Grocery Shopping: Offseason problems and possible solutions

As I've scouted the rumor mill, I've heard some crazy things and some things that make sense, but the two main things I've pulled together for the Flyers this offseason have been 1) getting a top-shelf goaltender and 2) acquiring a new blue liner (again). I'll address these one of a time with three solutions, Dream on, slight chance, and what I think will happen.

First situation, finding a new goaltender, there are rumors swirling all over the place about Bryzgalov and Vokoun and such, but we're going to need some tricky moves to be able to get some of these guys

Class 1: Dream On

Acquiring goaltenders like Henrik Lundqvist or Ryan Miller,

Yes folks, theres talk of the Flyers making a run at one of these two juggarnauts, the simple thought is crazy, but looking deep into it is even crazier, Lundqvist is in-division, therefore there is no way that the Rangers are giving up the services of the man they call King for anything less than top dollar, I'm talking about things like Giroux/JVR and Carter, maybe more, which would be plain suicide for a team like us to give up that much scoring, not going to happen, Miller may surprisingly be cheaper considering the circumstances, but in no way are we going to be willing to give up what it would take to get Miller, I would venture to say Giroux/JVR, Carle and a pick, not gonna happen, not to mention they're a cap hit of 6.87(Lundqvist) and 6.25(Miller) respectively, it would be real tough to get a team together with these guys being added, we would have to blow up the team to fit them, neither of these, will happen.

Class 2: Slight-to-Good Chance

Signing Bryzgalov or Vokoun, or trading for Backstrom, Kiprusoff, or Brodeur

The most popular rumors are that we will be after Tomas Vokoun or Ilya Bryzgalov, both quite intriguing options but with the style of contract he wants I don't see us signing Bryzgalov for the 4-5 years and 5 or so million he wants, in which case we would likely ship off players like Carle and Hartnell to make the room. For me as far as free agency goes, Vokouns the way to go, we can likely get him cheaper, and for 1 or 2 years so he can go for a cup, perfect time for Bob to grow and become the number 1 goalie, still, I don't see us signing a goaltender.

The trade market is also hot with rumors as The Flyers have been linked to Niklas Backstrom, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Martin Brodeur to name a few. I don't think (also hope) that we will trade for Kiprusoff, he's had mostly bad years recently and aside from the 2009-2010 season, Kippers been on a decline, and with his contract 4 more years and a 5.83 million dollar cap hit, it doesn't seem likely that we will go after him. Backstrom, though, is an interesting possibility, he has 2 more years left and 6 million cap hit, but we could possibly fit him in, even do a trade where it may include Brent Burns, another player we've been linked to that I will address later, it will require a trade of some money, and guys like Carle, Hartnell and Versteeg, but it's a definite possibility, don't count out this deal. The oddest but strangely possible trade rumor is The Philadelphia Flyers.....going after nemisis Martin Brodeur, The Devils are desperate for a puck moving defenseman (that's where Matt Carle comes in), compared to some of the other options Marty is relatively cheap, 5.2 million cap hit for only 1 more season, Marty's on his career death bed and will likely retire when his contract runs out, but if we want to make one big run at the cup, and we believe Bob is only one year away from being a big time starter, this might be a way to go, though I doubt the Devils will pull the trigger with Marty, they just don't have it in them, not going to happen.

Class 3: What I believe will happen

Trading for Evgeni Nabokov

Not much to say here, it's the newest and strongest rumor, the Islanders are looking for a position player like Scott Hartnell or Matt Carle to get the deal done, I think we're serious about getting a netminder, have had interest in Nabokov in the past, and his Russian heritage could help Bob become the best he can be.

2) Acquiring a new blue liner

The Flyers have been linked specifically to Brent Burns, so we're obviously interested in a new defenseman, so I thought about it and thought up some possibilities.

Class 1: Dream On

Signing Shea Weber

The Flyers have not been linked to Weber at all, but there has been some thought that Kimmo Timonen may retire or be traded, Timonen being traded is not very likely considering his advanced age and insanely high contract (6.33 million for 2 more years), Timonen is just about unmovable. So on the off chance that Timonen does retire, we may have interest in Shea Weber, but more than likely, not going to happen.

Class 2: Slight Chance

Trading for Brent Burns

The Minnesota Wild have been rumored to be shopping Brent Burns around, looking for some offense. Teams of interest include the Devils and the Flyers, we do have offensive firepower to spare and could do a deal that includes both Backstrom and Burns if we're looking to pull off an absolute blockbuster, will it happen? not likely, but we cant rule it out with GM Paul Holmgren's trade past.

Class 3: What I believe will happen

Nothing major

I can see The Flyers signing a new 6th Defenseman to replace the old and weary Sean O'Donnell, but nothing major, we may not even do that, a Defenseman like Kevin Marshall or Marc-Andre Bourdon could likely happen as soon as next year.

The Flyers have some needs this offseason, nothing more prominent than the goaltending situation, these are a few scenarios but we will see what happens