Locker cleanout day is never much fun. The sting of the Flyers' playoff defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils has not had time to truly give way to optimism about next season. This was a Philadelphia team that appeared capable of least getting to the Eastern Conference Finals if not coming out of the East.
Here were the major and minor items to come out of yesterday's media session:
* The Flyers' off-season surgery list will be revealed today. There could be as many as nine players on the list, according to Howard Eskin.
* Paul Holmgren expressed considerable optimism that a contract extension will be worked out for Matt Carle, likely below the market value of what he'd get elsewhere in free agency. Tagging space is the primary reason why the deal has not already been done.
* Jaromir Jagr's situation is more complicated. The 40-year-old appears to want assurances that he will remain on the first line and have an opportunity to get back on the top power play unit. The team is being non-committal while saying they'd like Jagr back.
Lots of folks are running with the knee-jerk reaction that Jagr is as good as gone because the player repeatedly stopped short yesterday of saying he wants to come back to Philadelphia next year. However, what Jagr REALLY said, if folks were paying attention, was that he needs first to talk to his agent, ex-Flyer Petr Svoboda, as well as to the team about the direction they want to go in terms of his projected role next season.
The team's vision may or may not match his. Holmgren was realistic yesterday in surmising that Jagr very well may choose to talk to other teams on July 1.
If there isn't a hockey match with Philadelphia, he'll move on to another team. If there is a match, the player has already repeatedly said how much he loves the team and the city. He also stressed yesterday that it will be a hockey decision from his standpoint, not a money or sentimental one.
Today on the
Flyers' official Web site, I take an in-depth look at Jagr's situation and his impact on the club this season.
* It was very interesting yesterday that, when asked about impending restricted free agent Jakub Voracek, Holmgren briefly praised the player but then focused on the areas where he thinks Voracek still needs to improve his game; namely, the consistency of his shot and his willingness to shoot.
That suggests to me that the Flyers are preparing for another difficult negotiation with Petr Svoboda. Last year, they reached a compromise on a one-year deal. I would not be surprised if they end up settling for another one-year contract or two seasons at maximum.
* Although Holmgren expressed hope that Chris Pronger can resume his career, the player is still having the same post-concussion symptoms that he's been experiencing since December. Not good. No one on the team or in management has spoken to Pronger within the last few weeks, which is another indication that the team will move forward in the offseason with the expectation that it's best defenseman will not be able to play.
* Naturally, there was also a lot of talk about Ilya Bryzgalov yesterday. Somehow, the Flyers' loss to New Jersey has morphed into Bryzagalov's fault in a lot of people's minds, even though the goaltender played at least equally -- and at times far better -- than a much-less busy Martin Brodeur. But yesterday's discussion was more personality centered than play-focused.
Holmgren said, and I agree with him, that Bryzgalov did not play as well this season on the whole as the club had hoped. Apart from early October, the month of March, and lengthy segments of individual playoff games (especially the second period of Game 2 of the Flyers-Devils series), Bryzgalov did not play at anything close to an elite caliber.
But as far as the goalie's quirky personality goes, my view is that as long as he's stopping the puck everything else is meaningless. There have been goalies such as Tom Barrasso who were not well-liked and yet had plenty of success with their teams.
Come next season, the Flyers hope to see something closer to the player who backstopped them down the stretch until sustaining a chip fracture in his foot. Once the foot was reasonably healed -- and I don't think that happened until the New Jersey series -- Bryzgalov did a decent job again of stopping the puck. Yes, he made a huge gaffe in Game 5 that proved extremely costly. But Bryzgalov was not the reason the Flyers were on a do-or-die situation in the first place.
His focus level and stickhandling are another story, though. Those still need re-commitment from Bryzgalov to be a more consistent player next season.
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It has suddenly become fashionable again for Flyers haters in the out-of-town media to bash the Mike Richards and Jeff Carter deals because of LA's tremendous playoff run to date. I will repeat what I have said many times: I have no time or patience for critics who crow with gleeful negativity at bad times and then disappear when things are going well.
The Flyers have already turned the page and moved on. No one in the organization wishes any ill on their former captain or the one-time 46-goal scorer Carter. If they win a Cup together in LA, good for them. It doesn't mean the Flyers would have been better off this season -- and in the longer haul -- if those guys were still here.
The Flyers hardly suffered in the regular season or playoffs in having four good young roster players contributing in different roles. The team compiled 103 points and beat pre-playoff Cup favorite Pittsburgh in the playoffs. That is one hell of a start toward being an even stronger contender in years to come.
The bottom line here is what's done is done. Also, from my point of view at least, those who crow with gleeful negativity in bad times and then disappear when things go well aren't worthy of attention. When all cap-related and reputed locker room issues are put aside, I think the Flyers did fine for themselves from an on-ice hockey standpoint.
The Carter deal has thus far been an absolute steal for the Flyers; I wouldn't trade Sean Couturier straight up for Carter at this point, and when you also add Jakub Voracek into the equation, it's a trade that immensely helped the Flyers and was a disaster for Columbus. That Carter is in Los Angeles now has nothing to do with the Flyers.
Richards has had a fine playoffs so far after a so-so regular season. Wayne Simmonds had a disappointing playoffs for the Flyers, but was very valuable during the regular season. Brayden Schenn had his share of ups and downs during his rookie year but there were times where his A game looked very much like Richards'.
Once Schenn got healthy after December, his rookie year was not all that different from Richards' first NHL year in 2005-06. Schenn actually finished with more goals (12 regular season goals, 3 goals/9 points in 11 playoff games) than Richards did as a rookie (11 goals in the regular season, 0 goals/ 1 point in 6 playoff games). There are still areas of Schenn's game that need work. I think Richards was better defensively right off the bat than Schenn, but not as good as Couturier.
All in all, though, I would argue that the short-range impact of the two blockbuster trades last year are a major reason why I think the 2011-12 Flyers were a better hockey club than the previous year's version. As for long-range impact, all four of the players who joined the Flyers as a result of the trades have the potential to be productive members of the team for many years to come.
In terms of my personal playoff rooting interest, I am pulling for the Capitals for the rest of their run. This is primarily because I'd like to see Mike Knuble get a Cup ring and secondarily because of who their opponent is in this round.
Knuble is a player and person whom I have personally admired for many years. While he struggled mightily this season, I think he deserved a little better treatment than he received from Dale Hunter. A Cup ring would be sweet redemption this late in Knuble's career. As a young player, he was a bit player on the Red Wings' 1997-98 Cup team.
If the Rangers win Game 7 tomorrow, I become a Devils fan in the Conference Finals. If the Rangers come out of the East, I will root for the winner of the Los Angeles series against Phoenix.
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Coming tomorrow: An in-depth look at Matt Carle and the Flyers' potential off-season planning for their defense corps next season.
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