Atlantic Division Preview: New York Islanders

As promised, Phlying Pucks is ready to roll out previews for all of the Flyers’ Atlantic Division foes for 2010-2011. We’re going to start in order of least-hated, and that’s only because they haven’t been taken seriously by the entire league in the last decade. Without any further introduction, I think we all know who I’m referring to:

Now with 12.5% more prop comics!

New York Islanders: (34-37-11, 79 pts): 5th in Atlantic Division, 13th in Eastern Conference

Let’s be realistic, the last time the Islanders were even mentioned in the same breath as the Stanley Cup, Glenn Healy was the team’s backstop. Yikes. Not like things are a ton better today, though. Dwayne Roloson is currently penciled in as the starting goaltender, which is a direct result of Rick DiPietro’s inability to A: live up to his career contract and B: stay out of Dr. James Andrews’ office. If DiPietro can ever shed the Mr. Glass label and actually live up to a mere fraction of his potential, this would be a very decent goaltending tandem.

Too bad the poor Islanders don’t have much to surround their netminding duo of Age and Frailty with. Their best defenseman is Mark Streit, who is a guy who definitely does belong on a top pairing in the NHL. Following that, however, I’d be hard-pressed to find any defenseman on the roster I’d trust in a close game. It says a lot about the state of the Islander defense that Streit’s partner on the top slot, James Wisniewski, was acquired in a very ho-hum trade with the Anaheim Ducks last month.

On the offensive side of things, the Islanders at least have a solid top line. John Tavares, last year’s first overall pick and the cornerstone of the franchise, is surrounded by young up-an-comers in Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson. That’s a dangerous unit that could easily give opposing defenses fits, even in a division where defense has become key. After failing to acquire forward Ilya Kovalchuk this offseason, however, the Islanders are quite punchless beyond the Tavares/Okposo/Moulson trio. In fact, naming their second line will make the situation in New York clear: Jon Sim, Franz Nielsen, Blame Comeau. That’s it. I’d rather sit through a Long Island-style home invasion than watch anyone but the first line play. Are you serious, Garth Snow? You’re going to try to contend with one line? Splendid plan.

I wanted to compare the Islanders to the New York Mets, but that’d be unfair to the Mets. And I hate the Mets. No, the Islanders are like the Oakland Raiders. They’ve had their past encounters with greatness, sure, but they’re washed-up, bizarro versions of themselves from the 1980’s. Nobody wants to play for them, so they issue out horribly stupid contracts that no GM with half a brain would even consider laying ink to, and their fan base is doomed to perpetual disappointment. There’s hope in sight with some of the youngsters here, but there’s absolutely nothing for the Flyers to concern themselves with. If they lose more than two games to the Islanders all season, I’ll be stunned. Cause this. team. sucks.

2010-11 Prediction: 73 points (5th in Atlantic, 15th in Eastern Conference)

Tags: Atlantic Division Preview, Christian Ingram, Garth Snow = Al Davis, Ghosts of Alexi Yashin, good lord this team sucks, New York Islanders, Remember Brett Lindros? Me neither

Asham turns to the Dark Side, joins Penguins

The Penguins locked up former Flyer Arron Asham yesterday to a one-year contract, ending any speculation he might return to his place on a line with Claude Giroux and James vanRiemsdyk. I want to wish Asham well, as he was simply a salary cap casualty for this team. I’d want to do so, of course, if he’d signed with pretty much any other franchise. Ick.

What’s worse is that the Penguins just got better and better this off-season. No major losses outside of Gonchar and spent money wisely on defense. We’ll be profiling all the Flyers’ Atlantic Division rivals leading up to the starting of training camp, but it’s plain to see that Philadelphia will have a tougher road back to the Stanley Cup in 2010 than they had in ‘09.

Oh, and we haven’t forgot about the Alexis photo goodness, either. Next installment comes shortly. You’re welcome, everyone with sight.

First Flyers model Alexis – An act in six parts.

We’ve been hyping this for quite some time over on Twitter (@PhlyingPucks, if for some reason you’re not already following), and I feel that considering the absolute zero that is coming out regarding the Flyers of late, the time has come. Several weeks ago I was able to get authorization from the company to bring in a model to do some Flyers shots exclusive to Phlying Pucks.

