By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

As camera crews for Home Box Office’s ”24/7″ series have made their way through the Philadelphia Flyers’ locker room for the past month in anticipation of the NHL Winter Classic, there is an expectation of something special. It’s a showcase for not only the League, but also the Flyers, their opponents on January 2nd, the New York Rangers, and the respective players and coaching staffs.

(Photo credit: Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty Images)

Amid all of the ballyhoo, defenseman Matt Carle tries not to act any differently with all of the extra attention.

“It’s a little different having those guys around as much as they are,” the 27-year-old rear guard said after Saturday’s loss to the Boston Bruins. ”But you just try to go about your business and do things as you would normally. Just act like they’re not there, just kind of a fly on the wall.”

While Carle’s philosophy as HBO is filming seems to be just to blend in, his play in recent weeks has forced everyone to take notice.

This is the second straight year that the team has had to endure a prolonged Chris Pronger  absence, and it has perhaps been the most trying on Carle, Pronger’s usual partner.

Carle, a user of the social media platform Twitter, sent out his feelings after it was announced that the Flyers’ captain would miss the rest of the season.

“Tough news about Prongs yesterday…really just hoping the big guy is able to get healthy, not just for hockey, but everyday life #beast“

The loss of Pronger for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, along with the injuries to Erik Gustafsson and Andreas Lilja, has understandably affected the way head coach Peter Laviolette has been utilizing his defensive pairings.

Subtracting the club’s top defender and leader in ice time, alone, will do that. With the three blueliners out of the lineup, Laviolette’s top four defensemen — Carle, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and Andrej Meszaros — have seen a noticeable increase in their amount of ice time.

Through the first 19 games of the 2011-12 campaign, Carle’s TOI hovered in the range of 20 minutes per game. Included in that time frame were five different contests in which he stayed below the 20-minute mark. Maybe not so coincidentally, the 19th game of the season was in Winnipeg, which just so happened to be Pronger’s last appearance for the year.

Since Pronger’s departure, Carle has been averaging closer to 25 minutes a night, topped off by a season-high 27:44 December 7th in a 5-4 overtime victory in Buffalo.

(Photo credit: UPI / Matthew Healey)

In the 2010 Classic, Philadelphia traveled to Fenway Park in Boston. Carle played 21:49 and finished the afternoon with a -1 rating, and the Flyers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision. Carle said his team, which was wildly inconsistent during the first Classic experience, will have a better idea of how to handle things this year. And maybe even savor it some more.

Though he tries to act as though nothing is different with the added exposure, Carle does like the idea of the documentary-type format. He believes it’s an important medium for hockey fans to identify with their heroes, and maybe even further appreciate their daily grind.

“I think it’s (“24/7″) something that needs to be done every year, whether there’s a Winter Classic or not,” Carle said. “It’s a great opportunity for fans to get an inside look at what our daily lives are like, trying to get to know some personalities and players a little bit more.”

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

In a Monday chock full of NHL news, the Philadelphia Flyers evidently didn’t want to feel left out. 

After coaches in Washington and Carolina were fired and their replacements named, Philly GM Paul Holmgren had some news of his own to deliver.  No, it was nothing to do with their coach.  Peter Laviolette has one of the safest jobs in the entire League.

(Photo credit: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images North America)

Keeping with the injury theme that has been the biggest non-Winter Classic related fodder in Philadelphia for some time, Holmgren announced today that captain and top defenseman Chris Pronger would be undergoing surgery tomorrow on his left knee. 

Already a scratch for the last four games due to a ‘virus’, Pronger will likely miss at least another month following the surgery on his knee.

Holmgren said this is not a new injury, it’s just something that’s been lingering for some time.  Knowing he had surgery on the right knee last season and seeing Pronger’s knees wrapped in huge ice bags in the locker room following each home game, it’s not hard to imagine the validity of the statement.

Pronger missed the beginning of last season with the right knee surgery and had three subsequent injuries that required surgeries – the last of which was back surgery during the playoffs that caused him to miss almost all of training camp this year.

The 37-year-old defenseman had a close call with a major disaster on October 24, when he took a stick to his right eye in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Lucky for Pronger, Mikhail Grabovski’s blade just clipped the outer edge of his eye, and did no damage to the eye itself.  He returned, donning a visor, on November 9 after missing just six games.

