(Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Tim Lucarelli (@tlucarelli)

This past week, the long anticipated trade of Rick Nash finally came to fruition. Due to months of anticipation, the final return – Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon, and the New York Rangers’ 2013 first-round pick – left some fans wanting more, and with the recent success of the Blue Jackets (or lack thereof), Columbus’ GM Scott Howson has been under the microscope. This article will take a deeper look at the Nash trade and the events surrounding it to see just how well Howson did his job.

Heading into January 2012, Howson’s gamble of acquiring former Philadelphia Flyers center Jeff Carter was not working out very well to say the least. The hope was that Columbus would now have two superstars. The reality was that they had one disgruntled, unhappy superstar and another who was beginning to embrace the idea of jumping ship as well. The Carter saga ultimately led to the exit of Jakub Voracek and a first round pick (Sean Couturier), the addition of Jack Johnson and a first round pick (2013), and a last-placed finish in the standings.

Shortly before Carter was moved out of town is about the time that Nash’s name began circulating in the rumor mill. Even from the beginning, Nash always had a short list of approved teams to which he would accept a trade, severely handcuffing Howson from receiving the type of return that he could have received if he had an unlimited number of NHL suitors to work with. Howson certainly swung for the fences, and with nobody willing to pay his price, Nash was not moved at the trade deadline in February.

Thus began the offseason rebuild. Goaltending had always been an issue, so Howson did what he could to improve. He acquired the young and promising Sergei Bobrovsky from Philadelphia, then drafted both the top Swedish goalie in Oscar Dansk and the top Finnish goalie in Joonas Korpisalo. With these moves, the organization became much more stable than it had in previous years.

While Nash had not yet been traded, Howson was still a busy man. He knew that the one trade of Rick Nash would not be enough to make the Jackets a contender, so he began assembling pieces with more subtle moves. He brought in Nick Foligno from Ottawa for Marc Methot, trading a relative strength for a weakness. He signed Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, formerly a New York Rangers prospect who became an AHL All Star in his first professional season. He signed Adrian Aucoin to bring in a veteran presence to the blue line, which previously consisted of players all under the age of 27. He re-signed Curtis McElhinney to keep some NHL experience in the pipeline should injury occur.

Then finally, Rick Nash was traded. From a fan’s standpoint, the top concern with the return was the glaring absence of a superstar or superstar-in-the-making, but when taking into account the subtle moves Howson had already made, Columbus appears to be vastly improved for the coming season. Looking at the roster post-Nash, it’s clear that the Columbus offense is more balanced, which will allow players like Derick Brassard, Ryan Johansen, Cam Atkinson, Artem Anisimov, R.J. Umberger, and Brandon Dubinsky to elevate their game to the next level. The defense is young, but much improved from last season with promising players such as Ryan Murray, Tim Erixon, John Moore, and David Savard joining the core of Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, Fedor Tytutin, and Nikita Nikitin, and the goaltending is stronger than it has been in years.

Looking back at all of the moves as a whole, how did Howson know exactly which areas to improve in non-Nash moves? After all, perhaps he could have filled many of these voids in the actual Nash trade. In this article, dating back to February 27(right around the trade deadline), Steve Zipay had this to say:

“Columbus was said to be insistent on acquiring players that the Rangers deemed untouchable: center Derek Stepan or No. 1 prospect Chris Kreider…as well as defensemen Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto. The Rangers were believed to be offering Brandon Dubinsky, defenseman Tim Erixon, a prospect such as J.T. Miller or Christian Thomas, and a No. 1 pick.”

After all of the media attention and countless phone calls, Howson’s hands were tied. He had a limited number of teams to negotiate with, and despite his best efforts, he knew the type of return he was going to get for Nash – ultimately the Rangers’ offer from February was almost identical to the final trade in July. Rather than accept the offer – which he felt was too low – Howson took his time, thought about the ramifications, and did everything he could to address the surrounding pieces of the organization that would not be addressed in the Nash trade, something he had failed to do the previous summer when acquiring Carter. Considering the limitations he faced and the massive amount of media spotlight constantly surrounding him, Howson improved his organization the best he could and made the very best of a unique situation.

The post The Aftermath of the Rick Nash Trade appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

My good friend Michael Stuart is the founder of the hockey website www.betweenthebenches.com and is a revered Los Angeles Kings fan that provides some of the best coverage on not just the Kings but on the ongoing events of the hockey world in general. Writing for different hockey websites, Mike and I have decided to team up for the Stanley Cup Finals and provide a game-by-game Q&A session after each contest. I was away over the weekend, which explains why the first installment of this Stanley Cup Finals feature is a tad delayed but rest assured this is going to become a routine ordeal throughout the duration of this pivotal postseason series. Featured on this piece are my set of questions that Mike has answered, whereas the set of questions he’s presented to me can be found here.

-AP

Q: The regulation goals scored in this game were both firsts for Devil’s defenseman Anton Volchenkov and King’s center Colin Fraser. For the most part, would you say this was an instance of both teams counteracting the top players of both teams from being a factor (in regulation) or the top players on both teams having an off-night?

