Holmgren's State of the Flyers
Now at the NHL's unofficial midway point of the season, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his thoughts on the first half of the year.
Holmgren's State of the Flyers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- It didn’t have any of the tradition or pomp and circumstance of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washington, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his State of the Flyers this week.
Watching the Flyers’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, it was hard to fathom that 9 out of the 20 players on the ice were not even members of the organization at this point last year. And that number does not include players like Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, and Ben Holmstrom, who were with the Phantoms.
All things considered - devastating injuries, scheduling quirks and new faces, as outlined in today’s game story - Holmgren is pleased with what he’s watched through the first half of the season.
“We’ve shown a real resiliency to bounce back and hang in through a lot of tough situations that the team has dealt with,” Holmgren said. “Moving forward, we know we need to get better in a lot of areas. But overall, we’re certainly okay with where we’re at.”
The Flyers (29-14-5) are just 3 points back of the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers and are actually on pace to top last year’s total of 106 points.
In the big picture, few see a team other than the Rangers, Bruins or Flyers representing the East in June’s Stanley Cup final.
Since they’ve lost captain Chris Pronger for the foreseeable future, the only real knock on the Flyers is their lack of defensive depth. Only one team (Boston) has scored more goals than the Flyers. Their goaltending can be better but has been adequate. And they’ve got the intangibles to make a deep a run.
Holmgren lauded Bourdon and Gustafsson for helping keep the team afloat without a noticeable drop-off on defense.
As things stand, Holmgren said he doesn’t have a burning need to make a trade for more defense. But that could change. Holmgren does not deny that the Flyers have perused the market recently, as the Feb. 27 trade deadline is now rapidly approaching 33 days from now.
“I think we still have 4 guys who can play a lot of minutes in all situations,” Holmgren said. “I think the 2 young kids that we’ve got playing have held their own. So, I don’t feel it’s something we have to do.
“I don’t think we’re any different than a lot of team right now. We’re looking around to see what’s available. And if there’s something out there that makes sense, both now and for the future, we would look at that. But I like the way our kids have played. I think that was a real good experience for them [on Sunday], playing against the Stanley Cup champions, and they both fared OK.”
On Tuesday night, Peter Laviolette gave most of the credit to Holmgren and his scouting staff, for putting the team in a position to win nightly with a cast of players who don’t have the big names that they replaced in the lineup, like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.
With perhaps the boldest moves in the league, on par with Florida’s Dale Tallon, you could certainly make a case for Holmgren as the NHL’s GM of the Year.
Looking toward the second half of the season, Holmgren said his feeling now is the same as it was last year, when the Flyers carried the league’s best record into the All-Star break. And that’s saying something, given their tumultuous summer makeover.
“I don’t feel any different than I have the last number of years,” Holmgren said. “If you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. That’s where we are now, just trying to get in the playoffs.”
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
I agree the only issue with Homer I feel is the crazy long term contracts, Bryzs,Pronger, then Carter and Richards. he drafts well and signs some good player's minus Bryzs, and Pronger. I never like the Pronger move, I thought we gave way way too much for a guy who has been around and his age and I feel I was right because he only played his first year the last 2 hurt all the time I thought Sibsa was going to be a beast and all those draft picks like 2 first and a second and thrid I think just way too much that would be right for Weber who is young. Anyway let'sgo Flyer's rest up and get ready for the big run— william20- Luca Sbisa has 2 goals and 12 assists and is a minus 12 overall this year. I don't see the "beast" yet.
— djlen - Sure like to see Olly Luaridsen come up...him and Sestito can really crate some havoc.— Romus
- They are a good team. there are a lot of young, skilled players on this team. Some luck in the health department, a goalie hitting stride and they are legit contenders.— shamdog
- Thank goodness they held onto Bobrovsky.— mikemaddog
- @william20 - I guess you didn't enjoy the Cup run in 2010? Pronger was worth every penny until now, but they have LTIR'd him so that frees up cap space. Bryz's contract is $5 mil a year. He was the best FA goalie out there this offseason following an embarrassing goalie carousel in the playoffs last spring. He's had a rough year so far but some really good games mixed in, just needs to hit his stride and the D needs to play better in front of him.
— JesseH - One Cup run is worth 2 players, 2 first-rounders and a 7 year extension with a big cap hit until he's 42? I remember last year when injuries kept him out of dozens of games and then he was a non-factor in the playoffs. He'll also be a non-factor in this year's playoffs because wearing a helmet isn't cool. He was worth every penny for 1 year I would argue, which I think talks to williams20's point, that the contract was just way too long for someone who's body was inevitably going to break down
- Just to clarify, Bryz's contract actually front loaded and pays him $10 mil this year. However, his cap hit is discounted to $5 mil. So yes, his cap hit is only $5mil, but his actual cost is 10.
This would get spread out over ticket prices, merchandise, concessions. I personally dont want to pay more to see the kind of stinkers hes been putting up lately. Could he get better? Yes, but its not worth the cost to the organization.— jpatt6 - Yes, Holmgren should be GM of the year, for taking a team that lead the NHL in points last year at the All star break, blowing them up for no apparent reason, and now he has a team that is 4th in the East.
Servalli is acting like Richards and Carter were retiring or something, he made those decisions on his own, he isn't GM of the year.
He made possibly the worst offseason signing in the league in Bryzgalov, and now their Goalie situation is worse than it was last year (Boucher and Bobs played very well during the regular season last year)— heyeaglefn - @heyeaglefn - you don't win the cup in the first half of a season. THey fizzled badly in the 2nd half last year and barely got [ast Buffalo. This team is so much better prepared for a Cup run this year (assuming they are reasonably healthy... especially Jagr). Would you really rather have Jeff Carter than Sean Couturier AND Jake Voracek? Richards than Schenn AND Simmonds? Bob/Boosh/Leighton over Bryz/Bob? The only trade / trade-off that I don't get was signing Lilja instead of resigning Sean O'Donnell, but that's minor.— JesseH
- "He was the best FA goalie out there this offseason"
um i think you have your facts wrong on that one..
Washington picked up Vokoun for $1.5 million. That was a steal.
— vorxty - Not to mention Mike Smith, Bryzgalov's replacement in Phoenix. He wanted out of Tampa and could've signed here, but he didn't have the marquis name Snider was looking for.
— icarus - Vokoun only took a bargain cause nobody wanted him. I think he signed at least a week after FA started cause he was said to want #1 goalie type money and at his age the offers werent there. Bryz was the younger of the two and was thought to be better thats why he was signed.— shanehockey28
- Homer, You Da Man! Great job on making this team younger, tougher, and more competitive! Exciting team to watch!— Dfirst
- vorxty: Um, yeah, Vokoun, it you like guys with good GAA but can't seem to make ANY of the teams he is on successful winners. Please refer to "CuJo" in the handbook and go brush up on your hockey.— MichaelZoe
