Flyers Explode Roster; Shakeup Hockey World

When the Flyers goalie situation imploded in the 2nd round of the Playoffs this spring and the team was swept by Tim Thomas and the eventual Cup winning Bruins, owner Ed Snider had finally seen enough. He ORDERED General Manager Paul Holmgren to rectify the situation in the Flyers net that had been left derelict since Ron Hextall skated away to Quebec in a fit of rage.
In following his bosses orders Holmgren brought in the hottest name available, trading for the rights to restricted free agent Ilya Bryzgalov from the Phoenix Coyotes. Holmgren only then faced one problem: he was up against the salary cap and would need to move some cash off his roster to free up room to sign the hottest goalie on the market. Rumors swirled around trade deadline addition Kris Versteeg and middle pairing defenseman Matt Carle. Absolutely nobody in the hockey world saw the combination of brazen moves that Holmgren was really cooking up coming down the pike.
Within an hour time span yesterday, instead of tinkering around the margins, Holmgren boldly blew up the very core of his roster, trading away Team Captain Mike Richards to the LA Kings and Assistant Captain and prime sniper Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets. In doing so Holmgren cleared out a combined 20 years and $109.6 million off the team’s books through the 2021-2022 season.
In trading Richards to the Kings, the Flyers picked up versatile tough guy winger Wayne Simmonds and the Kings top prospect, 19 year old Brayden Schenn, and a 2nd round pick for the upcoming NHL entry draft.
In dealing Carter to Columbus, the Flyers acquired a former 1st round pick in Czech Winger Jakub Voracek, and two more picks for the current draft, the 1st round (8th overall) and 3rd round picks from the Jackets this year. Schenn is signed on an entry level contract for the next 3 seasons, and Simmonds and Voracek are both restricted free agents. Holmgren had better do his damndest to ink those guys by July 1, or he will have some major egg on his face. He did manage to bring Bryzgalov under wraps, signing him to a 10 year deal, with an annual Cap hit of $5.6 million dollars. That leaves his squad with $7.5 million in cap space, and sets them up nicely with a bunch of young assets to build around at forward. It does hurt them however in short term production up front, for a team who’s defense and goalie are signed to win RIGHT NOW.
There is rampant speculation that the other shoe is ready to drop, whether it be a UFA signing of Brad Richards from the Stars, or deal to bring in restricted Free Agent Steven Stamkos from the Tampa Bay Lightning, one hardly gets the feeling that things are completely settled in Flyerland. If they had simply traded Carter for Voracek and picks, that would have been an understandable salary dump to sign a goalie. But in moving their Captain in Mike Richards, the Flyers signaled a seismic shift in the way the organization will be structured going forward. And as the ground shifted under them, other teams felt some aftershocks as well.
The team setup to come out best immediately from this is the LA Kings. With Anze Kopitar already in the fold, Richards gives them an elite 1-2 punch at Center along the lines of Cup contenders like Detroit(Datsyuk/Zetterberg), Pittsburgh (Crosby/Malkin), and Chicago (Toews/Sharp). They have some good young goaltending in place, adequate role players at wing, and a solid defensive core. They will also be able to unload winger Ryan Smyth, whose numbers have been decreasing in production relative to his salary in recent years. Smyth wants to go home to Alberta, and the Kings will probably get something decent in return from either the Flames or the Oilers for the Canadian hero. The Flames already moved Robyn Regehr to the Buffalo Sabres in anticipation of bidding for Smyth.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are not as close to contention as the Kings, but they FINALLY have their legitimate #1 Center in Carter to play alongside their longtime standout Rick Nash. So the Flyers have a solid Goalie and the Jackets have an elite Center. This may be signs of a forthcoming hockey apocalypse. I like the Blue Jackets up front now, especially if they bring back Scottie Upshall, but on their blueline it’s a bad combination of too young, and too average. When Grant Clitsome and Fedor Tyutin are your ‘name’ guys on defense, that is never a good sign. They do have a massive $21 million in cap space however, and some key pieces in place to at least shape themselves into a playoff team, so lets wait and see how the situation unfolds for Ohio hockey.
Things got very interesting in the trade market yesterday, and with the draft taking place this weekend, Jagr still floating out there (although the league ruled he won’t be able to sign till July 1 now) and Ryan Smyth ready to move back home, don’t expect things to settle down from now through the start of free agency.

A royal collapse

The Los Angeles Kings became just the fourth team in playoff history to blow a four-game lead in losing Game 3 to the San Jose Sharks, 6-5, in overtime.
The Kings jumped out with two goals, 13 seconds apart in the first period. They added another at 18:22 of the first to take a 3-0 lead.
When Brad Richardson scored for LA 44 seconds into the second, Antti Niemi gave way for Antero Nittymaki.
At that point, I was considering changing the channel and watching some NBA basketball. I'm glad I didn't.
The Sharks got on the board when Patrick Marleau scored on a tip-in at 3:08. I figured, no biggie, the Kings still have it.
Ryane Clowe and Logan Couture added goals at 6:53 and 13:32 to cut the lead to 4-3. Clowe's goal was on the power play.
Ryan Smith scored 15 second later for Los Angeles, but I knew that the game wasn't over.
However, being the dumby that I am, I flipped over to the NBA game. When I came back to it, I saw it was 5-4 LA. Clowe scored his second goal.
Joe Pavelski tied the game at 5 with 31 seconds remaining in the period. Remarkable.
The Sharks scored five goals in the second period.
Ironically, no goals were scored in the third, and the game went into overtime.
I was just settling in with my popcorn when Devin Setoguchi took a pass from Marleau and scored on a wrist shot off a 3-on-2 rush to finish a remarkable rally for the Sharks at 3:09 of overtime.
I really thought the game would last longer due to the conservative approach teams take in OT, however it was only fitting for San Jose.
I don't know what happened to the Kings. They didn't appear to take the foot off the gas. Or maybe they did. I believe psychology plays a big part in sports. Yes, they're amazing athletes, but they're also human. Whatever it was, LA will not recover. It's over.
For those of you who have jobs in the morning, the game was over around 1:30 EST, the NHL Network will replay it at 2 p.m., but you don't need that, just read this.

A few trades

Dustin Penner is the newest member of the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings, who are fifth in the Western Conference standings with 74 points, are my pick for biggest acquisition. Penner is a legitimate goal scorer with 32 this season and 105 in 343 NHL games.

This was the biggest deal on a rare slow last day for the NHL trade deadline. The Kings are 8 points behind the division-leading Sharks and are ready to make a push. Los Angeles gave up prospect Colton Teubert and draft picks in 2011 and 2012.

The Devils parted ways with Jason Arnott, who went to the Capitals for David Steckel. Steckel is the No. 1 enemy around Pittsburgh for being primarly responsible for Sidney Crosby's absence in the Penguins' lineup. He will fit right in with New Jersey.

I don't think the deal helps the Capitals too much. They need some good blue liners if they want to take that next step.

Pittsburgh didn't do anything, which is fine. I like the additions of Neal, Niskanen and Kovalev.