Flyers Re-Sign Dan Carcillo

The Flyers and Dan Carcillo have avoided arbitration as the sides have agreed on a one-year deal.  It’s believed to be worth $1.075 million.  Last season with the Flyers, Carcillo played in 76 games scoring 22 points (12+10) and totaling 207 PIM.  He played in 17 games during the playoffs scoring 6 points (2+4) and totaled 34 PIM.

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A Trip to Prospect Camp 2010

The Flyers prospects took the ice today for the second of five sessions scheduled  at the Skate Zone in Vorhees, NJ. The prospects weren’t on the ice yesterday, but they were staying fit in Stone Harbor, New Jersey at the annual Trial on the Isle.

Offensive Standouts

We’ll start off with Shane Harper (RW, Everett – WHL, Contract signed Mar. 4th, 2010), who I was actually the least impressed with today. He just didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing on the ice. Messed up a lot of drills in practice, missed many passes, and fired many passes and shots off-target (Jeff Carter version 2.0?) He regained some of all that in the scrimmage, but was still mostly invisible throughout.

Mike Testwuide (RW, Colorado College – WCHA, Contract signed Mar. 19th, 2010) is a prototypical power forward. He’s got a huge frame that’s filled out well. He’s a quick and solid skater who can win battles in the corners, which he did almost all day today. Testwuide boasts a decent and accurate shot, but really failed to do anything with it in the scrimmage, which isn’t saying much for a game that ended 1-0. He and Eric Wellwood were on the same page which was nice to see out of prospects who rarely play with each other this early in their careers.

Speaking of Eric Wellwood (LW, Windsor – OHL, Drafted 6th round in 2009), he continues to impress me every time I see him. By far my favorite of the prospects. He’s probably around a year — or less — from seeing AHL time, with NHL time not following too long after that. He’s a fast, gritty player who sees the ice well. Always makes good, crisp passes that seem to hit targets in stride perfectly. Wellwood is always extremely involved in the play and he’s a hard guy to miss, which reminds me of Claude Giroux’s defensive abilities in this instance.

Luke Pither (C, Barrie – OHL, Contract signed Mar, 4, 2010) was somewhat impressive today, especially during the scrimmage.  He showed off the flash for one sequence.  He swooped in and kicked a loose puck up to his stick and burst into the offensive zone.  He then sidestepped a defender, and was in on Nic Riopel, he tried going back across the crease and Riopel stayed with him and made the stop.  He may have been able to bury the rebound had the defender not stepped in and the officials lost sight of the puck.  Other than that, he was solid today, no major mistakes.  He’s certainly got the potential and the skills.  Keep an eye on him.

What is there to say about Zac Rinaldo (C, London/Barrie – OHL, Drafted 6th round in 2008), who resembles a heat seeking missile. Literally, Rinaldo hits anything and everything that’s wearing the opposite color. Aside from — at all times — being a bully on the ice, Rinaldo shows plenty of other skills. He’s got a decent shot which we saw more of in drills, since he was too busy being a missile in the game, which is somewhat worrisome. Whether or not Rinaldo will succeed in the NHL depends on his ability to refine his playing skills. He’s not the biggest guy, either. At 5’11, 169LBS, he’ll be easy to knock off the puck at the NHL level. If he can fill his frame and work on his puck skills, he’s got a great chance of being a cross breed of Darroll Powe and Dan Carcillo.

Finally, Andrew Rowe (LW, Michigan State – CCHA, Contract signed May 6th, 2010) caught our eye as the day went on, mainly because we had a rough time figuring out who everyone was until the scrimmage, since nobody was wearing names or numbers. Although he can show a slight lack of judgement in his cross-ice passing, he’s certainly a player who plays a well rounded game and has the tools to become a great player, hopefully at the NHL level.

Defensive Standouts

Marc-Andre Bourdon (D, Adirondack – AHL, Drafted 3rd round in 2008) stood out today, only because of how calm and collected he was. It may just be that I was watching a player with at least AHL experience playing against a bunch of recently drafted amateurs, but he really just knew what he was doing. He didn’t make any glaring errors, but also didn’t show much that was outstanding. He just played hockey, very well. Because of the Flyers latest commitments to the defensive position, it could be a few years until Bourdon sees NHL time. Hopefully he isn’t traded, and actually sees that time in Philadelphia.

