Scott Hartnell is one of those "grass is greener on the other side" type of players. If Hartnell played for a team other than the Flyers, I think most Philadelphia fans would say he's the type of player the team needs to acquire for his combination of physical play and occasional goal scoring ability.

Because Hartnell makes $4.2 million per season against the salary cap and because those who see him play all the time get to see his flaws as well as his strengths, I think that he's player whom many feel would should be trade bait this offseason.

Two problems: 1) Hartnell has a no-trade clause in his contract; 2) He's still the closest thing the Flyers have to a power forward, and there is no obvious candidate in the organization to take his place.

Like most of his teammates, Hartnell was not nearly as effective after the All-Star break or during the playoffs as he was in last year's postseason or the first half of this season. Over the first 50 games, he scored 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points. He was a plus-16 and compiled 103 penalty minutes. Over the last 43 games of the regular season and playoffs, Hartnell scored just 8 goals and 19 points, was minus-7 with 62 penalty minutes.

At least some of the production dropoff can be attributed to Hartnell playing with a nagging hip problem (which, fortunately, did not require postseason surgery to resolve). In addition, Hartnell is a player whose own production is heavily reliant on his linemates.

When Danny Briere and Ville Leino were both playing well, Hartnell produced more offense. With both Briere and especially Leino producing less consistently later in the season -- although Danny's play picked up again in the playoffs -- Hartnell had fewer opportunities to score the types of dirty-but-good goals that comprise the vast majority of his goal output.

Finally, Hartnell has always been a player who is prone to a couple goal long droughts per season. He's not really a natural goal scorer nor is the type of player who is going to create lots of scoring chances for himself. That's why he has only been a 30-scorer once in his career. The flip side of the coin is that he is one of the NHL's most bankable 20-goal scorers. This season marked the fifth time in the last six seasons that Hartnell has tallied 22 or more goals.

One of the biggest knocks against Hartnell has always been his propensity for taking undisciplined penalties, especially infractions in the offensive zone. There is a fine line to walk in that regard. Hartnell needs to push the envelope to be effective and you don't want to curb his aggressiveness, but he has never really learned when and where to pick his spots.

In the latter part of the year, it looked like Hartnell was trying to play more under control to cut down his offensive zone penalties. Over the first 20 games after the All-Star break, he only took 3 minor penalties that left the team shorthanded. But he was also not producing much offense (3 goals, 9 points) over that same span.

The biggest area where Hartnell improved in the discipline department this season was in
cutting way back on the number of roughing and cross-checking penalties he incurred by taking gratuitous shots at opposing players as he skated away behind the play. Overall, his total number of roughing minors this season was eight, compared with 20 in 2009-10. His cross-checking penalties were cut in half from six to three.

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