Late in the NHL season when the playoffs looked all but lost for the Philadelphia Flyers, GM Paul Holmgren was quite blunt when he advised that the off-season would see a lot of changes in Philly. “Players that expect to be back might not be”
Holmgren also went on to admit that the Flyers number one priority was going to be acquiring a young franchise netminder who could potentially man the hemp huts for the next decade or so.
Fast forward to late May and Philadelphia holds a two games to none series lead or the Cinderella Montreal Canadiens. Add to that Michael Leighton stopping every single shot he has faced in the series with back-to-back donuts and one wonders if Holmgren still feels the same way as he did in mid-April.
As great as the run Philly is currently enjoying I think Holmgren was onto something with the suggestion that some common faces in the line up might need to call their real estate agents in the summer.
This great run by the Flyers has hopefully allowed the front office brass to observe and realize something I have. That being, the lack of consistency the Flyers had suffered for the last 2 seasons could be attributed to simply too many quality players all being shuffled around and playing out of familiar position.
With Jeff Carter out of the line up since game 4 of the first round versus the New Jersey Devils, coach Peter Laviolette was forced to inject Ville Leino into the line up and he was placed on the right-side with Daniel Briere moving back from the wing to his natural centre ice position. Briere has responded to the comfort of centre ice by being tied for the team lead in playoff points with 18.
Manning the middle on the third unit, or as I like to refer to it line 2B. Claude Giroux who spent all season being Mr. Versatility and playing anywhere from 3rd line centre to 1st line right-wing. Is back as the constant centre between James vanReimsdyk and Arron Asham to form a very solid 3rd line.
Although Carter is only a season removed from eclipsing the 40 goal mark you can clearly see how well the Flyers centre ice position has flowed since he unfortunately went down with a broken foot.
Back to the reason for trading Carter in the off-season. With Danny Briere having an almost immovable contract and a No Trade Clause (NTC) to boot. Along with the untouchable Mike Richards and the very soon to be untouchable Claude Giroux. Carter is the best asset Holmgren has to potentially fill any holes he still believes the Flyers to have.
That need may no longer be in nets. Now I’m not suggesting Leighton’s late season run and 3 1/2 games of playoff experience has solidified him as a true NHL starter. But we all know how difficult and poor the decision-making process seems to be for the Flyers front office when talking about that goaltending position. So I would not be surprised to see the Flyers go the cheap route and sign Leighton for a lot less than this “potential franchise netminder”.
With Jeff Carter slated to earn $5.5M in 2010-11 (cap hit of $5M) and with no NTC in his contract. He’s obviously Holmgren’s best asset to help land the big time netminder if the Flyers still feel the need to acquire one.
25-year-old Jeff Carter’s trade market value would probably be a starting goalie or top six forward and a 1st round pick. Seeing as the Flyers will have no need to arrive at the NHL entry draft on the Friday for the next two summers due to the Pronger deal (Anaheim received Philadelphia’s 1st round picks for both the 2010 and 2011 drafts along with Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa). Carter could help fill a hole in the immediate line up and possibly have the Flyers drafting somewhere in round 1.
If I’m Paul Holmgren, I take a look at my finances which are bleak and I think I can probably re-sign Michael Leighton in the $2.5-3M/yr range and bring in a reliable and affordable back up with NHL experience. When I look at the rest of the my line up, assuming I can re-sign RFA Braydon Coburn I’m pleased with my top 4 defensemen and Parent and Bartulis are coming along nicely as young defenders in the NHL.
Lines 2a and 2b are pretty much set with Briere, Leino and Hartnell showing great chemistry and JVR, Giroux and Asham proving to be one of the better “third” units in the league. The only weak link amongst the top nine forwards is Dan Carcillo. He is simply not a first line player.
Finding a big, fast and skilled right-winger to compliment Richards and Gagne would make the Flyers that much more formidable in 2010-11. A player that would probably fit beautifully along side Richards and Gagne is Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers. A big, strong kid that has toiled in Florida for 6 seasons that seems to be shopped around the NHL year in and year out could be a player Philly could scoop.
Horton, 24 has a cap hit of $4M until the 2013 which means the Flyers would save $1M in the trade. Along with Horton it would not be obscene to think Holmgren could ask for a first round pick from the Panthers as well. A pick the Flyers could use to add some prospect depth to the organization that finds itself a tad thin in that area with many of their prospects from a few years ago graduating to the NHL.
I’m not suggesting Florida wants to make this deal. With newly hired Dale Tallon as GM no one at this point can be quite sure what his plans will be to rebuild the franchise that has not made it to the post-season in almost a decade. But Florida certainly lacked scoring and offensive identity and they would have to at least listen to a potential trade that could land them a player of Carter’s ability.
So whether the Flyers end up Stanley Cup champions, finalists or allow Montreal to complete another miracle and eliminate them from the post-season in the conference finals. Holmgren should think long and hard about how good his team looks with the roster being iced on a nightly basis and how much better it could look if he makes the right decisions with Jeff Carter.
