More photos » by Chris O'Meara - ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brendan Shanahan was cut by the Devils at the end of training camp.

Browse more photos »

The Fourth Period and the Ottawa Sun are both reporting that the Philadelphia Flyers are interested in forward Brendan Shanahan. Most recently, Shanahan played for the New Jersey Devils. He was cut by that team on October 1 after several young players pushed him out of a roster spot.

"Over the past couple of days Jacques (Lemaire) and I have had conversations," Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said at the time (via ILWT). "The unexpected has transpired. It's not that Brendan cannot play. It's that these (young) players have become something special at this time."

The Flyers could afford the 40-year-old Shanahan, who is making $1 million this season and still being paid by the Devils. It would push them close to the salary cap, given that they are currently about 1.64 million under the limit, but to get Shanahan on the roster another forward would presumably have to go, freeing up cap space.

Shanahan, a future Hall of Famer, could be seen as a welcome veteran presence on a relatively young Flyers roster.

More photos » by Tom Mihalek - AP

Browse more photos »

From The Fourth Period...

It's believed the Flyers have been shopping the likes of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Simon Gagne for some time. Forward Joffrey Lupul was also on the block, but he was packaged in the deal for Pronger.

...and from The Ottawa Sun...

If the Canadiens can't swing a deal for Tampa C Vincent Lecavalier, Flyers C Daniel Briere could be the prize behind door No. 2.

While Flyers GM Paul Holmgren didn't get any bites as he shopped around his high-priced centre at the draft, it doesn't mean he struck out.

Habs GM Bob Gainey could turn his attention to landing Briere, if his bid for Lecavalier fails.

Sources say the Flyers would also like to trade W Simon Gagne.

It's been reported before that the Canadiens have already passed on Briere once this offseason. But I don't think it's a surprise if Holmgren is still shopping him and his ludicrious contract. Offering up Gagne on the trading block, however, is a big concern. Gagne's excellent comeback from a concussion last season was, very quietly, one of the best stories of the year in the NHL, and taking his production out of the lineup could be a severe mistake.

As for Hartnell, his chemistry with Jeff Carter was a major contribution to Jeff's 46 goal season last year. That shouldn't be overlooked.

More photos » by Steve Mitchell - AP

Don't let this ridiculous picture fool you. Jay Bouwmeester is a hell of a hockey player, and the Flyers are on his radar.

Browse more photos »

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren spoke to the media for about a half hour on Wednesday night, and while making remarks about everything from the draft to the goaltender situation to James van Riemsdyk's prospects of making the team this season, the most intriguing bits of information came on the Jay Bouwmeester front. The all-star, soon-to-be-free-agent defenseman has put the Flyers on his radar, and Holmgren made it clear that the feelings are mutual.

It's become rather clear that Bouwmeester does not want to re-sign with the Florida Panthers, so it's possible that they could be enticed to trade his rights away before July 1, when the free agency period begins. That way, they would get an asset for a player that is just going to walk away in a few weeks regardless. The same situation occured in 2001 when the Flyers traded for the rights to Jeremy Roenick in order to sign him before he hit the open free agent market. It also happened more recently in 2007 when the team did the same thing to get exclusive negotiating rights with Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. In each of those situations, the players were signed before July 1, when they would've been available to the open market.

Florida, however, does not currently have a general manager. That brings up some uncertainty in the process.

"We're not sure how Florida is dealing," Holmgren said. But when asked if the club will trade Bouwmeester before July 1, he said "there's a good chance of that happening" and that he expects the trade market at the draft to be "very active."

So do the Flyers have a chance to acquire the rights to Bouwmeester before July 1? It might be their only hope of signing the strong, young defenseman, considering how close they are to the salary cap. A trade of a current roster player and perhaps a draft pick for the rights to Bouwmeester could potentially get the team under the cap enough to sign him. But of course, there is definite risk in trading for a player that will be a free agent in just a few short weeks, just in case you don't finalize a deal.