Nick Luukko (D, Gunnery Prep, Drafted 6th round in 2010) actually showed me more than I thought he would. Shows a lot of poise and patience at the point and never tried to do more than he should have with the puck. Of course, he’s got a long way to go before entering the professional level, but he’s certainly a defenseman that does what he’s supposed to do. At the moment: nothing more, nothing less.

Oliver Lauridsen (D, St. Cloud State – WCHA, Drafted 7th round in 2009) is huge. Lauridsen is a physical player who can definitely throw big hits. For his height, 6’5, he’s a very smooth skater. It’s surprising, actually. His point shot wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great, either. He made a few good outlet passes during the game.  Didn’t make any big mistakes in that regard, got the puck out nicely or chipped it off the glass when needed.  He stayed in position pretty well while defending the rush.  Blocked a shot or two.  With his size, he’s got a hell of a reach which he used well, knocking the puck loose a few times.  He did well in the corners and in front of the net, thanks to his size which he really uses well.  He’s not going to give the offensive numbers, but he should make a very reliable defensive-defenseman.  And did we mention he’s huge?

While a lot of the tryout players didn’t show me much today, Jesse Dudas (D, Bloomington – IHL – Corpus Christi – CHL, tryout) really stood out to me for some reason. He had a hell of a shot from the point and was very smart with the puck. More so than previously mentioned  Nick Luukko. Who knows if he’ll see anything more than a tryout here in Philadelphia, but he can definitely splash into the NHL someday if he plays his cards right.

Goalies

Sergei Bobrovsky (G, Novokuznetsk – KHL, Contract siged May 6th, 2010) didn’t see much action today and we didn’t get to see him on the other rink, so there isn’t much to write on him.   Bobrovsky’s a tough read right now, he’s dealing with new gear.  And any goalies know how rough that can be.  So some of his awkward movements/saves may be related to that.  Hopefully he’ll get accustomed quickly and there will be more information about him available quickly.

Brian Stewart (G, Northern Michigan – CCHA – Adirondack – AHL, Contract signed May 6, 2010) looked pretty solid today.  He made some nice saves during the scrimmage.  Including one sprawling stop with  the paddle.  He got knocked down behind the net after a collision with one of his own defenders and quickly scrambled back up and dove across the crease to stuff a rebound attempt.  He also challenged shooters well, taking the angles away.  He also seemed to anticipate things well, which was more noticeable during drills early on.  Quite a few times he’d slide across as the shooter got the puck, leaving him nowhere to shoot it but directly into him.  Much like Riopel last year, he was a pleasant surprise in goal.

Nic Riopel (G, Adirondack – AHL – Moncton – QMJHL, Drafted 5th round in 2009) was solid again this year.  He really impressed us last year and stood out quite a bit.  He started out pretty rough in the AHL this year, but was outstanding once he returned to the QMJHL.  From last year, he seemed to improve his lateral movement.  He’s still very solid positionally.  While he wasn’t tested during the scrimmage, he made the saves when needed.  I look at the Pither sequence here.  He stayed with him as he cut cross-crease and got his leg pad on it.  He still looks like one of the better goalie prospects in the system.  Should be interesting to see if he can land the backup job in Adirondack behind Backlund, or if he gets loaned out to another AHL team or the ECHL.

Thanks to Geoff Detweiler over at Broad Street Hockey, we’ve embedded a video of Riopel practicing over on the other rink, which we missed completely.  So, here’s that.

A Slideshow of Photos From Today
(Individual shots can be found on our Facebook page)

Thanks for reading. If there’s anyone that we missed that you wanted to know more about, don’t be afraid to leave a comment down below. We’ll either edit the post or leave a response comment.