Our first model to date is Alexis. Alexis is 24 and enjoys scrapbooking, the author of this blog, hanging out with her cats, fast food, and (of course) the Philadelphia Flyers. She has a particulat soft spot for everyone’s favorite thug/dirt stache owner, Daniel Carcillo

We’ll be releasing high-quality shots of Alexis in a six-part series over the next few weeks leading up to the start of training camp. The first of which? Well, it starts right meow! Meow.

You dropped something...my jaw. He-he, all riiight.

Tags: Alexis, better than Ice Girls, if your girl doesn't like hockey something's wrong with her, model, Philadelphia Flyers, sex + hockey

For years, the Flyers have been a team that straddled the ceiling of the NHL’s salary cap. Following the 2010 off-season, it seems teams are finally taking heed to the pitfalls of such a strategy.

It only took Chicago’s Florida Marlins-esque example of a championship team forced to gut their roster after such poor cap planning to wake the rest of the league up.

Even before Chicago defeated the Flyers for the Stanley Cup this past June, it was evident that the team could not possibly return intact. Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd were shipped out as a result of Chicago’s salary cap situation, and now goaltender Antti Niemi will join them.

After filing for salary arbitration and being awarded $2.75M, Chicago was forced to exercise their right to release Niemi’s rights, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Hawks have since signed former Stars goaltender Marty Turco to a one-year contract worth $1.5M. This is the same Marty Turco who turned down a more lucrative (three years, $6M, to be precise) offer from the Flyers.

Niemi is gaining interest from several teams, most notably the Islanders, Capitals, and Sharks. You’ll notice the Flyers are not on that list. Sigh.

Nevertheless, the gutting of the Blackhawks may yet continue. Brian Campbell and Patrick Sharp have both been dangled in trade talks recently and may yet be dealt, though Sharp is much more coveted by teams than Campbell and his horrid contract.

This dismantling should serve as a warning for the Flyers and GM Paul Holmgren. The salary cap is a vile mistress whose demands must always be adhered to. Mike Richards, Kimmo Timonen, Chris Pronger, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Andrej Meszaros and Scott Hartnell are all players on this team making over $4M a year. That wouldn’t be such a problem if it weren’t for guys like Claude Giroux, James vanReimsdyk and Ville Leino, who will become RFA’s after the season. If this team wants to seriously build for the long haul, two of the three need to be locked up. That will mean more salary-dumping trades, but hopefully they’ll at least bring better returns than that which shipped Simon Gagne so unceremoniously from the Orange and Black.

Hopefully the lessons in cap management that Chicago taught the league will be adopted by the Flyers in future seasons. It’s a bit late for Holmgren and Co. to apply this knowledge in 2010, but if the Flyers are sincere in keeping their young nucleus together, they’ll need to become more frugal in the way they spend Ed Snider’s money.

If they don’t, Giroux, JVR, Leino, and the future of this franchise are in serious jeopardy.

Tags: Christian Ingram, Jody Shelley :, Paul Holmgren is like a crazy texas oil tycoon, Philadelphia Flyers, poor cap management

Flyers acquire Walker, 4th-round pick, magic beans for Gagne

We knew for the last two weeks that Simon Gagne was actively being shopped by GM Paul Holmgren.

What we didn’t know, however, was he’s been taking lessons in bargaining from Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame.

Holmgren dealt Gagne today. To Tampa Bay, who was long-rumored to be a dark-horse in the Gagne trade talks. What did Holmgren receive in return for the Flyers icon?

D Matt Walker, Tampa’s 4th-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft, and presumably a bag of magic beans.

WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?

Walker is a 30-year old defenseman who cannot possibly be any better than Oskars Bartulis. He’ll be our reserve defenseman and used to spell O’Donnell.

THAT’S IT!?!??!?!?!?!?

No Jonathan Quick. No Jonathan Bernier. No prospects of any kind.

I can say, without speculation, that this is the worst trade the Philadelphia Flyers have made in the 18+ years I’ve been following the team. Danny Markov for Justin Williams is NOTHING compared to this farce.

We all knew Philly wasn’t a good town to it’s sports icons. We let Brian Dawkins walk. We traded Donovan McNabb and Allen Iverson. We’re about to wave goodbye to Jayson Werth.

