Flyers stand pat at deadline; likely held back by lack of assets

The Flyers did absolutely nothing at the 2010 NHL trade deadline, despite being extremely active on the phones over the last few days. Why weren't they able to pull the trigger on a deal? It all comes back to the same problems that we've seen for the entire season. They have almost no draft picks, no major prospects in the professional ranks, and no cap room.

These results are not surprising.

Paul Holmgren still tried, though. He tried to get Dan Hamhuis. He tried to get Tomas Vokoun. He tried to get Dwayne Roloson, Raffi Torres and Joe Corvo. In the end, he was either outbid by another team or just didn't have enough to give up.

Let's break it down player by player, after the jump.

We'll start off with Hamhuis, because he's the guy that most rumors were around. The Predators wound up holding onto the defenseman, saying that they felt they needed him for the stretch run. Translation? David Poile didn't get a good enough offer, and part of that is because the Flyers didn't have much of anything to give up.

The rumors were that Ryan Parent and maybe Braydon Coburn were offered to the Predators, but as we've heard out of Nashville, they don't really need a defenseman. They wanted a second line forward, and looking at the Flyers roster, all of their second line forwards have no-trade clauses.

With Tomas Vokoun, it came out that Panthers general manager Randy Sexton wasn't shopping the goaltender but that they were listening to offers that came in. The Flyers reportedly made one of those offers, but Sexton apparently asked for Jeff Carter. Holmgren stuck to his guns on Carter by not trading him away, but subsequent offers of Scott Hartnell or Simon Gagne were tough because each player has a no-trade clause.

Vokoun would have waived his NTC to come to Philadelphia, but it's hard to believe Hartnell or Gagne would do the same to go to Florida. Again, no-trade clauses bit the Flyers in the rear. Vokoun wasn't moved before the deadline.

The other goalie on the market, Dwayne Roloson, stayed with his team as well. Reports say that Isles general manager Garth Snow wasn't offered enough either, and that he wasn't willing to give up Roloson for nothing. The Flyers, again, had nothing to give up due to a lack of draft picks or a bunch of no-trade clauses.

Raffi Torres, who the Flyers were rumored to be in the running for, wound up going to the Sabres for a second round pick and Nathan Paetsch. If the Flyers had a second round pick, they could've been in the running, but in this case that may have been a hefty price to pay. That's debatable, though.

At the end near the deadline, they were also rumored to be in on defenseman Joe Corvo, who went to the Capitals for Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala and a second round pick. Again, a second round pick. The Flyers lack of draft picks absolutely killed any negotiations today.

We knew this coming into the day, but some of us hoped that Holmgren would get creative with us. At the end of the day, the goalies are the same, the forwards are the same and the defense is the same. Nothing happened. Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Washington all got better at the deadline or in the days leading up to the deadline. Is it okay that the Flyers stood their ground?