Pronger Trade

Yes, we gave up too much. And yes, the Flyers have done this sort of thing often enough. However, let’s look at some things here:

1. Lupul was out of town no matter how you slice it; it was on;y a question of when and where.

2. As tough as it is to lose Sbisa, it’s not like we don’t have any other younger defensemen waiting in the wings. Danny Syvret played well when called upon, and we have Kevin Marshall, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Denis Bodrov, and some might say Michael Ratchuk and Oskars Bartulis too.

3. Holmgren was in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” position. If he stayed put and the Blues had gotten Pronger (a definite possibility) and the Flames had gotten Bouwmeester’s rights, everyone would have been up in arms. We wouldn’t have had the cap space to sign a big-name free-agent defenseman, and we’d probably have to give away players for nothing.

This trade may hurt us down the line, but it makes us instantly better for the time being. All of our fellow hockey fans in Anaheim are looking forward to the day when Pronger gives Crosby the what-for.

Also, I think things tend to even out over the course of a team’s history. We got the rights to Timonen and Hartnell in exchange for a draft pick that wasn’t ours to begin with; we got Braydon Coburn for Alexei Zhitnik; we got rid of the undersized Steve Eminger and off-the-wall Steve Downie and got Matt Carle.

Unfortunately, we gave up on guys like Patrick Sharp and Luca Sbisa too early. But that’s how it goes.

Gotta disagree brother, but I def. understand what you are saying.

Here is what I ask you; do you think Chris Pronger will be an effective defensemen for the Flyers this upcoming season and do you believe that, by adding Pronger, our defense and team as a whole is considerably better? I would say so. For now, forget the future issues that this poses and focus on the fact that the Flyers are primed for a serious chance to win the cup with the current team they have. Holmgren deserves some criticism for this move. He gave up to much to get Pronger but Homer knows the urgency that this team has and has taken a big risk that might have an even bigger reward. The trade hardly depleted our future prospects and we were able to maintain all of our current younger Flyer defensemen (aka Coburn, Parent, Carle) who are developing and finally getting used to playing together.

The Flyers will be perfectly fine in the future as well. This team is by no means old and there is plenty of young talent developing in the farm system. Chris Pronger is the kind of player that can be the difference between bowing out in the First round of the Playoffs and going deep, and ultimately winning the Stanley Cup, even at 35 years of age. His age can be an advantage that neither Joffery Lupul nor Luca Sbisa offer. He is a stong, experienced leader who knows what it takes to play hard and win.

In the long run, yes, ANA probably gets the better end of this trade but in the short term, I think the Flyers have seriously upgraded their team and can now make a legitimate case as Cup contenders. But, we shall see . . .

i personally can’t wait to see him lay out crosby.

Sbisa wouldn’t crack our roster in a significant role for another 3 years and Pronger will sign here long term as he stated so he is not a rental. At least we didn’t give up JVR that would have been too much top 5 don’t come along too often. You win get a trophy for having great prospects and personally I think Kevin Marshall is going to be a better pro.

Pronger has never reached unrestricted free agency. He’s a pretty loyal guy.