5 things to watch in Flyers' camp
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5 things to watch in Flyers' camp
With training camp set to begin with physicals Friday, here are five things to watch:
1. WILL GUERIN MAKE IT?
The Flyers signed veteran free agent Bill Guerin to a tryout contract on Monday but he is free to leave at any point during camp to sign with another team. Will Guerin, who turns 40 in November, carve out a spot for himself on the roster? His arrival could mean the waiving of Darroll Powe or Dan Carcillo. Plus, a contract would need to find under the salary cap. There are few downsides to a player fresh off a 45-point season with 426 career goals and 20 seasons worth of experience.
2. DEFENSIVE BATTLES
Yes, the Flyers were lucky that their top four defensemen of Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn missed just a combined three games last season. But they can't afford to keep eight defensemen on the active roster. Will they keep unreliable Oskars Bartulis? Or waive Bartulis to the Phantoms and keep NHL vets Matt Walker ($1.7 million salary, acquired for Simon Gagne) and Sean O'Donnell ($1.3 million salary, free agent).
3. CAN BOBROVSKY BACKUP?
Will Sergei Bobrovsky show enough in training camp - his first real introduction to pro hockey in North America - to warrant consideration for the backup spot. He will undoubtedly see action in the preseason, giving the 22-year-old Russian with a $1.75 million contract a chance to win the job.
4. MESZAROS THE MAIN MAN
When the Flyers acquired Andrej Meszaros from Tampa Bay in exchange for a draft pick on July 1, the price seemed cheap. We forgot about his 4-year, $4 million per contract that came with it. Meszaros could be awful expensive for a third or fourth defensemen, unless he plays more like a top pair player he once appeared to be.
5. ZHERDEV: PART II
This will be Nikolai Zherdev's second crack at the NHL: after five seasons with Columbus and the Rangers, he spent last year in Russia's KHL. The gifted scorer and former first round pick is just 24 and has bested 50 points in a season three out of five times. He has questions surrounding his commitment to defense and his work ethic in both games and practices.
Honorable Mention: Chris Pronger's health, the continued development of James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux, the questionable addition of Jody Shelley and Ville Leino's return from playoff superstardom.
Check out our complete Flyers training camp preview in Friday's Daily News.
Comments (38)
Dan Carcillo should never have been re-signed. Plain and simple. Second, Jody Shelley should never have been signed, at all! RE-signing Aaron Asham would have negated ANY "need" to sign this guy. Third, Guerin should be signed right away; no need for a "tryout" for a guy with 20 yrs. of experience and Stanley Cup wins!!— KG071- Really? Who the heck is going to be our goalie isn't a question? How can the Flyers consistenly not have a top goalie...how many years have to go by before we get it?— Kingzummo
- They need to waive whoever they need to and get Guerin under contract. Powe, Carcillo, Walker, Bartulis, I don't care who it is, it just needs to be done.— beagle29
- Trade Carter for picks and they'll have room for Guerin, both on Richards' line and with the cap. He's leaving next year anyway.— HandNik
- Carcillo will be traded. Guerin will be on the team. Bobrovski will be a stud goalie in less then 2 years. Stop crying. Boucher will not be on the team. watch how much money they free up to sign giroux during the season so they dont lose him to a team that can offer him more.— fman727
- Nice work by you, Frank, as always. Very insightful coverage Best wishes for another great season on the Flyers beat.— doconnor4431
- Nice work by you, Frank, as always. Very insightful coverage Best wishes for another great season on the Flyers beat.— doconnor4431
- Nice work by you, Frank, as always. Very insightful coverage Best wishes for another great season on the Flyers beat.— doconnor4431
- Carcillo is horrible, and the fact that we are even questioning him being on the team is a joke. Let him, Powe, Walker, and Bartulis go. They all stink and none of them would make any significant difference on this team. Sign Guerin and pray that our goalies are not aweful. We should be top to the division at the very least. Another long playoff should lead to a second consecutive trip to the big dance!!— yescadog
- I agree that Guerin needs to stay, and think that Carcillo should be the one to go. I also agree with KG071 that he never should have been re-signed, Asham should have, and that Shelley is a waste of money. He scored 2 goals last year, both against the Flyers, so by extension, likely won't score at all this year (barring the dreaded "own goal"!).— uncle meat
- I will watch to see how often Scott Hartnell falls down!!— egmetzjr
I agree with above comments regarding Asham over Carcillo & Shelley, Sign Guerin. Trade Carter for.......oh, I don't know. But bring back Upshall & Umberger somehow. Move Carter and Hartnell.- bunch of dopes. powe is a good 4th line player. very good PK'er and defensive forward who is signed to a very cap-friendly contract. carcillo needs to go. we have no use for him now with shelley.
