Phigment

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Offseason Moves and Analysis

Welcome to the offseason! What a crazy time since the finals have ended. The season and post season have been written about and then what seemed like the next day the team is being totally rebuilt. So here I will take a look at the moves that have been made so far and what I think should be done the rest of the summer.

• Trade of Ryan Parent – A+ for Holmgren for moving Parent. The guy’s growth was negative in Philly and with the fans and coaches seemingly losing patience Homer got the rights to Hamhuis.
• Trade Hamhuis rights to Pittsburgh – A++ for Holmgren. Hamhuis was not interested in playing in the east, he traded these rights to Pittsburgh and EVERYONE freaked out! Then July 1 came around and Hamhuis signed with Vancouver. Homer got a 3rd round pick from a competitor for basically nothing! Gotta love Homer fleecing the Pens for this pick!
• Resign Michael Leighton – great move. The guy did nothing except perform above the level that was expected of him. Due to his performance last year, he like Boucher has earned the right to start the year in the crease for Philly.
• Resign Bryadon Coburn – great move. He plays better, the more minutes that he plays. The staff must do a good job next season keeping his focus on the game as with the new group of 6, the minutes will be much more even across the defense.
• Trade for Andrej Meszaros - this is a good move. When Meszaros was on a quality team, he played very well and with Tampa – he looked lost. With the Flyers veteran defense he should do just fine. He is very physical and is a nice complement to the Flyers back end.
• Sign Sean O’Donnell – great move. He is not expensive, has tons of experience, and can play a physical role on the penalty kill.
• Sign Jody Shelley – there is only one reason for this. Riley Cote was awful on the ice and as a fighter. Shelley is more expensive than Cote, but is far better suited for this role than Cote who caught more punches with his face than he ever even threw.
• Sign Nikolai Zherdev – I am cool to this signing. I remember when he was drafted and everyone loved this guy. He is not expensive and it is only for 1 year. He was the #4 overall pick and has twice scored 25 goals on BAD teams. He is a skilled right handed right wing. Something that the Flyers are in short of so, I will take a wait and see approach.

So what else, oh yeah! The trade talk of Carter and Gagne. From the Flyers point of view, they should do everything in their ability to move Gagne over Carter. Carter is younger, a better scorer, bigger, and has not had the injury issues that Gagne has had. I want you all to know that Gagne is one of my favorite players, but this is strictly a business decision. It makes the most sense to move Gagne for the best of the team. There are some nice young goalies that if I were in Holmgren’s place I would target. These guys are Jhonas Enroth (Buffalo), Scott Clemensen (Florida), and Jonathan Bernier (Los Angeles). All 3 of these teams could use a guy like Gagne as a leader and scorer and they have established goalies in the NHL that are preventing these guys from getting a chance. I would avoid at all costs going after the Marty Turco et al that are begging to play behind the Flyers defense next year.

Good Night and Good Hockey!

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BobHaynesJr

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