Winter Classic Logos

Today at noon Pittsburgh and Washington held a press conference. Many things were mentioned but the most interesting are the viewings of the new "3rd" jerseys logos. Pittsburgh participated in the 1st Winter Classic in Buffalo, where they unveiled their powder-blue uni's, this is their second and 1st home. Washington has never participated in a Winter Classic.


The Caps are sticking with their newest logo, trying to forget the past i guess. The Caps used to where Blue, Gold, and Black jersey; that's what i'm pulling for. Unfortunately the logo doesn't seem like they're headed in this way.

The Pens are using a logo similar to their current Powder-blue jersey, a Penguin skating with the Team name around it. Once again i lost out, i was hoping for the 90's jerseys with the "cutting-edge" penguin and Yellow and Black stripes.

Looking back both teams had somewhat terrible years back in the late 80's - 90's. Guess that's why neither team decided to bring back those memories.

Darroll Powe Re-Signs

The Flyers and RFA C Darroll Powe signed a one-year .725M deal on Thursday. The Flyers now have 14 Fs. Betts will not be healthy to start of season, Powe 4th C.

Blair Betts' Lengthy Recovery

Blair Betts spoke yesterday to CSN Philly saying:

"It's probably closer to four months before I'm able to play again," "So we'll see what the doctor says in a couple weeks."

-in the Article Betts Could Be Four Monthes From Return by Sarah Baicker.

The injury was sustained during the Eastern Conference Finals last postseason versus Montreal. During a play where he attempted to make a hit but went straight into the boards shoulder first, resulting in a separated shoulder. Betts, however, did not miss a game due to the injury.

Betts received surgery on the injured shoulder this offseason. When receiving surgery on a separated shoulder the estimated time until physical rehab even starts is usually 1 1/2-2 months. Blair got his surgery after the season meaning he will just start rehabbing soon. Skating can usually be resumed in 2 monthes, but contact cannot be resumed for around 4 months.

With Betts being out until around November this frees up cap space (700K) and roster space (4th center). Darroll Powe (RFA) and the Flyers are in contract talks right now.

Betts is an excellent penalty killer and the Flyers best defensive forward. The 30 year old also added 8 goals and 10 assists last season. Blair Betts' best play may be away from the puck however, he skates from beginning to end on every shift an is a masterful forechecker. Also a great faceoff man, Betts will be hard to replace for a few months.

I Like Matt Walker

(Gulp) Here it goes. Matt Walker was acquired in the Gagne deal Monday afternoon. Most Flyers fans are throwing him through the shredder relentlessly, including me. However if you separate Walker from the Gagne deal you'll see he is not a bad pick up.

Matt Walker is by all means a late bloomer, playing his first full NHL season in 08-09 at age 28 years old. The 3rd round draft pick by St. Louis in 1998 has had a rough pro career, over the course of 8 years and parts of 7 NHL seasons Walker has totaled 4 goals and 26 assits in 306 games. Also putting up 137 shots in the past 2 seasons, a great amount for a 3-pair defenseman. Consider how bad Tampa's offense was last year, being how 1st line defenseman Mattias Ohlund only took 71 shots, Walker's 54 shots aren't a bad total.

The Beaverlodge, Alberta native is definately more of a defensive defenseman however. At 6'4" and 215 Walker is a menace for opposing offenseman, racking up 444 penalty minutes in his career. Walker also not afraid to drop the gloves:


“You need to have that depth so that you aren’t skipping a beat and you’re not playing 30 minutes a night on defense. You are playing 22-25 minutes a night,” said Pronger on Monday. Pronger feels that the Flyers defense has been improved this offseason as well. Holmgren commentting on the trade said the deal helped "solidify the defense."

There is no word on what will be done with the 30 year old defenseman. Walker is set to make 1.7M next season and could be sent down to the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms to free up cap due to the Flyers having Sean O'Donnell and Oskars Bartulis. Walker's cap hit would be buried if this were to happen. However, a towering, mobile defenseman handy is always a good thing to have. Walker could really help out a back pair on any team, including the Flyers.

Kick the Mule!