Aside from what this team did to poor Rod Brind’Amour, I thought the Flyers were the classy franchise of the town, the one that could rise above the treatment given to other star players on other Philadelphia franchises.

Poor cap management, horrible signings and trades that make Ruben Amaro look like a genius, however, put the handwriting on the wall for the longest-tenured Flyer.

Gagne will no doubt make a fine addition to Tampa’s lineup. Playing on a wing with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis will give Tampa a top line that, when healthy, is one of the best in hockey.

As for the Flyers, well, at least they’ve got that oh-so-important depth on the blue line now. And Jody Shelley.

The search for a franchise goaltender will continue for the Flyers. But for a team that was two wins away from claiming Lord Stanley’s Cup in 2010, they have taken massive steps backwards this off-season, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Hope those magic beans work out for you, Paul.

Tags: ashamed to tag myself in this post I'm so disgusted, Christian Ingram, franchises in decline, Philadelphia Flyers, Simon Gagne, terrible trades, ugh

Kovalchuk sweepstakes ends. Let the Gagne bidding begin!

It’s been almost three weeks since the NHL FA signing period began, and it took this long for the NHL’s biggest prize to be locked down.

After 19 days, endless negotiations/rumors and an entire holdup of the trade market, Ilya Kovalchuk has finally come to terms.

Kovy’s suitor? The same team that traded for him just before the deadline last season: The New Jersey Devils.

Details on Kovalchuk’s contract cannot be confirmed at this time, but NHL sources have let it slip through Twitter that his contract is likely worth over $100M over an astounding 17 years. If accurate, this would make Kovy the owners of the 2nd-longest contract in NHL history, a mere three years shy of Rick DiPietro’s record-setting 20-year deal.

In terms of the Flyers, this massive signing means three things. Obviously it means that Kovalchuk will be staying in the Atlantic Division for the long-term future, which isn’t exactly a great thing for us. The caveat of this, however, is that the Devils are going to be in hardcore salary dump mode for the next month or so. Zach Parise is rumored to be moved to make room under the cap, and to be honest, I’d rather them hang onto a one-dimensional sniper like Kovalchuk than a two-way center who can score and kill penalties like Parise. Kovalchuk doesn’t fit the Devils’ system at all and it will be interesting to see how they try to work him into their offensive and defensive schemes, especially the latter.

Finally, this signing means the rumored Simon Gagne deals can, at long last, come to fruition. Now with L.A. out of the Kovalchuk Sweepstakes, they will likely push hard for Gagne, at the very least to replace the scoring they’ll lose when Alex Frolov inks elsewhere. The rumored return for Gagne is Justin Williams. There are likely to be more players involved in this as well (Scott Hartnell? Please?), but if we’re not getting back Quick or Bernier, I consider this move a gigantic flop. We have Zherdev to (supposedly) replace Gagne. What do we need another winger for? Are we going to trade Williams for Danny Markov again?

Yes, I’m still bitter about that.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are also in on Gagne, though they could only offer a package of picks and prospects. It’d be a straight salary dump for the Flyers, and while that is what they need to do after re-signing Dan Carcillo, it doesn’t improve the team. Trading for Quick or Bernier (preferrably the latter) does.

What do you think, Flyer fans? What are you (realistically, of course) looking for in return for Simon Gagne?

Tags: Christian Ingram, Divachuk, Philadelphia Flyers, please god get us a goaltender, Simon Gagne, still hating the Markov trade, trade rumors

The Simon Gagne Quandary

“Should I stay or should I go?”

If that song isn’t on Simon Gagne’s mp3 player after the last week or two, I’d be stunned.

Gagne has been the subject of so many trade rumors, even Jeff Carter would say it’s excessive. The longest-tenured Flyer on the roster, Gagne has a full no-trade clause in his contract, which has one year and $5.25 million remaining.

It was reported last week that the talented winger had been asked to waive his no-trade clause, presumably after the Flyers spent themselves into a corner with the addition of Meszaros, Shelley, and O’Donnell coupled with the re-signing of Michael Leighton. Philly is over the cap, and that’s before the rumored signing of Nik Zherdev and the possibly re-signings of Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe.

Yikes. That’s a pickle that even the kids from The Sandlot would have a tough time solving.

