Olympics Nearing Completion, Flyers Look to Regain Momentum as Trade Deadline Looms

With the National Hockey League’s condensed season because of the two week shutdown for NHL players to participate in the Olympic Games, it seems that there will be a lot occurring in a short period of time for the Philadelphia Flyers.  Take the next four days, for instance.  Defenseman Kimmo Timonen will play in the Bronze Medal game tonight against Slovakia, and center Mike Richards and defenseman Chris Pronger are competing in Sundays Gold Medal game for Team Canada.  After that it will be long flights, then right back into action on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning as the NHL schedule resumes.  Add in the NHL’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and another game in Miami against the Florida Panthers Wednesday night, and this could be an eventful period of time for the Orange and Black.

As Richards and Pronger were helping the Canadian team to get to the Gold Medal game against Team U.S.A., and Timonen helping Finland to tonights Bronze Medal game, the rest of the Flyers got back to practice last Thursday.  Coach Peter Laviolette is hoping that the two week break doesn’t interrupt his teams momentum that had been built just before the break.  In a pivotal last week leading up to the Olympic shutdown, the Flyers won home-and-home series against their arch-rival New Jersey Devils, as well as another against the Montreal Canadiens.  The team looked to finally be gelling, with each player understanding their role with the team.

One player that hadn’t been registering much on the scoreboard was Richards.  In his last 11 games before the break, he had notched just 4 goals and 1 assist.  Hopefully the run to the Gold Medal game will have a positive effect on the captain and recharge his batteries.  Richards’ offensive contributions will be sorely needed heading down the stretch run.  And with Philadelphia sitting in the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference standings, they can ill afford any kind of letdown, especially with the team playing 22 games in the next 38 days.

Holmgren to Attempt a Trade by Deadline?

GM Paul Holmgren has been looking to see if there are any small adjustments he can make to improve his club before the trade deadline.  That’s about all he can afford to make.  Having been beaten out by New Jersey in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, it became apparent that Homer has a few problems in upgrading the Flyers up front.

First is the perpetual tightrope walk that he is doing to keep the team below the salary cap limit.  Unless he can move a big ticket forward in any deal and send their hefty contract out of town, there is no wiggle room to bring in any more players with high end pacts.  In addition to that, the forwards that he might be interested in dealing all have either No Trade or No Movement Clauses.  Simon Gagne has basically been in a season-long slump.  He did score a big overtime goal against NJ goaltender Martin Brodeur in the back end of the home-and-home to beat the Devils, so the Flyers’ brass hopes this will be an awakening for a player being counted on for much more that what he has brought to the table.  After scoring 34 goals a year ago, Gagne sits on 7 heading into the season’s final 20+ games.  He has a No Trade Clause.  Scott Hartnell is another that has a NTC and has struggled.  Heading into the seasons final quarter, Hartnell has just 12 goals.  And his game has been frequently plagued by taking lazy penalties, many coming at the most inopportune times.  But his play had improved over the course of the last 4 games before the break, registering 6 assists.  Danny Briere is another player with a NMC that hasn’t lived up to the billing.  Wildly inconsistent at times, Briere still is third on the team with 21 goals.  As a matter of fact, the line of Hartnell-Briere-Jeff Carter had been the teams most productive over the last week of NHL play.

Holmgren also faces a dilema in that every time he talks deal with another GM, youngsters James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux are always the players being requested as a return.  Those are two forwards that Homer wants to make sure he builds around, and both names were rumored to have been sought after at one point or another by Atlanta Thrashers GM Tom Waddell in the Kovalchuk talks.  Holmgren did the right thing by walking away.

There was talk of a possible deal with either the Dallas Stars for Marty Turco or the Nashville Predators for Dan Ellis, but when the Flyers have struggled this season, it has been for a lack of the ability to score goals, not keeping the puck out of their own net.  Turco is another goaltender that is past his prime and looks to hit the free agent market this coming offseason.  His contract is way too rich for what Philadelphia can afford.  And Ellis looks to be on the move as Nashville inked Pekka Rinne to a 2-year extension last week.  But would Ellis actually be that much of an upgrade over Michael Leighton?  Especially considering what the Flyers would probably have to give up to acquire his services?  Another situation where Homer should sit tight.

Holmgren said that he would only consider making a deal “if something were to come up that makes us better.”

The two best moves by Holmgren this season have been waiver pick ups. Leighton has been spectacular since joining the team when he was claimed off of waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes when Emery was first injured in December.  Also, defenseman Lukas Krajicek has been a godsend since being claimed from the Tampa Bay Lightning when Danny Syvret and Ryan Parent both went out with injuries.  Though not having registered a point in the 7 games since joining the team, Krajicek’s positional play and mobility have been excellent and he has fit in nicely.

The Three-Headed Goaltending Carousel

With the Flyers still keeping quiet regarding the health and future of Ray Emery with the team, it looks like Leighton and Brian Boucher will be kept in the roles they have assumed since Emery’s hip injury was made public back on February 1st.  And regardless if Emery returns or not, it shouldn’t be a bad thing as far as the team is concerned.  When Boucher was injured, Leighton took the reigns and the Flyers have looked their best playing in front of him, even when Emery returned.  He boasts a 12-3-1 record, 2.19 GAA and a .925 Save %.  If Emery is pronounced healthy, he would be best-served as Leighton’s backup.  This may leave Boucher as the odd man out.  But don’t be surprised if Emery is placed on long-term injured reserve, which would keep Boosh as the backup.  At any rate, the crease looks to be in good shape without any additional faces being brought into the mix.

And as we near the resumption of the NHL season, the Flyers will be looking to pick up where they left off two weeks ago.

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