For the season, Pronger has played in 13 games, scoring a goal and assisting on 11 others, while recording a +1 rating and 10 PIMs.  But it appears the 1,167 regular season contests and 173 more in the postseason – not to mention international competition – has taken a hard toll on Pronger’s body.

As a result of the Pronger development and other injuries the team is dealing with at the moment, there was a deluge of roster moves made today, as well as more to come this week.

Below is the transcipt of the conference call held by Holmgren today, explaining not only the situation with Pronger, but also the domino affect it is having on the club’s ailing roster:

Q: How long have you known he’s had a knee problem?

 “Obviously Chris has played a long time.  This has been an issue probably for the last month or so for him that’s been nagging.  He’s been playing through it up until this recent bout with his virus.  As I said in my statement earlier, we kind of believed that through continuing the rehabilitation that he’s been doing on that, that he does on a daily basis anyway, and some medicine, that it would start to feel better.  But Chris saw the doctor yesterday and had another MRI, and we just decided that this was the time to go ahead and get this taken care of.  Some of the loose bodies in there are becoming a little bit of an issue, and we felt it was better to get it taken care of now.”

Q: Did he miss games because of the knee or because of the virus?

“The reason he missed games was because of the virus.  This came up just recently, yesterday, and we decided the best way to attack this is with surgery now.  But he’d been missing games because of the virus.  It had nothing to do with his knee.”

Q: Has he recovered from that virus now?

“Well, he’s certainly feeling more like himself.  If this hadn’t come up with the knee, we were hopeful that he’d be able to play on Friday.  Obviously now that’s out of the question.”

Q: What are you going to have to do now roster-wise?

 “We’re talking about a lot of things here today.  I think initially… we sent [Kevin Marshall] back after the Ranger game on Saturday night, so he actually wasn’t here the last couple days.  I think initially we’ll probably just recall Kevin and try to figure out where we’re at at that point.  But right now that’s kind of the way we’re leaning.”

Q: Was Andreas Nodl put on waivers too?

 “Yes.”

Q: Can you talk about that decision?

 “Well, Andreas hasn’t played as much.  We’ll just gauge interest and see what happens.  At some point tomorrow, if he clears waivers, we’ll see what we’re going to do with him – if we send him down or just keep him.  But we’ll decide his fate tomorrow after we find out whether he clears or not.”

Q: Will Chris be moved to the long-term injured reserve?

 “I would probably say yes, at some point, today or tomorrow.”

Q: On Pronger’s multiple surgeries

“Any time a player has surgery, there’s concern, whether he’s an older player like Chris or a younger player.  I do think Chris is a player that takes good care of himself, looks after himself, does the proper rehabilitation and conditioning to stay in top shape.  I think this time, the only thing we can go by is what the doctors tell us, and it’s just a question of cleaning up some of those bodies.  The structure of his knee is fine, he’s got good cartilage on  both sides of that knee, so this is just kind of a maintenance thing more than anything, and to get him a little more comfortable.  He’d been playing with some discomfort in that knee, apparently, and Dr. DeLuca believes if we just get this done now and take care of it, we can get him back playing in four weeks time and he’ll be good to go.  We’re worried because he’s going under surgery, yes, but long-term I still think Chris has a lot of miles left on his body, and based on his attitude about this and the way he takes care of himself and prepares, I think he’ll be fine.”

Q: Will Andreas Lilja be going on long-term injured reserve as well?

 “He’s going to go on today or tomorrow as well.”

Q: Is Brayden Schenn a consideration to be called up?

“Yes, he will be (called up).  He was in town today to get a follow-up on his foot with Dr. Raikin and everything looks good there, he made it through the three games [with the Phantoms], so we will recall Brayden.”

Q: Updates on Jaromir Jagr & James van Riemsdyk

“Jaromir skated today, we’ve just got to take it a day at a time with him.  James did not skate today.  I would think there’s a chance Jaromir could play on the upcoming weekend.  James is probably a long-shot right now, but I’ll know more tomorrow, we’ll see how he is tomorrow.  He wasn’t doing too good today.”

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

Philadelphia Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren continued his free agent signing of former-Pittsburgh Penguins by inking UFA Maxime Talbot to a five-year, $9 million contract.

Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

The 27-year-old centerman has spent his entire pro career in the Penguins’ organization, with the high point being when he won the Stanley Cup with the club in 2009.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Talbot said in an interview with TSN.  “But I think it was the right thing for me to do.  Meaning it was the best team, in my opinion, that I could go to.”

At 5′ 11″, 185 pounds, Talbot has scored 52 goals and recorded 108 points in 388 NHL games.

He is good in the faceoff circle, winning 48.6% of the draws he took in 82 games last season.  He scored eight goals and picked up 21 points, while recording a -3 rating.

“It’s a great team and that was definitely a big part of my decision,” he said via conference call this afternoon.  ”I wanted to go to a team that had a chance to win a championship this year, and maybe more than one, because you look at the youth and the moves they made lately with the new goalie (Ilya Bryzgalov) and everything.  I’m really excited to join the Flyers.”

Talbot is probably best remembered in Philadelphia for his fight with Dan Carcillo in the 2008 playoffs, turning the momentum around from a 3-0 Flyers’ lead into an eventual 5-4 Pens’ victory on the way to a Pittsburgh series win.

“It was not only about the money, it was about trying to find the right fit for me.”

Flyers’ fans are hoping Talbot is the right fit for the team.

After todays signing of UFAs Jaromir Jagr and Andreas Lilja, and RFA Jakub Voracek, Holmgren has less than $1 million with which to sign the club’s remaining free agent, forward Wayne Simmonds.  Lilja’s contract, which terms were not released, is not even figured into that number.

It would appear that another deal may be on the way.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

 

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

The 2011 free agent season began at noon today, and as has been the case so often in the past, the Philadelphia Flyers were one of the teams to make some noise early on in the process.

AP Photo

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

After NHL clubs made several minor signings, GM Paul Holmgren’s signing of 39-year-old winger Jaromir Jagr was announced through the Flyers’ official Twitter account.  The terms of Jagr’s deal were one-year, $3.3 million.

The native of Kladno of the Czech Republic has scored 646 goals and posted 1,599 points in 1,273 NHL games over 18 seasons.  

Jagr won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in his first two years in the league, and had his best offensive season with the Pens during the 1995-96 campaign, when he scored 62 goals and added 87 assists for 149 points.

He last played in the NHL for the New York Rangers during the 2007-08 season, and has been a member of Omsk Avangard of the KHL for the past three years.  He was the club’s leading scorer in two of those three seasons.

Jagr made his desire known that he wanted to return to the NHL and had talks with the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.  But just prior to the opening of the free agency period at noon, Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero made the announcement that he was pulling his contract offer off the table.  Detroit soon followed suit in pulling their interest in the UFA.

After adding young forwards Jakub Voracek (21), Brayden Schenn (19), and Wayne Simmonds (22) last week via the Carter and Richards trades, Holmgren went the other direction with the signing of Jagr.  But at 39, Jagr still has an elite skill-set.

Head coach Peter Laviolette will have options with how to employ Jagr.  He could have the 6′ 2″, 240-pound winger slide into Ville Leino’s spot on the right side of the Scott Hartnell-Danny Briere line, or he could have him on the right wing on the James van Riemsdyk-Claude Giroux line.

He has superior balance, especially while controlling the puck and holding off a defender.  He is much like Leino in that sense, but a step above.  Leino priced himself out of Philly with a reported demand for a $4 million per year pact.

One thing is for sure, though.  You should definitely expect to see Jagr on the Flyers’ power play unit, which was woeful last season.  The one-time arch rival of the Flyers will likely help the man advantage become more productive.

Voracek Signed

Jim Rinaldi / Icon SMI

Voracek, who came over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Carter deal, agreed to a one-year, $2.25 million contract.  The 6′ 2″, 214-pound winger will likely play on the right side of whichever line on which Jagr does not end up.

Also a native of Kladno, Czech Republic, Voracek has scored 39 goals and posted 134 points in 241 NHL games, all in Columbus.  Last season, he scored 14 goals and racked up 46 points.

Defenseman Lilja Signed

As UFA defenseman Sean O’Donnell signed with the Chicago Blackhawks early-on in the afternoon, Holmgren opted for 35-year-old rear guard Andreas Lilja.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 6′ 3″, 230-pound defender brings size to the club, and will likely be either a sixth or seventh defenseman for the Flyers.

