FLYERS RE-SIGN WHITE
One day ahead of the start of free agency, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have re-signed forward
Ryan White to a one-year contract. The deal carries an $800,000 cap hit after White was paid $575,000 by the Flyers last season.
White overcame a torn pectoral muscle that cost him the first half of the 2014-15 season to provide a spark to the Flyers' lineup in 34 games, playing a physical and emotional brand of hockey. Unexpectedly, he even chipped in a career-high six goals and 12 points to go along with 30 penalty minutes. White averaged 11:43 of ice time per game, and won 52.8 percent (65-for-123) of his faceoffs.
At the tail end of the 2014-15 campaign, after
Wayne Simmonds went down with a season-ending foot injury, former Flyers head coach
Craig Berube even used the righthanded-shooting White in Simmonds' place as the net-front forward on the top power play unit.
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GAGNER STAYING PUT
The Flyers have elected not to buy out the contract of recently acquired forward
Sam Gagner. The player, who said he will play any forward position as needed, will slot into either the Flyers second or third line at even strength. He may also see secondary power play duty.
With an underwhelming crop of unrestricted free agents available on July 1st and Gagner having just one season left on his contract (at a moderate $3.3 million cap hit to the Flyers), the decision makes sense despite general manager
Ron Hextall's desire to clear out additional cap space. The team will still try to find a way to part ways with
Vincent Lecavalier.
Depending on how things work out both for the player and the team during the 2015-16 season, the Flyers will have the flexibility to trade Gagner as a trade deadline rental and acquire a draft pick asset.
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FLYERS HALL OF FAME: BRIND'AMOUR AND JIM WATSON SELECTED
The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Tuesday that two heart-and-soul players from different eras of team history -- 1970s to early 1980s defenseman Jimmy Watson and 1990s center/left winger Rod Brind'Amour -- will be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame. The two will accept induction in pregame ceremonies prior to two separate games during the 2015-16 season.
The Brind'Amour ceremony will take place on Nov. 23 before the Flyers play the Carolina Hurricanes. Jimmy Watson's night is on Feb. 29 before the Flyers play Calgary.
“Jimmy Watson and Rod Brind’Amour are two players who played the game in a way that truly epitomized Philadelphia Flyers hockey," Flyers Chairman Ed Snider said in a statement. "They were hard-working, team leaders both on and off the ice who played with a lot of intelligence, grit, and determination. This is a very deserving honor for both of them, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome these outstanding men into the Flyers Hall of Fame."
Watson, arguably the top homegrown defenseman in franchise history, spent his entire professional career in a Flyers uniform and was a five-time NHL All-Star Game selection as well as a member of Stanley Cup championship teams in 1973-74 and 1974-75. Along with older brother Joe, the Watsons are the first brother combination to earn Flyers Hall of Fame induction.
Watson was drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 1972 NHL Draft. He debuted with the team late in the 1972-73 season and became a full-time player the next year. For a comprehensive look at his career, click
his Flyers Heroes of the Past profile on the Flyers' official website archives.
“I am absolutely thrilled and humbled by the whole thing,” Watson said. “This is a tremendous honor and I am very excited to be a part of the Flyers Hall of Fame. Gosh, it is amazing how it all evolved but here we are and I am extremely proud to be getting inducted. What a wonderful honor."
Brind'Amour, played 633 regular season games for the Flyers. The team actually coveted him in the 1988 NHL Draft but were unable to move up in order to select him. However, he unexpectedly became available in trade in 1991. After a promising NHL rookie season for the St. Louis Blues in 1989-90, he had a tough second season. For whatever reason, the Blues lost faith in the player.
Flyers general manager Russ Farwell pounced on the opportunity. On Sept. 22, 1991, Philadelphia dealt team captain Ron Sutter and sturdy defensive defenseman Murray Baron to the Blues. In return the Flyers obtained Brind'Amour and offensively skilled but one-dimensional forward Dan Quinn. The deal quickly turned out to be one of the best trades of an otherwise dark era in Flyers hockey.
