The Philadelphia Flyers have been widely linked to pre-trade deadline talks with San Jose for power forward Ryane Clowe. While no trade appears imminent as of this writing and there are several other teams in pursuit of Clowe, no one around the Flyers has denied the team's interest in his acquisition.
Beyond a longstanding organizational penchant for adding size to the lineup whenever possible, I fail to see any logic whatsoever to pursuing the 30-year-old left winger right now. This team needs to be worried about improving its defense -- both in terms of blueline personnel and in terms of two-way forwards -- more than adding another power forward to the mix.
The Flyers already have two basically similar -- and, in my opinion, better -- players in Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds. In a world with no salary cap or free agency, sure, it might make sense to add a third proven veteran power forward to the lineup (even one who is goalless in what has been a major down season for him). Clowe can throw his weight around, and in a good year can score 20 goals.
But there IS a salary cap, and it's going to go down next season.
Clowe, who makes a $3.625 million cap hit and $4 million in prorated real-dollar salary this season, is also an unrestricted free agent after the season. Presumably, the Flyers would re-sign him to an extension rather than simply renting him for the stretch drive in a year in which they very well may miss the playoffs.
The Flyers already have a lot of money and multi-year contracts invested in Hartnell (his six-year contract at a $4.75 million cap hit kicks in next season) and Simmonds (whose six-year deal at a $3.975 million cap hit starts in the 2013-14 season). It makes zero cap sense to tie up yet another $4 million or so in Clowe, when the team is going to have to create cap space as it is, and it is going to need to be focused first and foremost on upgrading the top end of the blueline.
Would Clowe help improve Philly's mediocre five-on-five play from a defensive standpoint? Not really. He's average defensively for a player of his style. Will he help on special teams? He doesn't play on the penalty kill, which is fine and to be expected of most power forwards but he's also not going to take power play time away from Simmonds or Hartnell on the first power play unit.
If the Flyers want to feature a third power forward in their lineup on a regular basis, why not see if the younger and much less expensive Tye McGinn can develop into that player? To me, that would make a lot more sense than giving up valuable assets and then opening up the wallet to acquire Clowe and extend his contract.
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Yesterday, the Flyers traded second-year winger Harry Zolnierczyk to Anaheim in exchange for enforcer Jay Rosehill. The 27-year-old Rosehill has been playing in the American Hockey League this season for Norfolk (33 GP, 4 G, 8 PTS, 90 PIM) but will join the Flyers at the NHL level for the rest of the season.
With Jody Shelley out for the season and Tom Sestito having been claimed by Vancouver on waivers, the trade is likely a reaction to the several big hits that team captain Claude Giroux has taken in recent weeks. Last game, non-combative winger Jakub Voracek confronted and fought Steve Oleksy on Giroux's behalf. Ordinarily, linemate Hartnell would be the one to do it but he has at least temporarily been removed from the top line because of struggles since returning from a foot injury.
Rosehill is a player of limited hockey ability but is an above-average fighter and, at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, is a heavyweight. He knows his role and understands that when he plays, he's only going to get about four to six minutes of ice time.
Zolnierczyk is a speedster and agitator who has been something of an AHL/NHL tweener in his pro career. He's undersized but aggressive. Harry Z's problem has been that he's not offensively skilled enough to play in an NHL top-six role and is not defensively sound or disciplined enough to stick for the long haul in a bottom-six role.
However, Zolnierczyk's speed is top-notch and he does have a little bit of skill with the puck on his stick. The 25-year-old has potential to become a serviceable full-time role player for Anaheim or another organization if he continues to improve defensively and plays with just a little more discipline.
Zolnierczyk served a four-game suspension earlier this month for a charging incident in a game against Ottawa. Late in the previous game against Washington, he incurred a kneeing major and game misconduct that was rescinded by the NHL. Following the suspension, he dressed in one more game for the Flyers prior to yesterday's trade.
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