Flyers Going Forward

The Flyers have made some solid deals in the past few days which show they are not giving up on this season just yet. The acquisitions of Nicklas Grossman and Pavel Kubina address a lot of the needs the Flyers had: a crease-clearing defense-man, two big bodies and some veteran leadership. The Flyers also acquire a right-handed defense-man, which they have not possessed on a night-to-night basis since Jason Smith back in 2008 (the most recent was Matt Walker, and before him Steve Eminger, but both had short stints with the club). Kubina's booming shot will also be gladly welcomed by the Flyers.

So going forward, the Flyers have done the best they can at this point in the season to sure up things on the defensive side of the game. Kubina will most-likely pair with Matt Carle, and be utilized on the power-play as well. Grossman and Meszaros will seemingly be a pairing going forward as well. Should the Flyers' current top-four (Carle, Meszaros, Brayden Coburn and Kimmo Timonen) elevate their play, the Flyers will once again be one of the better defensive teams.

As the forwards continue to score three-plus goals a game, there really only leaves one problem: goaltending. Neither one of Ilya Bryzgalov or Sergei Bobrovsky seem capable of back-stopping a team on a night-to-night basis right now. So this means it's panic time for the Flyers.

Unlike other years when the Flyers had goalie issues, the Flyers are stuck with a goalie for the long-haul. Bryzgalov's huge contract will prevent Philadelphia from acquiring a TRUE number one goalie for years to come.

As far as this year goes, the Flyers can go two different routes: they can a) seek another goaltender, such as Evgeni Nabokov, or b) pick one of the two currently on the team and ride the selected one all the way to the playoffs. The latter seems to be the ideal option, but at this point in time it seems the Flyers are not willing to take the risk of going into the playoffs with inconsistent goaltending.