According to someone whom I consider a reliable source, Flyers' All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen is going to be among the names on the team's postseason surgery list. In Timonen's case, the 37-year-old veteran may actually need to undergo more than one procedure.
While no specifics were given, it is known that Timonen sustained a knee ligament injury in Game 5 of the Pittsburgh series. He also missed six games during the regular season with a chronic lower back ailment. It takes a lot for the warrior-like Timonen, whose 248 consecutive game streak came to an end, to sit out a game for any reason.
In each of the last two seasons, there has been a clear-cut injury-related slowdown in Timonen's performance in the second half of the campaign after outstanding first-half play. I actually thought the drop-off in effectiveness was steeper in 2010-11 than this season, but it was very clear in the Devils series in particular that he was physically laboring to get through his shifts.
Timonen is entering the final year of his contract, who has a no-movement clause and carries a $6.33 million cap hit ($3 million actual salary) for next season. It is not yet clear what sort of recovery period the Finnish blueliner will face after his surgical procedure (or procedures) this summer.
We'll find out more when the Flyers reveal the specifics of their postseason surgery list. If he does need back surgery, the recovery period could be lengthy, especially if he also has to rehabilitate a knee. The team still needs Timonen's steadying presence on the blueline and locker room leadership next season, so hopefully he is ready to go for most or all of the season.
Unfortunately, the time is now for the Flyers to start planning not only for next season but for long-range life after Timonen and Chris Pronger.
The latter player, of course, is dealing with the very real possibility that he will never play hockey again. Paul Holmgren said at his postseason press conference on Thursday that the 37-year-old Pronger's post-concussion symptoms have still not subsided after six-plus months.
Barring a recovery or a change in the soon-to-expire CBA that would allow for a player on an over-35 contract to retire without salary cap penalty if he sustains a career-ending injury (rather than a personal- or performance-related retirement), is likely that the Flyers will be compelled to place Pronger on long-term injured reserve for each of the next five seasons.
Pronger's contract carries a $4.92 million cap hit. Placing him on LTIR would provide an allowance to exceed the yet-to-be-announced 2012-13 salary cap (believed to be $69 million) if necessary. However, the Flyers will still have to carry Pronger's contract as part of their tagging space and in calculating their summer salary cap; which cannot exceed the in-season cap by more than 10 percent.
********
At Thursday's press conference, Holmgren expressed a high degree of confidence that the club will be able to strike a deal to retain impending unrestricted free agent Matt Carle.
The GM said that the player has made clear that he wants to stay in Philadelphia, that the contract demands are reasonable from the club's perspective, and may even be a little bit below what Carle could get on the open market. I would guesstimate that Holmgren means a cap hit slightly south of $5 million will get it done.
Due to tagging space restrictions and the lack of an announced salary cap for the start of next season -- by which time the current CBA will expire -- the Flyers have to wait to be eligible to re-sign Carle. However, the team appears to believe that a deal will be done quickly when it is able to do so.
Holmgren is always very cautious and measured in what he says, so if he came right out and said he doesn't think the club will have a problem retaining Carle, the odds are strong that the player will still be a Flyer. Both Braydon Coburn and Nicklas Grossmann received four-year contract extensions, so I think Carle will also get a deal of three or four seasons.
I suspect that the thought of keeping Carle will please some Flyers fans, and displease others. He is a polarizing player. Personally, my view is that the grass often seems greener on the other side, especially where defensemen are concerned.
Carle is not an All-Star, but he's a reliable complimentary defenseman who can eat a lot of minutes on a contending team.
Every year, Carle will put up decent but not huge point totals. He'll sometimes turn over pucks at inopportune times, but he's not usually a liability in his end of the ice and is one of the team's better defensemen at triggering the breakout. He doesn't shoot hard from the point, but he will collect his 30-plus assists per season. He's also not a physical player, but the flip side of that is he's proven his durability.
Something that is not widely publicized about Carle is what a hard worker he is. He hasn't missed a game in two seasons, and suited up in 80 games the year before that. So you know that the 27-year-old has accumulated his fair share of bumps, bruises and minor injuries. Despite that, he is a player who rarely takes so much as a maintenance day. Carle is well-conditioned and able to carry as many minutes as the team wants or needs to give him in any given game.
