A little later today, Paul Holmgren will release the information about which players will need to undergo offseason surgery. As has been reported elsewhere, the list almost definitely includes Mike Richards (wrist and possibly shoulder) and potentially Chris Pronger (back).
In addition, Kimmo Timonen has nagging back and hip issues that clearly affected him down the stretch and in the playoffs. He was not close to playing up to his usual standards. Hopefully, Homer will address Timonen's status today as well.
I was told that Ville Leino's hip is OK, but I'm still not sure if I buy it. First of all, he was taking injections this season to lubricate the hip joint. He needed some maintenance days and missed a game with it. It seemed like he was fall down on the ice frequently and his skating and energy were erratic in the second half of the season, whereas these were not issues during his much more productive first few months of the season. Then again, he played incredible hockey in the playoffs last year while needing hip surgery.
After the list of injuries and surgeries is released today, I will post commentary in tomorrow's blog.
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Yesterday on NHL.com, I
profiled James van Riemsdyk's decision to join Team USA at the World Championships in Slovakia. He will be in action today, as the Americans take on Switzerland in the final game of the qualification round.
With Team USA already having clinched a spot in the medal round quarterfinals and Switzerland (somewhat surprisingly) failing to reach the top 8, this game will be more of a tuneup than anything else.
A live European streaming TV feed will be available
here. The game starts 10:15 AM eastern time.
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In many ways, Sergei Bobrovsky was a year ahead of schedule in 2010-11. Rather than spending the season in the AHL learning the North American game, he ended up making the big club and staying all season. Part of the reason was Michael Leighton's back injuries, which ended up needing surgery. The other part of the reason was that Bobrovsky played very well in the preseason and earned a spot on merit.
Over the first half of the season, things went smoothly for Bobrovsky, as he started the majority of the games and continued to play well. In one stretch, he made 11 consecutive starts. Then the inevitable happened: Like almost all rookies, he started to face some adversity as the season rolled along.Whether it was the number of minutes he was playing, opponents now having video, scouting reports and direct experience playing against him or some combination thereof, Bobrovsky started to play inconsistently.
To his credit, he often bounced back from his poorest performances with strong games the next time out. But it was hard to tell whether the Flyers would be getting the "good Bob" or the "bad Bob" in any given game. It also depended on the opponent. He played very well in his starts against Pittsburgh, but very poorly against Tampa Bay, for instance.
Bobrovsky's greatest strength as a goalie is his athleticism and recovery ability. He moves well laterally and has a quick glove. The league soon discovered, though, that he has a tendency to go down very early. Positionally, he was erratic. Sometimes he'd be on top of his angles. Other times, he'd leave too much shooting room and/or have trouble tracking the puck. When that would happen, he'd get too far back in the net.
Over the course of the season, Bobrovsky worked hard on improving his puckhandling behind the net. That's still a work a progress. Likewise, he cost himself numerous goals this season on plays where it looked like a more active stick around the crease would have been able to prevent cross-crease passes (there was one such play in Game 4 against Boston).
Down the stretch of the regular season, Bobrovsky struggled to make clutch saves. No, a goalie can't stop every breakaway and 2-on-1, but he needs to come up with a few of them. In shootouts, he struggled nearly as badly as Boucher. Shooters often got him to open up the five-hole and then fired tracers through his legs or else they got him to commit to the ice too soon and rifled shots upstairs. While all butterfly goalies are vulnerable to high shots, it's when the goalie goes down that often makes the difference.
Late in the regular season, Peter Laviolette announced that the Russian rookie would be his playoff starter, despite the fact that Boucher had arguably been the better goalie on a game-to-game basis in the regular season. Everyone knew Bobrovsky would be on a short rope in the playoffs, but no one knew just how short.
Bobrovsky played well in Game 1 of the Buffalo series. The lone goal he gave up was off a fat rebound that Patrick Kaleta quickly deposited in the net. Unfortunately for Philly and Bobrovsky, that goal was the only one either team scored in the game. Bobrovsky took the loss very hard, initially refusing to talk after the game until he was coaxed by a local Russian writer/translator he trusts.
In Game 2, Bobrovsky came out pressing way too hard. Positionally he was an utter mess, flopping and rolling around like he was Roman Cechmanek, going down to the ice way too early, losing his stick easily. The team in front of him wasn't doing much better defensively in the early going, especially on the penalty kill. Bobrovsky was soon pulled in favor of Boucher, who was excellent in relief and played an important role in Philly coming back to win the game.
After the game, Bobrovsky said in Russian that physically he was feeling fine, but he was struggling a bit mentally (although he immediately added that he'd be OK in the days to come). Whether or not the statement was taken out of context and whether or not the Flyers coaching staff perceived that the playoff pressure and Laviolette's quick hook were getting to him, Bobrovsky suddenly found himself demoted to third goalie status.
It was a foregone conclusion after Game 2 that Boucher would get the next start. Much more surprising was Peter Laviolette's decision to dress erstwhile starter Leighton in Games 3-6 and completely abandon Bobrovsky. While I'm sure that goaltending coach Jeff Reese tried to help the rookie stay positive, there is still a significant communication gap with Bobrovsky. Even if he spoke fluent English, I'm sure the 22-year-old was feeling awful and it had to be a real struggle to get himself mentally and physically ready to play if and when the call came for him again.