A native of Helsingborg, Sweden, Lilja played in 52 games with the Anaheim Ducks last season.  He scored one goal and posted seven points, while amassing a terrible -15 rating.

Lilja won the Stanley Cup while playing for the Detroit Red Wings.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

With the arrival of Andreas Lilja in Anaheim and the return to health of Toni Lydman, the Ducks placed defenseman, Brendan Mikkelson on waivers from which he was subsequently claimed by the Calgary Flames. This move left an opening for a 7^th d-man on Anaheim’s roster.

Having been sent to the Ducks’ AHL affiliate before the 2010-11 season got underway, Danny Syvret played the first 4 regular season games for the Syracuse Crunch, putting together 2 assists and 7 penalty minutes. Last season with the Adirondack Phantoms, Syvret skated in 15 games scoring 5 goals and 8 assists with a total of 6 penalty minutes. Signed by Anaheim as a free agent on July 21^st, 2010, he also appeared in 21 games as a Philadelphia Flyer in 2010-11.

Yesterday, Danny got the call to join the big team on the road in Columbus. This young defenseman could be just what the team needs to shore up and finalize the defensive pairings. With his hockey sense and toughness, he could bring the spark and heart that will pull the Ducks’ struggling defense together.  Having won two out of three at home, the Anaheim Ducks face the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight in the first of a 4 game road series. Back in the line-up is Toni Lydman, who after experiencing a bout of double-vision, appears to be symptom free and has been a very pleasant surprise since hitting the ice for Anaheim. Lydman, who is not considered a point getting defenseman, has 2 goals on 6 shots and is a +2 in his first two games for the team. Another high note is the noticeable production of the Ducks’ big guns.  The R-P-G line combined for 19 points during these past three games, with Bobby Ryan notching 1 goals and4 assists, Corey Perry getting 3 goals as well as 3 assists and Ryan Getzlaf putting up 3 goals with 5 assists. Teemu Selanne added two goals  and two assists of his own, tying him for 15^th with Dino Ciccarelli on the All-time goal scorer’s list. Cam Fowler continues to impress, despite suffering a broken nose after a hit from Phoenix Coyotes’ captain, Shane Doan, he is still putting in approximately 20 minutes of ice time per game and notched his first career NHL goal this past Sunday (October 17^th, 2010).

Cam Fowler’s 1st NHL Goal

What I am expecting from the Ducks on this road trip:

-          Continued and improved production from the name players. Ryan, Getzlaf, Perry, Selanne and Saku Koivu are just getting started, I think we will see a big jump in point production from these players.

-          A much more stable defense. With Lydman and Lilja starting to get comfortable in the line-up as well as with Head Coach Randy Carlyle’s style and the addition of Syvret, the Ducks’ defense should begin showing a marked improvement. I expect to see a drop in the number of shots on goal that the team’s goaltenders, Jonas Hiller and Curtis McElhinney are having to face per game.

Upcoming games:

Tonight, Oct. 20^th, 2010 @Columbus Blue Jackets

Oct. 21^st, 2010 @Philadelphia Flyers (a homecoming for former Flyer, Danny Syvret)

Oct. 23^rd, 2010 @Detroit Red Wings

Oct. 26^th, 2010 @Dallas Stars

Selly (Karen) Heddaeus-Robinson

NHLHS Anaheim Ducks Correspondent

SelanneGirl@NHLHotStove.com

Twitter: @SelanneGirl

There’s not much to write home about as the Anaheim Ducks started off the 2010-11 season by dropping three games in a row on the road.

Their first game of the season, a very disappointing 4-0 shut-out by the Detroit Red Wings, proved just how hard it is going to be for the Ducks to fill the void left by Scott Niedermayer. A general lackluster performance by the Anaheim defense was highlighted by the presence of 18 year-old Cam Fowler. Fowler, Anaheim’s 1^st round draft pick in 2010, proved that GM Bob Murray’s and Head Coach Randy Carlyle’s faith in him was not unfounded. In his first ever NHL game, the young defenseman had 21 minutes 20 seconds of ice time (3^rd on the team) and blocked 5 shots, the highest amount blocked by a Ducks’ player. Fowler also ended this game with a plus/minus of 0, an accomplishment for a d-man putting in that much ice time with his team losing by 4 goals.

