Looking at the Flyers roster as it stands now, it is really apparent that they really need to sign a right wing. Overloaded with centers, there’s no one outside of Gagne and Hartnell who can finish. The Flyers have a bunch of tough, scrappy wingers with little scoring capability. There’s always a possibility of shifting a center to wing but that doesn’t always work out. (Briere on the wing, for example, was not a great success when it was tried in the past). If van Riemsdyk doesn’t make the team (and let’s face it he’s a long shot even though he’ll get a long look) and they dump Cote as I have been advocating since last year, the forward situation looks like this:
Asham, Briere, Carcillo, Carter, Gagne, Giroux, Hartnell, Laperriere, Nodl, Powe, Richards, Ross
I see less balance there than we have become accustomed to. With free agency winding down, the Flyers better make a move quickly to sign someone with the couple million they have left under the salary cap. Some suggestions who, as of now, are still available with last season’s numbers (age; games played – goals – assists – points):
Ales Kotalik, RW (Edmonton) – 31; 75-20-23-43
Alex Tanguay, LW (Montreal) – 35; 50-16-25-41
Miroslav Satan, RW (Pittsburgh) – 35; 65-17-19-36
Manny Malhotra, C (Columbus) – 29; 77-11-24-35
Maxim Afinogenov, RW (Buffalo) – 30; 48-6-14-20
