Friday Quick Hits
* The comparisons of the Flyers' ill-fated acquisition of the rights to Dan Hamhuis in the summer of 2010 to their recent acquisition of the rights to Mark Streit lack context.
The Hamhuis acquisition was a case of the Flyers trying to convince a player who had already stated he intended to pursue unrestricted free agency -- and was reportedly exclusively focused on signing with Vancouver -- to reconsider. When the Flyers soon learned that Hamhuis wasn't bluffing about his intentions, they quickly flipped his rights to the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens called Hamhuis' bluff about "team role" being his number one concern by having head coach Dan Bylsma speak directly to Hamhuis and assure him that he would play a major role on their club. Again, Hamhuis said thanks but no thanks. The Smithers, BC native hit free agency and, as rumored from the get-go, signed with the Canucks.
There is no guarantee that the Flyers will come to terms with Streit but at least there's mutual interest in this case. The player made clear the other day that he would be glad to play in Philadelphia if his agent, Pat Brisson, comes to a contract agreement with the team.
It is still debatable whether Streit is the right player for the Flyers given his contractual price tag, age and average-at-best defensive skills. However, in terms of this being a Hamhuis-like situation where the Flyers traded to negotiate with a player destined to sign elsewhere, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison.
* It has been rumored, although not confirmed, that on the same day the Flyers acquired Streit's rights from the Islanders another Brisson client, Danny Briere, had a meeting with Flyers management to discuss his status with the team. Unless a trade can be worked out with another team and Briere waives his no-movement clause, a buyout seems inevitable. Briere would probably make out better under a buyout, as he would still receive 2/3 of the remaining $5 million on his contract, he'd become an unrestricted free agent able to choose his own next team and would almost certainly more than make up the one-third actual salary difference between the buyout and a trade. Briere's Flyers contract was a frontloaded deal, so his $6 million cap hit is much higher than the remaining $3 million and $2 million real-dollar salaries in the final two years of the deal.
* Tomorrow is the deadline for NHL teams to sign players contracted to Elitserien teams for next season. Among the players who may sign NHL contracts is former Flyers prospect Joacim Eriksson. The player's agent, Joakim Persson,
told northern Swedish newspaper Norran yesterday that dialogue is still ongoing with several NHL teams but it also not not out of the question that Eriksson would fulfill his contract extension with Skellefteå AIK after winning the Swedish championship. The Flyers, Oilers and Flames are rumored to be the NHL teams with the most interest. However, there has never been any on-the-record confirmation of which NHL teams are involved.
* Congratulations go out to former Flyers beat writer Jay Greenberg for his selection as the 55th recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame's Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in hockey journalism. Apart from his newspaper work as a Flyers beat writer for 14 years at the Evening Bulletin and the Daily News, Greenberg wrote arguably the definitive book on Flyers history, entitled Full Spectrum.
**********
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»