Analysis of Today’s Moves by the Philadelphia Flyers

With the trades made today, one would think that the Flyers are coming off a dreadful season.

This is not the case, as Flyers GM Paul Holmgren saw his team finish second in the Eastern Conference and third in the entire NHL with 106 points.  Yet today could be the biggest day for player movement in Flyers franchise history.

First, the Flyers announced that they had traded team captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings for center Brayden Schenn, right wing Wayne Simmonds and a 2012 second round draft selection.  But that was just the beginning of the whole shebang. 

Just minutes later, it was released that the Flyers had moved leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter from the roster as well.  Carter was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Jakub Voracek and a first and third round draft selection in the 2011 NHL draft. 

Wait… there’s more.

Ilya Bryzgalov, who’s rights were recently acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes for the rights to AHLer Matt Clackson and a 2012 third round draft selection, was signed to a 9-year, $51 million contract just after the two trades were approved by the NHL. 

Many questions are surfacing from fans and media alike; why trade so much offensive talent?

The answer can be summed up to one statement: the NHL, above all else, is a business.  Trading Richards and Carter freed up a ton of money and the extra dollars went straight into Bryzgalov’s pocket.  Richards will be entering the fourth year of his 12-year, $69 million contract.  Jeff Carter, who recently signed an 11-year, $58 million contract this past season, is just starting his new contract this season. 

To help put this into perspective, let’s look at the numbers for this coming season.  Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek will likely earn around $6.34 million (Simmonds and Voracek are restricted free-agents; their salaries for this example are estimated to be their market value).  Carter and Richards would be earning a combined $11.99 million.  Freeing up that extra $5.65 million gave the Flyers room to bring in Bryzgalov, who will be earning $10 million next season.  Now the Flyers can do some more player movement to ensure that they will be under the NHL salary cap.

Bryzgalov was not the only marquee player that the Flyers want in their lineup for next season.  Ville Leino, who was acquired for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen from the Detroit Red Wings in February 2010, has been quite the addition for the Flyers.  The Savonlinna, Finland native had a breakout year last season, scoring 19 goals, 34 assists and 53 points.  Leino, who made a whopping $800,000 last season, will be getting a big raise this summer as he enters restricted free-agency.  The Flyers are desperate to keep him in their lineup.

How will all of this project on the ice, though?

It depends on who you talk to.  Holmgren told the media that he did this to improve his team, not to make spending room for other players.

"This had nothing to do with the financial [part] at all," said Holmgren. "What we did today was make two good hockey trades."

I will give you a different answer.

This was not a good day for the Flyers’ future.

Bryzgalov is a proven star in this league.  He will steal games for your team more often than not.  He will stretch for every save to ensure victory… in the regular season.

Bryzgalov is still not a proven playoff goaltender.  The Flyers do need a goaltender (pretty much anything is better than what they saw in the Boston series), but I am still not sold on Bryzgalov.  He is coming off a horrendous 4-game sweep from the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs.  It was a team-loss, but Bryzgalov did not help his team.  Not only was his GAA higher than the Baltimore Orioles’ collective ERA, he was giving up soft goals more often than not. 

The Flyers also get most of their offense generated from Richards and Carter.  Leino and forward Claude Giroux together had a great overall season, but a lot of that is attributed to Richards and Carter getting the puck to the net or setting up great passing plays.  At least at the start of the season, the Flyers will be lost without two of their three go-to-guys.

How well does this bode for the future signings of the Flyers?  Yes, they locked up Bryzgalov for nine years.  But the team just traded away a player that was just given an 11-year contract extension (one in which the Flyers hadn’t even started paying on).  Will players in the future want to sign long contracts knowing that they could be used as trade bait?

This could turn out to be a day that the Flyers remember as the first day of their 2011-12 Stanley Cup run, but I doubt it.  This is a step back for the Flyers organization.