Playing GM part III: Deadline Acquistion
by chrislanci on Jan 20, 2010 11:00 AM EST
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PrintThe Flyers have turned it around for the most part and are most likely than not going to make the playoffs somewhere in the 6-8 seed range. The trade deadline is approaching and a key addition can help put your team over the top to make a run at Lord Stanley's Cup. As GM what position would you be targeting as your top priority? Feel free to throw out the some names and be realistic knowing our cap sitiuation and what it would cost from the Flyers in terms of roster players, prospects, and draft picks.
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I would like to add a 2nd pairing D-Man obvious weakness against the top offensive teams is the 3rd D-Pair of Syvert, OKT, Bartulis or whoever else we call up. We have a lot of young D-Man, Parent, Coburn, Marshall, Bourdon, Bartulis in the system TOO many to ALL make this team in the near future. I think we can move one these pieces to add a solid 1-2 million dollar cap hit D-Man to pair with Kimmo on the 2nd pairing. Moving Coburn down with Parent or Bartulis on the 3rd pair. Which would be a lot better having Syvert and OKT out there together which are a major liability on the road when the opponent has last change.
The name I would like best at this point is Jordan Leopold from Florida I am not sure if there any other options like that out there. At a 1.75 million dollar cap. He is still fairly young at 29 with over 40 games of playoff experience with +9 career postseason rating. He might be rental as he is going UFA next season which should bring his cost down if Florida decides to move him.
I certainly would like a depth defenseman too. I think you can get by with one of Syvret or Bartulis, but certainly not both. And with Parent’s nagging injuries and lackluster play so far, I think a lower-end D-man is the right way to go.
This is about the third (?) time you’ve mentioned Leopold, so I’ll finally say it: While he’s solid and I like him too – I think he’d be good for a second/third pairing d-man – I’m not sure what Florida would want back since he was the key piece to the J-Bo deal.
If he can come cheap, I like it. But something tells me Florida would want a decent prospect in Adirondack, which might or might not be worth it.
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by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 20, 2010 11:42 AM EST up reply actions
I would move Bourdon for him in a second I am higher on Marshall because of his physical side but with Bartulis Coburn and Parent there is no room for Marshall and Bourdon along with Kimmo, Pronger, Syvert and Carle that is 9 D-Man 4 of which are rookies I don’t think we can be successful with more than 2 as regulars on defense. Leopold if I was him will not be willing to resign in Florida because it is Florida if I had the chance to get out of there I would it is hockey hell.
Pronger – Carle 1A
Leopold – Kimmo 1B
Coburn – Parent 3
Bartulis OKT as your reserves
Geoff can you think of anyone else that might be availble at a lesser cost I’ve been focused on Leopold because his name has come up in Eklund’s blog as a guy who could be on the block. Taking that for what is worth. Maybe aging Daryl Sydor from St. Louis he is still solid on defensively I imagine he signed with them in the hopes of being traded at the deadline.
Just in looking at guys making $2 million or less and becoming free agents at the end of the year, these are interesting names – ignoring how difficult they would be to pry them loose:
Dan Hamhuis – NSH – $2 million
Shane O’Brien – VAN – $1.6 mil (RFA)
Zbynek Michalek – PHX – $1.25 mil
Marc-Andre Bergeron – MTL – $750k
Shane Hnidy – MIN – $750k
Martin Skoula – PIT – $575k
Hamhuis and O’Brien will want a some decent sized raises, so “rental” shouldn’t be considered a bad term for them. Bergeron is very intriguing. I didn’t know he was that inexpensive. Sydor isn’t a bad option either at only $1 million, but I’d imagine he’d fill into the third pairing rather than the second.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 20, 2010 3:03 PM EST up reply actions
O’Brien caught my eye, and so did Mark Fistric (DAL, $1.0 mil, signed through 11-12), when I did a quick scan of individual +/-, team +/-, and salary.
"When you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe"
Fistric would be a good one too. Good catch, I only looked at this year’s upcoming FA.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 20, 2010 4:07 PM EST up reply actions
NSH VAN PHX and PIT are probably not going to be looking to trade vets for youth as they are seated in good playoff positions Bergeron would be a nice addition but having to pluck a french canadian from the mother land of Montreal might be difficult.
All excellent points. It’s highly unlikely – damn near impossible – that O’Brien or Hamhuis get moved. Like you said, Bergeron would probably be too expensive since Gainey is notorious for over-valuing his own players. Skoula is also unlikely and I wouldn’t want to trade with Pittsburgh anyway, unless they want John Grahame.
Michalek might be the most realistic option that I named since Phoenix won’t want to pay him too much next year. They have Mueller, Upshall, Hanzal, and Lombardi as free agents after the season. Obviously, they have the cap space, but most likely not the funds.
