It's the mark of the Flyers, unfortunately. They find and have great young talent play for them for 1-2 years, and then either trade them or leave via free agency so that they can go after new project goalies or a one-legged Chris Pronger...So when has this not worked out for them to better their team?
So when has this not worked out for them to better their team?Plenty of times:
And besides, which new project goalies have they gone after that haven't worked out? So far they've really only gone after Bryzgalov, and he's been playing great this year.Martin Biron, Michael Leighton, Robert Esche, Antero Nittymaki, Ray Emery, Roman Cechmanov, Dominic Roussel...
And Chris Pronger was far from one legged when they got him. Unfortunately now he is. Thankfully, the Flyers can use amnesty.I don't think so. Plus he's been a massive cap hit and will continue to be so until the end of the 2014-15 season.
They traded for Chris Pronger and the team got better.Because of him?
They traded away Richards and Carter, and the team got better.Carter was a good salary dump move, yes. Richards- no.
Is there a problem with this? JVR just was not cashing in on the promise of his draft position. Ironically, they have a guy on the team right now who was selected 7th overall in that same draft and has made much more of his time in the NHL than JVR has in every category...points, goals, assists, points per game. Only he plays right wing, JVR plays left.So in 2013 JVR has 10 pts, Schenn has 4 -- and you consider that a success ? I guess Schenn's about $1 million cheaper per year.
2008 R.J. Umberger: A good 2-way center with Philly, traded to Columbus for 2008 1st rounder (Lucas Sbisa) + 2008 3rd rounder (Marc-Andre Bourdon). Umberger is the solid player on the Blue Jackets and has been better in every season since than he was on Philly.Umberger's defensive skills are really overrated and he's a slightly above average offensive center. He was the weakest link of the core of centers the Flyers had and he was too good offensively and not good enough defensively to be the a 4th line grinder center. Now I'm not sure, but do you approve or disapprove of Lucas Sbisa here? Just curious because seemingly you knock the trade, yet in the next year you praise him and ask why he was traded away?
2009 Chris Pronger: For a massive deal including many valuable picks (Joffrey Lupul. Lucas Sbias, 2009 1st rounder (John Moore) , 2010 1st rounder and 2010 or 2011 conditional 3rd rounder), the Flyers picked up a hideously expensive player who has been hobbled by multiple injuries. Sbisa had a great year with Anaheim, and Lupul, while not impressive with Anaheim, just had his best season with Toronto.
2010 Simon Gagne: In exchange for garbage, Gagne is moved to the Lightning where he has a good year, and then goes to L.A. via free agency to help them win a Stanley Cup a year later.You're right about the garbage, but the Flyers had to make a cap move and Gagne was costing too much money for the amount of time he played and how much he contributed. Glad he won a Cup though (by riding the pine 95% of the time) because he's a guy that deserved to get his name on the Cup, but this is a business and sometimes you gotta let the guy go because he's just not doing it for you with what he's costing. He had a decent year for the Lightning but overall was worse than the year before with the Flyers, and he hasn't done jack since.
2011 Ville Leino: picked up for relatively little from Detroit, Leino had a great couple of years with Philly. Not even an effort to re-sign him once he became a free agent.There was an effort to resign him. However Leino wanted more money than he was worth and he robbed Buffalo blind...I don't even think he has played this year. Now did the team get better? No, but a lot of that can be attributed to the captain and Carter not playing up to snuff that year.
2011 Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and 2012 2nd rounder: Mike Richards was one of the key pickups that helped the Kings win the Stanley Cup. Schenn's a mediocre center and Simmonds has been okay- not as good as Richards.Schenn was also on 20 years old last year and has played well this year. Last I checked, Simmonds had a more productive year than Richards, costs a lot less, and the team DID get better (slightly). On top of that, they got two young forwards both under the age of 21 at the time.
Martin Biron, Michael Leighton, Robert Esche, Antero Nittymaki, Ray Emery, Roman Cechmanov, Dominic Roussel...Martin Biron made the team better and wasn't a project goalie. He was a
I don't think so. Plus he's been a massive cap hit and will continue to be so until the end of the 2014-15 season.They'll get it done so it'll clear. It might be sneaky and snaky, but it will get cleared. To say he was one legged in their SCF run is just so friggin blind of you to say though it's laughable.
Because of him?Absolutely.
Carter was a good salary dump move, yes. Richards- no.It wasn't a bad one either though. Claude Giroux is a good two-way center as well and proved last year he can hang with the other top line players.
So in 2013 JVR has 10 pts, Schenn has 4 -- and you consider that a success ? I guess Schenn's about $1 million cheaper per year.I don't really care that a defensemen only has 4 points 14 games into the season which would equate to about 23 points a season. Especially for a guy who isn't there to be an offensive minded defensemen, not yet anyways. 2ndly, everyone knows that defensemen typically bloom later than forwards unless they are the one in 1000 type guys.