There are at least five other teams interested in Bouwmeester's services come July 1, though, and exclusive negotiating rights to him would give the Flyers a definite upper hand. Without that extra window, the orange and black could lose out in the sweepstakes due to their lack of excessive salary cap space. They currently sit $4 million-plus under the cap, but Bouwmeester made almost $5 million a season in his last contract. It's believed that he could earn up to seven-plus years at $8 million in the deal he receives this coming summer.

If Holmgren's inclinations are correct, though, Bouwmeester could be traded away from Florida next week, and Philadelphia could be his destination. Whether or not they keep him long-term is a bigger story.

Some highlights from the rest of Holmgren's press conference:

• The Flyers aren't putting Martin Biron out of the picture just yet. They are still talking to the goaltender but as Holmgren said, "the window is closing."
• Mike Knuble and Andrew Alberts are expected to be free agents come July 1, but the team is looking to sign each of them before that date comes.
  
• Holmgren doesn't expect James van Riemsdyk to make the Flyers out of training camp this fall, but he did qualify that by saying anything can happen. After all, he expected Claude Giroux to make the team out of camp and that didn't happen.
  
• Besides Biron, Holmgren mentioned the names of Antero Niittymaki and Robert Esche as goalies on his radar. He also mentioned "other free agents" that will be available without naming names. The free-agent market includes guys like Scott Clemmensen and Craig Anderson, two guys that won't command a ton of money and have proven in the past year to be capable NHL starters.
  
• Finally, the general manager said that it's unlikely the Flyers will take a goalie with the 21st pick in next weekend's NHL draft in Montreal (which Broad Street Hockey will be reporting live from, remember!).

According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, the Flyers have contacted the Los Angeles Kings and the Montreal Canadiens about a potential deal involving forward Danny Briere.

From the Gazette...

The folks in Philly have talked to the Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings, but neither team was interested. There also is a report that they have talked to the Phoenix Coyotes, although you have to wonder whether anyone has the authority to talk on behalf of the team that may or may not be bankrupt and/or on the way to Hamilton.

Montreal passed on Brière because, despite their previous interest, the last thing they need is a small centre with a cap hit of $6.5 million for each of the next six seasons.

There are two things of interest in here. First off, if this account is true, the Flyers are apparently actively shopping Briere in an attempt to clear cap space before the free agency period. Also, though, of course, Montreal is one of the teams that you could quickly imagine Briere waiving his no-movement clause to play for, and the fact that they are turning him down is striking in that sense.

From The Fourth Period...

Having already lured free agent goalie Ray Emery to town, a signing that will be made official as soon as the free agent market opens, the Flyers need a backup goaltender and are looking for an upgrade on the blueline.

[Jay] Bouwmeester sits atop Philadelphia's wish list, but signing him will require another body to move.

The Daily News suggests the Flyers are interested in re-signing Mike Knuble, who can also become a UFA this summer.

According to the paper, the Flyers might try to move Joffrey Lupul and his annual salary of just over $2.31 million.

The major plus that comes with signing Emery and dumping Martin Biron is that the Flyers presumably clear almost two million in cap space for next season. A move of the streaky Lupul would give the Flyers a lot more cap flexibility in chasing after Bouwmeester, and they're going to need it considering at least five other teams are in the running for the free agent defenseman.

Other teams are also very interested in Knuble, should the Flyers not re-sign him before July 1. The Rangers are rumored to want to bring Knuble to Broadway for the second time in his career, although the Flyers are just as eager to keep his strong veteran presence in the Philadelphia locker room.

In my opinion, this is all good news. Losing Lupul could hurt the locker room in the same way that losing Scottie Upshall did. But from a hockey standpoint, if his loss means the gain of a player like Jay Bouwmeester, we'll forget about Lupul rather quickly.

So here it is: J-Bo to Philadelphia for Daniel Briere. It’s win-win, I tells ya. Florida is ranked 17th in the NHL in goals-for and Briere gives them a No. 1 center (Nathan Horton has never scored more than 62 points in a season – that’s not No. 1 center production). On the defensive side, the Panthers will naturally have to reconcile the Nick Boynton situation, but assuming they do, the uptick in offense will counterbalance the loss on defense (and hey, that’s a pretty good return for a UFA).