Flyers Acquire Matt Walker

In the Simon Gagne deal that saw the Flyers shed 5.25M also saw the Flyers add 30 year old defenseman Matt Walker. Walker played 66 games for the Lightning picking up 2 goals and 3 assits while being a -11.

Walker is set to make 1.7M next season. Leaving the Flyers with just a tad over 1M dollars to spend. There's no real need for Matt Walker who will now be the Flyers 8th defenseman. Expect another deal to happen, unless Walker goes down to the Phantoms.

CSN's Sarah Baicker reports Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said "this was a move to solidify of defense." Walker is at a price of 1.7M due to his fair 2008-09 season where he put up 14 points in 65 games and played in 17 postseason games with Chicago.

Gagne traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning

One of Philadelphia's longest tenured athlete next to David Akers and Jimmy Rollins is leaving town. The 30 year old 22nd overall Flyers draft pick back in 1998 was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning today. Gagne was entering the final year of his 5 year contract were he is set to make 5.25M.

It's a sad day for Philadelphia sports fans, but one they saw coming. Gagne's drop off from 34 goals last season to only 17 this season and his large salary meant trouble. The Quebec native totaled 664 games as a Flyer recording 259 goals and 265 assists and a plus/minus of +143. However Gagne has never played a full 82 game season in his 10 year career.

Yzerman, the Lightning's GM, has played with Gagne on Team Canada and scouted him to attend the Olympic training camp this past year. This is why Yzerman has been consistently interested in the 30 year old's services.

Stop holding back the tears Flyers Nation! ;'(

Kovy keeping the Jersey, Gagne gone Today?

This morning the Devils official Twitter announced the re-signing of their trade deadline pick up of Ilya Kovalchuk. The Saga is over, the press conference is tomorrow. Now let's get on with it hockey fans!

The Kings have lost the Kovalchuk sweepstakes and now the concensus is that they will look to Holmgren's latest addition to the trade block in Simon Gagne. The Kings are said to be the most interested. Gagne will be entering the last year of his 5 year contract, he will make 5.25M next season and will be a UFA after next season.

David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period says "Yup. They are close to a deal." when asked about the Kings making a move for a winger in the Eastern Conference. A consitant rumor has been Simon Gagne to LA for former Flyers draft pick Justin Williams. Williams is set to make 3.5M and is in the last year of his contract as well, set to be a UFA after next season.

The Kings also have some great young goaltending in Quick and Bernier. However LA said that they had no intention on moving either. Keep in mind that Flyers signed former LA Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell another Kings Defenseman could be on their way in.

Thanks to the band Static X for helping me write this in under 5 minutes. :)

Are the Flyers still in on Kovy?

The Flyers are relentlessly shopping veteran winger Simon Gagne, while UFA winger Ilya Kovalchuk shops himself around the league. Report came out last week that the Flyers had offered Kovy a $7M contract recently. All thoughts were that Kovy turned this down and had narrowed his options to the LA Kings and New Jersey Devils.

Who's to say that offer still isn't on the table?

-Flyers-

The Flyers are $2.5M over the cap right now, Gagne when or if moved will mean the Flyers would be $3.25M under the cap. Still out of the Kovy range. Then if one of their defenseman were to be moved, say Meszaros who is set to make $4M next season. The Flyers would have $7.25M to deal with. These players can all be variables however.

With Gagne moved the Flyers will have Hartnell and van Riemsdyk as their possible two top Left Wingers. Neither them are "Top Line" guys. Unless Carter or Richards moves to the Wing, the Flyers are going to need a new Left Winger to play aside Richards.

-Kovalchuk-

Onto Kovy's side of things. Kovalchuk and Agent Jay Grossman flew out to Los Angeles this week to meet up and talk dollar signs. Nothing came out of the meetings but the talks are certainly not dead between the two sides.

The Kings are said to be the most interested in Simon Gagne's services, however are also the front runners for Kovalchuk. If Kovalchuk wanted whole-heartedly to play for the Kings a contract would have been signed.