Brind'Amour earned a spot in the 1992 NHL All-Star Game, which was played at the Philadelphia Spectrum. That year, he scored 33 goals and 77 points in 80 games and won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the team's MVP.
The Flyers valued Brind'Amour so highly that they made him untouchable in any of the various trade packages being discussed with the Quebec Nordiques for the rights to Eric Lindros. The Nords asked, but Farwell's answer was always no when it came to including either Recchi or Brind'Amour in a multi-piece deal for Lindros. Everyone else was available.
The Flyers' vision of building around a Lindros and Brind'Amour tandem ultimately contributed to the Flyers reluctantly parting with top prospect Peter Forsberg in the Lindros trade. For Philly, it ultimately came down to whether they preferred to wait for Forsberg, who did not plan to come over to North America for at least another year, or to have the services of a Lindros and Brind'Amour one-two punch at center right away.
Ultimately, Forsberg made his NHL debut for the Quebec Nordiques in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season. Brind'Amour would spend much of his Flyers career being mentioned in a variety of trade rumors but he always ended up staying put until he was finally traded in January 2000.
Lindros' arrival in Philadelphia put an end to Brind'Amour's brief stint as the team's first line center. However, for the rest of his tenure in Philly, Brind'Amour became one of the NHL's best second-line forwards and he typically moved up to the top line whenever Lindros missed time with injuries. Brind'Amour went on to set a Flyers' iron man streak of 484 consecutive games played.
In his third season with the Flyers, Brind'Amour enjoyed his career-best offensive season. That year, he compiled 35 goals and 97 points while primarily centering a line with Kevin Dineen and assorted left wingers. Although never known as a gifted goal scorer, Brind'Amour had four seasons in Philly in which he scored 33 or more goals. He went on to win two Selke Trophies and a Stanley Cup as a member of the Hurricanes.
“Rod’s work ethic was unparalleled as a player," Flyers team president Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "He was always the first one on the ice and in the gym and always the last to leave. He played the game with passion and he is most deserving of this latest honor. Rod personified Flyers hockey.”
One of the physically strongest players in the NHL, the muscular Brind'Amour also gained a reputation as one of the league's top two-way centers and top faceoff men. He occasionally shifted to left wing during his Flyers years, but clearly preferred to play center.
Brind'Amour frequently played left wing or moved down to the third line when the Flyers acquired Chris Gratton in 1997. He wasn't too happy about being shuttled around the lineup, but produced a 36-goal, 74-point season. The next year, the Flyers reinstalled Brind'Amour as the second-line center and moved Gratton to left wing. Gratton scored only one goal in 26 games before being traded back to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Mike Sillinger in exchange for Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow.
Brind'Amour produced a 24-goal, 74-point season in 1998-99, which proved to be his final full season in Philadelphia. His iron man streak came to an end the following season, as a fractured foot suffered before the start of the 1999-2000 season required surgery and kept him out of the line for the first 34 games of the season.
On January 23, 2000, the Flyers traded the 29-year-old Brind'Amour to Carolina in the deal that brought Keith Primeau to Philly. Brind'Amour spent the remainder of his career with the Hurricanes and went on to capture a Stanley Cup as the Canes captain on the Peter Laviolette-coached 2005-06 team. After a rough start to their player-coach relationship, Brind'Amour eventually bonded with Laviolette.
For many years, Brind'Amour was one of the NHL's most underrated players because he so frequently (and understandably) took a backseat to Lindros in his Philly days. It was only in his final couple years in Carolina that people leaguewide started to realize just how good his career was in many different aspects of the game.
“It was a tremendous honor and privilege to play as long as I did for one of the best franchises in all of sports,” Brind’Amour said in a statement after learning of his Flyers Hall of Fame selection. “To be recognized in this way is hard to put into words but something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I thank the Flyers organization for this tremendous honor.”