A: For the most part, I would have to say that it was top players having an off-night. Watching the game, I got the feeling that the big guns on both side of the ice were really struggling out there. At the same time, I felt as though the Los Angeles Kings were a lot closer to the top of their game than the Devils were to the top of their own. That should bode well for the Devils moving forward in this series if guys like Parise and Kovalchuk can put a little bit of offense together.

Q: Both teams did a good job staying out of the penalty box last night but neither team capitalized on the few power play opportunities that they were presented with. Considering how the power play struggles of both teams this postseason have been well-documented, how would you say last night’s game could forecast the way special teams will pan out this series?

A: The Los Angeles Kings have struggled on the power-play during the course of the entire post-season. Clicking at about 8%, the Kings’ PP is ridiculously cold right now. If you take out 5-on-3 goals for the Kings, things get even worse. The Devils are going to need to use this to their advantage, similar to the way Boston did against Vancouver last year. If the Devils start to play a confident game with no fear of being penalized, they could be a real tough team for the Kings to handle. The problem is that the Kings could wake up at any moment; there is simply too much talent on the roster to continue this sputtering trend.

Q: Having mostly paid attention to Western Conference teams this postseason, the New Jersey Devils could be considered an unfamiliar team the Los Angeles Kings are facing off against in the Stanley Cup Finals. In what ways would you say are the Devils a different team compared to the three teams the Kings have faced to get to this point?

A: The Devils’ roster isn’t actually that different than the teams the Kings have faced this post-season. All the teams the Kings have gone up against have great goaltending, solid defenses that focus on a group mentality and wonderfully skilled forwards. The difference between the teams in the West and the Devils is the forechecking game. I marvelled last night at how refreshing it was to see three players forecheck with speed against the Kings defense. If the Devils can keep that up, they will definitely be able to force the Kings into a game they haven’t been forced to play up to this point.

-AP

Q: As we all know, last night’s game was nationally broadcasted in both North America and Canada, during which we only saw three goals scored. In the United States, where hockey has what I’d like to call roller coaster popularity, most US hockey fans lack enough intelligence to watch hockey other than to see goals being scored, big hits, and fights (which I doubt we’ll see any of in this series). From an outside perspective, how would you say last night’s game affected the national appeal of US viewers compared to Canadian viewers?

A: The statistics I saw from last night’s game indicate that viewership is down 24% from last season’s SCF game one. That should certainly be concerning for Gary Bettman and his group of minions. With a market like Los Angeles involved, there is no reason that viewership shouldn’t be up from last season. To me, this speaks to the way the game is trending; the standard of officiating has really dipped in this post-season. The game doesn’t focus on giving the speedy, skilled players a forum to showcase their abilities like it did right after the lockout. US fans, like Canadian fans, like to watch skill. Bettman needs to do a better job of forcing skilled players, rather than plugs, to the forefront of his product.

Q: The Kings have trampled through their first three opponents to get to the Stanley Cup Finals and presently have an admirable 13-2 postseason record. In a way, this Stanley Cup Finals reminds me of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals between New Jersey and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in quite a few ways. What similarities (if any) do you see between this year’s Stanley Cup Finals and the one in 2003?

A: While there are certainly some big comparisons to draw between this year’s SCF and the 2003 Final, one sticks out above the rest; that would be the quality of goaltending from the Western Conference, and more specifically Southern California. In 2003, JS Giguere turned in an absolutely stellar performance and almost led the Ducks to the Stanley Cup. Now, in 2012, Jonathan Quick is doing the exact same thing. Neither Quick nor Giguere is overly large, both guys cover the lower half of the net really well but both are susceptible to being beaten high. If the Devils can channel their inner 2003, they’ll figure out how to beat Jonathan Quick. He didn’t garner the nickname “Mr. Softee” for nothing.

Q: Obviously to break a tie after regulation time, the Kings had to adjust their play. What would you say the Kings did different in overtime compared to how they played in regulation?

A: Call me crazy, but I actually thought the Devils were the better team in the few minutes of OT we saw. Their forechecking game really seemed to take a toll on the Kings as the game progressed. It was unfortunate to see the Devils’ hard work turn into a loss, but that’s life. The Kings were just opportunistic, as they have been all season. If Anze Kopitar is left alone to go in on a breakaway, 90% of the time he is going to score. The guy has some of the most underrated hands in the National Hockey League. The Devils need to take some positives from their OT performance and not dwell on one single error.

Q: One thing I’ve always wanted to throw across…how about Jeff Carter? A few months ago, he was in a dismal situation playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who finished with the league’s worst record this season. He gets traded to Los Angeles and is participating in his second Stanley Cup Final in three years with his buddy Mike Richards. What would you say this says about the type of player he is and would you say he’s experienced an ideal “rags to riches” instance this season?

