The Only Thing Flying in Philly are Trade Rumors

Some cold, windy weather in the City of Brotherly Love last week and yeah, they were trade winds. There were 16 scouts at the Flyers – Ottawa game last Thursday. The Flyers are 1-4 under Laviolette and came out with no jump in a 4-1 loss at New Jersey on Saturday, spotting the Devils a 3-0 lead before the Flyers realized they were in a hockey game. Things are turning into a major disaster in a hurry. If the team doesn’t decide that they need to play for this coach, management will not continue to tolerate the same lackadaisical, little-effort play that this team is producing. The decision will be made that this is not the “right” group of players. It’s interesting that a team that on paper looks really talented cannot produce and play at a higher level. It underscores the fact that it’s more than talent that wins – you need players that are willing to work hard and put out a true, consistent effort. Keep your eye on the next three games at Boston and a home and home with Pittsburgh. Lose those three or maybe just two of the three and I believe a major trade will happen at that point.

Who’s ripe to go? The first player I would ship out is Jeff Carter. Great wrist shot and scoring ability, fast, and versatile. No heart, too lackadaisical, floats, poor defensively, doesn’t bear down around the net. Could have put away game 2 in Pittsburgh in last year’s playoffs but nonchalanted a chance in close and Fleury got over in time to save it. In my opinion, his approach and attitude is the single biggest reason that this team is the laid-back, overrated entity that we are seeing on the ice. Dump him and his big salary.

Secondly, Dan Carcillo. Undisciplined and short-fused, he takes bad penalties at inopportune times and can’t play that well, either. Asham can play and he’s the only fighter we need.

Can’t figure out what’s wrong with Braydon Coburn. He looked great two seasons ago but is playing horribly this season. Looked really bad on the first Devils’ goal Saturday. If we get a defenseman back in a trade, he could easily go.

Ryan Parent is not developing as hoped. Looked like an up and coming promising player two years ago but looks lost now. He could go as well.

If the Flyers decide that they need another goalie, either to take pressure off Boucher while Emery recovers from surgery or in the case that a number one netminder is needed if Emery doesn’t recover well or implodes emotionally, the Flyers are interested in Jaroslav Halak of Montreal and the Islanders’ Marty Biron.

Finally, Atlanta is shopping Ilya Kovalchuk. Hmmm…

Logjam at Defense: Problem or Blessing?

After some early-season difficulty, the Flyers’ defense is looking pretty good right now.  Regular pairings are established and the blueliners appear comfortable with each other.  Braydon Coburn – Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen – Ossi Vaananen, and Luca Sbisa – Andrew Alberts are the regular pairings.  Laase Kukkonen is playing much better than earlier this season and is a reliable fill-in.  The potential difficulty is now that Randy Jones is ready to return from a training camp injury, who sits to make room?  On top of that, his $2.5 million salary will put a salary cap squeeze on the Flyers when Danny Briere returns from his injury.  To complicate things more, injured defenseman Ryan Parent will be returning after Christmas.  That would give the Flyers nine NHL-calibre defensemen.  Too many to carry.  Kukkonen, who cleared waivers earlier this year, would have to go through waivers again in order to be sent down.  Since he is playing better now, he may not clear waivers a second time.  Looks like at least one of the rearguards will need to be traded.  Kukkonen and/or Alberts figure to be the odd men out. That’s too bad, because the team is coming together really well and you hate to change pieces when things are going good.  It would be great if the Flyers could find a way to hold onto all these guys, especially since injuries are always a danger and nine capable defensemen in the system would be a blessing, especially come playoff time.  Remember when Timonen and Coburn both went down with injuries last spring?

Camp’s Over; Opening Roster Set

Training Camp has ended and opening night is only two days away.  The opening of a new hockey season is always full of anticipation – how will we do this year; is this the year we finally win it all? 

Some of the questions going into this year’s camp have been answered (at least for the time being): Claude Giroux did not have a great camp and as a result was sent to the Phantoms.  Perhaps he’ll be called up and get another opportunity to stick with the parent club. 

New defensemen Steve Eminger and Ossi Vaananen performed well in the pre-season and look like promising additions to the defense, with speed and size.   An unexpected development was that 18 year-old first round draft pick defenseman Luca Sbisa had a great camp and has made the team for now.  The Flyers can keep him for nine games before returning him to juniors or keeping him on their roster for the season.  He cannot be sent to the Phantoms.  A longer look in some regular season games should provide more insight, but it looks like the pick acquired in the RJ Umberger trade could lessen the impact of losing his scoring. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be Flyers hockey without injuries, and we have two significant ones already: Defenseman Ryan Parent will be out for three months with a shoulder injury and defenseman Randy Jones will miss time due to upcoming hip surgery.  So, before the season starts, the Flyers lose a top-four defenseman and an up-and-coming young defenseman who would have been in the top six.  They may actually need Sbisa to continue his strong showing. 

Going into the first game, the active roster looks like this:

Goal: Marty Biron, Antero Nittymaki, Jean-Sebastien Aubin

Defense: Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Steve Eminger, Ossi Vaananen, Lasse Kukkonen, Luca Sbisa

Forward Lines: Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Glen Metropolit, Scotty Upshall, Aaron Asham, Riley Cote, Steve Downie

So, there it is.  Let’s drop the puck and let’s go Flyers!