Kovy, if out of wanting to play for the Flyers, may have tried to loss the Kings' interest in him hoping that it would lead to them trading for Simon Gagne. Thus making room for Kovy in Philly's roster wise and freeing up some cap space.

-Russian Relation-

Russian forward Nikolai Zherdev was signed early last week and is set to play his first year back in the NHL after playing a season in the KHL. The Flyers don't have any Russian players to help him feel more comfortable in Philly. The closest the Flyers have to a Russian is Slovakian born Andrej Meszaros.

In locking up Kovalchuk the Flyers could see Nikolai Zherdev blossom into an offensive force. For the most part, Nikolai never had a chance to play with a fellow Russian scorer in his NHL career, same with Kovalchuk. These two together could spark Zherdev's playmaking ability and Kovalchuk's amazing scoring talent just due to comfortablity and chemistry.

Keep an eye out Philadelphia, there could be a Russian invasion coming.

Graphics Galore

Flyers Roster in Shambles

After 3 free agent signings, 1 player acquired through trade, 4 re-signings, and endless trade rumors the Flyers Roster is stockpiled right now. However that does leave the Flyers 2.5M over the Salary Cap. Lets take a look:

-Flyers Offense-

LW- Gagne, Hartnell, Jvr, Shelley
RW- Laperriere, Carcillo, Zherdev, Cote
C- Richards, Briere, Carter, Leino, Betts, Giroux

RFA: Powe
UFA: Asham

-Flyers Defense-

OffensiveD- Timonen, Carle, Coburn
DefensiveD- Pronger, O'Donnell, Meszaros, Bartulis

RFA: none
UFA: Krajicek

-Flyers Goaltending-

Starter- Leighton
Back-Up- Boucher, Backlund

-Analysis-

• Flyers are 2.5M over the Cap, someone has to be on the move.
• They have 14 offensemen signed at the moment, 15 if Powe re-signs, and only 12 spots available.
• Of their 7 defenseman 5 make over 3M dollars, the Flyers have to decided who is the number 5 defensman and get rid of them. there are plenty of UFA guys like O'Donnell who can bridge the gap until their Prospects mature.
• The Flyers have 4 centers in Giroux, Richards, Carter, and Briere who all need to play at center and all are good enough to play on the top 2 lines. One of them has to go, my guess is Giroux and Richards are "untouchable."
• Moves have to be on their way, there are just simply too many guys. Maybe Holmgren has a plan with all these signings but it's tough to tell right now.

Daniel Carcillo avoids Arbitration

The Flyers and RFA forward Daniel Carcillo have agreed on a one year contract worth $1.075M. Carcillo was set to go through Arbitration later this month. This is great for both sides as the Flyers would have put Carcillo through hell during the several hour long meeting.

The 25 year old Penguins 3rd rounder in 2003 is going on his 3rd season with the Flyers. In his previous two years he's played 96 games scoring 12 goals and logging 14 assists. Carcillo's best year came with Phoenix in the 07-08 season where he put up 24 points (13 goals and 11 assists). Carcillo looks to have regained his form with 22 points last season.

The Flyers and Dan Carcillo have had their differences over the past two seasons. He has gotten his anger under control recently and played with Richards and Gagne throught last season.

The deal saves the Flyers a lot, with Carcillo's undoubted potential a long term deal would have been the asking price for Carcillo. Now Carcillo has a year to prove himself and at 25 prove that he has matured into the powerforward he can be.

Here you go Flyers Nation!

The Great Dane Oliver Lauridsen

The aren't many 7th rounders who weight more than the overall number they were drafted but big Oliver Lauridsen is one of them. Drafted by the Flyers in 2009 Lauridsen is a big Danish defenseman listed at 6'6" 228lbs.

Lauridsen just finished his sophomore season with Saint Cloud State University and at 21 he could go pro. Playing a total of 71 games in his college career Lauridsen has totaled 6 goals and 7 assists. Clearly a stay-at-home defenseman.

Just one look at Lauridsen and you'll know why he's called the Great Dane. At 6'6" Lauridsen is a towerring defenseman but mobility could be an issue in the future. However he is known for being an aggressive and very physical opponent.

Lauridsen looked solid at Flyers development camp this past week. He can still use some seasoning in the AHL but Lauridsen definatly has the tools to make an impression in the big show.

Photos from Flyers Rookie Camp

Kevin Marshall

Jesse Dudas

Oliver Lauridsen

Brad Phillips

Nick Luukko

Nic Riopel

Eric Wellwood
Marc-Andre Bourdon

Tyler Hostetter

Zac Rinaldo

Jumping the Gun: Justin Dowling

As said in the title i may be jumping the gun on 20 year old Alberta Native. Why am I jumping the gun? Dowling has yet to sign a contract and is on a tryout basis with the Flyers. However Justin Dowling has had a great showing during the Flyers rookie camp.

The 20 year old center just finished his 3 full season with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos putting up 78 points (32 goals, 46 assists) in 72 games. What may be even more impressive are his 19 penalty minutes.

Justin Dowling is 5'10" but is almost everywhere on the ice due to his speed. Dowling possess a great ability to dangle but also the knowledge to know when to pass the puck away.

If Dowling does sign with the Flyers after this camp (Keep in mind last year he attended Penguins development camp) he will have to get a little stronger. No doubt that Dowling is fired up playing on a tryout basis but he's shown great potential.

Flyers Sign Zherdev

As expected the Flyers signed Free Agent Right Winger Nikolai Zherdev to a contract today. A 1 year deal, finacial terms were not comfired but upwards of 2M is the rumor.

Zherdev is 25 and just finished his 1st season with the KHL's Atlant Moscow Oblast. Zherdev was a 1st round pick in the 2003 entry draft and played 4 NHL seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets and NY Rangers.


“Nik is a highly-skilled player who, at 25-years-old, we feel will be a good fit to our core of forwards,” said Holmgren. “Prior to playing last season in Russia, Nik ranked as one of the top young point-producers in the NHL. We are pleased to add him to our team.” via Flyers

Zherdev is set to take the role of veteran winger Simon Gagne who is set to be traded.

More Gagne and Zherdev Updates

As of yesterday Simon Gagne said he has not waived his No Trade Clause, even though Flyers management said otherwise. Not much in the way of Gagne rumors have been coming around; however there have been a lot of Zherdev rumors.

Zherdev was said to have signed a contract with Philadelphia yesterday. The details have been disclosed and nothing has been announced. Yet rumors are that the deal is 1 year 2.9M, which is a great deal for Zherdev but not for the Flyers.

-Cap Situation-

When/If Gagne goes then the Flyers would have just under 6M dollars of cap space, Zherdev's supposide contract would take up half of that. Carcillo is set to go through arbitraition and Darroll Powe is still left unsigned.

Zherdev is a good player and a good replacement for Gagne, but at only 2.25M less. At the end of the day the Flyers would have Carcillo and Zherdev signed and be under the cap. Which is a big bonus to keep a guy like Carcillo. Still this will only leave the Flyers with under 1M cap space to maneuver in.

-Waivers-

Dreger came out yesterday saying that Gags may be put on Waivers if the Flyers can't move him. This happened with the Oilers and Sheldon Souray earlier this offseason, no one picked him up and he could be sent to the minors. However this situation is completely different. The Flyers and Gagne haven't had any short comings, this NTC situation is the first. It would be heartbreaking for everyone involved to send a veteran great guy like Gagne to the AHL, and neither side will let that happen.

-Turco-

Don't read much into the Turco rumors, he would be a great signing but would not take under 1M, even with the 35+ contract.

Phantoms of the Market

Running List of Adirondack Phantoms and Philadelphia Flyers who have been Signed this Free Agent Season.

Jonathan Matsumoto - Carolina Hurricanes

2 years, 1.2M (2-way deal)

After 3 great season with the Flyers affialtes the Phila-rondack Phantoms the 23 year old was sent to Carolina during Day 2 of the draft. Over his seasons with the Phantoms Matsumoto put 81 goals and 92 assists. Matsumoto is hailed for his great playmaking ability and his fast skating. Matsumoto was traded due to his RFA status, and was a great pick up by the Canes.

Jared Ross - Atlanta Thrashers

1 year, 0.5M

Jared Ross will probably play a roll simalar to the one he played on the Flyers, as a up and down AHL/NHLer. However with the jump that former small guys have seen in Atlanta Ross's oppurtunities are greater. Ross is 27 and in his Phantoms career he put up 85 goals 158 assists in 328 games. Ross also has played in 13 NHL games with 3 goals and 2 assists.

Flyers after the Russian

The NHL's version of LeBron James and Josh Childress; Ilya Kovalchuk and Nikolai Zherdev. Ilya has been all over major news networks and just like Lebron has kept fans on the edge of their seats without signing anywhere. While Childress and Zherdev both come from over seas with big time potential.

Zherdev spend last season with the Atlant Moscow Oblast of the KHL, where he put up 13 goals and 26 assists in 52 games. Zherdev spent the 3 seasons in the NHL and played in the 04-05 season before the lockout. He has totals of 99 goals and 140 assists in 365 NHL games, also a minus 46.

The Russian is 25 and was draft 4th overall by Columbus in 2003. He is a great skater with awesome scoring potential, has just had trouble reaching it.

The Flyers were the latest team said to be interested, Zherdev has also had interest from several Northeast Division teams. Last night the Flyers were said to be close with the KHL winger. Zherdev signed for 1 year with Atlant of the KHL last fall.

Gagne a Future Islander?

Simon Gagne has been most linked with the LA Kings, i described the situation in an article entitled Kings Situation... Today reports came out that the Kings were uninterested in the 30 year old sniper. So where does that leave the Flyers and Gagne.

My guess would be the New York Islanders.

The Isles were said to have offered Kovalchuk a 10 year 10 Million dollar contract. This is a small fraction of their cap, as the Isles have over 28.1M to spend this offseason.

Gagne is set to make 5.25M next season where he will be in his contract year set to be a UFA after the season. The Isles need a bandage after a season that saw a small improvement from the worst team to the 5th worst team in the league. Isles fans, Kevin Connolly makes up a good percentage, want to see a sign that this organization is ready to make a playoff push.

Right now the Isles have a great core of young players but hardly any veteran presence up front. Gagne would bring that with his 10 years of NHL experience. Also the Isles don't have a set first line winger like they had with Jason Blake, Trent Hunter is their top veteran winger.

How would this work to Gagne's benefit?

• Gags and his family would get to stay close to home as he would most likely have to move twice in the next two year regardless where he was traded to. Being a UFA next summer.


• He would get to play top minutes and show exactly what he's capable of and his worth to scouts the league. The Big Fish in the Small Pond concept.


• Also, Gags would not have to compete with the pressure and critisism of Philadelphia media and constant trade speculation.

All of these factor into the best deal the Flyers could make for the Quebecian winger. What the Flyers would get in return could be a different story. The Isles lack prospects and convet each one of them. However with the pickups of Kirill Kabanov and Nino Niederreiter during this year entry draft some of their other offensive prospects may be available. Even some current NHL offenseman could be moved such as Blake Comeau who is set to be a RFA after next season.

Gagne was asked to move his no trade over the weekend and there has only been Kings rumours, i wouldn't rule out Long Island as a possible destination though.

Patrick Maroon brings US the Gold

Patrick Maroon was selected with the 161st pick in the 6th round of the 2007 entry draft by the Flyers. A little more than 3 years later the St.Louis native brought home the Gold for his country.

After a great played tournament by Maroon and his fellow Inline teammates they were reward with a gold medal. In a 12-3 Victory over the Czechs Maroon tallied 2 goals and 2 assists. Finishing with 7 goals and 7 assists in 6 games.

Maroon has now played 2 complete seasons in the AHL for the Flyers affilate Adirondack Phantoms. He captured 11 goals and 44 points, 10 less points than the year previous however. The 6'4" Maroon was able to increase his PIM from 62 to 125, showing his aggressive side. Maroon was also named Assistant Captain prior to this season.

Here's a look at what Maroon brings to the table as he defends teammate and Captain Jared Ross:

Maroon's energy must be contagious as 5'10" Ross and Scorer David Laliberte are anxious to go as well.

Why Gags must Go

Sadly the 30 year old life long Flyer looks to be on the way out after Flyers core asked him to waive his no Trade. He is set to make 5.25M this next season then to hit the Free Agent market.

Flyers Roster as it Sits right now:
LW - Gagne, Hartnell, Jvr
RW - Laperriere, Shelley
C - Carter, Richards, Briere , Leino, Betts, Giroux
D - Pronger, Timonen, Meszaros, Carle, Coburn, O'Donnell, Bartulis
G - Leighton, Boucher, Backlund

PK Offense - Betts, Lappy, Richards, Giroux

The Flyers sit with 5 wingers and 6 centers. Carter and Leino can play wing however.
Powe and Carcillo sit as unsigned RFAs.

The Flyers sit just under 600K of the cap. Someone needs to be dealt and as much as Flyers fans don't want to hear it that guy's Gagne. Gagne makes too much for a guy that only scored 17 goals and 8 of those from september-february. Yes he was clutch but even if so you need an agitator like Carcillo and a great defensive hustler like Powe.

Powe is maybe the most versatile of the Flyers offensemen, he played with everyone from Lappy to Giroux to Carter last season. Laviolette loves to use him on the PK and throw him out there almost every other shift when the game's tight due to his offensively smart style.

If he goes there would be enough room to sign both Powe and Carcillo who are both in there mid 20s, while Gags is 30. The Flyers offense is potent enough as is, Carter is a 30-40 goal man Richards is a 30 goal man and Briere, Leino and Hartnell are set for atleast 20 goals each.

Kings Situation if Gags is their Future

Posted this on FlyerFlies and liked it so here it is:

The Kings have over 17 million dollars of cap space. Kovi will likely cost them upwards of 8M if he signs there. There only remaining RFA is Brad Richardson who's 24 and shouldnt cost them 1.5M at most.

The Kings lost 2 veteran Dmen in Jones and O'Donnell and have 6 dmen signed right now, they might need another. Average Dman cost around 2M.

So that's around 11.5M left and Gagne will cost them 5.25, plenty of room.

I don't think the Kings will be looking to move one of their wingers. They only have 4 - Williams , Simmonds, Parse and Brown. Kovi and Gags would only make 6.

Goaltending is an area where some moves could come from. The Kings have Quick locked as their starter and Ersberg as their possible backup. With Martin Jones and Zaktoff in their system. Bernier is expandable here.

No word if Gags will be traded at all but that's a good analysis of the Kings situation

Jody Shelley Fights

-Jody Shelley-
6'3" 225
34 Years Old, 115 PIM last season, 116 PIM in 08-09, and on a 2 Game Scoring Streak.

Shelly vs. Boris Valabik


Shelley vs. Colton Orr


Shelley vs Andrew Peters

Simon Gagne done in Orange and Black?

Rumors that Gagne may have played his last game with the Flyers started circulating yesterday and are very persistant. The Flyers right now sit atop the league with the highest payroll and Gagne is set to make $5.25M next season.

There was an outrage in the Flyer community when the 10 year vet was first rumored to be the odd man out. However given that his contract is excessive for a 17 goal scorer this could be a sad reality. A large amount of Flyers Nation outcry comes due to his great finish to last season, where he tallied 9 goals in the postseason and 8 goals in the final weeks of the regular season.

Putting all these stats aside, Gagne's play has drastically fallen off in the past few seasons. Simon is no longer the goal scorer that the Flyers signed to a 5 year contract back in '06. He has found his scoring touch as of late but there is questions that he can keep that pace for an 82+ game season.

Tough to let a guy like Gagne go though. He's been through thick and thin with this team and hasn't had a bad word to say about them. At 30 years old and with a No Trade Clause both the Flyers and Gagne will look to send him to the best situation possible.

Current Flyers Roll

-Current Flyers-
Matt Carle
Ville Leino
James van Riemsdyk

Jody Shelley

Matt Walker

Prospects Roll

-Prospects-

Patrick Maroon
Justin Dowling
Jon Kalinski
Michael Chaput
Tye McGinn
Joonas Lehtivuori
Bertilsson, Marshall, Bourdon, Bodrov
Johan Backlund
Oliver Lauridsen

Flyers sign Jody Shelley

Shelly scored 2 pivitol goals versus the Flyers when playing for the Rangers. He almost singled handedly knock the Flyers out of the Playoffs had it not been for Matt Carle in game 82.

The deal is 3.3M over 3 years. A good deal for a guy that may take the place for Dan Carcillo who is a RFA at the moment. Shelly is a fighter by trade, but at 34 could turn into more of a grinder.

Ian Laperierre's return is in question after playing in the playoffs last season where Lappy wasn't very effective. As said earlier Shelly could take the place of Carcillo.

Flyers Sign Sean O'Donnell

Flyers came to agreements with veteran Defender Sean O'donnell just about 2 hours in Free Agency. O'Donnell is 38 and signs a 1 year deal worth 1M. Sean just finshed a great season in LA being a smart defensive defenseman at 6'2".

With his age O'Donnell will most likely play a limited number of games, however he played 78 games last season finishing a plus 14. Bartulis is the Flyers number 6 defenseman and will get a lot of NHL exposure next season, now he will likely split time with Sean O'Donnell.

O'Donnell won a cup with Pronger in Anaheim back in '07.

Braydon Coburn's Back

After the trade of Andrej Meszaros it looked like the Flyers had given up on their RFA defenseman Braydon Coburn. However just about 15 minutes later the Flyers announced that the 24 year old has been re-signed. Cobi will make 3.2M in each of the next 2 years.

Now the Flyers have their possible top 6 defenseman set with Pronger, Timonen, Carle Coburn, Meszaros and Bartulis. All expect Bartulis is set to make over 3M next season. This could mean the Flyers make a move on Offense with Powe and Carcillo yet to be signed with 2M left towards the Cap.

Since being acquired from the Thrashers Coburn has been a key part to the Flyers defensive corps. Cobi is capabable of playing big minutes and has been key in playing special teams all throughout his tenure in Philly.

Andrej Meszaros

The Flyers traded for the 24 year old Lightning defenseman just minutes before 12 o'clock. Meszaros was one of the most coveted RFA last season and was signed by TB for $4M.

Meszaros is set to make $4M for the next 4 years and settle in a 3rd or 4th defenseman. Cobrun could be left out because of this deal with now only 6 or 7M left on salary cap.

Meszaros is a tough defenseman who brings an edge to his game with his toughness. he'll fit in great and learning under a guy like Pronger. We'll see if the Flyers go after any other defenseman. They rumored to be interested in Tallinder and Lydman of the Sabres, now UFAs.

Meszaros on being No. 5 "I want to be a part of this team and I want to win. I am a team guy. Whatever the coach wants me to do I will do." via Anthony SanFillipo

Flyers Free Agency Primer

Top UFA Defensemen

Top UFA Goaltenders

-Lastest on Flyers Front-
Flyers interested in Habs Goaltender Dan Ellis.
Matt Cullen, Carolina Center/Winger on the Flyers Radar.
Michael Leighton and Philly reached a 2 year deal.

-Notable UFAs-
Danny Syvret - D
Jared Ross - C
Arron Asham - W
Lukas Krajicek - D

-Notable RFAs-
Braydon Coburn - D
Darroll Powe - C/W
Dan Carcillo - W

-Signed-
C - Richards, Carter, Giroux, Briere, Betts
LW - van Riemsdyk, Gagne, Hartnell
RW - Leino, Laperierre,
D - Timonen, Pronger, Carle, Bartulis,
G - Leighton, Boucher, Backlund

-Roster Analysis-
5 centers is a problem, however Carter and Briere have played wing. The Flyers would like them both at center though. The Flyers also need 2 solid defenders if Coburn doesn't sign, they are looking for someone to take Krajicek's spot on the 3rd pair.

All the Latest Flyers and NHL Rumors can be caught on Taking A Flyer