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Reports: Flyers and Nikolai Zherdev Agree to Deal

Reports out of Russia indicated that Zherdev has agreed to join the Flyers.  However the local media here is yet to confirm.  We’ll stay on top of things and update when we can.  Everyone knew the Flyers needed a winger, Zherdev could be that guy.  Zherdev has bounced between the NHL and Russia during his career.  His last stint in the NHL was with  the Rangers in 08-09, where he played all 82 games and scored 58 points (23+35.)  He spent this past season in Russia with Mytishchi Atlant of the KHL.  He scored 39 points (13+26) in 52 games.

Zherdev certainly brings the skill, but the knock on him has been his consistency.  He goes hot-and-cold often, and can sometime be a liability in his own end.  If he can find the chemistry here in Philly, this may be a good signing for the Flyers.  Adding Zherdev would likely spell the end of Carcillo, depending arbitration results.  And Zherdev wold slot in as the Flyers top winger on the right side.

Stayed tuned for further updates on Zherdev.

4:25PM – Deal is still not official.  Both parties confirmed interests.  SanFilippo reports that Zherdev’s KHL team reports the deal as finished.  Other sources expect it to be complete within the next 24 hours.   Stay tuned for more.

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Flyers Free Agency Opening Day Round-Up & Grades

For hockey fans around the world, July 1st is simply a hockey holiday. For Flyers fans, July 1st usually means many tense hours of waiting to see how the team’s current general manager is going to handcuff the team this season. Paul Holmgren may have done just that today, unless he has some more moves up his sleeve.

As of now, it’s really hard to say, but it’s easy to speculate. So, here’s a recap and some grades of everything that happened today in Flyerdom (aside from our blog being mentioned by the Philly Daily News on Twitter, which makes me incredibly happy).

Jody Shelley
Former Team: New York Rangers
Contract Worth: 3 years, $3.3 million ($1.1 million per)
Grading the Signing: Can I go lower than F?

A text message came across my phone earlier to alert me that the Flyers had signed Jody Shelley to a 3-year, $3.3 million contract. I legitimately thought it was a joke at first and until this very second, as I type this, I’m still absolutely baffled that I had to find out this was a real signing. The fact that we signed Jody Shelley isn’t what is making me absolutely irate. What is bothering me, is the fact that Jody Shelley is being paid $1.1 million a year. Jody Shelley entered the NHL in the year 2000. Since then, he’s scored a mere 17 goals and has a total of 49 points. Yes. In 10 years, Jody Shelley, who is making $1.1 million with the Flyers for the next three seasons (unless God saves us and he’s traded), has scored 17 goals.

I can’t wait to hear Paul Holmgren’s explanation on the Jody Shelley signing, because I really want to know what was going through his head when he offered Shelley this contract. Last season, Shelley made $725,000. Last year, he scored two goals, both against the Flyers in the 81st and 82nd games of the season. Sure, Jody Shelley fights. Jody Shelley is a tough guy. However, Paul Holmgren can’t justify this contract to me like he did with Dan Carcillo and tell me that Jody Shelley is “going to be a fan favorite,” because that’s simply not going to happen and even if it did, there’s no reason to have a $3.3 million fan favorite, when you are letting Arron Asham walk away. Simply mind boggling. I can’t find the positives here. If you see some bright light at the end of the tunnel here (no, I’m not talking about the end of Shelley’s contract), leave a comment, please.

Sean O’Donnell (who is not Jody Shelley)
Former Team: Los Angeles Kings
Contract Worth: 1 year, $1 million
Grading the Signing: B+

Just shy of grading O’Donnell an A here, but not going lower than a B+. While I would have loved to see plenty of other names backing our blue line, the experience and grit that O’Donnell will bring creates another solid pairing for the Flyers and can effectively relieve Timonen and Pronger from their big minutes. Don’t look for O’Donnell to score a lot of points, because that’s not his game. In 1,104 games, O’Donnell has just under 200 points. He’s a defensive defenseman by the book. A guy who isn’t afraid to lay you out coming across the blue line. Frankly, that’s something I’ve been dying to see on this Flyers team for quite some time. In the +/- category, O’Donnell has finished in the minus category just three times. Twice early in his career with the Kings, who didn’t have particularly good teams and once with the Minnesota Wild in 2000, their expansion year. Overall, O’Donnell is a +85 in his 15 year career. Don’t expect many goals to be scored while Sean is on the ice.

