Monday Quick Hits
* Rumors persist that the Flyers are targeting either Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle or Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien this offseason if they try to upgrade the blueline via the trade route rather than trying to offer sheet a restricted free agent. I gave my opinion on these two possibilities in a
previous blog. Between the two players, I would prefer Yandle, although I think the trading cost will be prohibitively high.
I consider Yandle to be the more reliable all-around player of the two offensive defensemen; a little more consistent on the ice, and is not a work ethic and conditioning concern. He's not physical and he's not stellar (or awful) defensively but you can bank on double digit goals and 40-plus points from the two-time All-Star. He's a very good puck mover as well.
A selling point for teams considering a trade for Yandle or Byfuglien is that both are several years away from UFA status. Yandle is signed for three more seasons at $5.25 million, which is a reasonable cap hit in the current market place for a 26-year-old multi-time NHL All-Star Game selection. Yandle is NOT a franchise defenseman -- neither is Byfuglien -- but is the next category down.
Byfuglien, 28, has a $5.20 million cap hit and is also signed for three more seasons. He may produce a little more offensively than Yandle -- 15 to 20 goals and 50-plus in a full season -- but the one-time All-Star Game participant brings along baggage that is not a concern with the other player. He's surprisingly agile for someone of his height and girth.
I would personally rather see the Flyers exercise some long-term patience here and not pay a mint in trade for either guy. I'm well aware of need for long-term planning on the top end of the blueline, especially with Kimmo Timonen nearing the end of his NHL career. However, it may be better to focus instead on collecting assets and creating some salary cap flexibility rather than looking for a blockbuster deal that may not improve the team in the long term. But that would mean admitting the team may not immediately be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, and the Flyers (and a large percentage of the local fan base) simply aren't wired that way.
* CSN Philly has been doing a Philly sports Mt. Rushmore series for each of the local sports teams. If I were limiting my choices to players, my four Flyers selections would be Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Barber and Mark Howe -- the best center (and captain), goalie, winger, and defensemen in franchise history and the four Hockey Hall of Fame inductees who played the primes (or the entirety) of their careers in Philadelphia. If it were extended to executives and coaches, I would keep Clarke and Parent and reluctantly swap out Barber and Howe for Ed Snider and Keith Allen. I debated whether to go with Fred Shero instead of Allen but Keith the Thief was here longer and was not only the primary architect of the rosters of the 1970s to mid-1980s, he was also the team's first coach. Shero absolutely belongs in the "big" Hall in Toronto and he would be my fifth selection if one were allowed.
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