In my opinion, the Flyers made the right move in placing Michael Leighton on waivers. However, I question why the team did not do it sooner. I say this for both practical and salary cap-related reasons.

Having three goalies on a team is never a good situation. There isn't enough practice time to go around, and there is always going to be a disgruntled player who is a healthy scratch on game nights while being unable to get in sufficient work at practice to stay sharp and show he deserves to play.

Last year, Leighton provided the Flyers with much stronger play than anyone could have expected after he was plucked off the waiver wire due to Ray Emery's injury problems. He deserves credit for the way he helped stabilize the club over a difficult early winter, and for his role in the club's playoff comeback against Boston and five-game victory (with three shutouts) against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But even apart from his mediocre performance in the Stanley Cup Final and subsequent back injury and surgery, Leighton has always been a marginal NHL goaltender. I liken his run last season to a journeyman backup quarterback or a veteran long-relief pitcher who performs beyond expectations for a period of time when thrust into a starting role (before coming back down to earth in the championship round of the playoffs). The prognosis for such players to duplicate their success in future seasons isn't usually very promising. Add in a significant injury, and the chances of success are even lower.

Even before the back injury, Leighton was never exactly what you'd call a mobile goaltender. Flyers goaltending coach Jeff Reese helped him last year -- and credit Leighton as well for making the adjustments -- by positioning the goalie further back in his crease. Leighton's greatest asset is his size, so the puck will usually hit him if he's in the proper position. When he suffered the back injury and subsequent injury-related numbness in his foot, the challenge of compensating for his weaknesses instantly became that much more difficult. Leighton was going to need a lot of practice and playing time to recover his form, and that ice time just wasn't going to be available with the Flyers. Not with Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky playing well, at least.

But the Flyers already knew those things when they activated Leighton from IR and reluctantly placed Ian Laperriere on LTIR in order to comply with the salary cap. They also knew that there was no way they could get Leighton enough playing time to potentially interest other teams in trading for him.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren admitted in his conference call yesterday that the team realistically knew there was little chance of Leighton excelling in his start in Los Angeles. He had gone weeks since his final rehab start with the Phantoms and was basically in training camp form playing against opponents in mid-season shape. He was far from impressive in the game but at least got the win, which was all that could be asked of him under the circumstances. The GM also said that regardless of how Leighton fared in that one game, the club knew it couldn't evaluate three goalies in-season and that it wasn't going to waive Boucher or send Bobrovsky to the minors.

So, again, why did they even bother going through the motions of carrying three goalsies for several weeks? It didn't do the club any good. It didn't do Leighton any favors, either. All it does was force a roster move they didn't want to make in the first place, and Leighton (assuming he clears waivers) will still end up on the Phantoms in order to get playing time and show he's recovered enough for another shot an an NHL starting or backup job.

At least the right move was made yesterday.

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