A: Jeff Carter must be best friends with Darryl Sutter because his play doesn’t give any indication that he deserves the minutes he is receiving. Carter is certainly an enigmatic player as when he isn’t scoring, he just isn’t an effective hockey player. Richards on the other hand is quite the leader for this Los Angeles Kings club. Despite not being an offensive force, Richards is showing the qualities that made him Captain in Philadelphia. If the Kings want to win the cup, they are going to need a little more from Jeff Carter in this series. Going from Columbus to Los Angeles should have sparked Carter, but it just didn’t.

Just want to extend my personal thanks to Michael Stuart for his willingness and ability to participate in this article series throughout the duration of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. Be sure to visit Mike’s website www.betweenthebenches.com. You can follow Mike on Twitter via @BTBenches. Game Two’s Q&A will be posted by tomorrow at the latest.

The post Mike and Mike’s Stanley Cup Finals Game One Q&A appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

(Abelimages, Getty Images)

By Lukas Hardonk (@LukasHardonk)

The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Calgary Flames for the second time this season tonight. While the Maple Leafs won the first game 3-2 at the Air Canada Centre, tonight’s contest has the potential to be very different as both teams now find themselves in a battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in their respective conference.

Game time is 9:00 pm EST. You can watch it on Sportsnet, listen to it on Toronto radio AM640, or follow along on Twitter, @LukasHardonk.

Tonight’s projected lineup

Forwards

Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
MacArthur-Grabovski-Connolly
Kulemin-Lombardi-Crabb
Brown-Steckel-Boyce

Defence

Schenn-Phaneuf
Liles-Franson
Gardiner-Komisarek

Goalies

Gustavsson
Reimer

Notes

- Jonas Gustavsson gets the start in goal tonight after James Reimer allowed four goals on 15 shots against the Canadiens on Saturday.

- Colby Armstrong will be a healthy scratch tonight for the Leafs. He also sat out on Saturday. Armstrong has no points and owns a minus-two rating in five games since he returned from injury.

- Keith Aulie has been recalled from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

- The Maple Leafs need a win badly tonight; they’ve dropped three consecutive games and find themselves just one point inside of eighth.

- The line of Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin is expected to see limited, if any time together tonight. Ron Wilson says it is a move to get both Kulemin and Tim Connolly going offensively.

- Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul each had four-game points streaks snapped against the Habs on Saturday.

Carl Gunnarsson placed on the Injured Reserve

The Maple Leafs have placed defenceman Carl Gunnarsson on the Injured Reserve. Despite suffering an ankle injury during practice on Monday, head coach Ron Wilson said the injury isn’t bad and that it is not a high ankle sprain like they originally feared.

He is expected to miss at least seven days.

Gunnarsson has been one of the Leafs’ most consistent defencemen this season. To go along with that, Gunnarsson has 16 points and owns a plus-three rating.

Trade Rumours

The Rick Nash-to-Toronto and Jeff Carter-to-Toronto rumours gained some more traction today.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said on TSN 1050 that Nash has given the Columbus Blue Jackets a short list of teams that he would be willing to move to, while Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch said on the same radio station that Carter will indeed be moved before the trade deadline.

Nash has 18 goals and 39 points in 55 games this season, while Carter has struggled mightily with just 12 goals and 20 points in 35 games. According to CapGeek.com, Nash holds a no-movement clause, while it is known that both players have very lengthy and lucrative contracts.

Follow Lukas on Twitter @LukasHardonk for more Maple Leafs coverage.

The post Leafs Blurbs: Gunnarsson on IR, Trade Rumours and Lineups & Notes vs. Flames appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

On June 23 of last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired center Jeff Carter from the Philadelphia Flyers in a blockbuster deal. The plan was for Carter and Blue Jackets’ captain, Rick Nash, to make each other better.

49 games into the season, the Blue Jackets hold the dubious distinction for least points (32) in the NHL.

AP

Carter’s feet have failed him again, causing him to miss 19 games, but he and Nash have been unable to get in sync through 30 games. His 17 total points project to a career-low 35 over the rest of the season. In addition, Carter is operating at a minus-9. He has recorded but one minus season in his NHL career (minus-17 in 2006-2007).

As for the man that Blue Jackets’ management brought him in to assist, Rick Nash is on pace for career lows in goals and points since his rookie campaign. Currently, he has 17 goals and 33 points while operating at a minus-21.

Clearly, the plan is failing in Columbus. Head Coach Scott Arniel has already lost his job. To add insult to injury, goaltender Steve Mason, who Blue Jackets’ management expected to take the next step this season, has turned in career lows in goals against average (3.42) and save percentage, an abysmal 0.882 mark. (Maybe the Blue Jackets would be interested in Ilya Bryzgalov? Ok, bad joke)

Earlier this week, Blue Jackets’ beat writer Aaron Portzline responded to widespread speculation and rampant rumors about Carter’s status with the declaration that Carter “is 100% available.”