The second game of the season against the Nashville Predators (in Nashville) perpetuated the belief that the Anaheim Ducks are a team who always gets off to a poor start by dropping the majority of their first 15 games. Once again, the Ducks’ offense was virtually non-existent with Saku Koivu providing the only goal assisted by Teemu Selanne and Fowler in a 4-1 disappointment. And, once again, Fowler was one of the bright spots. Not only did Cam have the 2^nd assist on Anaheim’s lone goal, but he had over 20 minutes of ice time, took two shots and finished, for the 2^nd game in a row, with a plus/minus of zero.

The three game, season opening road trip came to an end with a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues in a Columbus Day matinee game. Koivu scored his second goal of the season on a power play at 6:08 of the second (unassisted). The Ducks had a total of 20 penalties assessed to them in this game putting a point on the frustration they have subjected themselves to over these first three games.

The Ducks’ home opener comes this Wednesday, October 13^th against the Vancouver Canucks. Being at home should help to raise the team’s spirit and energy level, but some things need to change if Anaheim is going to come out of it with a win.

First; Our defense has allowed an average of 47 shots in the first three games, if this continues, the Ducks’ chances of making it to the post-season are extremely slim. Something has to change, maybe the addition of newly signed, d-man Andreas Lilja will make a difference. Jonas Hiller and Curtis McElhinney can’t do it all on their own, especially when they are facing close to 50 shots per game.

Second; The Ducks need to put some pucks in the net behind the opposing netminders. Koivu has the only two goals made by the team in three games. Where is the R-P-G line (Ryan-Perry-Getzlaf), the team’s top line has not managed a single point so far this season with Bobby Ryan at a -4, Corey Perry at a -3 and Ryan Getzlaf with a -5. This line needs to start producing.

Third; No more penalties taken out of sheer frustration. It’s only three games into the 2010-11 season, but the Ducks are already leading the NHL in PIM with 141. Perry and Ryan each have 23 minutes with Paul Mara at 18 and George Parros at 14. Parros is expected to fight and Mara is a tough defenseman who isn’t afraid to drop the gloves. What we cannot have is two of the players on our top line sitting in the box when they should be on the ice.

Upcoming Games:

Three Game Homestand:

Home opener – Wednesday October 13^th, 2010 vs. Vancouver Canucks, 7:00 pm PST

Friday, October 15^th, 2010 vs. Nashville Predators, 7:00 pm PST

Sunday, October 17^th, 2010 cs. Phoenix Coyotes, 5:00 pm PST

Down on the farm:

The Syracuse Crunch, the Anaheim Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate, dropped their first two regular season games to the Lake Erie Monsters, by scores of 3-2 (in Erie) and 2-1 (in Syracuse). They take on the Adirondack Phantoms this Friday (10/15/10 in Adirondack) and the Binghamton Senators this Saturday (10/16/10 in Syracuse).

Selly (Karen) Heddaeus-Robinson

NHLHS Anaheim Ducks Correspondent

SelanneGirl@NHLHotStove.com

Twitter: @SelanneGirl

This has been one of the less eventful off-seasons for the Red Wings, but GM Ken Holland has kept himself fairly busy. When the Red Wings were tossed out of the second round of the playoffs by the San Jose Sharks, Holland didn’t give many specifics about what he planned to do. All he would say was that we would do most of the work come August, after locking up our top-guns before the July 1 frenzy.The Red Wings lost a few players from last season’s roster: defenseman Andreas Lilja (still on the market), defenseman Brett Lebda (signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs), and forward Jason Williams (also still on the market). You can include forward Kirk Maltby in this as well – he has yet to be signed anywhere. Maltby is reluctant to leave, having spent fourteen of his seventeen NHL seasons in Detroit, but for a veteran of over 1,000 NHL games, playing in the minors (which is what the Red Wings would probably have to do to him) isn’t exactly the most appealing option. His fate is still up in the air.

