RJNSmith
Looking forward: 2010/ 2011
Posted 11:52 PM ET | Comments 10
So ever since the acquisition of Nikolai Zherdev, we all knew someone on the Flyers was on the move. Eventually, it came down to Simon Gagne, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers playoff hero. For weeks now, we were wondering when is this trade going to happen? Who/ what are we going to get? Posting on my twitter/ facebook account, I had suggested that nothing would happen until Kovalchuk was signed. It turns out I was right. A few minor trades/ signings happened right after this announcement, however; the big trade (if you can call it a big trade) was Gagne to Tampa.When I read we have received an 8th defenseman and a 4th round pick from Tampa for Gagne, I was absolutely devastated. It felt like I was punched in the stomach. We all knew he was unfortunately on the chopping block, but to give up so much for so little is truly frustrating. I doubt Matt Walker will have much playing time. In fact, I’m sure we’ll only see him if one of our top six goes down for a long period of time. Bartulis has a better chance playing than Walker. Okay, maybe I overreacted on that one but, but you get my point. I don’t see why we needed an 8th defenseman. Young prospects and earlier picks would have been great. Although we are looking to build a team now, they still would have been better than picking up Walker.
Now for some other issues that need to be dealt with. Although for some it may not be an issue, for me it is. It looks like our goaltending situation is in place for the 2010/ 2011 season for Leighton and Boucher. Don’t get me wrong; they both have played very well last seasons, yet both had their downs. I personally think if Leighton does not perform very well, or if he gets put on the shelf due to an injury, the Flyers season will immediately come to an end unless we sign/ trade for a true number one goaltender. Lets face it; Boucher is not by any means a starting goaltender. This all came down to the signing of Zherdev, and the trade for Meszaros. We could have easily not signed them, kept Gagne, and possibly have signed Turco, still being under the cam and able to resign Carcillo and Powe. Right now, it seems the only option is to resign Powe and it looks like we may have a complete team for 2010/ 2011, as the Flyers will not be able to do anything else.
If our team stays the same, and we do re-sign Powe (or even if we don’t, our lines would probably not change much) this looks like our lineup for the 2010/ 2011 season:
Zherdev – Richards – Giroux
Hartnell – Briere – Leino
JVR – Carter – Carcillo/ Powe
Lappy – Betts – Shelley/ Carcillo
–
Pronger/ Carle
Timonen/ Sean O’Donnell
Coburn/ Meszaros
Bartulis (7th) Walker (??)
–
Leighton / Boucher
So all in all, we don’t have a terrible team, but it had the potential to be very lethal this upcoming season. Some very poor management decisions we’re obviously made, and nothing can be done about it now. Right now our only hope is that the chemistry will be there, all while our team being healthy at the same time!
Keep your stick on the ice,
Ryan Smith
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See, looking at the lines, the Flyers aren't looking that bad at all. Also, while I hated to see Gagne go, they had to do something and the other teams knew it. I give props to Tampa for pulling this one out. I am sure things such as "oh, he has 2 concussions, and a pulled groin before) popped up, hence we got Walker instead of what Gagne was worth. I dunno man... we aren't done yet, I think we might see a few more moves still!
I think you guys will have a good team next year and I can't wait for them to meet the Sens. We had some entertaining games last year and hopefully will build on that. The Mezaros deal still confuses me.
Correction, we got a 7th defenseman, a 4th round pick, and cap space. Anyone who believes we were going to get much more was pretty much fooling themselves. The list of teams was very limited. I don't like that we got so little, but to think we could have held out for more from someone else was a pipe dream. That being said, it was mismanagement of the cap that got us to this point to begin with.
On paper the Flyers are as deep as any team in the league as far as forwards and defense, I'm not going comment on the goaltending!
Thanks guys for the comments. Looks like this has been my most successful blog thus far. And something I forgot to mention, which could have been another full paragraph was the fact Gagne only wanted to go to a select number of teams. I would assume that Canadians was another choice for him, however; a deal could not be struck, which leads to being traded to Tampa and getting dirt in return.
Looking at the rosters I realize that Tampa and Philly practically own half of a Canadian Olympic team! Haha!Lecavalier, Carter, Richards, St. Louis, Stamkos, Gagne, Pronger, (Briere?). And the fact that the bolts have every habs fan's dream team.
Good Read, keep up the good work!
Thanks! That means alot!
Great read. Thanks for the hard work. If they don't change the goalie situation I will be calling for Homer's head. What a joke!
no way they have carter on a 3rd line of carcillo and jvr..if that was the case they would have kept gagne and traded him for a valuable goalie. Hell take over gags spot as the top LW and hopefully watch some film of ovechkin for the proper ways to use a lethal wrister instead of just shootin at the goalies chest everytime he crosses the blueline