Only downside? O’Donnell is 39 going on 40. That makes him older than Chris Pronger. One has to worry about the potential of injury, but O’Donnell has missed just 5 games since 2005. But now he’s playing under the Flyers wonderful medical staff, so…….

Another note to this signing: O’Donnell was on the 2007 Ducks team that won the Stanley Cup. Also on that team? Chris Pronger. O’Donnell said that his friendship with Chris Pronger swayed him into signing here.

Hopefully a solid addition to our blue line, but questions remain.

Andrej Meszaros
Former Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Contract Worth: 4 years, $16 million ($4 million per year)
Grading the Signing: C+/B

The Flyers acquired Meszaros in a trade with the Lightning minutes before the free agency rush started. Looking at this trade from a player specific aspect, this isn’t a bad deal at all. Meszaros is young (drafted by the Senators in 2004) and in the latter stages of his development. He faired pretty well on a Tampa Bay team that wasn’t all that spectacular. You won’t see much of Meszaros on the first two pairings. In fact, you probably won’t see him there at all unless he can out-play the $3.2 million Braydon Coburn.

When you take a look at this deal from outside the box and see what was also available earlier today at this price, it kind of makes you double take on Meszaros’ name a little bit. A few of the options that were available on the market today and their salary cap hits: Kurtis Foster ($1.8 million), Anton Volchenkov ($4.5 million), Henrik Tallinder ($3.375 million), Toni Lydman ($3 million), Derek Morris ($2.75 million), Zbynek Michalek ($4 million). Most of these guys have more upside than Meszaros or would be a better fit to the Flyers system.

Braydon Coburn
Contract Worth: 2 years, $6.4 million ($3.2 million per year)
Grading the Signing: B-

Another one of those in the “hard to grade” category. If we are grading this contract based on the Coburn of last regular season, this is stupid. If we are grading this on the Braydon Coburn we saw in the playoffs and in the Finals, this isn’t that bad of a deal. Coburn had a fairly abysmal regular season and three-quarters through the season, many people didn’t think he’d even make it to this point. Coburn’s stats didn’t do justice to his mindless play, because they weren’t bad. His decision making and turnovers were horrible and showed no signs of turning around.

Coburn was simply brilliant throughout most of the playoffs and the Finals and only showed a few mental lapses; but nothing like we got used to during the regular season. His physical play began to dominate the opposition and his ability to choose a smart outlet pass (one of his weaknesses) got increasingly better as the playoffs went on.

It’s not the greatest contract the Flyers have ever offered a player, but Coburn definitely has the talent to make it worth it. Question is, which Coburn will show up on October 7th?

Michael Leighton
Contract Worth: 2 years, $3.1 million ($1.55 million per year)
Grading the Signing: B-

The feel good story of this past season will have another couple of chapters added on to it.  Arguably, the biggest question for the Flyers heading to July 1st was between the pipes.  The only guys under contract were Brian Boucher and Johan Backlund.  And it was likely that Backlund would be given the starting job in Adirondack to get playing time.  Essentially, leaving the Flyers with one NHL goalie.  At the draft, they kicked the tires with Evgeni Nabokov. The two sides soon found themselves far apart, and Nabokov hit the market this afternoon.  Secondly, there were rumors of the Flyers showing interest in Dallas’ Marty Turco.  The Flyers offered Turco a deal but he turned it down, believing that there would be a good market today for his services.  At this time, both Turco and Nabokov remain UFAs.  Then last night, the reports surfaced that Leighton and the Flyers agreed to an extension, before he was set to hit the market as an UFA.  At that point in time, it seemed like a really great move atleast from the money stand point.

As today progressed, the Leighton deal changed its looks frequently.  As the Flyers acquired Sean O’Donnell and Andrej Meszaros to give the third defense pair a significant upgrade, this looked like a great idea.  Then, some of the other UFA goalies started to go off the board, and this wasn’tlooking as nice.  Potential targets like Dan Ellis (TB $1.5 million per over 2 years,) Chris Mason (ATL $1.85 million per over 2 years,) Antero Niittymaki (SJ $2 million per over 2 years,) and Marty Biron (NYR $875k per over 2 years) went for the same money, if not cheaper.  And all of those guys are proven guys, as compared to Leighton.  That’s not saying he can’t handle it, but do you trust him as much as those guys that have held the #1 spot before?  And does the addition of what can now be considered a legitimate third defense pair changed your opinion at all?