But in losing some players, others were gained. Jiri Hudler is back from the KHL; in his one season overseas, he had 19 goals and 54 points in 54 games. In his last season with the Red Wings, he had 23 goals and 54 points in 82 games. Valtteri Filppula’s brother Ilari signed with a two-way contract and will most likely end up playing the season in Grand Rapids; this past season, Filppula won the Jari Kurri trophy as the best player in the SM-lliga playoffs – he had fourteen points in fifteen games. To give a bit more info on this trophy, it’s been awarded to players like Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Miikka Kiprusoff, Kari Lehtonen, and Niklas Backstrom (twice).

With the loss of Lilja, the Red Wings signed Ruslan Salei to a one-year deal; he played under Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock back when Babcock was the coach of Anaheim. Mike Modano signed a one-year deal as well, adding that final ingredient Holland was looking for: a solid, reliable veteran player.

The Red Wings also re-signed a lot of key players. Nicklas Lidstrom decided to come back for at least one more season as the Red Wings top defenseman and captain. Look out for his sniping slapshot on the power play when he intentionally shoots it wide so Tomas Holmstrom can snag the rebound and flip it into the net. Speaking of Homer, he re-signed with a two-year, $3.75 million contract, so he’s still the reigning king of the edge of the crease.

Todd Bertuzzi is back for another season. Ask any Wings fan what their opinion is on Bertuzzi and responses will be varied. If his play is solid like it was in the middle of last season, there should be no reason to throw him under the bus. Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller both signed one-year contracts. Look for either of them to be on the fourth line.

With fifteen forwards signed with one-way contracts, the Red Wings have some decisions to make once training camp arrives in mid-September. They have a few players who have been on their minor league team for a few years now and may be ready to take the plunge into NHL-level hockey, but there isn’t much room to spare. The moves Holland made in the off-season may not have been substantial like when he signed Marian Hossa two years ago, but only time will tell at this point.

Let hockey season commence!

With very limited options at his disposal as he headed to Staples Center in Los Angeles for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft last week, Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren knew that he would have to come up with some creative ways to improve his club.

The Philly GM said that he would be making some adjustments to his team and the roster would not be the same when the 2010-11 season commences.

With no picks until the 89th overall selection in the draft, there were no assets to be dealt for immediate help.  As a matter of fact, Holmgren’s early round picks in this draft were moved in an attempt to upgrade the team in the past.

Philadelphia’s first round selection was traded to the Anaheim Ducks (#29 overall, used to take Medicine Hat center, Emerson Etem) last offseason in the Chris Pronger deal.  The difference that Pronger made to the Flyers’ defense was astronomical, especially in the postseason.

Philly’s second round pick (#59 overall, used by the Minnesota Wild to select right wing, Jason Zucker) had been dealt two years prior, when the Flyers sent defenseman Denis Gauthier and the pick to the L.A. Kings for minor leaguers Patrik Hersley and Ned Lukacevic.

On Draft day, high end picks are one of the most marketable commodities when looking to make a deal.  Without those picks, Holmgren was forced to be creative in looking for a couple of tweaks to his lineup before training camp opens.

Defense

With the acquisition of Dan Hamhuis’ rights blowing up in his face as no deal could be reached to sign the pending UFA defenseman, Holmgren looked to deal his negotiating rights.

Holmgren did have offers for the rights to Hamhuis, and ended up dealing those rights to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  It was a curious decision by Holmgren, as the Flyers play their Atlantic Division arch-rivals six times per year, plus possibly meeting in the playoffs.

And with Pittsburgh likely to lose long-time rearguard Sergei Gonchar to free agency, it was odd that Holmgren basically helped Penguins GM Ray Shero find a replacement for his top four.

Or was it?  Maybe Holmgren thought that by doing so, he would tie Shero up in trying to get Hamhuis inked to a deal, while Holmgren concentrated on the defenseman that he truly covets, Anton Volchenkov.

Volchenkov is a hard-hitting, tough as nails competitor that would solidify the Philadelphia blue line for years to come.

Signing the 28-year-old, 6′ 1″, 227 pound first round selection of the Ottawa Senators from the 2000 NHL Draft may just be Holmgren’s top initiative.

If Holmgren does get Volchenkov, the train of thought goes that he can then be a little more selective in his choice for his revolving wheel of goaltenders for the upcoming season.

Goaltender

Holmgren also attempted to come away from Draft weekend with a top-notch netminder.  He reached a verbal agreement with San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson to send a seventh round selection in the 2011 Entry Draft if he was successful in signing pending UFA Evgeni Nabokov.