As I said, the grass often seems greener on the other side with defensemen. If Carle played for a rival club, a lot of Flyers fans who get on his case would be calling for the club to acquire a player like him. Conversely, if a player such as impending Washington Capitals UFA Dennis Wideman were a Flyer, a vocal minority of the fan base would skewer him and act like he didn't even belong in the NHL.
I, for one, was heartened to hear Holmgren say that he anticipates bringing Carle back and is comfortable with the price (i.e., it won't preclude other ways to improve the team). A player of his collection of abilities is a good piece of the blueline puzzle, even if he is not the central component.
Speaking of that very subject....
********
The Flyers are an organization that aims extremely high and moves very aggressively when there's a player on the market whom they covet. The NHL's premier impending unrestricted free agent defenseman is Nashville All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter.
Suter's decision on his destination for next season and beyond will directly affect the direction that I think the Flyers will take this summer.
If Suter opts for free agency, the Flyers will move aggressively to land him. The preferred method would be to trade for his rights and sign him to a long-term deal before the start of free agency on July 1. That, however, would depend on Suter's willingness to sign before receiving the inevitable bidding-war priced offers from numerous teams, including the equally covetous Detroit Red Wings.
When the Flyers traded Nashville for the right to Dan Hamhuis (before subsequently tradeing Hamhuis' rights to Pittsburgh after it became clear the player would not sign in Philadelphia), the Predators would not allow the Flyers to talk to Hamhuis before making the trade. I suspect the same thing may be the case with Suter.
Even if Suter does become available to the Flyers, the question becomes whether he's worth the astronomical price tag -- which could approach a $7 million cap hit because of all the teams that want the player -- that he will carry in his next contract. While Suter is an All-Star caliber defenseman, he is not one who is likely to contend for the Norris Trophy.
This is where Suter's Nashville teammate Shea Weber enters the picture from a Philadelphia standpoint. A restricted free agent this summer, two-time Norris Trophy finalist Weber can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2013.
If Suter departs Nashville, the Predators will likely re-sign Weber at any and all costs. However, if Suter stays put -- reports are that he'd like to stay in Nashville but wants full UFA market value to do so -- it may become tough for the Predators to resign Weber beyond a one-year contract for 2012-13.
The team is already committed to a new seven-year contract for goaltender Pekka Rinne, which carries a $7 million cap hit. If the Predators re-sign Suter and also successfully ink Weber to a multi-year deal, they will likely be looking at $21 million or more of cap space tied up in just three players. Weber's next long-term contract stands a good chance of surpassing either Rinne or Suter's.
Therefore, if All-Star blueliner Suter re-signs in Nashville, the club may be receptive to trade offers this summer for their franchise defenseman, Weber. That's not the same thing as shopping the player. This summer, the Predators hold all the power to set trading price on Weber extremely high. The closer and closer they come to July 2013, however, the more that leverage starts to disappear.
Could I see the Flyers making a blockbuster trade this summer for the soon-to-be 27-year-old Weber? Yes, I could. Consider all of the following factors:
1) The aforementioned need for a top-pairing defenseman for the long haul
2) Philadelphia's well-established history of making bold moves
3) The good working relationship and frequent trades between the Flyers' Holmgren and the Predators' David Poile
4) The depth Philadelphia has to offer in a trade
5) The large amount of salary cap space that will open up for Philadelphia when Timonen's contract expires next summer.
Weber, with his booming right-handed shot, physical style of play, size and relative youth is exactly the type of player the Flyers need to step onto their top pairing and better compete with the New York Rangers' extremely deep and talented blueline for years to come.
That's why I would be shocked if Holmgren and his staff, as well as Ed Snider and Peter Luukko are not already discussing strategies for pursuing Weber if Suter stays with the Predators.
What would it take to trade for Weber? You've got to figure that the price tag will be north of the one that the club paid to get Pronger from Anaheim in 2009.
I would think that Claude Giroux and, to a lesser extent, Sean Couturier would be the players the Flyers would consider deal-breakers. Anyone else --- including James van Riemsdyk, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek, Matt Read, Andrej Meszaros and Braydon Coburn -- would be available in a 2-3 roster player package deal that will likely require at least one forward, one defenseman a pair of first round picks in consecutive years.
Incidentally, if the Flyers are not able to land a top-pairing defenseman from Nashville, I think they will go heavily after Devils' unrestricted free agent forward Zach Parise and trade from among other their forwards to improve their blueline depth.
I do no think the club will re-sign Pavel Kubina.
********
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»