The solution, it seems, is to trade Gagne. I would argue it makes more sense to deal Carter, as the Flyers are stacked at center and lack depth on the outside. However, Gagne is likely to be let go after this year, even if he offers the Flyers a substantial hometown discount. He also has substantial trade value at the moment after his massive performance in the 2010 postseason.

So, the question is, do you deal Gagne or not? Conflicting reports have surfaced on whether Gagne would waive his no-trade clause. It was first reported he would, but a few days ago Gagne said on french TV that he has not agreed to waive it.

The rumored suitors for Gagne’s services are the Ducks, Kings and Maple Leafs, with Boston in the mix as well. The Flyers are rumored to receive either W Bobby Ryan, G Jonathan Quick, D Tomas Kaberle or G DTim Thomas, respectively, from the teams involved.

To me, the Gagne/Kaberle deal makes zero sense. The Flyers already have the best and most expensive blue line in hockey, so adding another piece there makes no sense, unless a Timonen trade is imminent. Bobby Ryan and the Ducks are rumored to be at an impasse on contract talks, and the Cherry Hill, N.J. native might take give the Flyers a small discount to play for his boyhood-favorite team if they are able to acquire him.

Nice as that may sound, it still doesn’t solve Philly’s cap issues. Neither does the deal for Thomas, especially since Thomas is 36 and has multiple years left on his $5M/year contract.

Which brings us to the L.A. Kings. All off-season they have matched up best with the Flyers in a trade. Dean Lombardi, Ron Hextall and the rest of the Kings’ brass has great respect for the Flyers organization and wouldn’t hesitate to match up with them in a deal. It also appears L.A. is likely to (inexplicably) lose out on the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, as it seems Kovy will either stay in New Jersey, take the massive 10-year/$100M contract from the Islanders, or pack his bags and head to the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg and their newest signee, former Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Losing out on Kovalchuk will hurt L.A.’s plans to upgrade on offense, something they desperately need to do if UFA Alexander Frolov walks, as he seems destined to do. They also have a logjam at the goaltender position, with youngster Jonathan Bernier favored by the franchise over current (and also young) starter Quick.

A Quick/Gagne swap would make sense for all parties. The Kings would gain offensive firepower at a price that won’t keep them from re-signing youthful stars like Drew Doughty while turning the franchise over to Bernier, something they are looking for an excuse to do. Meanwhile, Philly would not only gain nearly $4M in cap space, but they’d also acquire a potential franchise netminder, something this town hasn’t had in 20 years.

This trade makes far too much sense not to go down. Plus if the Flyers do indeed sign Zherdev, as rumored, then they may not even lose much offensively. Lastly, it will give Gagne something he deserves from the franchise he helped support for the last decade: a chance to win even if it’s not with the Orange and Black.

The way out of the Simon Gagne Quandary is to use him to acquire Jonathan Quick. I will personally consider anything less than a deal of this caliber a total failure, a much bigger one than coming up short against the Blackhawks last month.

Tags: Christian Ingram, finally (maybe) a goaltender, off-season, Philadelphia Flyers, Simon Gagne, trades

Shelley, Meszaros, O’Donnell join Flyers

Aside from the Michael Leighton signing, which I went into great detail on last time, the Flyers made some other big moves last week at the opening of the NHL’s Free Agency period.

One of the team’s main goals was to upgrade the last defensive pairing following the shortcomings of Ryan Parent/Lukas Kraijeck/Oskars Bartulis in the postseason. After failing to ink Dan Hamhuis (who eventually signed with Vancouver) to fill that role, they were at least able to accomplish that goal.

How well they accomplished it, however, remains to be seen.

After signing veteran defenseman Sean O’Donnell, the Flyers dealt with first-time GM Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay. Philly sent their second-round pick in next year’s NHL Entry Draft for defenseman Andrej Meszaros. And his $4M cap hit. While he put up decent numbers in Ottawa a few years back and played on a very underwhelming Lightning squad, Meszaros is widely-regarded as being overpaid amongst those in NHL circles.

Just what we need, right? Another guy who likely won’t live up to his contract.

That said, the Meszaros/O’Donnell pairing will indeed take strain off Pronger/Carle/Timonen/Coburn, as Mezsaros can certainly eat minutes. The Flyers paid a hefty price, but they did accomplish their goal.