What We May or May Not Lose

• Thank you so much Jody Shelley, for effectively ending Arron Asham’s tenure as a Philadelphia Flyer. During Ash’s two years here, he embodied nearly everything it meant to be a Philadelphia Flyer. Unlike several other goons who I won’t name at this point in time, Asham isn’t typically known to take stupid penalties and for a guy who plays as physically as he does, that’s surprising. Asham, in my opinion, is more deserving of any money that Holmgren would give Carcillo or Shelley. Asham creates scoring chances, and while his finishing skills are lackluster, a chance is a chance for someone else to bury home, which this team proved time and time again last season. Letting Asham walk was a severe mistake and now we have Jody Shelley to thank.
• Daniel Carcillo and Darroll Powe are both RFAs and should come fairly cheap. In my eyes, Carbomb is a downgrade from Asham and will likely be more expensive. He will also end up in the penalty box more than Asham would have. “Fan favorite” or not, it’s clear that most of the time, Carcillo doesn’t know how to channel his emotions properly. We’ve seen it time and time again. Darroll Powe, when not on the penalty kill, skates fast and hits people. That’s pretty much all he does. He’s definitely not a high energy guy that you want to lose, but the Flyers just don’t have a spot for him in my eyes, unless it’s Shelley’s spot. I think he’d fit great on a team like the Coyotes who play a high tempo, fast paced game.
• Just a few hours ago, Nick Kypreos of SportsNet tweeted that the Flyers may be looking to unload Simon Gagne’s contract to clear cap space (thanks, Shelley). Simon Gagne is my favorite player of all time, so I simply can’t sit here and write something unbiased in reference to this. To me, Simon Gagne needs to retire a Philadelphia Flyer. If there was anyone I wanted to lift the Cup this season, it was Simon Gagne. Flyers fans of my generation probably can’t remember a time without Simon Gagne. Bias aside, Gagne is VERY injury prone. He’s missed 83 games in the last three seasons, mostly because of concussions; an injury we’re all too familiar with. My buddy Travis over at BroadStreetHockey summed this up perfectly and wrote what I can’t, because it’ll hurt too damned much. So, go there and read for yourself. You’re welcome, Travis.
• Oh, and Jody Shelley. Are you KIDDING me Homer?! Seriously?!

That’s all. Stay tuned over the course of the next few days. We’ll have plenty more good stuff for you to read.

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July 1st, 2010 – NHL Free Agency Frenzy

Stay informed with all of today’s happenings here on WeBelieveInOrange.

Any Flyers related signings will come in their own separate posts. This post will aggregate all of the signings around the league, as well as rumors and what not.

This year’s coveted FA prize? We’ll say it again, even though we don’t agree. Ilya Kovalchuk.

11:52AM – Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie are both tweeting that Andrej Meszaros could be a Flyer any minute now. In exchange, the Flyers would give a second round pick to the Lightning. Interesting.

11:57AM – Meszaros to Philly is a done deal. Post coming.

12:06PM – Our old friend Marty Biron is headed to the Big Apple. The Rangers have signed Biron to a 2-year, $900k deal.

2:50PM – Massive update here as we try and catch up — Dan Paille re-signs with BOS 2yrs, $1.075m per.  Sergei Gonchar signs with OTT for 3yrs @ $5.5m per.  Alex Tanguay signs with CGY for 1yr @ $1.7m.  Zbynek Michalek to PIT for 5yrs @ $4m per.  Alex Auld to MTL for 1yr @ $1m.  Colby Armstrong to TOR for 3yrs @ $3m per.  Antero Niittymaki to SJ for 2yrs @ $2m per.  Joel Perrault to VAN for 1yr @ $510k.  Sean O’Donnell to PHI for 1yr @ $1m.  Manny Malhotra to VAN for 3ys @ $2.5m.  Derek Morris stays in PHX for 4yrs @ $2.75m per.  Jody Shelley to PHI for 3yrs @ $1.1m per.  Dan Ellis to TB for 2yrs @ $1.5m per.  Derek Boogaard to NYR for 4yrs @ $1.625m per.  Paul Martin to PIT for 5yrs @ $5m per.  Whew.

