Will Flyers be buyers at trade deadline?
There are rumblings that Nashville might make all-star defensemen Shea Weber ($7.5 million cap hit) and Ryan Suter ($3.5 million) available. Weber can become a restricted free agent in the summer, while Suter can become an unrestricted free agent.
Of the two, Suter is the more likely to be traded, but the Flyers don't want just a rent-a-player for the stretch. They want assurances they could sign him to a long-term deal.
Suter says he wants to stay in Nashville, but that won't stop the Flyers from pursuing him.
Pronger pact a monkey wrench for FlyersAs the trade deadline approaches, the Flyers are in the process of determining exactly how much salary they can take on. But if it was hard to predict in December how Pronger will feel in May, it's more daunting to guesstimate now how Pronger will react to physical exertion in September, should he even want to risk his future day-to-day health.
As it stands, the Flyers have north of $3 million in cushion to add for the rest of this season. That's not the problem. It's predicting the future. Next year, the Flyers already have $21.3 million committed to Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, Andreas Lilja and Erik Gustafsson. Matt Carle ($3.437 million) is the Flyers' only unrestricted free agent.
Flyers deny JVR rumorsFlyers left winger James van Riemsdyk isn’t going anywhere _ at least for now.
A Flyers official denied a report that JVR was headed to Toronto for defenseman Luke Schenn.
“Not happening,” he said.
Schenn is the older brother of Brayden, the Flyers’ rookie center.
Van Riemsdyk, 22, has limitless potential (see last year’s playoff outburst), but has had a mediocre season (11 goals, 11 assists), one that has been slowed by injuries. Still, he has drawn interest from numerous general managers who are trying to persuade Flyers GM Paul Holmgren to move him.
NHL Trade Speculation: Could the Flyers Pry Keith Yandle Away from Phoenix?Keith Yandle has been the glue that's been holding together a struggling Phoenix Coyotes team. As it stands now, the Coyotes sit in ninth place in the Western Conference with 39 points, and the team is currently under .500.
It's a tough thing to watch, especially since the Coyotes have plenty of talent on their roster. They just can't seem to pull it all together.
Phoenix recently traded disgruntled forward Kyle Turris to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for David Rundblad and a second-round draft pick. They also traded their star goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to the Philadelphia Flyers in the offseason last year. Even with all these shake-ups, it still hasn't seemed to change much.
Flyers not interested in McCabe or SarichAccording to sources, the Flyers do not have interest in two defensemen that would have readily been available: free agent veteran Bryan McCabe and Calgary’s Cory Sarich.
Sarich, 33, is in the last season of a 5-year, $18 million contract. He has been a healthy scratch for 11 of the Flames’ games this season and reportedly requested a trade last week to escape from the press box. Though his cap hit is $3.6 million, which the Flyers could not afford once Pronger is healthy again, I am told they are not even interested in him if he hits re-entry waivers to nab him at half price for the rest of the season.
Are the Flyers looking to make a deal?For the long term, Holmgren likely needs to make a trade to bring in depth replacements. It's tough to be successful on a nightly basis while asking two rookies to play nearly 30 minutes per game.
Other defensemen with experience in the system - such as Matt Walker and Oskars Bartulis - would first need to clear re-entry waivers, where they would be subject to a claim at half their salary-cap price. Bartulis, 24, almost surely would be claimed for $300,000 and the Flyers would be stuck with the other $300,000 as a salary-cap penalty without anything to show for it.
Problems in the Flyers nets?Bryzgalov: “I Have Zero Confidence In Myself”
Through the first 10 games of the season, it doesn’t look like $51 million well spent. Ilya Bryzgalov has allowed nine goals in a 24-hour span and an unfathomable 18 goals in his last four appearances. He has lost five straight and his biggest critic looks to be himself.
Hartnell not afraid of trade rumorsAccording to the Philadelphia Daily News, Flyers forward Scott Hartnell has admitted his disappointment over losing playing time this season, but still enjoys being a member of the club.
Could the Flyers make a trade?Right now, the Flyers have about $175,000 in cap space.
Among the moves, Holmgren kind of smiled in saying there are ways to do this and the hot rumor of the day was trading Scott Hartnell’s $4.2 million cap hit back to Nashville.
A club source said that the likelihood of a trade seemed "pretty good."