My God, you people are morons:
Kingzummo-Chicago didn't have a top goalie, neither did Montreal. Three of the final four teams didn't and the one supposed "top" goalie Nabokov is playing in Russia.
beagle29 & yescadog-Powe does not stink and is valuable on the PK and and as a 4th line fore checker, Walker is a 7th defensman, and Bartulis is young.
HandNik-You're a moron. Trade Carter for draft picks? That's so stupid you should should not try to think for about a week. If you were going to trade Carter, why wouldn't you wait for the trade deadline. Frank, it has to be hard dealing with idiots all day.
Walker at 1.7MM is ridiculous. Waive him and bring in Guerin.- Walker at 1.7MM is ridiculous. Waive him and bring in Guerin.
- Philly_has_a_Lack_of_sanity....did you see the freaking goal that ended Game 6? You're right...we don't need a goalie...and it certainly isn't at least one of the top 5 questions going into camp...nor is it an honorable mention.— Kingzummo
- 1) we will see...not bad for 3rd -4th line.
2) still crowded....I still think Carle may be moved...not saying I want to see it, but Meszaros is not a 5th D man.
3)Backup goalie? hopefully they let him play a little in the "A".
as far as the Knock on Shelley? the Guy is a true heavy weight....Thank god....Carcillo will likely be moved, and shelley only needs to play 2-3 minutes a game as the Flyers still have a tone of forward depth...— Landros - 1. Yes, Guerin's a lock; 2. Bartulis is odd man out; 3. No. Bobrovsky should be used in the AHL to acclimate him to N American ice; 4. Meszaros could be a top four guy. When he's on his game he's a better all around defenseman than Carle.; 5. Zherdev's a gamble, but they needed his offense to replace Gagne's.— JSaq
- Trading Jeff Carter is a bad idea and what for? He is one of the top scorers on this team and last time I checked, we need to keep guys like him on here. Remember, this team lost a top scorer when Gags was traded. Also, Powe is a keeper. No need to trade him because he is a top PK'er and Center, albeit on the 4th line. Plus he is one of the fastest skaters on this team, and again, speed is a necessity. Bartulis....gone to the Phantoms or traded. Carcillo...cut or traded.— KG071
- It's obvious the team has extra/redundant parts right now. Homer's going to see how camp goes, see who gets injured, etc, then move whoever doesn't win a job and/or has best trade value. Guerin's deal is already in place. The whole "tryout" thing is just a way to avoid making moves to clear cap space at this time. Why make a move until you get a better look at what you have and how the pieces fit together? There's no way Guerin takes the risk of stepping on the ice at camp without a deal already in place. Nobody likes their father-in-law that much!— wmichael
Comment removed.- Sign Guerin NOW! I like Carcillo but get rid of him. And as far as trading Carter, not going to happen now but maybe at the trading deadline.— NinaNoodle
- Kingzummo-Did you see all of the top flight goalies that didn't make it to the SC Finals. Are they top goalies because they didn't make it? Again, did you see most of the goals scored against Niemi? He was swiss cheese. There was no top flight frigging goalie available either. Clueless.
