Flyers re-opening contract talks with Arron Asham

Reported first by CSNPhilly.com’s John Boruk, the Flyers are re-opening contract negotiations with UFA winger Arron Asham.

At the moment, it’s completely hazy as to why the Flyers have gone back to Asham, after they essentially decided to completely ignore him when the season ended, but you’d have to think it has something to do with the recent situation developing with Dan Carcillo and the ongoing trade talks surrounding Simon Gagne. If they lose both of those players, they’ll be hurting on the wing, and Asham is a reliable depth winger who had a career year last season.

Asham, 32, is rumored to be seeking a multi-year contract and a  hefty pay raise from the $640,000 he’s made the last two seasons here in Philadelphia. Asham has received numerous offers from teams in the West, but Boruk says Asham wants to stay in the Eastern Conference, where Asham has spent his entire career.

Like I said, it’s hazy, but this could very well mean the end for Daniel Carcillo in a Flyers uniform if they don’t get things worked out before or in arbitration, but given the Flyers history with players and salary arbitration hearings, it’s not looking good for the Dave Schultz wanna-be.

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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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Flyers sweep home-and-home with Devils in overtime

Simon Gagne finally snapped his 12 game goalless streak Wednesday night with a dominant shift in overtime, wristing home the winner over the left shoulder of Martin Brodeur. After missing with a shot just seconds earlier, Gagne skated around Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias before letting go of the game winner in the slot. The Flyers also received goals from Arron Asham and Jeff Carter. Michael Leighton gave up two first period goals, albeit softies, to Travis Zajac and Rob Niedermayer, but settled down to stop 21 shots for the victory.

The Flyers managed to win a game down 2 goals against the Devils for the second straight game in a row, while only mustering a total of 15 shots on goal. The first period started off with those two fluky goals, but the Flyers got a huge response from former Devil Arron Asham to make it a close game. The Devils certainly squandered their fair share of scoring chances, with prized acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk “Jeff Cartering” a few shots off of the glass/wide, and Travis Zajac missing an empty net as well. The hot topic of debate was Scott Hartnell’s no-goal that would have tied the game at 2 at the end of the first. While physics may have told you that the puck was in, the NHL’s war room saw things differently. Cue the “MSG+ didn’t send the correct camera angle” theories.

Jeff Carter buried a wrister off the iron in the second to tie the game, so the no-goal didn’t exactly hinder the offense. Earlier in the day, Carter received the news that he would be a part of Team Canada, as Ryan Getzlaf suffered an ankle injury earlier this week which will put his Olympic status in doubt. The Flyers had a couple of breaks in this game, with Zach Parise missing the game completely due to an upper body injury (which isn’t good for Team USA :/). The Devils also lost Bryce Salvador early on, as he took a high stick in the defensive zone, leaving with vision problems. The Flyers played relatively disciplined, but special teams weren’t the key point of this game. Leighton coming up with the big stops certainly was the highlight of the game, with Gagne’s goal being the icing on the cake.

Upcoming notes: The Flyers play another home-and-home set against Montreal this weekend, before the Olympic break takes over. The Opening Ceremonies for the Games is tomorrow for our Olympic followers. Ray Emery will get 3 weeks, including the Olympic Break, to rest his ailing hip.

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A couple of Six Packs over the Weekend

So, Andy and I were able to witness the 6-1 drubbing of the Hurricanes in person. Unfortunately, we were also treated to a lackluster Halloween Costume Contest that Lou Nolan would simply dub, “pretty shitty.” Some big things stood out to me during that game:

• Matt Carle looks dominant so far. He’s obviously playing with confidence being paired with Pronger, and looks like the Hobey Baker award winner from seasons ago. He’s racking up assists so far and has shown a great feel for the offensive zone. His goal in this game was the result of him taking control on the powerplay and banging in a wrap around that Leighton horribly overplayed.
• Chris Pronger looks comfortable and has been worth the price of admission most nights. His passes are on the tape, and his shot has been deadly accurate this year. The first goal was set up off another one of his slappers. He’s been dominant on the PP and has been fine in his own zone to this point.
• The Timonen-Coburn pairing was broken up, and both responded well. Timonen chipped in with an assist and looked more comfortable. Coburn finished off a broken 2-on-1 with JVR and also buried a bomb from the point, notching both goals in the third. Together, the two have looked lost, but perhaps this showing gets them going once again.
• Ryan Parent played and had an assist, but left after re-aggravating an injury.

• JVR has gone from potential bust to star in an offseason it seems. He’s using his size to his advantage, scoring a great goal by driving the net and deking out Wallin and Leighton with a weak backhander, but he’s also showing that he’s not afraid to at least get somewhat physical, responding to a challenge from Andrew Alberts. I’m sure the time in the weightroom helped, as he looks stronger and more determined this year. Could be shaping up to be a darkhorse candidate for ROY.
• David Laliberte, who I assumed would be called up with Briere’s injury, responded with a goal and an assist his first NHL game. Considering he was in the ECHL 2 seasons ago, he’s had a monumental rise. He has the talent to stick around and produce from the looks of it, and has some chemistry with Carter it seems. I’m seeing why he stuck around so long in camp. The hot streak he went on at the end of last year with the Phantoms doesn’t seem to be a fluke.
• Arron Asham is awesome. Enough said. This needs no explaining.
• Somehow, the great check of the game was not the monster shot Laperriere landed on Carcillo that had Andy and I in stitches. :/
• This game got physical, and the Flyers responded well. Bonus points for escaping without Conboy biting anybody this time around.

Monday night’s game was almost a replay, as the Flyers dropped the Lightning by a 6-2 final. They didn’t dominate this game like I thought they did against Carolina, but they made their shots count and embarrassed Mike Smith to an extent. Carter had a pair of nice goals, as well as setting up Laliberte for another one. Pronger had a couple of sweet assists to Richards on the night, and I thought Claude Giroux had an excellent game, with a highlight reel pass back to Pronger on the 5th goal. The points haven’t been there for Claude, but as long as he’s moving his feet and working his magic with the puck, you know he’s on. The only negative was that Syvret had a relatively poor game in limited action, and the third line seemed to get burned on the TB goals. Stamkos ripped a laser which nobody would have stopped, and the Halpern goal was crappy to say the least. Overall, an excellent past 3 days for the Flyers and their fans.

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Flyers Fall to Panthers

After almost a full week off and some relaxing team bonding in Ft. Lauderdale, the Philadelphia Flyers took on the Florida Panthers Friday night at the BankAtlantic Center.  What began as a commanding start to the game soon led to a Flyers team that lost all their drive and fell to the Panthers 4-2.

Arron Asham and Claude Giroux both scored a goal for the first time this season as the team experienced their first loss on the road.

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