I give Bobrovsky a lot of credit for the way he played under the worst possible circumstances in Games 2 and 4 of the Boston series. Getting mop-up minutes for Boucher in Games 1 and 3 made little difference, in my opinion. But the rookie did an admirable job of holding down the fort in a tied second period of Game 2 when Boucher suddenly had to leave for the rest of the period with a dislocated finger. Also, with the team all but dead in the water in Game 4, Bobrovsky played a decent game in net and gave the club a chance to win.
Looking ahead to next season, I do not think that Bobrovsky is quite ready to be the number one goalie for a team that may be in the final year of its window to win the Stanley Cup. I also do not think the team should acquire a stopgap veteran -- even one with past playoff heroics, such as J-S Giguere -- figuring that Bobrovsky will be ready by the following season. I think the team needs to acquire someone whom they think can be an undisputed number one goalie for multiple years. If Bobrovsky's strong play in backup role creates competition for the job or trading possibilities, so much the better.
Regarding Leighton, the netminder's back injury remained a concern all season, even as he played well for the Phantoms after being waived to the AHL. There has never been a question whether Leighton is an accomplished AHL goalie -- he's long since proven that. The issue is whether he can overcome some significant flaws in his game, namely inconsistency and his lack of mobility (which only got worse with the back issues) and use his main asset (his size) to the greatest possible advantage.
I do not really blame Leighton for how poorly he played when tabbed to start Game 6 of the Buffalo series. Even before the game started, I think Peter Laviolette and Leighton himself were the only ones who thought it was the right move heading into the game. Although he came in to relieve Boucher in Game 5 -- and played adequately until allowing an overtime goal off a terrible rebound -- Leighton was still a bit rusty. What's more, Boucher deserved a chance to redeem himself for an awful first period of Game 5 after he'd played so well in Games 2-4.
Leighton played atrocious hockey in the first period of Game 6. Any random ECHL goaltender could have done the same. Three awful goals later, and Leighton was hooked in favor of Boucher. There were rumors subsequently that Leighton went AWOL on the team for a day -- which the team quicky refuted. It turned out that Leighton's back was acting up on him again.
In no way, shape or form do I think Leighton fits in the Flyers' plans for next season, even as a backup goalie. Unfortunately, the club is still saddled with his $1.55 million salary for another year and his back issues make him virtually impossible to trade. Depending on his health by the end of training camp, he will likely either be placed on IR or waived again to the AHL.
Likewise, Johan Backlund also does not fit in the club's plans. He never fully recovered from off-season surgery and he played poorly for the Phantoms. Unfortunately, in the two-year contract he signed last summer, a one-way pay clause kicks in. Additionally, he is waiver eligible so his salary currently counts against the Flyers' salary cap heading into the offseason.
According to Capgeek.com, the Flyers currently have a mere $430,845 in cap space available for next season. This includes problematic contracts such as Ian Laperriere's. In order to be able to place Lappy on LTIR next season, the Flyers will need to convince the NHL that the forward is making a legitimate attempt to return to the ice despite what everyone knows are career-ending concussion issues. If he retires, his full $1.17 cap hit will be dead cap space all year because he signed with the Flyers on an over-35 contract. Even if the NHL allows a wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more LTIR spot for Laperriere next season, his salary still counts against the cap and hurts the effort to sign free agents.
The cap is expect to go up about $3 million for next season. In order to land a top-flight free agent goalie -- Ilya Bryzgalov and Tomas Vokoun are at the head of the class -- the Flyers may need to be the team that sets the market price this year. Last season, it was a buyer's market (which the usually sharp Don Meehan failed to predict when setting an outrageous price tag for client Evgeni Nabokov). This time around, I think the price goes up a bit.
Given my druthers, I would prefer the Flyers to do what is necessary to sign Bryzgalov. Although he was not quite as good this season as last -- and he had a poor playoff series against Detroit -- I have seen Bryzgalov steal games that his team has no business winning. Vokoun is also a quality goalie, but Bryzgalov is the top goaltender on the free agent market.
Another possibility for the Flyers would be to try to trade for a goalie. In an ideal world, the Flyers would be able to identify and acquire a goalie in another organization who is ready to become an undisputed number one netminder in the NHL but is currently stuck behind one of the NHL's elite goalies. Players who may meet this description include the likes of Tuukka Rask (Boston), Cory Schneider (Vancouver), Jonathan Bernier (Los Angeles), Anders Lindbäck (Nashville) and Jhonas Enroth (Buffalo).
I doubt that the trading prices for Rask, Schneider or Bernier would be reasonable enough for it be a realistic option, but I'm sure Paul Holmgren will perform all the necessary due diligence in exploring these avenues in addition to seeing if it realistic cap wise to get Bryzgalov or Vokoun come July 1.
The only thing that is absolutely crystal clear with the Flyers' current goaltenders is that none are presently good enough to project as playoff starters come next spring.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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