A Bold move in Philly
Posted 11:50 AM ET | Comments 9
Hi everyone! Welcome to my first Hockey Buzz blog post! As a New Jersey Devils fan, you will find that my postings will typically revolve around issues affecting the Devils in particular, and the Atlantic Division in general. But of course as with any huge NHL fan I may stray from time to time!
Anyway - lets begin by talking about the bold move Paul Holmgren just made in Philly by trading cornerstone players Jeff Carter and Mike Richards on the same day! Now as a Devils fans, we take every opportunity we get to "remind" our Flyer Fan friends that their team has not won a cup since 1975. Granted they have come close - including losing the finals to the Blackhawks 2 years ago. But you know the old saying about horseshoes and hand grenades, right?
It would appear that Holmgren has come to the long overdue conclusion that the Flyers inability to win a cup is directly related to their revolving door of mediocre goalies - Boucher, Bobrovsky, Leighton, Biron, Emery, Esche, Nittymaki, Cechmanek, etc etc etc. The list is endless. And trading a player (Carter) to free Cap space so that they could sign Bryzgalov does make sense - Bryzgalov immedialtely becomes the best goalie this team has had since Pete Peters (Sorry guys - Hextall was NOT an elite goalie). But trading BOTH Carter and Richards, and then signing the 31 year old Bryzgalov to a 9 year deal?? 9 years?? Really?? The only way any of that makes sense is if another deal is on the horizon (Brad Richards?). Otherwise it appears the Flyers took a huge step backwards. Only time will tell.....
As for our beloved Devils, I am heading to The Rock tonight for their Draft Party. I am certainly excited to be drafting 4th this year (not happy about why we are drafting that high - small consolation) but considering this is a thin draft compared to past years I only hope that Lou Lams and David Conte have done their homework and can generate some of that old draft magic (Brodeur, Neidermayer, Parise, etc). Given my choice I would hope for Gabriel Landeskog, but I doubt he will fall to 4th. My gut tells me to expect Adam Larsson as the pick. We shall see!
Anyway - lets begin by talking about the bold move Paul Holmgren just made in Philly by trading cornerstone players Jeff Carter and Mike Richards on the same day! Now as a Devils fans, we take every opportunity we get to "remind" our Flyer Fan friends that their team has not won a cup since 1975. Granted they have come close - including losing the finals to the Blackhawks 2 years ago. But you know the old saying about horseshoes and hand grenades, right?
It would appear that Holmgren has come to the long overdue conclusion that the Flyers inability to win a cup is directly related to their revolving door of mediocre goalies - Boucher, Bobrovsky, Leighton, Biron, Emery, Esche, Nittymaki, Cechmanek, etc etc etc. The list is endless. And trading a player (Carter) to free Cap space so that they could sign Bryzgalov does make sense - Bryzgalov immedialtely becomes the best goalie this team has had since Pete Peters (Sorry guys - Hextall was NOT an elite goalie). But trading BOTH Carter and Richards, and then signing the 31 year old Bryzgalov to a 9 year deal?? 9 years?? Really?? The only way any of that makes sense is if another deal is on the horizon (Brad Richards?). Otherwise it appears the Flyers took a huge step backwards. Only time will tell.....
As for our beloved Devils, I am heading to The Rock tonight for their Draft Party. I am certainly excited to be drafting 4th this year (not happy about why we are drafting that high - small consolation) but considering this is a thin draft compared to past years I only hope that Lou Lams and David Conte have done their homework and can generate some of that old draft magic (Brodeur, Neidermayer, Parise, etc). Given my choice I would hope for Gabriel Landeskog, but I doubt he will fall to 4th. My gut tells me to expect Adam Larsson as the pick. We shall see!
From what I have read, Edmonton loves Larsson and Colorado loves Lando. Devils will end up with Jonathan Huberdeau if I had to wager a guess. David Conte may surprise people though.
By saying Hextall wasn't an Elite goaltender pretty much tells me your lack of knowledge on the sport. And i'm not even a flyers fan!
@ twpguy - Hextall had one exceptional season - 1987 when he won the Conn Smythe and Vezina. Besides that, what did Mr Hextall accomplish? Cups? None. His Post Season record is a very mediocre 47-43. His career GAA is almost 3.00 The guy is more famous for fighting and scoring a goal as a goalie than his goaltending accomplishments.
@jbivens13 - Yeah I have read that Florida really wants Nugent-Hopkins, so an Edmonton-Florida trade makes sense, and then yes Edmonton taking Larsson with the 3rd pick. The wild card in all of this is Colorado - do they take the best available guy, do they draft based on need, or do they deal their pick? Should be interesting...
The Flyers added size on the wings, kept their defense intact and signed a number one goalie. They also got younger and added more depth. 9 years was a stretch but that's where time will tell. Beyond that...Hexy proved his worth considering the teams he played for through his career. This Flyers have a better team now then they did on Tuesday...2 guys traded, 3 players in return along with a few draft picks and a goalie.
@phi1671 - Hard to buy the argument that they are "better' than they were Tuesday. They gave up 2 proven performers in Carter and Richards. Yes Bryzgalov is an improvement over Boucher, but the flip side is that in 8 NHL season he has won exactly 1 playoff series. For this trade to be considered a success Bryzgalov needs to take them to the next level. But I still fell the Flyers will make more moves - they gave up a lot of scoring in Richards and Carter, so I expect a move for a top 6 forward.
Did the Liles trade just push Colorado to Larssen?
@ChipArm - Liles and Larsson are different players - and besides it appears Colorado had their eye on Landeskog the whole time, he reminds people of Peter Forsberg...
Good blog.