steal_your_faceoff

"All Geeked-Up for the Deadline..."

Newtown Square, PA • United States • 45 Years Old • Male

With the 19th pick in the 2008 draft the Philadelphia Flyers

select Luca Sbisa. This young man is projected to be the replacement for Kimmo Timonen on the powerplay in a few year's time. He is a puck moving, mobile defenseman with good hockey sense and lots of offensive upside. This Swiss Dman, from Lethbridge of the WHL, scored 6 goals, had 27 assists for 33 points lat year to go along with 63 penalty minutes. Sbisa led his team's defensive corps with a plus 19 rating, showing his commitment to being a two-way player. He is not going to lead the league in defensive scoring, nor will he lead in penalty minutes. What he will do is be a speedy, versatile rearguard who will quarterback the powerplay, play with intelligence and be responsible in all three zones. Nice pick.

The Genesis for this pick came from the trade of R.J. Umberger to Columbus for their 19th and 67th pick, with the Flyers' 27th and 119th overall. I would consider that to be an excellent trade on behalf of Paul Holmgren, who continues to do it again and again. This trade affords the Orange and Black two top 30 picks and one at #67, while shedding the salary of Umberger in the process. I think the Jackets had better check their pockets, because Homer just stole their wallet.

I am excited to see what the Boys do with #27 and will be back after the pick. I would not be surprised to see them go goalie on that pick - taking swedish backstop Jacob Markstrom or Guelph Storm product Thomas McCollum. Back in a bit...

SYF

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Update

Flyers trade #27 pick to Washington for Defenseman Steve Eminger and the 84th overall pick in round 3. Eminger is interesting, as he was the Capitals' first round pick in the 2002 draft at #12. He played very well against the Flyers in the opening round of the playoffs, scoring a goal in a double overtime loss to the Flyers in game 4. Eminger is 6'2" tall right handed shot who weighs 212 pounds. The book on Eminger is that he has never lived up to his billing and that a change of scenery might be just what the doctor ordered. I certainly hope so. As it stands now, he might be a 6th defenseman. While I am not crazy about it, the Flyers got a project with some skill who has upside potential. I hope the Flyers go goalie with #84.

So far I would still give Homer and his crew an A-/B+.

SYF

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