Now this: NHL sources indicate that Carter has once again requested a trade.
The Carter Experiment has officially failed in Columbus.
Now, Blue Jackets’ management will have to try to recoup equal value for an injury-prone guy with perceived attitude and maturity issues. His contract is an impediment as well- $5.273 million average annual value through the spring of 2022.

On Friday evening, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired veteran center Brendan Morrison in exchange for defenseman Brian Connelly. I mention this because Calgary now appears to be as likely of a destination for Carter as any. They have already acquired Mike Cammalleri, and they have indicated that they will be aggressive buyers. Well, they now need a second line center, and the potential acquisition of Carter would certainly be par for the course.

According to Capgeek.com, the Flames currently have just over $4 million in available cap space. Therefore, they would have to return at least one roster play to the Blue Jackets in a potential deal. Given that the Blue Jackets may want to unload their $5.273 million headache, they may not squabble with the Flames over multiple high draft picks or multiple top prospects.
Perhaps Carter needs to play in an environment where he is not the top guy. If the Flames were to maintain captain Jarome Iginla and keep Olli Jokinen on the top line, Carter may settle into a second line role nicely.
Maybe the Flames don’t take the risk, but one team will.

The post Has Jeff Carter Played His Last Game as a Blue Jacket? appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

(Terry Gilliam/Associated Press)

By Lukas Hardonk (@LukasHardonk)

It’s that time of year in the National Hockey League again. The trade deadline is about one month away, meaning just about every general manager in the league is working the phones and trade rumours are not only beginning to pick up, but they are also beginning to gain some traction.

The usual statement is being said all around Toronto: The Maple Leafs need a top-six player who can put the puck in the net and beat the opposition along with boards with size and athleticism. As well, names are being thrown around as potential targets at or before the deadline.

This year’s crop of players rumoured to be on Brian Burke’s list of targets includes Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, James van Riemsdyk, Rick Nash and his Columbus teammate, Jeff Carter. While all five of those players are certainly talented and have the ability to lead a team offensively, not all of them would be a good fit in Toronto.

The worst option of the five is one that many people seem to think would be a nice addition to the Leafs’ roster: Jeff Carter. There is no doubt that he can produce when surrounded by good players, as proven by 33, 36 and 46 goal seasons while he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

In Toronto, he would, in all likelihood, centre a line between two players who will participate in this weekend’s All-Star festivities in Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. True, a line of Lupul-Carter-Kessel could potentially be one of the most dangerous in the league, but that doesn’t mean the Leafs would be smart to acquire the 27-year-old Blue Jacket.

No. 1 – Carter’s massive contract

While a centre for the Flyers, Carter signed a huge 11-year, $58 million contract extension. Due to the insanely long term and large amount of money, Carter is locked into the deal until 2022 at an annual cap hit of just over $5.272 million.

In the past, Brian Burke has made it clear that he has no interest whatsoever in signing a player to that type of contract or acquiring one who is already on that type of contract. In reality, why are people even thinking that this is a player who might find himself in a Leaf uniform come February 27 at 3 pm EST?

Leaf fans should be happy that Burke doesn’t want to do something like this. As we’ve seen in the past, these contracts can essentially ruin where a team sits in terms of salary, whether long-term injury is taken into consideration or not. Just do a quick Google search of Rick DiPietro, Marc Savard and Alexei Yashin.

The moral of the story: Acquiring Carter may be one of the worst trades that the Leafs could make, solely based on his contract.

No. 2 – This year’s production

With 10 goals and seven assists in 30 games, Carter isn’t even close to matching his normal career numbers this season. Those statistics put him on pace for a 35-point season, which would be his worst season yet. Match that up with his minus-9 rating and you get a player who just isn’t focused enough to produce this season.

Perhaps that would change with a new team, but is it really worth taking the risk? The asking price for Carter is going to be quite high; possibly a top-six forward and a relatively high draft pick. For a team that is lacking picks for the 2012 Entry Draft and that is looking to add to its top-six forward group, giving up that kind of package for a guy that you don’t know what to expect from makes no sense whatsoever.

No. 3 – Attitude

As you may recall, it took Carter four days to finally say something about being dealt to the Blue Jackets following the trade. When he finally did, Carter claimed that the decision not to speak was nothing against the Blue Jackets.

“My decision to not talk had absolutely nothing to do with being traded to Columbus,” he said. “I know it’s a team that has struggled in the past, but there’s a great future there, a lot of young players. I’m excited to be there.”

Following the trade, more reports came out of Philadelphia in reference to Carter and Mike Richards, who the team had also moved on the same day. This time, it was suggested that Carter had been a problem in the dressing room, electing to go out and party along with Richards during a team-instituted motion referred to as Dry Island.

It’s tough to judge the attitude of a person that you have never been around, but acquiring a player who has been accused of these sorts of actions on multiple occasions has to be considered a risk.

Follow Lukas on Twitter @LukasHardonk for more Maple Leafs coverage.

The post Why Jeff Carter Isn’t the Right Guy for the Maple Leafs appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

By Dustin Leed
Sports Writer

Out with the old; in with the new.

Or something like that.

On June 20, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made it clear to reporters via conference call while he was hunkered down in St. Paul, Minnesota preparing for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, that the team would have to do some tinkering of the roster but firmly stated “there is no fire sale going on here.”

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/415651_Let-s-make-a-deal.html#ixzz1R8tIgdlx

The post Let’s Make A Deal… How About Another? appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

Picture courtesy of articichockey.com

The shock: Has settled; time to jump right into things in Flyersland. All signs point to Philadelphia, once again, being active on the first day of unrestricted free agency, July 1.

Let’s start this piece off with a disclaimer: Besides right here you won’t be reading the name Steven Stamkos or Brad Richards. As you know, the Flyers will not be putting together an offer sheet for the 21-year old sniper. As far as Richards goes, could there be interest in the best free agent available, sure, but chances the Flyers put together an offer that could compete with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, etc. are slim.

So let’s carry on. The numbers: As is, with 18 roster players under contract, (EXCLUDING Michael Leighton ($1.75-million and INCLUDING Ian Laperriere ($1.1-million), Philadelphia has $8,281,905 salary cap to work with. Within that $8+-million in cap space, the Flyers need to work out a deal with RFA RW’s Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek. Let’s say Voracek gets a million dollar raise from his $1.2-million cap-hit with Columbus and makes $2.2-million per year with the Flyers and Simmonds gets a $500k raise from $820k to $1.3-million per season.

The Simmonds and Voracek additions give the Flyers a 12-man forward group including Laperriere with $4,7,610,00 left in cap space. We can all assume Laperriere will not be on the active roster, so you can subtract his $1.66-million dollar cap hit and put it on LTIR, which allows the Flyers to go above the upper limit and extending it to $65,466,667 – that gives the Flyers $5.9-million in cap space with 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies.

Forwards looks like this: LW: James van Riemsdyk, Jody Shelley, Scott Hartnell; RW: Andreas Nodl, Kris Versteeg, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek; C: Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Blair Betts.

Defense looks like this: LD: Chris Pronger, Braydon Coburn, Oskars Bartulis; RD: Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen, Andrej Meszaros.

Goaltending looks like this: Starter: Ilya Bryzgalov; Back-up: Sergei Bobrovsky.

The wants: Philadelphia will add two to three bodies as healthy scratches. For the sake of this article, let’s say it is forward Ben Holmstrom ($750k) and defenseman Erik Gustafsson ($900k).

Another option would be to bring back Sean O’Donnell and make him the sixth defensemen, keeping Gustafsson in the AHL with Bartulis the seventh defenseman. Say SOD signs a one-year, $1-million deal, it gives the Flyers more depth and $4.1-million in cap space.

For now, we’ll say it’s Gustafsson on the roster with Bartulis, meaning Philly has $4.2-million in cap space to play with; chances are, to throw at another forward.

The needs: A top-six forward – specifically a winger, or a true third/fourth line player. Also could use a sixth defenseman if they’re not sold on Bartulis/Gustafsson for the last spot.

Who’s available:  1. Ville Leino – The finish winger will cash-in big time this offseason and see quite a raise from the $800,000 he made in Philadelphia the last season and a half. I believe he is still Philly’s first option, but with the announcements of Brooks Laich ($4.5-million per year WSH) and Tomas Kopecky ($3-million per year FLA) deals, Leino is due for a big-time raise. I wouldn’t be surprised if the danglin’ right-winger lands a deal that will pay him between $4-5-million per season. Sorry Ville, Philly doesn’t have that kind of cash for you. Might as well spin-o-rama yourself right to the open market.

2. Erik Cole – The 32-year old American would be a nice fit with the Flyers. He has Stanley Cup Champion on his resume playing for Flyers bench boss Peter Laviolette in Carolina and his style of play would fit great on Philly’s roster. His leadership could help in the room; he’s got great speed and plays a physical style of game with plenty of scoring upside to boot. He scored 26 goals this season and added 26 assists, but has had some injury problems in the past. He’s on the decline, but if Philly can lure him in with a reasonable cap-hit – between $2-3-million – the Flyers should pull the trigger.

3. Jussi Jokinen – If the Flyers are losing a Fin in Leino, they might be inclined to eye this one to replace him. The offensively skilled winger netted 30 goals just two seasons ago and recorded 52 points in 70 games this past season for the Hurricanes. He’s a pretty solid puck-handler who compares pretty closely with Leino’s style of play. Not as good of a passer as Leino is, but just as skilled. Jokinen only made $1.7-million last year and was a bargain for the Canes for the past couple seasons. The Flyers certainly won’t be the only need bidding for his services if they decide to do so, but let’s be honest… Is there a team that needs his shootout dangles more so than the Flyers? Nope.

4. Tomas Fleischmann – The talented winger doesn’t necessarily fit the Flyers style of game, but I think the surgeon-like set-up man would be a great addition to the squad. The 27-year olds ability to play center makes him even more intriguing. He’s battled with injuries the last season, which is a little worrisome and will be due a bump up from his $2.6-million cap-hit, but the former Detroit Red Wings draft pick may be worth it. And I’d like him on a third line with Schenn.

5. Simon Gagne – Needless to say, a Gagne return to Philadelphia would make many fans happy, but let’s not forget he’s another year older and has battled injuries, again, this past season. He’s a good option for Philadelphia if they’re looking for some depth scoring. He still possesses the skill to be successful, but nothing is a guarantee. There is no way the Flyers can get close to matching his $5.25-million dollar cap hit he had last season, but get him down to around $2.5-3-million and it may be worth it. I can’t see Gagne playing any considerable time on the top-6, but he would be a great addition to Schenn’s wing, assuming he makes the roster.

6. Antii Miettinen – Probably the best two-way player on the list, Miettinen’s defensive awareness could really help the Flyers depth and would be a complete 180* from the man’s spot he would likely take – Nik Zherdev. If Philly wants to fill the goal-scoring department, Miettinen (30) may not be the best option, but his complete game would be beneficial for the Flyers. He made $2.3-million last season and will likely see a similar salary.

7. Michael Ryder – The 31-year old sniper would be a good addition to the Flyers roster, but in my eyes, far less impactful than the aforementioned wingers. Ryder is coming off of back-to-back 18 goal seasons and for his $4-million dollar cap-hit, he underperformed. But, the former 50-goal scoring in QMJHL has a Cup on his resume. Ryder’s got a wicked shot and would be a welcomed addition to the Flyers top-nine, but only if he takes a big pay cut, which I’m not sure he will, considering so many teams are trying to get to the cap floor.

Others available: Joel Ward – the 30-year old winger will be looking to cash-in from a successful postseason. He’s a hard-working, forward who will be a solid addition to any squad, just think Philly will go after someone a bit more proven; Chris Higgins – the Yale product could be a good addition as a depth forward. He played well down the run for the Vancouver Canucks and could benefit with some contract security. He’s played on four different teams the last two seasons and is trying to get back to the four-time 20-plus goal scorer he was in Montreal; Jamie Langenbrunner – can be thrown on this list by default. Paul Holmngren tried to trade for the former Devils captain last season and I would think interest still remains. His NHL time is likely winding down, but could supply Philly with some veteran leadership at a nice cost; Ethan Moreau – if Philly needs their Laperriere replacement, Moreau is the guy. He would bring lots of physicality along with leadership at a cheap price; John Madden – I’m not sure if Madden fits in the Flyers plans. If Schenn indeed makes opening night roster like I assume, there won’t be much of a spot for the defensive forward. The 38-year old is still one of the best face-off guys in the League and that’s something the Flyers could use.

More options: That could make sense for Philly depending what the market is like: Andrew Brunette, Kyle Wellwood, Fredrik Sjostrom and Raffi Torres. If Philly chooses to go the defensive route, there is really one option in my eyes: Anton Babchuk. Bacbchuk is a right-handed shot who saw time on the PP last season for Calgary. The Flyers are in need of a right-handed defenseman badly, and anyone that can fire the puck like Babchuk while playing specialty minutes should be looked at. The 27-year old made $1.4-million last season. While there may be other interest in defensemen like James Wisniewski and Christian Ehrhoff, there isn’t any way possible Philadelphia could give them the cash money they’re seeking.

In losing Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, the Flyers gave themselves some wiggle room to be active on Friday afternoon. I fully expect the Flyers to upgrade their squad to the best of their ability.

Boy, isn’t this fun?

*All the salary cap numbers and player salary was supplied by capgeek.com

The post Philadelphia Flyers: Free Agency 2011 appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

Soon afterward, it was announced that captain Mike Richards was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for RW Wayne Simmonds, RW prospect Brayden Schenn, and Los Angeles’s second round (49th overall) pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. The conference call transcript follows:

Q: How did this progress so quickly?

“Well, I think probably what got the ball rolling for a lot of talk over the last 10 or 12 days was the acquisition of the negotiating rights for Ilya Bryzgalov.  That set the wheels in motion.  Most teams probably viewed us as trying to sign Ilya – we did come to an agreement today – and I think that got the ball rolling.  I know over the last few days, I spent a lot of time talking particularly with both Los Angeles and Columbus, and that culminated in what happened today.”

Q: How much confidence do you have in the leadership of guys like Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk in passing the torch to those guys?

“This is obviously a huge couple of moves today by our organization.  Certainly the emergence of Claude over the last few years has been a factor.  I think the ascension of James over the last part of the season and particularly the playoffs – I think we have two good young players there that are on the verge of doing even better things for our team.  So that certainly was a factor, particularly Claude.  I view Claude as sort of Mike Richards-like in his competitiveness and his ability to do a lot of things for us offensively and defensively.  That really helped in that regard.”

Q: Why both [Richards and Carter]?  Could you have done one or was there a conscious effort to do both?

