Here are four more players who may be available when the Flyers' make their first-round pick with the 20th overall selection of the 2012 draft.
Brendan Gaunce (C): Think of him as a less talented version of Brayden Schenn. Gaunce has good size and plays a heart-and-soul game but does not have Schenn's natural finishing touch around the net. Gaunce arguably has superior defensive ability to Schenn at the same age but he is not the equal of Sean Couturier as a shutdown center. He is said to be a real hard worker and a character player who is a mature kid off the ice.
Matt Finn (D): He's a relatively safe pick who fits the profile of a #4 defenseman at the NHL level. He is a well-rounded defenseman with average size and average speed. He's got some offensive upside but is unlikely to become a 40-point guy in the NHL. He is fairly solid in his own end of the ice, but not a true shutdown defenseman. He makes a good first pass and skating is not a problem, but he won't wow anyone in either area. He's not afraid to take the body but is not big or strong enough to be a physical defenseman.
Tom Wilson (RW): Big and mean, Wilson is a power forward who is no fun to play against. The big question with him is whether his NHL upside is closer to that of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Colton Gillies (selected 16th overall by Minnesota in 2007) or if he can develop his offensive game and become a Milan Lucic type of player. I suspect he's going to be more of a Gillies or Brad May type -- a fourth-liner at the NHL level -- and would not personally be in favor of using a first-round pick on him. But if he does become a Lucic type of player, he could be a high-yield pick in the latter stages of the first round.
Malcolm Subban (G): As I noted yesterday, I personally think that Oscar Dansk is the best bet among the top three goalies in the Draft. Subban certainly has all the athleticism you could want in a goalie -- he has quite the highlight reel -- but I am leery of the fact there are already injury concerns with the teenage netminder. No goalie in the draft is going to touch Subban in lateral mobility or glove quickness, but no one is going to touch Dansk's puck handling ability. With smooth and physically gifted Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevski, what concerns my apart from signability and the usual small-rink adaption process is the fact the player himself says he needs to get a little mentally tougher.
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HockeyBuzz's Eric Smith is compiling a blog on what the various suitors for Rick Nash could fairly offer for the first-line right winger's services. The gist of my response from a Flyers' perspective is that I strongly believe the team has other needs and Nash's $7.8 million cap hit can be better used.
Let's say Nash comes to Philly and scores 40 goals. Great season, right?
But now let's say the Flyers stand pat instead, and re-sign Jaromir Jagr for one more year at the same salary while also hanging on to James van Riemsdyk for another year. Then say the Flyers get the same production from Jagr in 2012-13 that they got last year (19 goals at $3.3 million cap hit) and get a slightly underachieving 24 goals next season from a reasonably healthy JVR (in the first year of a new contract that carries a $4.25 per season cap hit).
That would be MORE value -- 43 goals -- for slightly total less cap space ($7.55 million). Beyond that, the Flyers would still have all of their other trading assets, including JVR, to potentially trade next summer.
Finally, the expiring contracts of Jagr and Kimmo Timonen would free $9.6 million of cap space in the summer of 2013. Conversely the Flyers let Jagr walk this summer and acquired Nash, they would have $4.5 million less of cap room to work with next summer.
Any way you slice the Nash numbers, it makes zero sense for the Flyers to trade for him this summer. That's not a reflection on the player himself. He's a tremendous goal scorer. But he is simply not worth $7.8 million of cap space on top of trading a variety of assets.
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In today's Camden Courier Post, Randy Miller took a look at the top 15 prospects in the Flyers' farm system, with input from Flyers' scouting director Chris Pryor. Click
here.
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Twenty seven years ago today, the Flyers signed AIK Solna star forward Pelle Eklund to his first NHL contract. The deal paid him $125,000 per season. Four years later, also on this date, the Flyers signed Eklund to a three-year contract extension paying him $588,553 per season. In 1990-91, Eklund won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as Flyers MVP after posting 69 points in 73 games and also earning some Selke Trophy consideration.
Twenty three years ago today, the Flyers brought back Pete Peeters to be their backup goalie, signing him to a free agent contract.
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