My thoughts on the Suter/Parise Sweeps which have taken on a bit of the Lebron Sweeps ...
I agree totally with my colleague Jim Matheson, a Hall of Famer, in Edmonton when he writes that the Flyers "always need that final piece" up front.
Yes, they need to replace some scoring depth but they don't need a luxury player at wing as much as they need an impact player on defense.
No Chris Pronger and quite possibly, no Matt Carle.
How can anyone think this Flyers defense, right now, is any better than it was last May without adding someone of stature and Luke Schenn doesn't it in that department?
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren is taking a huge gamble - he always does - in thinking he'll land one. But if both these players go elsewhere, the market price goes up for everyone else out there in free agency including Carle, Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan, etc.
We have already seen that SOMETIMES it is not about money. Jordan Staal is a perfect example. His desire was to play somewhere else with his brother. Jason Garrison turned down more money to play in Vancouver.
Eklund and I were both told by people we trust that Suter would NOT play for the Flyers. I was told NO team in the East but PGH had a shot at it because of Suter's past relationship with Pens GM Ray Shero.
Suter is a longshot to everyone else in the East, I feel.
Parise? I talked to agents who have a pulse on what goes on and they said before this began that they never heard Parise's name with any club other than NJ. Not that kind of guy.
Now there are offers but ... I have a hard time thinking he takes the $$ and comes here because he really likes playing in NJ and that would be less money. What I am saying is that these are 2 guys who may turn down $$ for other reasons.
One prominent agent told me before FA began the Flyers would have trouble this summer luring impact players b/c a lot of guys aren't sold on goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's ability to win a Cup and based on what they saw this season in Philly, reinforces their belief.
That's an interesting reason why someone would not want to come here. Is it true? Who know.
What I do know is true is that the Flyers almost always get their man. They simply overspend and piss everyone else off.
Yet this is one time where I don't think it it will work.
One more thing. Bobby Ryan? Anaheim GM Bob Murray kept changing the deal. That's why it never happened at the NHL Draft.
Which would explain Holmgren being so miserable all draft weekend.
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