a few more goals under his belt so his trade value is higher, then go and get some speed on the wing! BTW, Pronger has not recovered from his knee...he is getting beat constantly and its costing this team. Again, Richards is nowhere to be seen! He's had one good game.
Is Rick Tocchet being warmed up as a potential replacement for Peter Laviolette? NHL coaches have become disposable razors and if Laviolette can't light a fire underneath his team to win, he'll be gonzo faster than his predecessor.- So glad the Flyers chose to dump Gagne so they could afford to keep the NHL's version of Allen Iverson.— jpb
- Explain to me how Giroux is playing out of position at RW when he is a natural RW and was drafted as one.— perfectcrime
- Sam, tell Holmer to stop getting centers who can't win faceoffs because they're wingers and to stop putting wingers at center! That's a start. Then, a much cheaper option is to bring Billy Guerin in to play with Richards. It's obvious that management has no experience building a deep team because of so many disparate styles of player. For two seasons now after Gagne and Knuble, they have quit on giving Richards great linemates, but gone out of their way for Briere and Carter. Go down the list of the top 20 faceoff guys in the league and several were available this off-season. Giroux is our top faceoff guy at 54th in the league. Sad.— MichaelZoe
jpb-Who are you referring too? I hope Carter.- Here is your receipe for the next 3 games. Giroux is your top faceoff man, so he starts at center with Richards (played in Olympics) and Hartnell. If Harts doesn't stay out of the box, flip with JVR. Otherwise, Briere centers Leino and Carter (or Carter centers them). Zherdev and JVR on the 3rd line will have to use Powe as their center for now. 4th line if 4th line. After 3-5 games, HOlmer needs to decide if he's going to get Malhotra or Madden to win faceoffs on the 3rd line; if Richards has chemistry with anyone; if Carter should be moved; if Hartnell has anything left in the tank; if Zherdev can produce; and finally, WHEN to bring Billy Geurin back in to provide CUP WINNING LEADERSHIP TO THE FORWARDS LIKE PRONGER DID FOR THE DEFENSE. Because you only trade a player like Carter ONCE, ask Boston, you'd better get the best goalie in the NHL or 1-2 top forwards, or 1 top forward and 1 great draft pick.— MichaelZoe
Trade the dopey fans for following these bums.- we've not played 10 games, and we're ready to start tearing up the roster? really?— birdfannnj
- well gob, let me try to enlighten you. I thought i was pretty clear. To quote myself "And i agree with most, i am sick of watching carter skate into the zone and wrist a shot into the goalies chest" You trade carter to a team that needs a 2nd line center and get a quality winger back that can play the position. I don't really know how to make it any clearer for you, swapping out Carcillo for an AHL guy is not going to turn around this team's offensive shortcomings.
— TheCaptain18 - Briere will be moved ahead of Carter— petemagoop