Here is the full list of Flyers Hall of Fame honoree by calendar year of induction ceremony:
1988 - Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent
1989 - Bill Barber, Ed Snider, Keith Allen
1990 - Rick MacLeish, Fred Shero
1991 - Barry Ashbee, Gary Dornhoefer
1992 - Reggie Leach, Gene Hart
1993 - Joe Scott, Ed Van Impe
1994 - Tim Kerr
1996 - Joe Watson
1999 - Brian Propp
2001 - Mark Howe
2004 - Dave Poulin
2008 - Ron Hextall
2009 - Dave Schultz
2014 - Eric Lindros, John LeClair
2015 - Eric Desjardins, Rod Brind'Amour (Nov. 23, 2015)
2016 - Jimmy Watson (Feb. 29, 2016)
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FLYERS TO HOLD TIMONEN RETIREMENT NIGHT
On Oct. 14, the Flyers will hold a special tribute night to commemorate the retirement of five-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winning defenseman
Kimmo Timonen. There will be a pregame ceremony before the Flyers' game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
Following a trade from the Flyers, Timonen concluded his NHL career in 2014-15 by winning the Cup with the Blackhawks, for him he dressed in the championship series clinching victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. For his NHL career, Timonen played 1,108 regular season games (117 goals, 571 points) and 105 playoff games (four goals, 35 points).
In addition to winning the Stanley Cup, Timonen was a five-time selection (four-time participant) in the NHL All-Star Game. In his international career, he was a five-time Olympian (one silver and three bronze medals) and a seven-time participant in the IIHF World Championships (three silver medals).
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KASE SELECTED IN CHL IMPORT DRAFT
The Ontario Hockey League's Ontario IceDogs selected Flyers' 2015 fifth-round pick
David Kase with the 33rd overall pick of the 2015 CHL Import Draft. It is
not know for certain that Kase -- who was selected in last year's Import Draft with the 41st overall pick by the QMJHL's Blainville-Boisbriand Armada but opted to remain in the Czech Republic and play for Pirati Chumatov -- intends to play in North America next season.
"Just talking with (Flyers GM Ron) Hextall and the Philadelphia organization, we think it was worth taking a chance on him,” Ice Dogs general manager and head coach Marty Williamson told the
Niagara Advance on Tuesday.
“They would like him to come over, but whether he comes over next year or something we’re not sure. We were leaning more that way any ways to either hit the home run or wait for him.
"[The Flyers] compare him to Justin Azevedo who played in our league. He’s very elusive, he doesn’t get hit and he’s a tough kid.”
It would make sense if Kase does choose to come to the OHL next season. The Czech leagues are not what they used to be in terms of quality of competition, and the majority of the better Czech prospects over the past decade have wound up playing in other countries. Kase's KHL rights belong to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg but a move to the North American game would likely be preferable to the Flyers.
None of the Flyers' other recent draftees who played in Europe last season were selected in the CHL Import Draft. It was already known that goaltender
Felix Sandström planned to remain with Brynäs and seventh-round goalie selection
Ivan Fedotov was also not expected to be chosen by a CHL team. It was less clear if fourth-round pick
Mikhail Vorobyov had any interest in playing in North America next season, but he seemed more likely to remain in the Salavat Yulaev Ufa development chain for at least next year.
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FLYERS PART WAYS WITH LITTLE
Three days after the conclusion of the 2015 NHL Draft, the Flyers have decided to part ways with
Neil Little as a member of their scouting department. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall informed the well-liked Little that he wants to move in a different direction.
The former Phantoms and Flyers goaltender had served as an amateur scout for the Flyers since the 2009-10, specializing in scouting goalies. He was also the organization's de facto goalie development overseer.
Oddly enough, the Flyers just picked three goaltenders -- two based out of Europe, one playing in North America -- in the 2015 NHL Draft. While Little offered input into the selections, the team's internal rankings of the available goaltenders were a group effort of the entire scouting staff just as with all other positions.
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