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by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 20, 2010 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
actually, Geoff
Hamhuis is considered (fan conjecture) our most tradeable asset especially with the resigning of Kevin Klein.
Give me Coburn and Asham and Hamhuis is all yours.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 21, 2010 9:07 AM EST up reply actions
Hmm… Coburn and Hamhuis are fairly similar, so I’m not sure that really helps either side.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 21, 2010 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
eh
Not seeing similarities, really, at least very many. They’re both defensemen?
Granted, I don’t watch much Flyers, but Hamhuis is much more finesse-oriented from what I’ve seen.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 21, 2010 1:00 PM EST up reply actions
also
Hamhuis is widely considered to be ready for top pair duty, if that makes any difference.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 21, 2010 1:00 PM EST up reply actions
I was looking mainly at hits, giveaways, points, salary, free agency after the year (true, Coburn is RFA, but that means more value for him), GVT, similar qualcomp, low SA/60…
Basically, a bunch of stats show similar numbers. The differences are there, but if the Flyers are looking to improve, I think it would be a Ryan Parent/Danny Syvret/Kevin Marshall and a Jared Ross/Andreas Nodl/Arron Asham for Hamhuis.
But I’m not a GM, and I obviously want to improve my team, so I could be way off. But Hamhuis is 3 years older, more expensive, and doesn’t bring a draft pick back if we don’t resign him like Coburn does.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 21, 2010 1:08 PM EST up reply actions
I would venture that there is no way that Michalek gets dealt. He is the top shutdown defenseman on the Coyotes and his play is one of the reasons they are in contention. I think he is also seen as a building block for the defense into the future (granted, I thought the same thing about Ballard and they traded him). As for all those free agents, they are mostly RFAs so they won’t engender HUGE deals (Lombardi being the only exception).
I’m not sure what is going to happen when/if new ownership shows up, but (hopefully) they will be spending a bit of money and creeping us a bit closer to the cap…
Philly Sports and Coyotes Hockey - and yes, I am tired of defending my teams...
by Jordan Ellel on Jan 21, 2010 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I had no idea Mueller was struggling so much (seriously, who knows about the Coyotes?) this year, so he’ll probably come cheap. Nine points this year is it?
Michalek seems vastly underrated to me, so if the Flyers could steal him, I’d be ecstatic. Not sure how big the Yotes are on him, but who knows? Money issues, lack of an eye for talent, desire to get something back in case he signs elsewhere, etc.
It’s always good to get your opinion on the Coyotes though, since you’re about the only person around here that can name more than Upshall and Bryzgalov.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 21, 2010 2:02 PM EST up reply actions
Happy to help – being a season ticket holder gives one some insights.
As for some of the issues. Mueller has been a train wreck since his first year. They (Gretzky and mentally-challenged coaching staff pre-Tippett) wanted him to bulk up a lot during the offseason, so he stayed in the valley and added about 15 pounds. Unfortunately, he didn’t add lean muscle and when he got back on the ice he was noticeably slower than in the past…so they tried to thin him back up. Combined with the constant line-juggling that Gretzky did, he never found a groove. In comes Tippett and Mueller just has no idea what is expected of him. At first he is on an ultra-fast line with Upshall and Lombardi and can’t keep up, then he is getting benched a bit because he doesn’t work hard in the corners…he is starting to play better over the last 2-3 weeks and scored a real pretty goal against the Brodeur when the Devils were in town.
As for Michalek, I think the league as a whole does undervalue him (and perhaps some Coyotes fans), but the organization and smart fans know exactly what they have and have no interest in moving him. Michalek and Yandle are the two young stalwarts that the Coyotes hope will anchor the defense for years to come…that’s my opinion at least, and I think Maloney and the front office agrees.
The real issue for the Coyotes are up front where they just don’t have a lot of upper level talent – plenty of grinders and guys with potential, but Turris, Tikhonov and Boedker (and Mueller to some extent) just aren’t panning out the way one would hope…
A guy the Coyotes might be willing to move is a Jim Vandermeer, but I’m not sure that he has much value for the Flyers…
Philly Sports and Coyotes Hockey - and yes, I am tired of defending my teams...
by Jordan Ellel on Jan 21, 2010 2:12 PM EST up reply actions
I have a feeling we’d wind up picking up a guy like Andrew Alberts, if for no other reason than we seem to always stay with guys that have some sort of Philly connection in this kind of deal.
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by Travis Hughes on Jan 21, 2010 2:39 AM EST up reply actions
If they liked Alberts they could have kept him I though Alberts was horrible towards the end of last season.