- First, Powe is a very serviceable player, good checker, good PK guy (more important now w/ the departure of Gagne), and a solid 4th liner who pots a goal now and again and a total bargain for what he brings. I also find it amusing that there is no mention of the goalies, even in the honorable mention spot. I think we all agree that the Shelley signing wasn't a good one with him being paid 1.1 million for 3 yrs to do one thing. I do hope the Flyers retain Guerin's service he would definitely bring great leadership and experience while chipping in offensively. It does create a problem with the gluttony of forwards, 2 of the following won't dress certain games (Powe, Carcillo, Shelley). I predict the Flyers lineup to look something like this assuming Guerin signs and when Betts returns from shoulder surgery.
Leino-Briere-Hartnell
Giroux-Carter-JVR
Guerin-Richards-Zherdev
Powe-Betts-Lappy
Pronger-Carle
Timo-Coburn
Mez-O'Donnell
Remove Powe for Carcillo or Shelley for certain match ups.
— Yardley327 - Unless Powe can imitate John Madden (finish top 10 in faceoffs or score 20 goals), he is a mediocre player with great speed. He needs to prove it in camp or he's gone. Same for Carcillo. He's gotta bring the body every shift and score, or he's expendable. This is what happens with a great team. Guerin is awesome to have in camp, I expect him to make the team and mentor Richards.— MichaelZoe
Please waive Carcillo. Please.- Everyone knows Guerin needs to be signed, and I think that it will happen before the end of TC. Those of you saying get rid of Powe, are you serious? Solid defensive forward, which is what is needed for a 4th line player, he has great speed, and he has the ability to score a few dirty goals here and there. The Shelly signing speaks for itself. Walkers contract is not what we need, so he will be either released or on the Phantoms by the start of the season. leighton is the #1 goalie, face it, unless Bobrovsky really shines but I doubt it.. With the D that was brought in all we need is leights to be solid and not let in cheap goals (and dont bring up the game 6 goal either, we all know it was bad)... Some people just dont get it and feel the need to complain abut everything..— slap42shot
- 1. Will Leaky Leighton survive camp as the No. 1 goalie?
2. Will Leaky Leighton survive camp as the No. 2 goalie?
3. Will Leaky Leighton survive camp period?— eagle1971 - First off, for all of you who said to trade carter, you're obviously dumb, have you not watched the flyers in the past few years, he has been one of our leading goal scorers for years, to lose a guy with that much scoring talent, especially after losing gagne, would be stupid. And for the few who said that mezzaros should be moved to 3rd or 4th defensive guy in carle's place, Carle is a solid young defensemen who will only get better by playing with pronger. Now i can agree with those who said to sign Guerin, he should be signed, he could only help the team. As for zherdev, it's a gamble, and i am putting faith into him, i think he can be the young replacement for gagne that we need. As for goaltending, i'm hoping the young russian can be a solid addition to our roster because i dont know if leighton and boosh have another miracle run in the playoffs.— JoeB603
- I agree with getting rid of Carcillo, keeping Powe, and getting Guerin. I think Leighton will do alright with the improved defense and will keep the seat warm until the youngsters are ready. I think I would part ways with Boucher and use Backlund as the backup (cap savings and steadier performer). Asham should have been retained but it's too late for that. Overall I think it's a stronger team than last years.— Matt Mac Isaac
- I'm just happy it's about to be hockey season. Let's Go FLYERS !!— flyersfangb
- Kingzummo- goalies are basically a dime a dozen. It is very rare that a standout appears and that your favorite hockey team can get him. Ever see the devils shop Brodeur?
As far as Guerin goes, whatever he has left in the tank can help this team, both on and off the ice.— mrjarn - eagle1971. you go find a stud goal tender. what is it with you and leighton? get over it. i can't wait for the season to start!!!!— love park
- 35 and counting Mr. Snider.— THEAXISOFZERO
- Comment removed.
- hahah trade Carter for draft picks. LOL. Just give away a 40-goal scorer. Why not?— seaonasdad
- where is brad marsh right now - anybody?— prominal88
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Frequent Flyers is your home for news and analysis of all things orange and black.
Reach Frank at seravaf@phillynews.com.
Frank Seravalli
Daily News Sports Columnist
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