With Limited Options, Holmgren’s Creativity Needed
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent David Strehle takes a look at the options that are available to Paul Holmgren and which direction he may choose as free agency approaches.
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