“Well this had nothing to do with the financial at all.  What we did today was make two good hockey trades, in our opinion, and I think Columbus and Los Angeles would say the same thing.  Both Mike and Jeff were good players for our organization and did a lot of great things, and we wish them both well.  The players we acquired for those players are good players in their own right.  We looked at our team at the end of the year and felt we needed to get bigger on the wing.  I think with the acquisition of Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, both those guys are bigger wingers that can play in your top-nine mix of forwards.  And perhaps the hidden gem in this whole thing is Brayden Schenn.  In our opinion, he’s one of the top, if not the top young player outside the NHL.  So it kind of led to that.  We had said for a number of years to our local guys that I really liked our team, and I still did, even a few days ago.  Today we’re a different team, and I really like this team, the way it’s structured right now.  Obviously, the ability to agree to terms today with Ilya was a big factor moving forward.  We’ve solidified that position.  Our defense remains intact, and we’ve made some changes up front where we have bigger wingers.  We’re ready to move forward.  We have a little bit of freedom left in terms of the salary cap, which is nice.  Right now we’re in a position where we have acquired a high draft pick in this year’s draft, so we’re busy preparing for tomorrow and the first round of the draft.”

Q: Do you see Schenn being able to step into your lineup next year?

“The guy that’s really going to answer that is Brayden Schenn.  We view him as one of the top young players not playing in the leauge.  He’s had a little bit of a taste with Los Angeles over the last two years, and he went to the American league last year and played some games at the end of the season.  We’ll see how it goes.  He’s going to come to our development camp in early July and obviously will be at training camp.  I can easily say we think he’s capable of doing it, but as with any young player, you never know until you get to that point.  So he’s going to be given every opportunity to make our team, for sure.”

Q: Was there any discussion about moving Jeff or Mike before you acquired the rights to Bryzgalov?

“Well, again, I can remember having a couple conversations from other teams just looking around between the end of when we finished playing to the end of the Stanley Cup Final.  The emergence of Claude may have put us in the position, but no real talks with any team until we acquired Ilya, and it just proceeded from there.”

Q: At what point was that decision made that a once untouchable guy like Richards could be traded?

“We spent a lot of time talking internally since the end of the season.  When you make a commitment to go out and acquire a goalie that you view as an upper-echelon goalie, you know you’re going to have to pay him.  So I think things at least internally here, what can we do to make this work financially, cap-wise… we started talking about some things, and some of the phone calls we received inquiring about what are you going to do if you do reach an agreement with Ilya, and things went on from that.  I can reflect back on a lot of things.  I do view Claude a lot like Mike.  Did that make it easier to trade Mike?  I guess, a little bit.  Both these trades were very difficult for us to make, but at the end of the day, we do think we made good hockey deals and I’m sure LA and Columbus would say the same thing.

Q: This leaves you pretty young up front.  Is this it for right now or do you still need to add some experience?

“Today was obviously a very busy day and a huge day for our franchise.  We’re busy preparing for the draft tomorrow. We have a high first round pick along with some other picks we didn’t have 24 hours ago, so we’ve got our work to do over the next two days here in St. Paul, and we’ll get together on our roster after that.  But you’re right in saying that we are younger up front.  Any time you take out two 26-year-olds and you sprinkle in a 22, 23 and 20 year old, you’re younger for sure.  That’ll be something we talk about once we get past the draft leading up to the July 1 free agency period.”

Q: On the next captain – is it a wide open field?

“That’s a good question.  I can honestly say we have not once talked about that.  There’s some guys on our team that have been captain on previous teams they’ve been on.  So we have some guys that certainly we could talk about.  I haven’t even broached the subject with Peter Laviolette and we haven’t talked about any of that internally.  It was a very busy few days here since I arrived in Minnesota, and as I said, we’re shifting gears here.  We’re now focused on the first round and the following rounds for Saturday.  We have lots of things to talk about once we get back to the office.  So we’ll see.?

Q: Any discussions on who you might look at with that 8^th spot?

“Our scouts have been meeting since they got here and I’ll be honest, I haven’t sat in on a whole lot of their meetings.  I was at the combine earlier and we did interview a lot of players, including guys that we viewed as potential first round picks   This is part of the process of preparing for the draft, and our scouts have been doing their due diligence.  I think we’re very well prepared.  We’ll spend some time tonight going over things and make sure our list is in order.  We may even interview a few guys that perhaps we didn’t get at the combine in Toronto a few weeks back, or maybe reinterveiew a few guys.  We do have some work we’re going to do before the first round tomorrow.”

Q: Do you feel that all things being equal that there is a organizational need for depth?

“I know our lack of draft picks over the last few years would probably [inaudible], but I think we’ve done a good job acquiring a lot of free agents afterward who were undrafted.  Eric Gustafsson, Mike Testwuide… we signed a couple guys this year, Tyler Brown, a big left winger that we really like.  So we have added to our cupboard in terms of prospects.  But again, the lack of draft picks has probably, I don’t’ want to say set us back, but would make the outsider looking at us think that way.  But I think we’ve done a good job with these free agents in getting some of that back.”

