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Bringing Hexy Back • 42 Years Old • Male
I did a bit of number crunching last evening. The Flyers face an interesting cap situation following day one of the NHL draft. Here's how things stand and what could happen next.

Cap hit currently stands at: $50,792,000

Players accounted for: Briere, Richards, Gagne, Hartnell, Knuble, Lupul, Upshall, Giroux, Downie, Timonen, Hatcher, Rathje, Coburn, Parent, Kukkonen, Biron, Niittymaki.

RFA: Carter, Thoresen, Jones, Eminger, Guenin
UFA: Cote, Dowd, Smith.

Assuming that Rathje, Hatcher and Kukkonen are off the cap, that leaves the Flyers with $13,083,000 in cap space to resign FAs and fill holes on the roster. Under that scenario, they'd need 4 forwards(to have 13) and 4 defensemen(to have 7).

Assume the following cap hits:
Carter $5,000,000
Thoresen $600,000
Cote $550,000
Dowd(or like veteran) $550,000
Jones $1,200,000
Eminger $1,200,000
Guenin $675,000

That adds $9,775,000 to the cap hit, leaving $3,308,000 in room to add other pieces.

Granted, the numbers can be tweaked a bit, one way or another, but without Hatcher retiring there isn't another decent FA coming. If Hatcher stays, there isn't ANY FA coming.

Other possibilities:

Smith re-signs for $2.5mm-$3mm: I'd keep Kukkonen and let Guenin stay a Phantom or shop him for picks next year.

Jones traded: Possible he could be a sweetner to trade into round two today, but I don't see Jones going anywhere.

Another trade-it's unlikely, but maybe they swing another trade today by, say dealing Knuble+ for a bona fide top 4, and use the cap space to add a veteran winger like Brendan Shanahan.

I am a bit happier about the future of this team than I was 24 hours ago, but I would have preferred the Flyers keeping the 27th and drafting John Carlson or Jakob Markstrom. Who knows, perhaps they'll trade into round two and nab Markstrom this afternoon.

Luca Sbisa was a stellar pick at 19. He will be a huge piece of the team's puzzle moving ahead.

I feel Eminger played pretty well for the Caps in the playoffs, and that under John Stevens, Terry Murray, Jack McIlhargey and Joey Mullen, we could see improvement such as those made by Braydon Coburn and Randy Jones in Eminger's case.

Anyhow a glimpse at what could be the 2008-09 Opening day line-up:

Gagne-Briere-Knuble
Hartnell-Richards-Lupul
Upshall-Carter-Giroux
Cote-Dowd/FA-Thoresen/Downie

Timonen-Coburn
Hatcher/Parent/FA-Eminger
Jones-Kukkonen/FA(Jason Smith?)/Parent.

Biron
Niittymaki
Filed Under:   draft   Cap   Flyers   JSaq   Sbisa   Eminger  
June 21, 2008 9:16 AM ET | Delete
i look at line 3 and think... that could be pretttty potent!
June 21, 2008 9:31 AM ET | Delete
Forward lines are definetly solid. Some tweaking required for the 4th line and I think the Thor/Dowd resignings will be a last minute decision rather than a given (basically if we can find someone else with more size and similar ability we let them walk). The D is still very suspect to me. I believe hatch hangs them up and we resign smith for under 2.5. Sadly Eminger may be the end of the Lassie era in philly but perhaps he'll get regular playing time somewhere else. Kimmo/CobyParent/SmithJones/EmingerLassie (if he stays) or nasty NateIf we somehow get a guy like hainsey then smith is on the third pairing with jones and eminger is number 7.Just my opinion
June 21, 2008 9:53 AM ET | Delete
I am tossing Thor and Dowd in as names, more than set in stone guys. I was fresh home from Pearl Jam and still dealing with a contact high when I did the math, and didn't feel like wading through the UFA 4th liners to name precise names. They could add guys like Dominic Moore or Jason Krog for similar money to Dowd, or spend a little more to get size with a guy like Josef Vasicek.
June 21, 2008 10:33 AM ET | Delete
Your math is right, but I would consider Rathje not playing a certainty. I think Kukko comes back. Hatch is still up in the air, but we'll know by July 1.
June 21, 2008 11:02 AM ET | Delete
Yeah, I didn't want to leave Rathje off and have some jackass start nitpicking, though.
June 21, 2008 11:58 AM ET | Delete
Mixed emotions about the Eminger deal over Carlson or a goalie like McCollum/Markstrom. I can see Cote and Smith re-signing. Dowd is great, I hope he stays but magic 8-ball says outlook is bleek. Thor can pack his bags.
June 21, 2008 1:56 PM ET | Delete
I disagree on Thoresen. He can't score (and in this case, it's an understatement), but he also doesn't hurt the team. He's decent defensively, can be serviceable on a 2nd or 3rd line if necessary, and rarely takes penalties. Plus, he'll come in at a very low price. In a cap world, Thor is the type of role player any team can use.
June 21, 2008 2:07 PM ET | Delete
If Thor is not brought back its a big mistake, role players are key to any teams successthat being said, I predict Knuble will be traded sometime around the trade deadline
June 21, 2008 2:13 PM ET | Delete
Unless Hatcher is traded or pick up on waivers, or down in the minors philly is on the hook for his salary as he is older than 35. So if he retires they still get the cap hit.
MJL
June 21, 2008 3:54 PM ET | Delete
Greatlakes, you are 100% wrong. Hatcher signed the deal when he was under 35, so that rule does not apply. If he retires, the money comes off the Cap
June 21, 2008 10:25 PM ET | Delete
I like your lines, but if Carter is signed...He will not be on the 3rd line. He will most likely be a 1st line center, and move briere to wing. Knuble would drop to the 2nd line, or possibly get traded.
June 22, 2008 1:19 AM ET | Delete
Great post J. Im really pulling for Hatch to be out- a warrior but his time is over. I would like to see Knuble moved for Schnieder (perhaps more added to this deal?) from VAN (they could really use a power forward and we could really use a blue chip goalie prospect). Then with the left over 5.5 sign a mid range 3 or 4 D man UFA and have some spending cash left over. Not Redden or Campbell because they will be out of our range.
June 22, 2008 6:58 AM ET | Delete
If Carter is signed, and Briere is moved to wing, who, pray tell, is the third line center? The tooth fairy? You do realize that last year Carter(the so called 3rd line center) and Briere(the first line center) had average ice times per game that were one second different. On a team like the Flyers, there are no 1st, 2nd or 3rd lines.
June 22, 2008 7:50 AM ET | Delete
GreatLakes: The 35 year provisio only counts for deals signed AFTER 35 years of age. Hatcher signed his when he was 32, so if he's not playing, he's off the cap. Under the 35 year old rule, even guys in the minor count against the cap, which is why it's rare to see a guy over 35 sign for more than a year or two at most.
June 22, 2008 3:25 PM ET | Delete
Ive always liked eminger hes a good pickup
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