Flyers talking goalie
Frequent Flyers: The Flyers have entered into preliminary trade talks with the New York Islanders for goaltender Dwayne Roloson.
Flyers talking goalie
TAMPA, Fla. – With the official announcement that Ray Emery will be done for the season, trade winds of the Flyers looking for a goalie are suddenly heating up.
A league source told the Daily News that the Flyers have looked into acquiring goaltender Dwayne Roloson from the New York Islanders.
At this point, the interest is preliminary. Roloson will be in net tonight for the Islanders, meaning a trade before the game would be unlikely. It may be something to keep in mind if the Flyers’ other lines in the water hit snags.
Here’s why that move may make sense: Roloson carried the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006 and he is well-liked in the locker room.
The Daily News learned earlier today that the Flyers were in intense talks with Roloson last summer prior to Emery’s signing. Chris Pronger, apparently, was one of the players that went to bat for Roloson with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.
In the end, the talks stopped, the Flyers signed Emery and Roloson moved to the Islanders.
Let’s not forget: Paul Holmgren and Islanders GM Garth Snow (yes, the former Flyers goalie) are pretty tight. They even had a little wager going during the 2009 World Series between the Phillies and Yankees.
Sure, the Islanders aren’t far from the playoff hunt, but if they can nab a piece for Roloson that may help them in the future, I’d bet they’d be willing to let Roloson go, play Marty Biron for the rest of this season and use an AHL backup… assuming Rick DiPietro stays out of the lineup.
Here’s why the move might not work: Roloson is 40 and he has another year left on his contract.
Roloson’s $2.5 million cap hit is manageable for the Flyers to fit this season. If Roloson is on board, the Flyers can remove Brian Boucher’s $900,000 cap hit from the roster and send him to Adirondack.
Two questions:
- Is he a better goaltender than Michael Leighton? It’s tough to say. He certainly has more experience. His numbers (.910 save percentage and a 19-13-6 record) are pretty decent.
- Is he the Flyers’ long-term solution in net? If he doesn’t fit the Flyers plans for next season, it probably doesn’t make sense to roll the dice on Roloson.
As I mentioned in today’s paper, the Flyers aren’t afraid to enter the home stretch with Leighton in net. He has been phenomenal (12-3-1) for the Flyers this season.
A league source spoke with Roloson around 4 o’clock this afternoon and Roloson said he “hadn’t heard anything” and he wasn’t “sure what would happen.” Islanders reporter BD Gallof said New York is 95-percent likely to deal Roloson before the deadline.
Any move for Roloson would be nearly impossible (salary wise) for the Flyers if a deal is made with Nashville for Dan Hamhuis. Right now, the Flyers need to re-group and get their priorities in order.
Ottawa and Chicago are some of the other possible interested parties. As with the deal in Nashville, other team’s ability to offer draft picks and prospects could trump a lot of the offers the Flyers can put on the table.
Follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter (http://twitter.com/DNFlyers) for the latest updates.
Comment removed.
Leighton is not the answer in the playoffs. The 40-yr old Roloson is not the answer either. The Flyers are in trouble if they cant find a goalie who can stone the Pens or Caps for a series. They will likely have to get thru one of these teams, if not both, to make it to the Finals.— netcrasher- I WANT RAFFI TORRES. WE NEED WINGERS.— DrM
TERRIBLE IDEA!!!!— Inchon- They said there was interest in Roloson last week sometime, but it faded as far as I've heard. Go get a winger.— HandNik
- Roloson? Ugh— Nezhy
- Holmgren built a mess. Goalie isnt our only issue.— Nezhy
- why is everyone, except most fans, so convinced that Leighton is not worthy of a shot at goal? All he has been is solid and accurate. Why risk our net with Roloson when Leights has defended it with consistancy and won games?— Inchon
- If anyone thinks the Flyers have a shot the cup this year, you're fooling yourselves and Roloson will not change that fact so dealing for him would be a dumb move.— amg
- I'd go with Leighton any day over Roloson. Leighton isn't flashy or fancy, but he gets the job done. Until/unless he stops getting wins, you've gotta stick with him. Bringing in a 40-year-old goalie is not the answer. I like the idea of Hamhuis, but definitely not for Parent AND Coburn. I'd love to dump Coburn (Parent would be OK too, but especially Coburn and his many mistakes) and pick up another solid d-man and/or scoring winger. But unless there's a legit #1 goalie (like, the caliber of a Luongo or a Brodeur, etc.), let's not bother.— mbrown3
- Flyers can't make a deal. That's all there is to it. They have no picks and their boarderline players (hartnell/briere/gangen) all have No movement clauses. Can't afford to get rid of parent/coburn because there's no salary cap room to sign anyone that will command a small salary. The Flyers are stuck with what they have which is another one and done team. If they trade for Hamhuis/Torres there's no way they re-sign because they will want $3 million + which Flyers can't afford. They need to buy out Gagne/Briere/Hartnell to make any sort of room and that will still make them bad for the next five years. Holmgren dug himself a hole.— theeutmost
- I am going to say it... Not keeping Marty Biron was a mistake— RANCOR
- For a change, this situation wasn't Holmgren's fault. He's just trying to solidify the position. But I agree with everyone else here that sometimes your best move is NO move. They would be better off adding some more scoring, and if they can't do that, then beef up the D with an experienced player. If you look at the Flyers starting D, Krajicek is on the 2nd pairing, and Bartulis on the 3rd. Even when you replace Bartulis with Parent, it's not a drastic upgrade when you consider teams are going to throw out Ovie or Crysby for a mismatch. In my view, you won't know whether Leighton is any good in the playoffs if he doesn't get a chance. Furthermore, they've said it before - goaltending hasn't been the problem. They definitely need to rethink priorities.— Danno
- i think we are ok with leighton and boosh..— zwarte piet
No trades for a goalie please!