3:02PM – Toni Lydman to ANH for 3yrs @ $3m per.

3:15PM – Ray Whitneyto PHX for 2yrs @ $3M per.

3:37PM – Curtis Sanford to MTL 1 yr @ $550k; And $200k over the AHL. A Two-way deal.

3:56PM – Henrik Tallinder signs with NJ for 4yrs @ $3.375m per.

3:58PM – Kurtis Foster signs with EDM for 2yrs @ $1.18m per.

4:15PM – Dan Hamhuis to VAN.  Details coming  UPDATE: 4:21 $4.5m per for 6yrs.  4:33PM – Still not official.  Very likely at this point though.  4:55PM – CONFIRMED

4:30PM – Olli Jokinen to CGY for 2yrs @ $3m per.

4:32PM – Chris Mason to ATL for 2yrs @ $1.85 per.

4:34PM – Anton Volchenkov to NJ for 6yrs @ $4.25m per.  Also includes a NTC.

4:44PM – What’s this, a trade on UFA day?  ATL & CHI have agreed on a deal involving Andrew Ladd.  A pick & prospect going back.  We’ll try and work on exact details.  UPDATE: 4:47PM – Ivan Vishnevsky and a second-round pick to CHI for Ladd.  Thanks to Darren Dreger.

5:20PM – Couple of updates here. The New York Rangers were reportedly interested in Alex Frolov (LA), but Frolov was apparently asking for too much cash. Instead, they settled for Vinny Prospal. Prospal is closing in on a deal with the Rangers. Look for a one-year deal.

5:21PM – Jordan Leopold has signed a three-year deal with the Sabres, but financials have yet to be disclosed.

5:24PM – The Kings are apparently about to announce a trade, according to TheFourthPeriod.

5:26PM – A Kings spokesperson claims “no announcement imminent.”

5:29PM – The Devils claim that they’re still in on the Kovalchuk sweepstakes. I’ll see it when I believe it. The Devils have also signed goaltender Johan Hedberg to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. The deal also includes a NTC. Interesting.

5:45PM – Saku Koivu back to the Ducks. Details still unknown. UPDATE: $5 million over 2 years for Koivu. $2.5 per. Not bad at all.

6:03PM – Pierre LeBrun still thinks Kovalchuk’s destined for the Kings, but they’re not willing to shell out the kind of money he’s searching for. They’re still wiggling, though. Devils still in, too.

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Flyers re-sign Michael Leighton

According to various sources the Flyers have agreed to a deal with goaltender Michael Leighton.  It’s suspected to be a two year deal at $3.1 million ($1.55m cap hit.)  This doesn’t mean the Flyers are settled on Boucher and Leighton, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to them target one of the UFA goalies starting tomorrow.  That would likely mean Leighton would serve as the backup.  So what happens to Boucher then?  Waivers?  Buy-out? Trade?

Stayed tuned tomorrow for lots of UFA Day coverage here at WBIO.

