Flyers' (and others') wish list
Philadelphia Flyers news on Philly.com
Flyers' (and others') wish list
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter and New Jersey winger Zach Parise - expected to be the top unrestricted free agents on July 1 - are at the top of a lot of teams’ wish lists.
The Flyers are believed to be among those teams.
That said, the team’s defense, if healthy, isn’t in bad shape - even if Chris Pronger cannot return from concussion symptoms.
The defensive pairings could look like this: Braydon Coburn and Nick Grossmann; Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros; and Marc-Andre Bourdon and Matt Carle (if re-signed) or Erik Gustafsson.
"I think we have a very strong defensive corps," said Peter Luukko, president of the Flyers’ parent company, Comcast Specactor, "and if Paul (Holmgren, the GM) thinks he can make us even better, great."
Luukko said the team is in the process of putting together its off-season plans. Unlike last year, the Flyers are only expected to make a few moves.
Ed Snider, the Flyers’ chairman, thinks improving the team’s defense should be the top off-season priority.
Me?
I’m still in favor of signing Parise over Suter.
Then again, Parise may decide to stay with the Devils because of their Stanley Cup run. New Jersey opens the Finals on Wednesday by hosting the Kings.
Stop the presses! Claude Giroux and Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne have advanced to the championship matchup to determine who is on the next EA Sports NHL 13 Cover.
Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, and fans can vote at NHL.com/covervote.
Cote promoting music festival. The Hemp Heals Music Festival, featuring Sublime with Rome, Cypress Hill, and Pepper, will be held at the Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing on Aug. 25. The festival is being presented by former Flyers enforcer Riley Cote and Live Nation.
The Hemp Heals Music Festival is dedicated to promoting healthy living through the use of hemp products and other natural and organic goods. All funds raised for the festival will benefit MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance), promoting wellness by healthy living.
Tickets are available at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com, or at 800-745-3000.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
webber is a RFA which means the flyers would have to give up some first rnd picks for him. suter has played with webber but is he a legit #1 d-man without webber, or does webber make him better than he is?— leclair318- Do you know what' s wrong with the
Flyers? Trading young talent away
too soon. ie., Sestito for Chaput?
"Nutz!"— olneyboy - Do you know what' s wrong with the Flyers? Trading young talent away too soon. ie., Sestito for Chaput? "Nutz!" (HTML deleted)— olneyboy
- The team defense isnt in bad shape even without Pronger are you kidding me??..WE have a bunch of #5 and #6 defensemen and a backup in Goal. This team has no shot unless they can add 2 stud D men and get an amnesty clause to unload Bryz the Sieve. We had career years from Simmonds and Hartnell and you cannot expect them to repeat. Briere is old and slow and a defensive liability. Jagr is over the hill and shouldnt be resigned....We will be looking up and Rangers and Devils for years— flyers1000
- defencive system and move jvr and bob. Need to move Briere in regular season and move goalie coach too. Bryz is the crazy goalie from mars— LaCroix,Nolet,Gendron
- I do not think you can call Timonen, Coburn, Grossmann and Meszaros a bunch of #5 & #6 with a straight face. Also, you can not expect to replace Pronger and Meszaros in one season and win a cup with 4-5 rookies on the roster.— Nitroglycerin
- It makes zero sense to say you'd go with Parise over Suter. The Flyers have PLENTY of capable offensive talent, and will for years to come. Their major problem is defense, not Bryz. He was hung out to dry more times than I can remember this season, but as always, the goalie makes a great scapegoat. I'm still not sure whether it's the Flyer's defensemen in general who can't cover a guy in front of the net, or Laviolette's system on defensive zone coverage. Either way, Parise is NOT the Flyer's top priority. Even if they can't sign Suter, I'd be more than content with 2 proven, solid, net-clearing defensemen.— oldetimehockey4
- The Flyers only chance at the cup is to have snider make a copy for them. They are so far from bringing the real one home to Philly it's ridiculous. We have Bryz for 8 more years - by then the good young'uns will be over the hill. We're dooooomed! It's overrrr! I...can't...take...it...anymore!!!!!!!!— bigdaddyG
- With Lidstrom retired it's a safe bet Suter ends up in Detroit, and there is no way Parise leaves NJ after making it to the finals and possibly winning a cup. The Flyers' top priority should be to FIX the goalie situation- Bryz's recent interview makes me think he doesn't even want to play here anymore, and if he sucks next year too the pressure will only get worse so we need a solid backup whose name doesn't begin with B. #2 priority is defense. Kimmo's old, Pronger's gone, Carle's as good as gone, the blue line needs help, especially if Bryz is still as terrible as he was this year. The season is longer than a month and being good only in March is unacceptable for what he's paid. Trade JVR for a solid D man, or a backup goalie, or even a bag of pucks at this point. He's a BUST. That's where to start, but this team has other issues that need to be fixed as well, like coaching. Lavi needs to focus more on defense since that's what wins championships. *facepalm* so many issues to fix...— Fly Guy
- The Flyers lack a physical presence on the wings, a second big defenseman(Pronger type)to go along with Grossman, and GULP!!!, a Goalie.
Bryzgalov cannot handle pressure, that is now obvious. There is no way around the fact that the Flyers are now stuck with huge contracts that will burden this team for many years. When the Flyers gave Mike Richards and Jeff Carter those long term contracts, both players went out and partied. The team suffered. Now we have two more dead wood contracts to deal with with Pronger and Bryzgalov's anchors preventing an upgrade to the team on defense and wing.
The Flyers lack bangers on the wings. Playoff hockey is about physically wearing down the other team with hard nosed checking. Our wings are scorers, made for regular season play. Of course you need scorers, but not nine or ten of them. Parise of NJ would be great, but I want Rick Tochet types in the playoffs. Suter of Nashville would be nice as a replacement for Matt Carle, but another $9 million a year player is going to break the bank. We will sign neither.
The only thing I see happening is the Flyers trying to trade Van Riemsdyk for Schenn of Toronto. That is going to be this year's draft week trade.— redstaterightwinger 
is it just me but next year is looking worse then this year. Parise is a Devil's Icon he will never leave NJ.— marc123