It wouldn’t be a Philadelphia off-season, however, if we didn’t overpay someone to come in and rack up penalty minutes. Well, Paul Holmgren made sure the goon role will never go unoccupied for the Orange and Black, signing Jody Shelley for three years at $1.1M a year.

To do exactly what Dan Carcillo does. And exactly what we try to keep Riley Cote from doing.

Now we have Carcillo (who has recently filed for salary arbitration), Cote and Shelley on the roster to “agitate” a.k.a. take unnecessary penalties, not to mention the ones Scott Hartnell and our defensemen will amass. Considering the Flyers didn’t have a need here and still haven’t figured out a goaltending solution that everyone can be comfortable with, was this really the best way to spend $1.1M a season?

Or has it marked the end of Simon Gagne’s tenure in Philadelphia?

We’ll address those rumors shortly. For now, however, all is not well in Flyerland after the first round of free agency activity.

Tags: Christian Ingram, free agent frenzy, Philadelphia Flyers, Philly is doomed to never have a legit backstop, what the hell Holmgren

Leighton re-signed, fan base weeps

Yesterday was the first official day that free agents could sign with new teams.

The Flyers not only signed some free agents, but they also retained some of their own players.

They just weren’t the moves the fan base wanted.

At the end of the day, Arron Asham and one of Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe are likely to be cap casualties, made expendable by GM Paul Holmgren’s opening day moves.

Homer’s first move came one day before the UFA period opened, as he re-signed UFA goaltender Michael Leighton to a two-year contract worth 1.55 million a year. This understandably upset many of the Orange and Black Army, as they feel Leighton’s unraveling in the Cup Finals is the reason the Stanley Cup is making the rounds of Chicago’s gay pride parade rather than hanging out in the broad street area. They have a legit gripe, as Leighton’s five-hole was open more than than an Arizona State girl’s. Coming into the season with the same goaltender tandem that didn’t get the job done last season is not the way to send the message that your team is able to get over the hump.

The other moves we’ll delve into in greater detail a bit later, but let’s just say the fans have more reason to be pissed than a loose-legged goaltender.

Tags: Christian Ingram, free agent frenzy, Philadelphia Flyers, Philly is doomed to never have a legit backstop, what the hell Holmgren

Flyers granted window to negotiate with Nabokov

Ever since Pelle Lindbergh’s tragic death, the Flyers have sought for a netminder the franchise can trust to carry them towards the Stanley Cup.

Yesterday, GM Paul Holmgren may have gotten close to attaining that goal.

The San Jose Sharks have reportedly given permission for the Flyers to negotiate with pending UFA goaltender Evgeni Nabokov before he hits the open market on July 1. If the Flyers are able to sign Nabokov before that date, Philly will ship a 2011 seventh-round draft pick to the Sharks. In the event they are unable to, as we all saw with Dan Hamhuis over the weekend, there will be no charge, so to speak, for this window.

Other blogs are debating about whether or not Nabokov is the answer for the Flyers in net. Many say it reminds them of the dreadful John Vanbiesbrouck acquisition. Still more can’t help but have flashbacks of *shudder* Roman Chechmanek.

These discussions, unfortunately, are irrelevant. If the Flyers were going to move a big contract (Carter/Hartnell/Briere/Timonen/Gagne), it likely would have happened on draft day. Friday came and went with the same roster still in place though, meaning the prospects of acquiring a Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier or Cory Schneider are a bit more grim.

The reality is that the Flyers are the only legit contender who is in the market for a starting goaltender. Well, us and the Sharks, and since they’re the ones who are letting Nabby walk, I don’t see them getting involved in the bidding.

If Nabokov wants over $4M a season, I’d prefer the team not sign him. We have better uses for that cap space. But, considering the market for goaltenders is expected to be weak, in the event he’ll sign cheaply for two years to try and bring a cup to the Wachovia Center, we should be ok with that.

This is a team trying to build off the momentum of the 2009-2010 season. If Chris Pronger and Co. and make Michael Leighton and his whore-esque five-hole look like Patrick Roy at times, what can they do for an established goalie like Nabokov?

So long as this doesn’t prohibit us from making another move needed to shed cash and lets us lock up both JVR and Giroux after this season, I’m all for it.

Tags: Christian Ingram, finally (maybe) a goaltender, off-season, Philadelphia Flyers, trades