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Flyers Down Habs 3-2

The Flyers opened up a true home-and-home tonight in South Philly versus the Canadiens.  Fresh off two come from behind wins over the Devils, the Flyers would look to move up in the very tight Eastern Conference race.  Michael Leighton was again in goal for Philly while Carey Price was in for Montreal.  Jeff Carter would get the Flyers on the board first, late in the first period.  Briere picked up the orginal rebound from Carter and sent it out in front where Scott Hartnell had a few whacks at it, only to be stuffed by Price.  But Carter found the loose puck and slipped it by Price for the 1-0 lead.  The Flyers stormed out in the 2nd period scoring twice in two minutes.  Carter added his second to make it 2-0, and Matt Carle scored to make it 3-0.  The Flyers seemed to be in command at this point.  But they would come out a bit flat in the 3rd and let Montreal tget it back to 3-2 with goals from (former Flyer, noticing a theme here folks?) and newly acquired Dominic Moore.  Both the Habs goals seemed to come from our in ability to clear the puck from the zone.  Metropolit’s goal seemed to bounce high off the glass, and nobody could find it, except for him.  With a minute left, Darroll Powe laid out Jaroslav Spacek behind the Montreal net.  The play resulted in 5min major and Game Misconduct for Powe.  The hit didn’t look especially dirty or anything, as Spacek turned just as Powe came in to hit him.  Spacek’s status is unknown.  Montreal pulled the goalie for the remaining time, but was unable to capitalize.  And the Flyers pulled out a 3-2 win.  As the game ended a scrum ensued, with Gionta and Gomez the lead antagonists for Montreal.  Have to wonder what they were thinking mixing it up with Pronger and Lappy.  The whole thing lasted a few mintues until the men in stripes were finally able to separate everyone.  No doubt Montreal sticking up for Spacek and sending a little message for tomorrow night.

All around a pretty good effort tonight, save for that spurt early in the 3rd period.  The Power Play continued to struggle, failing to convert on numerous chances in the 3rd period.  Leighton looked sharp in goal once again.  Jeff Carter continued his fine play, adding two more goals.  The Flyers are right back at it again tomorrow night in Montreal, for the final game before the Olympic Break.

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Pre-Olympic Trade Recap

With the Trade Freeze going into effect at 3pm this afternoon, teams looked to make a few moves early.  There were two notable deals completed today.

The first was between the Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks.  Chicago sent D Cam Barker to Minnesota for (former Flyer) D Kim Johnsson, and D Nick Leddy, a 1st round pick in 2009.  This sure looks like a salary cap move for the Blackhawks.

The second deal involved Ottawa and Carolina.  Carolina sent veteran winger Ray Whitney to the Senators for (former Flyer) D Alexandre Picard and a 2nd round pick.  It’s not much of a surprise that Whitney was moved, as the rumor mill was churning for quite some time.  Whitney was a guy I thought we could use here in Philly for some extra scoring depth.  Following this, the Senators also place Johnathon Cheechoo on waivers.

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Flyers Sign D Lukas Krajicek

Various outlets are reporting the Flyers have agreed to terms with Lukas Krajicek, who was recently waived and bought out by the Lightning.  This seems to be what fit what GM Paul Holmgren was saying in recent weeks, mentioning that he would like to add depth on the blueline.  After losing Ryan Parent for 6 weeks, you kind of felt that something would have to be done.  Krajicek should provide solid depth for the team while Parent recovers.  The question is whether he replaces OKT or Bartulis.  Krajicek is expected to play tomorrow in Calgary.  Personally, I’d rather he replace OKT, who seems to look lost at times.  Not to mention that he ends up out of position after trying for the big hit too often.

Krajicek spent the last two seasons in Tampa Bay.  Putting up 20 points in 94 games, while at -12.

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Leighton, A Pleasant Surprise in Goal

They Flyers seemed to have the goaltender position sorted out for the season.  With Ray Emery coming over from Russia, and an old friend in Brian Boucher serving as the backup.  And early on, things were going well, and the bottom fell out.  Emery came out and said about his abdominal injury, and he would then be lost for 4-6 weeks.  Ok now it’s Boucher’s job.  I think anyone following the game knew Boucher would do fine untill Ray could get back.  Boucher was in a similar spot with San Jose not long ago, and performed admirably.  The only worry, at that point, was possible fatigue.  Could Boucher handle the load, or would the rookie Backlund need to get in for a game or two?  All was good, and then Boucher injured his finger.  Time to hit the panic button.  With Carolina struggling after losing Cam Ward to an injury, and then signing Manny Legace, Michael Leighton sudden became available via waivers.  The Flyers made a claim for the struggling netminder.  Leighton gace the team an experienced option while Boucher was on the mend.  I don’t think anyone knew what to expect, based off the numbers it looked ugly.  Not to mention the tailspin we already found ourselves in.