Another name that I would love but the cap hit of 3 million might be a bit much to fit. Is Andy Sutton of the Islanders. He is big physical blocks tons of shots and everytime we play against him on the Thrashers or Islanders he seem to make a impact on the game. He is also going UFA at the end of this year. I dare would dare the Pens to run at him during the playoffs like they did Kimmo. The probably would though after his hit on Dupis last night.
http://thepuckdoctors.com/2010/01/will-sutton-face-suspension-for-hit-on-dupius/
If we get Andrew Alberts back I will cry openly on the streets.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Sure I’d love Eric Staal but theres no way that happens. Powe and Asham play valuable roles on this team and I think they are both important to the development of JVR so no “upgrade” is needed. If I had to choose one I’d say defense definitely. Blue lines win championships.
The Flyers need to be careful about any move they make though. IMO the biggest reason behind the Flyers playing like a Field Hockey team for a month and a half was a lack of chemistry. Gagne, Powe and Betts were all hurt. thats three players from three different lines meaning virtually every line had to be shuffled. Players could not develop chemistry and as such we could not score goals. Sure I’d love to upgrade that 3rd defensive pairing but I don’t really see anyone we could trade. Sure Parent or Bartulis may be attractive to a team that is rebuilding but do we really want to trade a young defenseman for someone like Leopold and then risk losing him and Coburn to UFA?
The team we have now is likely our best option for the rest of the season. We just need to hope that Parent gets healthy and upgrades our defense the natural way.
Staal was also just named captain of the Hurricanes. Doubtful that he’d be on the block so soon thereafter
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 20, 2010 1:41 PM EST up reply actions
As much as a change may have been needed there, I would much rather have seen Brindy give up the C on his own than be stripped of it. Many of us didn’t want him to leave when he was traded.
by DragonGirl0583 on Jan 20, 2010 7:03 PM EST up reply actions
Ideally...
… the Flyers can get a good second-pair defenseman and a good “depth” forward – maybe someone who doesn’t play every night, but who can be good off the bench.
The Flyers lack immediate depth up front. Sure, they have a number of prospects in the system, but once people get injured they really don’t have anyone who can step right in and contribute offensively. Remedying that would be a huge plus.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Last year
If we all think back to the deadline last year, we had to get rid of two valuable members of the chemistry. Casual fans might not even remember Ossi Vananan and Metro, but Mike Richards does. He went after Homer last year by saying that the chemistry got ruined not so much from just Scottie Upshall, but from Metro and Ossi. I think the move is to trade a Jonathan Motsumoto (Powe, Richie, Carts, Betts, Briere are all blocking him form coming up, and they’ll all be here for a while), a young D-man (Bartullis, Syvret, Burdon, or Marshall), and (as much as I hate to say it because Leighton saved our season and we all love Boosh) a goalie for a high second tier D-man—- even if it’s for a rental of just this year (think Prospal and how crucial he was in that long playoff run). When this “rental” walks at the end of the year we have the other young D-men to step up for next year. Trading Ash or Powe would be detrimental to this team. We don’t need any more wingers, we have great depth with Pyorola, Ross (he played great last year in the playoffs), Legin, and Maroon.
by orangeandblack20 on Jan 20, 2010 4:09 PM EST reply actions
Metro and Ossi were cuts before the deadline to get Briere back from LTIR after we went way over the Cap in trading Eminger for Carle at the beginning of the year. Upshall was the same thing plus he wasn’t going to be resigned this year as he was going RFA.
Not my point. All I’m saying is that trading/letting go a 3rd/4th line player or a lower D-man does a lot more than just hurt the team on paper
by orangeandblack20 on Jan 20, 2010 10:04 PM EST up reply actions
To be honest, trading a goalie after we determine Emery’s health status is probably on Homer’s radar.
Leighton and Boosh both saw their stock go up while they were a starter for us, because nobody was really blaming Boosh for the losses. I think Homer is carrying all 3 right now because he is fairly certain that if he send one to the AHL, they’re going to be claimed off waivers by another team if we call them up again. The only rational way to drop to 2 goaltenders is to trade one, because then we’d at least get something back.
by DragonGirl0583 on Jan 20, 2010 5:02 PM EST up reply actions
When was the last time the Flyers had too many decent goalies and were looking to trade?
If they can pick up a stay at home d-man that is responsible in our end, then I am all for it.
by save a whale eat penguins on Jan 20, 2010 8:16 PM EST up reply actions
This
A thousand times this. I constantly rag on our defense for not being able to orchestrate a breakout properly, but this is the thing that annoys me more than any other. There isn’t one defenseman on the Flyers who doesn’t play the puck. When’s the last time you saw someone getting knocked down in the slot before they put the puck in the net? And how many times do you see four Flyers on the same side of the ice converging on the same player. It’s silly how much they need a stay at home dman.
That was supposed to be Parent…
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 21, 2010 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
Who is Parent?
Always injured, no one cares.
Who is Parent?
Parent is the one who is never there.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Wow, was he 15 when that was taken?
And did he seriously sign that??
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 21, 2010 4:53 PM EST up reply actions
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