But as the weekend passed with no word of an agreement between the two sides, it was reported that no deal would be reached.  It appears that Holmgen wanted Nabokov to take an incentive-laden “over 35″ contract, but Nabby doesn’t turn 35 until July 25th.  By the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Nabokov would have had to be 35 by June 30th to qualify for this type of pact.

Nabokov’s agent, Don Meehan, said it wasn’t in his client’s best interest to sign any deal before Thursday, and with what Nabokov is likely to command on the open market as of Thursday, Philadelphia took itself out of the running.

Holmgren then inquired about Marty Turco, another of the mid-30s goalkeepers scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.  It was reported by Tim Pannaccio of CSNPhilly.com that the Flyers offered Turco in the neighborhood of $2 million to come to Philadelphia.

But Turco is another goaltender that will command a larger pay day.

So where does that leave the Flyers?

If Holmgren does turn his attention towards signing Volchenkov, look for the Flyers to adjust the focus of their goaltending attention.

With a potential top two pairings of Pronger-Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn / Volchenkov, the Orange-and-Black would have one of the top defensive units in the entire league.

This would allow them to set their sites on more-affordable netminders, and the group that would be likely to be targeted would be Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, Antero Niittymaki, and yes, Michael Leighton.

The above-listed goaltenders are all above-average, but will probably be in a much-lesser pay tier than that of Nabokov and Turco.

Besides the possibility of obtaining Volchenkov and re-signing Lukas Krajicek, other interesting UFA options at defense include Andy Sutton, Andreas Lilja, Jason Strudwick, and Sean O’ Donnell (39-year-old for maybe one season).

With less than two days left before the clock signals the opening of free agent season, there are still many more question marks than answers.

But in another 48 hours, hopefully we will have a much-clearer picture as to which direction Holmgren and his Flyers will be headed.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Coming into last year, the Detroit Red Wings looked stronger than ever.  Fresh off a dominating cup win they added arguably the best sniper on the market and seemed poised to create another dynasty, even in this cash strapped salary cap era.

This year certainly seems to be another story.  Gone are Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky, Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson amongst others leaving the team with roughly 31 percent of the offense to replace.

Who did they bring in?

Todd Bertuzzi, Drew Miller, Jason Williams and Patrick Eaves amongst others.  Those four combined for a whopping 54 goals last year, a little more than half of the 89 goals that left this past offseason.  If you subtract 35 goals from last year’s totals the team still would finish 7th in scoring and not first.

GM Ken Holland planned on using rookies and young players such as Ville Leino, Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm in scoring roles, hoping it would force them to step up their games and make up the remaining 35 goals needed.  What Holland did not expect were injuries.  Injuries and injuries alone could derail all hope this team had to make the playoffs, let alone another return to the Stanley Cup.

Only four players skated in every regular season game so far: Todd Bertuzzi, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart.  Only one of those players is a legitimate first line or first pairing player. Ironically both Bertuzzi and Holmstrom fill the top line at the moment, flanking lone healthy scoring threat Pavel Datsyuk.

The rest of the roster missed a total of 161 man games through the halfway part.  In other words the Red Wing through half a season have enough injuries to fill almost two seasons.

Johan Franzen, a 34-goal scorer of last year, already missed 38 games and will not return until March.  However, he remains the only long-term injury.  Superstar Henrik Zetterberg and 14 goal scorer Dan Cleary should return in a week or so.  Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall, Andreas Lilja and Jason Williams could follow suit in another two weeks giving this team more hope.

As of this writing the Wings sit 9th in the Western Conference, on the outside looking in.  Their problem as you could expect is scoring goals. Only the St. Louis Blues score less than Detroit, by a margin of one.  Last year’s powerhouse scored the most in the league a stark difference between their current results.

The goaltending tandem of Jimmy Howard and Chris Osgood actually improved dramatically to last year’s Ty Conklin-Osgood duo which increases the odds of the Wings sneaking in.  Howard needs to continue his consistent goaltending for this team to make the playoffs.

What the Wings do over these next few weeks should determine their fate.  If the fallen can return and immediately turn on the jets leading into the Olympics, then this team stands a good chance.  How many players can return to 100 percent following injuries?  That percentage fairly depicts this team’s chance of making the playoffs.

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-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove