Vanflyer

And poile got nothing for Suter. Nice job Poile. I wrote this on another post: if either team trades either player at the trade deadline, they are mailing in their season. I think both teams had hopes / expectations of re-signing each player. The best you could have hoped for was trading the players rights away prior to the free agency period. It might have got you a 3rd round pick at best.

Not a good sign for Bourdon's future? WTF? Bourdon had a late season concussion (as did Grossman). He is not known for concussions previous to that. He is 22 y/o and you make it sound like his career is over. Gervais is an insurance policy on the 5/6/7 position. Nothing more or less. Here is Meltzer's article and he said no such thing regarding Bourdons health: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?blogger_id=45 Assuming the Gervais deal gets done and the Flyers otherwise stand pat on defense for the time being, the depth chart would like something like this: 1) Timonen -- Aging All-Star defenseman is coming off back surgery 2) Coburn -- Great stretch drive and playoff; may need to try to pick up offense 3) Schenn -- New arrival; high expectations, underachieving results in Toronto 4) Grossmann -- Knee and concussion issues late in season; strictly defensive D 5) Meszaros -- Coming off back surgery; bigger offensive role and more consistency needed 6) Bourdon -- Surprisingly solid rookie year until concussion issues in stretch/playoffs 7) Gervais -- Adequate younger and right-handed shooting alternative to Lilja 8) Lilja -- Did passable job in 7th D role last season; knows his limitations; over-35 contract 9) Gustafsson -- Would be two or three spots higher but is the only waiver-exempt player

Man, I must be really dumb, but why does everyone say "pursue Weber next year"? He will not be available next year. It is now or never for Weber. Nashville will NOT sign him to a 1 year deal only to watch him walk as a UFA next year. If you want Weber, trade for his rights now or sign him to an offer sheet. Otherwise, put him in your rearview mirror.

Great post and I could not agree more. This is a watershed year of stand pat. We will know everything we need to know about this team in this year: 1) We will learn if Bourdon is ready for the prime time. 2) We will learn if Gustafson is ready for the prime time. 3) We will learn if Wellwood is an energy guy of a top 6 guy. 4) We will learn if Breezy is gold or dust. 5) We will watch Timmo in his swan song. I hope he stays on for two more years as a 3/4. 6) We will watch another year without the Flyers winning the Cup.

Is that you Kuato??

I am 100% with you on that. But when your GM offers Suter a 12 year 80m contract that is YOUR replacement, how can you be mad about "loyalty"? We have no clue on the negotiations behind the scenes prior to the free agent period- but once that hit, the kid gloves were off after Homer made that offer. Perhaps there was a ton of Douchiness prior to the free agent market on Carle's behalf that prompted Homer to make that offer. Perhaps not. We will never know. But once that offer was made to Suter, Carle's bags were packed.

Post of the week. Homer screwed himself when he tendered an offer to a player that publicly made it known he had zero interest of playing in Philly. He tied money up that would have easily signed Carle. Carle gave him a big middle finger back. I was going to post yesterday that I would have withdrawn both offers as soon as both players took more than a day to "think" about it. You either want to play for us or you don't. You get 24 hours. Nothing more. Leaving those offers on the table for those d i c k heads screwed us (and a number of other teams). People should not lament what Carle did. Truthfully I would have done the same. The pisser is that Tampa did not get any better today. Carle is not what they need. The Flyers will be sending a big finger back while Carle is on the golf course next spring.

Now they can! ha ha. Seriously, 4 first rounders for Weber?? Ok- maybe.

<snickers>

I don't get this from you sheep xxxxxx (fill in the blank as you please). Put yourself in Carle's shoes. The Flyers tender a 12 year 80M offer to Suter. IF that contract goes through, then the Flyers don't sign Carle. If you want to say D O U C H E- it should fall to either Homer for offerring the contract to Suter and waiting- or to Suter for waiting so long to make a decision that was made awhile ago.

Is english your first language?

I could not agree more. We also will know whether Bryz had the mettle or not. I am not sure how many people know this, but we have 30M to spend next year (without any increase in cap). Also, do people realize that this is a contract year for Hartnell?? I think Kimmo-sabe will return for a couple of years, but it will be 5m range- not the 6.6 he is making now. All said, we will have to wait ANOTHER year for a SC contender in O&B. But it looks as the philosophy to win now all be damnded has fallen back a bit.

Maybe Tampa also bidded for Suter? At the end of the day, what Parise and Suter did was hi-jack the market for a few days and screw a few teams over. I am VERY pleased that neither of them are a Flyer today after what they did. I hope Weber signs with either Nashville or another Western team so he can bury both of them 8 times a year!!

Which is a total shame. Finally Nashville has some dollars to spend, but it is a day late and a dollar short (pun intended). Nashville general fan base is great. Its a great place to live, etc. If Weber and Nashville do not come to terms, it will be a total bust for them- and for that I feel bad. I have a high admiration for both Poile and Trotz on what they have done there. They are not Phoenix, Atlanta, etc. and have done it with limited corporate sponsors. You can take Tampa, Panthers and Phoenix and move them wherever. Nashville has gutted it out- the right way.

The problem with that scenario is that he would have walked this summer anyway. He had no interest in being a Flyer (and made it very publicly known). So, here is what have happened: You give Carle, a JVR and a pick for Suter to rent him for 3 months. It is easy to say would of, could of, should of. I would rather have Schenn for JVR straight up than rent Suter for 3 months. I think people are giving Suter way too much credit. He is Carle- just better in the defensive zone (but certainly no norris candidate). Nothing more, nothing less. Meltzer (whoms opinion I respect allot) has good points. But the same could be said for Homer on Carle. Carle walked for nothing. I think both Philly and Nashville were hedged their bets towards the playoffs. If Nashville trades Suter at the deadline, that send a message that they are folding. Same for Philly with Carle. I also don't think that Suter or Carle get you a kings ransom at the deadline. They are both complimentary players and rentals with the impending UFA. I am happy for Minnesota, but they did not get stanley cup contender better with the signings.

I think you might be over-valuing Ryan a bit. He has 3 years left on his contract and then is a UFA. I am not giving either a Schenn (Brayden) or a Couturier for him. If he had a longer deal, I might give a top guy for him and picks / prospects. But I think Schenn is going to be really good (ala Richards type of player). Couturier is going to be a superstar. Mark my words on that. Few players can play defense the way he can. The thing is we have not even seen his offense yet (which he is equally adept to) as that was not his role on the team. I personally do not see the value of giving a Schenn / Couturier to get Ryan. Truthfully, I would rather have Nash, but there goes more assets than Ryan to get him. It is funny you mention Umberger- because THAT is a guy I would go and get. It would not cost a core stud on the team to get him and would provide a versatile big body type that we need. I don't think he is first line material- so perhaps you could move Voracek to the first line and plug a Umberger on the second / third line. I wish the Flyers never traded him (umberger). Yet, that trade got us Lucas Sbisa (which helped to get Pronger for better or worse) and Bourdon (both as draft picks). So, in that light, I would do that again. Umberger is a great character guy. I feel bad that he has gutted it out (willingly) in Columbus for so long. I would be EXTREMELY bummed if Pitts got him. Who do you have to get him??

That is a bit extreme isn't it?? I like the guy, but I think "beast" is reserved for guys like Weber, pronger types- which Coburn is neither.

If you are doan- assuming the Phoenix thing it not resolved, where do you want to go play? I would think playing next to Giroux would be at the top of his list. The only question is- has he had enough of Breezy alread??

@BobDailey While I don't think it is the extreme you portray, it certainly does reek. The thing that agitates me the most is two-fold: 1) They both took their sweet old time in deciding- knowing they were leaving teams fates in the balance. 2) They both signed the same place. I don't really care about #2 that much. I mean remember Selanne and Kariya going to Colorado. At least both those guys did it day one of UFA period and for 1m each and openly said they were doing it to win a cup- which of course never panned out. But I respected the way they did it. There was no cloak and daggers about it. The way Parise and Suter did this is very shameful. I am just glad they are in the Western Conference so we don't have to pound them too much.

I think the money would have been okay, it is the 6 years the Flyers would have not have done. I said all along he could get 5+m here for 3 years and get paid again. He choose the latter. Its a good contract for him. I am still pleased the Flyers are not over-paying / extending. The only player I want now is Doan. If he is not available, then we go with what we have.

First- great post. I actually agree with most everthing you stated. What is the current situation in Phoenix now?? If the Phoenix situation does not get resolved (i believe by 7-7), then I venture that Doan will be the 1st line RW for the Flyers. I think he would / will add a dynamic to that line to make them equally or more dangerous than with Jagr. On the D side, you are right, but its ok. Let our kids play some more. Our weakness is on the 5/ 6 pairing and injury. But I think most teams can claim that. How do you feel about your team?? We need a RW and a LW and a 6th dman imho. What about Pitts?? What do you guys need?? p.s. Oh and we need a starting goalie- ooops did I say that?

Only if Weber does not want to sign a mid-long range contract. The pisser is that Suter just set the bar for Weber. Weber has two choices: 1) sign a mid - long range deal with Nashville 2) demand a trade I think #1 is going to happen. The Preds have money now. They have a stud in goal. Suter was Webers wing man and not the other way around. The organization is top notch. They (poile and trotz) have run on a shoestring budget for many years. They have money now (a silent partner).

There are two scenarios for Weber: 1) Be the man in Nashville and let the brinks truck back up to his house 2) Say FU, I want to play else where and get a ton of stuff back for trading me My opinion is #1. Nashville has some really good young d-men (ie. Suter is somewhat replaceable). THIS summer is the summer for Weber. He will not sign a 1 year contract again. The Flyers have no more chips to play. As much as I like Weber, he is one player and I am not giving Voracek, Couturier / Schenn 1st round picks to get him. If he was THAT great, Nashville would have gone further in the playoffs. He is only ONE player. It will be fun to laugh at Minny this year.

A bit bummed, but the Flyers got allot better today. Why, because they did not overpay for anything. The ONLY thing that the Flyers need to do is get Doan- if the Phoenix deal falls through.

Really?? What is your source?