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Grading the 2010 Flyers: David Laliberte

By Geoffrey Detweiler
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via Life.com
Grade: B
09/10 Salary: $540,000
10/11 Cap Hit: $550,000
Linemates: 33.55% Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk
Depth Chart Ranking: #6 Right Wing

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GP G A P +/- PIM PPG GWG Hits TOI/G SOG PCT
2009 - David Laliberte 11 2 1 3 1 6 0 1 13 7:47 8 25.0

TOI/60 QualComp QualTeam G/60 PTS/60 GFON/60 GAON/60 OZS% Fen% Cor% PTake/60 PDraw/60
AdvancedStats 6.93 -0.119 -0.245 1.57 2.36 3.15 2.36 44.1 .407 .452 1.6 0.8

Welcome back David Laliberte! The Flyers re-signed the restricted free agent on Tuesday, calming all of our nerves. Next year, when the team is desperate to fill a lineup spot with someone who can score 2 goals in two games, they know they have that guy.

But seriously, David Laliberte. He'll surely be great on the Phantoms next year, maybe even playing a dozen games for the Flyers. Signing him to a two-way, one year deal worth only $550,000 in the NHL is excellent. He'll make the Phantoms better, he can fill in for the Flyers, and if he doesn't earn a roster spot this year, he's let go. Literally no risk since he has the same cap hit as Riley Cote, but even Laliberte is able to be sent down to the Phantoms and actually deserve playing time there.

There really isn't much to say about Laliberte. With the Flyers desperate for players in the playoffs, he stepped in and played one game (5:32 TOI). Good for him. Maybe he can earn a spot on the Flyers after they trade away Simon Gagne and thin out their wingers even more. After all, he does model his game after Gagne.

He had a really good year in Adirondack, scoring 46 points in 66 games, good for second most on the team behind Jonathan Matsumoto. And while his plus/minus numbers weren't great (minus-11), nobody in Adirondack had great numbers there. In fact, Laliberte was just behind Andreas Nodl's minus-10, and we all think he's defensively responsible. All these things point to a possible NHL future for Laliberte, but it's by no means likely.

As someone who, in his most recent 10 NHL games was a minus-3, scored zero points, and had 6 penalty minutes, he probably has a ways to go before cracking an NHL roster. Which is sad because his name is awesome to say and he's yet another French-Canadian that we can lord over Montreal Canadiens fans.

He gets a B because in 12 NHL games, the former fourth-round pick already has more goals than second-round pick Andreas Nodl has in 58 games. So, good on you David.

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