So, enter Michael Leighton.  He would play his first full game for the Flyers (and first since the 2006-07 season in Orange and Black) on Dec 23rd in Tampa Bay.  Leighton stopped 31 of 33 shots as the Flyers won that game 5-2.  Sure it was a good effort from everyone to finally get a win, but Leighton looked shaky at times.  One of the most notable things with him was that he tended to over commit when things got down low around the net.  A few times he’d slide over to cover a pass or take a shot, and would end up on the far side of the net, and way out of position.  Essentially the net was life wide open with only a d-man standing there.  Ok, so it didn’t necessarily cause any major issues, but that’s the kind of thing that will get you into trouble really quick in the NHL.  His next game was in Carolina, against the team that just waived him not long ago.  You know he really wanted this one.  And he looked good again, still a few minor issues here and there, but solid all around.

Here’s a guy who is struggling mightily in Carolina, gets waived, and his then claimed by the Flyers.  Who at this point, are just not playing well, at all.  At quick glance, this looks like a complete and utter disaster waiting to happen.  Despite looking a little shaky the first time out, he suddenly finds a groove and is practically unbeatable.  He looks very solid in net, seeming to have fixed the minor issues he had at first.  In fact in each game that’s he’s started with the Flyers he hasn’t lost in regulation.  His only loss coming at the Winter Classic in overtime, despite that he played pretty well in that game.  Over the ten games he’s played in Philly, Leighton is 7-0-1with a Goals Against Average of 2.13 and a save percentage at .938.  Pretty impressive numbers compared to the ones he put up in Carolina, and considering that he came onto a team that seemed to be doing everything wrong at the time.

Recently, we learned that Ray Emery was healthy and would soon be back with the Flyers.  So now we have a problem.  You have your #1 guy back, who was playing pretty well up to his injury.  Your regular backup, who played good when he got his chances. And the your stopgap solution who is just playing lights out right now.  So what do you do?  Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has stated that the team will keep all three goalies for the time being.  There are going to be a few important things to keep an eye on here.  First is Emery’s health.  he says he’s ready, ahead of schedule.  And played with the Phantoms over the weekend in a conditioning assignment.  Emery’s now back with the Flyers, because the Phantoms are off until Wednesday.  The other thing to watch his the health of defensemen OK Tollefsen and Ryan Parent.  When one returns somebody’s gonna have to go.  The question is who.  It’s pretty safe to say that Ray isn’t going anywhere.  That leaves Boucher and Leighton.  Both have small cap numbers, so nothing there. Boucher is signed through next year, while Leighton is a UFA at season’s end.  So what do you do?

Here’s my thoughts.  At this point, I believe that you cannot sit Leighton.  He’s simply on a roll right now, and the team seems to have gotten it’s act back together, for the most part.  He’s basically saved our season up to this point, and clearly deserves to stay in until he has a bad game or two.  But what about Boosh and Razor?  I’d like to see Razor back with the Phantoms for another conditioning stint.  We need to make sure that’s he has fully recovered.  It does us no good to have him come back, and then go out again for a long time. And abdominal injures can be tricky sometimes.  So I would, for once, like to see the Flyers take the safe road here.  We all now injuries have gone with the team over recent years.  Player is said to be fully recovered, comes back and plays for a few games, and then re-injures himself.  See Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, Peter Forsberg, etc.  The list goes on and on.  So let’s say that after another AHL stint that Ray is fine and returns to the big club.  That again leaves Leighton and Boosh.  Now I love Boosh as much as the next guy, but I think at this point he’s the odd man out,  that is unless Leighton begins to struggle mightily.  When you don’t have a true #1 guy in net and you have these 1A and 1B situations, it’s normally a good bet to ride the hot hand.  And Leighton just isn’t giving Boucher a chance right now. At that point Emery is your starter, with Leighton backing him up.

When the whole goalie situation went downhill, and after claiming Leighton I don’t think any of us saw this coming.  I know I didn’t.  But I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well Leighton has performed.  According to official Flyers twitter account Leighton will once again be in goal tomorrow versus the Stars.

One other note.  With playing Dallas tomorrow I’d like to give a shout out to our friend Cole Jones over at http://www.theother6seconds.com/.

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