RJNSmith
The Flyers & Beyond!
Looking forward: 2010/ 2011
Jul 20th
So ever since the acquisition of Nikolai Zherdev, we all knew someone on the Flyers was on the move. Eventually, it came down to Simon Gagne, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers playoff hero. For weeks now, we were wondering when is this trade going to happen? Who/ what are we going to get? Posting on my twitter/ facebook account, I had suggested that nothing would happen until Kovalchuk was signed. It turns out I was right. A few minor trades/ signings happened right after this announcement, however; the big trade (if you can call it a big trade) was Gagne to Tampa.
When I read we have received an 8thdefenseman and a 4th round pick from Tampa for Gagne, I was absolutely devastated. It felt like I was punched in the stomach. We all knew he was unfortunately on the chopping block, but to give up so much for so little is truly frustrating. I doubt Matt Walker will have much playing time. In fact, I’m sure we’ll only see him if one of our top six goes down for a long period of time. Bartulis has a better chance playing than Walker. Okay, maybe I overreacted on that one but, but you get my point. I don’t see why we needed an 8th defenseman. Young prospects and earlier picks would have been great. Although we are looking to build a team now, they still would have been better than picking up Walker.
Now for some other issues that need to be dealt with. Although for some it may not be an issue, for me it is. It looks like our goaltending situation is in place for the 2010/ 2011 season for Leighton and Boucher. Don’t get me wrong; they both have played very well last seasons, yet both had their downs. I personally think if Leighton does not perform very well, or if he gets put on the shelf due to an injury, the Flyers season will immediately come to an end unless we sign/ trade for a true number one goaltender. Lets face it; Boucher is not by any means a starting goaltender. This all came down to the signing of Zherdev, and the trade for Meszaros. We could have easily not signed them, kept Gagne, and possibly have signed Turco, still being under the cam and able to resign Carcillo and Powe. Right now, it seems the only option is to resign Powe and it looks like we may have a complete team for 2010/ 2011, as the Flyers will not be able to do anything else.
If our team stays the same, and we do re-sign Powe (or even if we don’t, our lines would probably not change much) this looks like our lineup for the 2010/ 2011 season:
Zherdev – Richards – Giroux
Hartnell – Briere – Leino
JVR – Carter – Carcillo/ Powe
Lappy – Betts – Shelley/ Carcillo
–
Pronger/ Carle
Timonen/ Sean O’Donnell
Coburn/ Meszaros
Bartulis (7th) Walker (??)
–
Leighton / Boucher
So all in all, we don’t have a terrible team, but it had the potentail to be very leathel this upcoming season. Some very poor management decisions we’re obviously made, and nothing can be done about it now. Right now our only hope is that the chemerstrty will be there, all while our team being healthy at the same time!
Keep your stick on the ice,
Ryan Smith
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Opinion on Nikolai Zherdev
Jul 8th
Opinion on Nikolai Zherdev
So Wednesday afternoon I come home from work, and splashed all over my twitter account is the possible signing of Nikolai Zherdev. Immediately I thought of him playing with the Blue Jackets getting 60 points. He could very well be a great addition to our team, and finally someone that could work with the JVR-Giroux line. Although I’d prefer Bobby Ryan, Zherdev may have to do. But then I do a little research on his background and see he has somewhat of an attention problem and has locker room issues from time to time. This is not someone I want on my team. I don’t care if you score 50+ goals a season – I do not want a troublemaker in the locker room. Period. End of discussion. If he can get these problems worked out, as I said earlier he could work wonders on the Flyers.
With all that being said, there is one more issue that comes to mind after reading around online. Last year in the KHL, Zherdev made about $4 million. This would really hurt the Flyers in cap space this year and for years to come. Now obviously we would have to trade Gagne weather he makes $4 million or not, but is still a very steep price for only a 20+ goal scorer. In my opinion, the Flyers should sign him for $2.5 million or less. Any more than that, I’d suggest the Flyers stop and keep looking around. There are better and bigger fish out there they can get at $4 million that won’t cause any potential locker room problems.