For Philly fans, the math is simple: Briere’s contract is a millstone around the franchise’s neck ($6.5 million for the next six seasons after this campaign) and the team seemed to do fine when he was on the shelf with injuries. Most teams would kill for the depth the Flyers have at center and I think the Black and Orange will do just fine with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter down the middle, don’t you?

Briere’s contract does include a no-trade clause, but that hasn’t stopped teams from moving players in similar situations in the past.

In exchange, the Flyers pick up a No. 1 defenseman in Bouwmeester, which effectively primes them for a run at the Stanley Cup, assuming Martin Biron has some leftover playoff magic from last season.

>> Ryan Kennedy, The Hockey News

We've all complained about Danny's return -- how we've been fine without him, how he's hurting chemistry by returning, how worthy players are out of the lineup because of him, how he is a drain on the salary cap -- but would you really pull the trigger on a deal for him?

Mr. Kennedy makes a great case for this trade. My beef with the whole Bouwmeester thing has been that I didn't want to see our offensive depth go or one of Carle and Coburn go in the trade. Trading Briere for J-Bo, straight up, achieves that.

For me, it comes down to this. I love this deal. I think it's excellent, and it seriously solves our cap problem. BUT, I wouldn't do it if we're not guaranteed to sign Bouwmeester. I don't want a rental player, no matter who it is.

And how much would we be adding if we did sign Bouwmeester to a long-term contract? I'm sure it wouldn't be at Briere's level, but it definitely could strap the cap situation down again.

Would you do this trade?

hat tip to Litter Box Cats on the original story

Interesting conversation with a source out of Philly that the Penguins, who were active Thursday acquring Chris Kunitz and a prospect for defenseman Ryan Whitney, are trying to pry forward Scottie Upshall from the Flyers, who are trying to free up space to secure their blue line. They would love to deal Danny Briere, but no one wants the salary or years that come with him. The Flyers are also very much pursuing Tomas Kaberle and Jay Bouwmeester.

Could Upshall be on the Bruins radar? Maybe.

>> James Murphy, Stanley Cup of Chowder

I find it hard to believe that the Flyers would trade Upshall to the a divisional opponent at this time of year, especially when that opponent is the Penguins, who still happen to be in the playoff mix. A deal of Upshall would make sense though given his cap hit of $1.125 million and the fact that he will be a free agent at the end of the season (albeit a restricted one). The Flyers depth on offense makes a guy like Upshall expendable, but it would sheerly be a numbers trade and I wouldn't expect anything to come back.

But it would free up space for that defenseman the Flyers are searching for. As I said the other day, a deal for Jay Bouwmeester would have a defenseman such as Matt Carle or Braydon Coburn going back in the other direction to Florida. That would be a mistake. Those guys mean too much to this Flyers team and their subtraction from the lineup would hurt, regardless of who is coming back in the deal. The other half of that rumored deal included Joffrey Lupul, and with Upshall out, Lupul cannot go. Without Lupul and Upshall, the dynamic offensive depth the Flyers have is significantly diminished.

Another guy the Flyers could ship out to make room under the cap is Randy Jones. He's been playing a ton of minutes lately in the absence of Kimmo Timonen, but we all for the most part agree that he's not worthy of those minutes. The fact that he is getting them could be because there isn't another guy there to take over, or because the Flyers really are high on the guy. The contract extension Holmgren signed him to suggests the latter, unfortunately. I don't see the Flyers trading Jones for two reasons: a) I think they like him and b) his contract.

So that turns us to Tomas Kaberle, the defenseman from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flyers are very high on him, and they almost dealt Jeff Carter last year in order to get him. Obviously, with Carter's emergence this year as one of the best scorers in the NHL, Paul Holmgren is glad he didn't get that deal done, and he wouldn't offer Carter up again this year. But that proves the interest in Kaberle is there.

He is costly though. His cap hit is at 4.25 million, although when you get someone at the deadline, you don't incur that entire number since the season is almost over. Without Upshall, it probably works under the cap. It's just a question of who goes back to the Leafs. They'd probably get a good prospect and a pick or two.