The post Transcript: GM Holmgren Speaks About Roster Shake-Up appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

By Dustin Leed, TheFourthPeriod.com

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Philadelphia Flyers had one simple goal this off-season — end the goaltending carousel.

Last Tuesday, the Flyers acquired the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov from Phoenix for a 2012 third round draft pick, Phantoms’ forward Matt Clackson and a conditional draft pick. The Flyers will have until July 1 to try and hammer out a deal with the 30-year-old goalie or he will become an unrestricted free agent.

Read more at the link below…

http://bit.ly/mlXSxm

The post Who Goes? appeared first on The Hockey Guys.

“We’ve never talked about clinching a playoff berth.  We’ve always talked about home ice, all rounds, starting in our building.” – Peter Laviolette on March 21st, speaking before his team was about to embark on a three-game span against elite East clubs.

For much of the stretch run, Philadelphia Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette stressed that his club was battling to gain the top spot in the Eastern Conference so they would be guaranteed home ice advantage all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

While his team wasn’t able to hold off the Washington Capitals for the conference crown, Laviolette’s squad did win the Atlantic Division title. In the process, Philadelphia finished second in the East, thereby securing the opportunity to open their first round matchup with the Buffalo Sabres at home.

Perhaps this one could be filed in the “be careful what you wish for” category.

Philadelphia finished the regular season with a 22-12-7 record at home, but the Wells Fargo Center has not been the “friendly confines” for the Flyers in recent times.

The monthly breakdown of Flyers’ games played in Philadelphia during the 2010-11 season:

• October:  4-3-1
• November:  5-1-1
• December:  3-2-1
• January:  4-1-0
• February:  4-1-1
• March:  1-4-3
• April:  (Including game one of the playoffs) 1-1-1

With Thursday night’s 1-0 loss to Buffalo in game one of the postseason, the Orange-and-Black have lost seven of their last eight (1-3-4), nine of their last 11 (2-5-4), and 11 of their last 14 (3-6-5).

Maybe most telling is the team’s record against playoff caliber clubs.

The Flyers’ three victories in the 3-6-5 stretch were against the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders (twice) – both non-qualifiers for the postseason dance.

Beginning with a 1-0 blanking at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on February 13th, Philadelphia has dropped their last eight contests at home (0-4-4) against opponents that are still alive in the NHL’s second season.

As a matter of fact, the last time the Flyers were victorious versus a playoff qualifier at home was all the way back on February 3rd, when they gutted out a 3-2 win on a late third period tally by Ville Leino.

Further analysis of Philadelphia’s 22-12-7 record at the Wells Fargo Center, against playoff and non-playoff teams:

• Playoff Qualifying Teams:  7-9-5 (including game one vs. Buffalo)
• Non-Playoff Qualifying Teams:  15-4-2
• Playoff Qualifying Teams (Eastern Conference):  6-6-3
• Playoff Qualifying Teams (Western Conference):  1-2-2

It seems that every time the Flyers ended a losing skid on home ice, they did so when they found the Islanders to be a more-than-welcome visitor.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has lost his last five overall decisions (0-3-2), has also dropped his last six home decisions (0-3-3) when facing playoff qualifiers.  Brian Boucher, who relieved Bobrovsky in the season finale against the Islanders and got the decision in a 7-4 victory, was 1-2-2 in his last five home contests.  Included in those numbers are an 0-1-1 record in his last two decisions against playoff teams.

Goal scoring has been an issue for Philadelphia during this stretch, especially at the Wells Fargo Center.

An analysis of the Flyers’ top five scorers numbers against playoff teams:

• Claude Giroux:  3 goals, 9 points, +3 in last 10 home games against teams in the postseason.
• Danny Briere:  2 goals, 4 points, -6 in last 9 home games against teams in the postseason.
• Jeff Carter:  0 goals, 0 points, EVEN in plus / minus ratings in last 8 home games against teams in the postseason.
• Mike Richards:  1 goal, 7 points, +4 in last 10 home games against teams in the postseason.
• Leino:  3 goals, 4 points, -5 in last 10 home games against teams in the postseason.

With Philadelphia’s struggles against teams that made the playoffs, maybe Thursday’s 1-0 home loss in game one of their playoff series with Buffalo shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

Game two tonight becomes the season’s most critical contest thus far for Laviolette’s squad.  They cannot afford another loss at Wells Fargo Center, which would result in the Flyers heading to Buffalo down in the series, 0-2.

That will require them to do something that they haven’t done in the last eight tries in nearly 10 weeks – defeat a team that made the postseason.

A team cannot win the Stanley Cup any other way.

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Coming tomorrow, a look at how the Flyers faired against the playoff elite overall – both home and away.

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If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

The post Flyers’ Troubling Home Statistics Against Playoff Clubs appeared first on The Hockey Guys.