With four days to go until the NHL Draft and the start of free agency less than two weeks away, we have reached the point in the off-season when the usual denials, downplays and double-speak made by NHL teams about potential personnel moves go into hyperdrive. Every team engages in it to some degree. The Flyers are no exception.
Meanwhile, players' agents do exactly the opposite. They attempt to apply pressure -- sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly -- on teams to sign or trade for their clients who will be on the open market.
In other words, take all public statements with a few extra grains of salt until roster moves are officially announced. The same thing goes for the Draft. Teams publicly deny any interest in moving up or down in the first round of the Draft, right up until the time they finally announce their pick.
Yesterday, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren held a press conference in which he said as little as possible while reiterating the same themes that he emphasized in his end-of-the-season press conference in early May.
Very little was said that actually clarified James van Riemsdyk's hip injury, apart from the fact that the winger will not be undergoing surgery for it. It is still unclear, for example, why the team originally announced the injury as a torn labrum (which the player disputed) and why the prognosis suddenly became so much sunnier that the player would be OK without surgery.
However, one of the few interesting quotes that arose from the press conference was when Holmgren said van Riemsdyk is "still our player right now." It certainly seems as if the team is shopping the player or, at the absolute minimum, contemplating trade offers received from other clubs.
Apart from that, the general manager gave all the standard "we're happy with our team" statements while at the same time saying the club would be proactive in looking for ways to improve the roster. He once again reiterated his confidence that the team would be able to sign Matt Carle and said there remained mutual interest in re-signing Jaromir Jagr.
The Jagr camp apparently engaged in some doublespeak of its own yesterday. A few days after Petr Svoboda told Tim Panaccio that he's confident of an agreement in principle with the Flyers over the Draft weekend, someone leaked to Darren Dreger that the player will test the free agent market on July 1. Of course, that doesn't necessarily preclude Jagr re-signing with the Flyers. It means that all options remain open, and Jagr will see if there's more money/promised ice time elsewhere.
As far as the NHL Draft is concerned, Holmgren stated that the club will maintain it's "best available player regardless of position" philosophy and will not draft a defenseman or one of the top three goaltenders in a defense-heavy Draft specifically to fill a need for greater depth within the organization.
The GM also denied that the team has interest in moving up at the Draft. That's malarkey. At the recent NHL Scouting Combine the Flyers reportedly met with several players who are certain to be drafted long before the team's current 20th slot comes up. It's been said off-the-record that the Flyers told at least two of the top rated North American defensemen and one of the top European forwards at the Compound they are considering ways to move up on Friday.
Does that mean the Flyers will end up moving up in the first round of the Draft? Not necessarily. But they aren't ruling it out, nor are they inflexible about potentially moving down from the 20th spot to pick up an additional selection a little later in the Draft. Again, all options remain open.
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