The great thing about Zherdev, is that he is still young (25 years old) and still could have about 10+ years left in his tank, which may turn out to be a very good thing. All in all, if he behaves himself for the most part, and possibly takes a decent sized pay cut, I believe he would work out very well for our team.
Thoughts on the Free Agency Frenzy
Jul 4th
Hello,
My name is Ryan Smith. I am 21 years old and a huge Flyers fan for life. This is my first article writing about the Flyers (and really about anything) so I don’t expect much, but I do expect to get better as I go along.
Thoughts on the Free Agency Frenzy:
Just before the free agency frenzy began at noon on the 1st of July, it was announced that the Flyers have traded their 2012 2nd round draft pick for Tampa Bay’s defensemen Andrej Meszaros. I was very worried about this when it was first announced. The first thing that came to my mind was “Jeez, I think this means we’re not signing Braydon Coburn this year”. This only worked out because we did sign Coburn. If the Flyers didn’t, I think that Meszaros would have been totally useless and a waist of $4 million in cap space. Hes a very solid defenseman when there are other solid defensemen srounding him. Although you could say that’s the case with anyone, the proof exists with him playing with Chára in Ottawa. With that being said, I am stoked about the signing of Sean O’Donnell. A solid & strong D-man who still has one, maybe two years left in him with Stanley Cup experience. With these signings/ trades, here is my defensive lineup opponion for 10/11 season:
1. Pronger/ Carle
2. Timonen/ Sean O’Donnell
3. Coburn/ Meszaros
Bartulis (7th)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this could possibly be the deadliest group of defensemen in the entire National Hockey League. If you can come up with a better top 6 than what the Philadelphia Flyers have, then please let me know. I’m dying to know who has better defense then the Flyers.
Now for a signing I totally disagree with. I want to know the person responsible for signing Jody Shelley. The reason I say that is because I don’t think Paul Holmgren is that stupid. He is smarter than that. I understand we need a strong enforcer, but I’d much rather go for Carcillo. Although Shelley may handel the puck better, hes not as tough, does not score, does not pass, and can not be on the ice for a long period of time. Does this sound like a player you want on your team? I didn’t think so. I know many people may disagree with me, but hey, this is what it’s all about. I want to create discussion. Thats my beef on Jody.
There have been many rumors about Gagne waiving is no trade clause. At first, I thought this was a terrible idea, as I thought they asked him to do this to dump salary and get future draft picks. But then other rumors started coming out about getting Bobby Ryan, and possibly signing Turco, who I think would be a great addition to our team. If the Flyers don’t get both of these guys and we get rid of Gagne, I think it would be a waist of a sniper, and another 20+ goal scorer gone for nothing. We need something in return, and someone that would deliver. Bobby Ryan, in my opinion, would be a wonderful addition to the JVR-Giroux line. This would be the ultimate 3rd (maybe even 2nd) line. Then you have Carter-Richards-TBD and of course the deadly Hartnell-Briere-Leino line.
Anyways, if the Gagne rumor is true, I just wish we get someone who can help us bring the cup in the 10/11 season, and not draft picks for the future. It will be a sincere waist of a trade, and absolutely pointless. Now lets move on to goaltending. Although I’m happy the Flyers signed Michael Leighton for another two years, I don’t like (as of now) that he will be our starter, and I the fact he’s making about $.5 million more then he should be making. We need to dump Boucher as soon as possible. Now I’m not totally sure what his contact status is (NMC/ NTC?) but I really think he needs to be traded or moved down to the AHL, and bring someone else in. If the Gagne rumor is true, then I’d home Turco will be coming in, or even Evgeni Nabokov at a decent price, and keep Leighton as our backup. This would be the ultimate line of defense. With the solid blue line the Flyers have, and the potential goaltending the Flyers could have, I can see the GAA being less than 2 the entire season. It would be very hard to score against the Flyers and a very frighting offense if we bring in someone like Bobby Ryan.
All in all, I’m fairly happy with the way the off season has gone so far, and we’re only about a month into it, with about three months left to go. Who knows what else the Flyers will do during the rest of the off season. Only time will tell.
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Once again, thanks for reading! Expect an update from me in the near future, or after a Flyers trade/ major rumor!