Note: I am working on a full blog surrounding the trade deadline activities from yesterday, winners/losers, etc...but for now here is a story about one of the deals from yesterday and its history....
Usually a central team in trade deadline rumors, the Philadelphia Flyers were something of an afterthought this year in what has been a down season for the club. However, the team made one intriguing move yesterday that could have a long-term impact on the club.
After finding out that the price tag on Ben Bishop was too high for their liking (hockey people I talked to afterward were shocked the Lightning were willing to part with Cory Conacher for the undeniably talented but still unproven as a long-term NHL starter 26-year-old Bishop), the Flyers turned their attention to Columbus' Steve Mason. A deal was consummated sending little-used backup Michael Leighton and a 2015 third-round pick in exchange for the 24-year-old Mason.
Mason, of course, has struggled ever since his Calder Trophy winning rookie season of 2008-09. This season, he's been displaced as the Blue Jackets' primary starter by former Flyers' goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Nevertheless, there are some scouts in the NHL who feel that Mason will eventually put the pieces together again and become a top-notch NHL starter.
As a matter of fact, Philadelphia has quietly been in pursuit of Mason on an off-and-on basis for quite a few years. The Flyers kicked tires on him as early as his sophomore slump season in 2010-11, and had varying degrees of interest in the years that followed. As a matter of fact, before the team traded for the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov and signed him to a nine-year deal, trading for Mason was one of the lower-cost alternatives the team considered early in the process.
Back on Feb. 1 of this year, I wrote a
blog on three reduced-cost but potential high yield trade candidates. Mason was one of the players, along with Keaton Ellerby (then with Florida, now a regular starter with the Los Angeles Kings) and Magnus Paajarvi (still with Edmonton, and has raised his stock).
Mason never really got his game back in Columbus, but keep in mind that he is still of the age at which goalies go through their NHL learning curve. His stellar rookie year raised expectations to an unrealistic level, and then he lost confidence when the league got a book on him and he struggled to adjust. Even so, he is still a goalie with a high ceiling.
A restricted free agent after this season who is making $3.2 million in actual salary and $2.9 million in terms of cap hit, Mason is likely to sign a multi-year extension with Philadelphia before the end of the season in exchange for a somewhat lower cap hit. The bigger question: Does this guarantee a buyout of Bryzgalov?
To be honest, I thought that was coming anyway. The best assessment of Bryzgalov's play this season is that he hasn't really been part of the problem, but really hasn't shown himself to be part of the solution, either. Given his contract, that's not good enough.
Bryzgalov got off to a great start this season but then succumbed to the Flyers' mediocre team defense and his own penchant for allowing one questionable-to-soft goal per game. He's not always the most popular of players in his own locker room, but teammates' tolerance levels for less-than-beloved goalies go hand in hand with whether the team is winning.
Of course, Mason is an even bigger question mark in goal than Bryzgalov. Regardless of what Mason does in the starts he gets over the remainder of the current season, I doubt the Flyers will feel comfortable going into next season with him as the appointed starter. Instead, I suspect the Flyers will bring in another lower cost option -- possibly another young goalie, possibly a UFA veteran with recent starting experience -- and go back to a goaltending rotation system.
The Flyers are among the teams that have had some interest in Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, which of course would change the entire dynamic back to an undisputed number one goalie. However, I don't think Philadelphia will ultimately go in that direction. I think they will press onward with the Mason reclamation project and bring in another moderately priced goaltender in the offseason.
Then again, goaltending plans -- especially where the Philadelphia Flyers are concerned -- can easily change in a hurry.
Coming up!
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