The Flyers took out a $50,0000 insurance policy on a goaltending injury earlier today when they re-acquired
Brian Boucher from Carolina. General manager
Paul Holmgren indicated that Boucher would not compete in camp with
Michael Leighton for the backup job but would likely be sent directly to Glens Falls once he passes his physical and clears waivers.
Under the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the re-acquisition of Boucher is going to cost the Flyers $50,000 on the salary cap this season even if he spends the rest of the season with Adirondack.
So why bother with the acquisition? Simple. It's insurance against an injury to Leighton or, for a shorter term, to starter
Ilya Bryzgalov.
Phantoms veteran goalie
Scott Munroe is on a minor league contract, which means he's not eligible to be called up. Meanwhile, the club preferred having a veteran to calling up rookie
Cal Heeter (or in-the-doghouse Trenton goaltender
Niko Hovinen) in the event of needing an emergency backup or starter.
Under the new CBA rules, re-entry waivers have been abolished. Thus, the Flyers could recall Boucher as needed. He will make a prorated $1 million this season in salary regardless of whether he plays in the AHL or NHL. His NHL cap hit is $950,000.
Boucher's re-acquisition is a tough break for Munroe, who has played well for the Phantoms this season. Boucher was in the same boat in 2007-08, when he was on a minor league deal with the Phantoms (then still in Philadelphia). The Flyers ended up doing Boucher a favor around the time of the trade deadline; releasing him from his AHL contract in order to sign an NHL deal with San Jose.
Boucher underwent hip and shoulder surgeries and worked out in Voorhees for much of the lockout. He never reported to Carolina. The team told him not to bother reporting to camp, and he figured out on his own that either Justin Peters or veteran Dan Ellis was about to replace him as the backup to Cam Ward. Sure enough, the call came today from Jim Rutherford that he was being traded back to Philadelphia.
In exchange for getting the Flyers to absorb a partial cap hit on their behalf and pay Boucher's one-way contract to be an AHL goaltender, the Hurricanes did both Boucher and the Flyers a favor. The Hurricanes even included their 2010 2nd-round pick, 21-year-old University of Minnesota defensive defenseman
Mark Alt and took Luke Pither (who played his way out of both Adirondack and Trenton and was in exile in Wheeling) in return. The subtraction of Pither was for reserve list compliance purposes.
Alt, who is the son of famed Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman John Alt, has some upside to play pro hockey when he is done with college hockey. Whether that's NHL-caliber potential remains to be seen, but rhe junior defender has a combination of size and mobility.
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Flyers 2012 first-round pick
Scott Laughton is taking his best shot earning a five-game trial with the big club before a decision has to made to keep him in the NHL (and burn a year on his entry-level contract) or return him to the OHL. It is hard to tell much from the first day of practice without the benefit of any exhibition games, but he did not look out of place.
On the first day of training camp, Laughton skated in the first session in between
Matt Read and
Wayne Simmonds. In the second session, he saw some time on the second penalty-killing unit during a special teams drill.
Laughton looks to have added a couple pounds of muscle since the Flyers' summer prospect camp. It's nothing dramatic at this point, but he did look slightly bigger. More important, he's continued to make on-ice strides in the OHL toward being a player who can perform defensively focused duties as a pro.
After practice, I asked him if, before the OHL season, the Flyers had given him any particular advice on what they wanted him to focus on during the campaign.
"I think just staying responsible in my own end," he said. "That’s huge at the next level. I’ve always been working on that. I don’t think offense was a big thing. I think just trying to play defense responsibly and staying on the good side of the puck."
Although Laughton worries first and foremost about preventing goals rather than scoring them, he saw his offensive workload in Oshawa increase recently when the team had 11 players missing due to World Junior Championship commitments (such as Boone Jenner and Tyler Biggs) or injuries. The player responded by producing goals in six of eight games. Overall, Laughton has 13 goals and 33 points in 32 games for the Generals. His missed 10 games earlier this season due to a league suspension for a head shot.
The Flyers tend to be aggressive with giving first-round picks the opportunity to win an NHL spot sooner rather than later. Personally, I am not sure if Laughton is NHL-ready quite yet and, even if he is, whether it would be wise to keep him here beyond five regular season games. But whether he makes it this season or next, he'll bring a lunchpail work ethic to the hockey team.
Including the injured
Danny Briere, the Flyers more or less have 11 forward spots sewn up for opening night (barring injury) Laughton is battling with four other players --
Eric Wellwood,
Jody Shelley,
Tom Sestito and
Tye McGinn -- for a roster spot. The team will likely start out by carrying 14 forwards.
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As expected, the Flyers changed up line combinations from their first one-hour practice session of the morning to the second. For instance,
Brayden Schenn played right wing on the line with
Claude Giroux and
Scott Hartnell in the first session but
Jakub Voracek was in that spot in the second session.
One thing that will likely remain unchanged heading into the season is the team's first power play unit. Laviolette used the same group (Giroux, Hartnell and Simmonds up front, with Voracek and
Kimmo Timonen on the points) that manned the first unit for much of the latter part of last season.
While you can't tell much by early line combos, it may not have boded well for
Eric Wellwood to have skated on a "fifth line" with Shelley and Sestito during session one. In session two, however, he did get time on the second penalty group that came out during the special teams part of the session.
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