Flyers lose Knuble to the Capitals, Boucher signs
and leaves Biron and Niittymaki out
The
salary cap had something to do with it, but at the end of the day, the Flyers felt a fresh direction was what they needed
in goal. Sort of. Long Flyers fan favorite, Brian Boucher, is back. Again. Don't think Boucher
is here to back up Emery. Brian is a very capable starter and at 32, still in goal-tender prime. Today's other
signing is a little more perplexing, given that the Flyers seem to have enough grit. Ian Laperriere is a high energy,
very tough wing. With Carcillo, Hartnell, Powe, Asham and Cote, them would seemingly have enough of those
type players. The signing seems to send a message to opponents this year. That message is "We are going to
beat you silly". Come into our zone, and you will be erased. Should make for great home games.
The Flyers stand to loose Mike Knuble, Marty
Biron, Antero Niittymaki and Andrew Alberts. Who could be coming our way?
Before the salary cap the Flyers would always aggressively
pursue what ever they could land to improve the team. Roenick, Forsberg, Vanbiesbrouck, Hatcher and Briere signings
would always make Flyers fans giddy for September. Oddly enough, the cap has made the Flyers more competitive.
Shrewd character signings, great drafting, and plain luck. Mike Knuble was such a signing. If he was 5 years younger,
he'd command big dollars. So let's assess needs: We seem to be down a wing now that Lupul's gone.
The goaltending situation may need some love. We pretty much have the best defensemen in the eastern confernce, so we
seem to be set there.
Lupul was a 4.25m cap hit. In this day and age, too much for a 20+ goal scorer.
Besides, believe it our not, Aaron Asham may be able to suck up 15 of the those. He has better than average offensive
skills, but was stymied on the fourth line. So maybe a trade or signing for a grinder. Petr Sykora is
laying around now that the Pens have sign Guerin, but he's too soft defensively for the Flyers. Steve Sullivan will
attract too big a dollar. Let's peg our guess on Jason Williams. A big body that's getting better by the
season. Could fill Knuble's front of the net roll too.
The goaltending situation is interesting beyond
belief. Ray Emery? Ok, I'm on the band wagon. Wondering how cheap 36 year old Nik Khabibulin would play
for. Has a Stanley Cup ring, and loves to win. The Blackhawks tied up their goalie cash with Huet. Opps
on that one. If nothing is there, let's play Ray (who has an unbelievable regular season record) and sit with his
one year contract. Besides, Roberto Luongo and his family live in Florida, and he plays in Vancouver. He has one
year left and the Canucks have Cory Schneider waiting in the AHL. Maybe Roberto would rather commute to Florida from
Philly, than say the other side of the continent. As far as Nitty or Biron, we'll wait and see. If Antero
is not sucked up he would make the most cap sense. If Biron is not sucked up, he would come cheap.
As far
as Pronger goes. If he signs a longer term deal, say 3 more years, the Flyers win there. If he's gone in one
year, count the trade as a loss. Pronger is a menace. He's been suspended 9 times and would be effective in
neutralizing Malkin, Lucic, Eric Staal, Lecavalier and the rest of big body nation. He won the Norris Trophy and the
Hart trophy, in the same season. The year he won the Hart Trophy he was +52. He is a career plus 38. It
sucks to play against him.
Ok, get home at noon, tune into XM204 or The Hockey network and cheer on Paul Holgren!
Ian Laperriere is a great team player and will
never quit.
The loss of Lupul, and potentially Knuble could play
into an opportunity for Jon Kalinski to win a fourth line spot.
The Flyers get nastier with the acquistion of Chris Pronger.
The Flyers traded away the next two years first round draft picks along with Luca Sbisa and Joffrey Lupul
to get perennial Norris trophy candidate Chris Pronger. Minor leaguer Ryan Dingle was also acquired in the trade.
This is a great move by the Flyers who now have the nastiest defensemen in the division since Scott Stevens. Pronger
averages over 26 minutes a game and is one of the most intimidating blue line players in the league. Since Derian Hatcher
absence, not many players looked over their shoulders going into corners. Chris Pronger 6'6" body won't
be able to hide, but he'll scare the hell out of opposing teams forwards. More interesting is the combination of
having Pronger and Ray Emery on the ice together. Ray Emery is an ultra competitive goalie in the mold of Ron Hextall.
Chris Pronger, Ray Emery, Danny Carcillo, and Scott Hartnell. All playing the physical, aggressive style Flyers fans
love. That's a lot of charm school drop-outs on one team. Lets Go Flyers!
Flyers gave up Luca Sbisa to get tougher on
the back line.
Ray Emery will sign a one year deal with the
Flyers on July 1st and compete for the starting goalie's job.
Let's Go Flyers!
Let's Go Flyers!
Last weeks poll results:
Did the Flyers give up too much to get Chris Pronger?
Yes. We mortgaged the future. 32% (52 votes)
No, the future
is now 15% (25 votes)
No, draft picks are a crap shoot, Pronger is the real thing. 21% (34 votes)
Yes,
it is better to Sbisa and Lupul than Pronger 11% (18 votes)
No, we are now much harder to play against 21% (34
votes)
Total Votes:
163
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