Notes: Bouwmeester not talking; Lemelin fired

by Travis Hughes on Jun 25, 2009 6:03 PM EDT in 2009 NHL Draft

In 2007, Paul Holmgren and the Philadelphia Flyers made a trade with the Nashville Predators for soon-to-be-free-agents Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. They knew prior to making such a trade that Timonen and Hartnell would agree to terms on a deal with the orange and black before hitting the unrestricted free agent market on July 1.

Holmgren had hoped to make a similar deal with the Florida Panthers this year at the NHL Draft here in Montreal. There's one slight issue though -- Bouwmeester isn't talking. Without a verbal agreement from the all-star, the Flyers would be silly to trade away an asset for a gamble on Bouwmeester signing before next Wednesday.

Holmgren also told Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly today that the Flyers don't expect to receive exclusive negotiating rights to other free agent defensemen Mike Komisarek or Francois Beauchemin, saying that he'd "just as soon wait on those guys until July 1."

Lemelin fired: In other news, goaltender coach Reggie Lemelin will not be retained by the club after 15 seasons in Philadelphia. There are reports that Tampa Bay Lightning goalie coach Jeff Reese could be his replacement. It was common knowledge that Lemelin and Martin Biron held a very close relationship, so one could speculate that this could be another sign that Biron is without a doubt on his way out of town.

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What I really want to know is if that trade offer an as-of-yet unknown team offered to the Leafs for Kaberle is from us. Homer didn’t sound optimistic that we’ll get Bouwmeester at all in his conference call today, and for some reason, I have this feeling that that offer could be from Homer.

by Ben Feldman on Jun 25, 2009 6:21 PM EDT reply actions

Makes sense. Didn’t we considering trading Carter for him. Or we tried to get him but they wanted Carter?

by FredEx on Jun 25, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Homer must realize Flyers can not afford JayBo, and have instead set their sights on Kaberle.
He has 2 yrs remaining on his current deal at $4.25M per season., according to TSN.

by bd22 on Jun 25, 2009 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions

That is still a lot of money. I assume that means Homer still needs to dump some salary but Kaberle is not JBO and isn’t worth giving up Lupul or Briere unless the Maple Leafs are giving us draft picks which I would not expect considering they are rebuilding or are gonna give us someone else as well. Honestly, I am not a big Kaberle fan so this better not cost us much. At least he is only 31 and is under contract.

Not really what I am looking for . . .

by Mitchell Green on Jun 25, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions

A lot of the people over at Pension Plan Puppets think that it is us. Although, they were talking about giving us Kaberle for JvR or Giroux and a 1st Rd. pick! HA! That would NEVER happen. We wouldn’t even do that for JBO, what makes them think we would give them either Claude or JvR for Kaberle who is past his prime I might add.

Another interesting name being thrown around in the deal for Kaberle was Hartnell.

by Mitchell Green on Jun 25, 2009 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Considering the ridiculous contracts this team gives out (Briere for example) Kaberle for JVR or Giroux and a 1st round pick would not surprise me in the least. Homer isn’t exactly known for making the best trades. I mean the guy wanted to trade Carter for Kaberle before and thankfully for us they said no. I would have been pissed if we traded Carter and he turned into the scoring machine just after leaving us. Past experience tells me, and by this I mean the fiasco with getting Lindros and everything we lost with that, don’t trade the house for one player because a Cup is never guaranteed. Our defense is not that bad as it is, and regardless of what anybody says it was not our defense that lost that series with the Pens. It was the team’s lack of heart and desire. Be smart, Homer. Jay Bo is not worth what it will cost us either.

by Kanayd on Jun 25, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll make a point of contention here

It’s not valid to look back now and determine if a contract was an overpayment. We can debate if the player failed to live up to the expectations of the contract, but the player is paid based upon performance at the time of signing (and perhaps some projecting, for younger players with little/no NHL experience). Briere was coming off of an amazing season where he could seemingly do no wrong. He was a top star with some still great potential. We weren’t alone in making the run for Briere for this contract size – at the time, this was his perceived value.

Now, I won’t defend Homer in every trade/move he’s done to this point. But like any GM, he’s had his good with his bad. However, at this point, I have yet to see him have a trend of going with drastic measures to make a move (same could not be said of his predecessor). He’s tested the waters at times, for sure, but he’s been crafty and resourceful with most his moves.

I don’t think he’ll pull the trigger on this. I still think he puts a lot of stock in his young, up-and-coming stars, so moving one for a defenseman coming off of an injury-plagued season – just don’t see him taking that risk.

"...You know, Reemer, someday I'm gonna own a big sports bar."

by IcersGuy on Jun 26, 2009 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Lemelin

I had a soft spot for Rejean Lemelin since I saw him up close and personal as a Philadelphia Firebird goalie. truth is though I have been concerned about his lack of ability to really improve some of our guys who seemed to have raw talent. Unfair yes but I always wondered why there was so much inconsistency in our goalies. Certainly the goalies themselves bear the brunt of the burden but coaching matters right?
Kbaerle would have been good to get – 7 years ago. No sense giving up much for him. Beachemin might be a good option even if it costs them a forward and draft pick if JayBo not available

by Fr. Orange and Black on Jun 25, 2009 9:59 PM EDT reply actions