UPDATE 4:30 PM EDT
Now that the Dan Cleary saga is over, and it is known that he had a change of heart about leaving Detroit and decided to take whatever he could get -- less money and a one-year deal -- to stay with the Red Wings, it is time to turn the page. He would have been a nice addition to the Flyers' third line and is a heart-and-soul player but it is what it is.
As Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren acknowledged today, this whole mess could have been prevented if the Flyers weren't already over the salary cap ceiling (and temporarily maxed out at 50 contracts on the reserve list).
Holmgren also said that the team informed Simon Gagne earlier this week that they would not be offering him a PTO or contract. Now that Cleary isn't coming, either, the team will stick with its internal options.
As of now, it seems as if Max Talbot would be the favorite for the 3rd line left wing spot. Tye McGinn is also in the mix. Scott Laughton is a possibility if he moves from his natural center position to wing. Michael Raffl's name also gets thrown out there but I personally think the jump from a Swedish minor leagues (Allsvenskan) directly to the NHL is too big without at least some time in the AHL in between.
Some other notes from Day One of camp:
* Claude Giroux held and stick and practiced today in Group 2. He did some light passing and skated in one-on-one with the goalies a few times (gently flipping the puck rather than shooting it). He's not really testing out his hand yet but he's probably a tad ahead of schedule on his recovery timetable from surgery on his right index finger.
* Marc-Andre Bourdon did not skate today. Holmgren said the team decided to hold out the young defenseman today but would see about tomorrow. Bourdon is recovering from post-concussion syndrome but is still not completely asymptomatic. Given that there was no contact at all in today's sessions, I had thought there would be a chance he'd appear after his name was on the list.
* As expected, rookie defenseman Mark Alt, who suffered a concussion in the Rookies' Game on Monday, was also held out of practice today. The NHL's concussion protocol requires that a concussed player be symptom-free for at least a week before being cleared.
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NO CLARITY ON CLEARY
There is still no concrete information to report on the status of Daniel Cleary, following an earlier report from HNIC's Elliotte Friedman that the veteran winger's previously announced arrangement with the Flyers had hit a snag and he would not be coming to Philadelphia.
Earlier this week, Detroit Free Press writer Helene St. James reported that Cleary and the Flyers had agreed to a three-year contract worth $2.75 million per season, but the deal would not be announced until the Flyers --- who are currently over the salary cap and maxed out at 50 contracts until slide-rule eligible players are re-assigned to their junior clubs -- carve room for Cleary at the end of the month. In the interim, Cleary would officially join the Flyers on a professional tryout (PTO) basis.
When Friedman's report broke earlier today, Flyers sources seemed legitimately dumbfounded. Cleary's name was part of the official training camp roster released earlier today, and team sources said that although the player would not report today (as initially intended), he had already spoken with Peter Laviolette and was expected to be in Philly for camp tomorrow.
I received conflicting information from non-Flyers sources.
One source said that the nature of Flyers' supposed handshake agreement on a contract but official no-guarantee PTO status ran afoul of the NHL. I inquired to NHL deputy commission Bill Daly by email this evening to ask to whether it would constitute a violation of CBA rules in some way if what St. James initially reported was true. Daly replied that it would NOT violate the CBA in any way.
Two other sources indicated that Cleary and/or Detroit may have had a last second change-of-heart and was meeting with Ken Holland today trying to work out a deal with the Red Wings after all. I could not confirm this independently beyond second-hand hearsay. However, TSN's Aaron Ward reported basically the same thing, and he is certainly a credible source.
In the meantime, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told the Philly media this evening that the team still expects Cleary to be here for camp and has not heard otherwise "from the horse's mouth." Additionally, others have said that Cleary may still end up in Philly despite the alleged meeting with the Red Wings today.
So there you have it: The whole Cleary situation is still, well, about as clear as mud right now.
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FLYERS GOALIE PUCKHANDLING ABILITY COULD BE A BOON TO CLUB
One of the primary goals for the Flyers during the 2013-14 season is to spend less time in the defensive zone than they did a year ago. The addition of Mark Streit and the seeming emergence of Erik Gustafsson could be a piece of that puzzle. So, too, could the upgrading of the team's faceoff abilities with the acquisition of Vincent Lecavalier and re-signing of Adam Hall. For the first time in some years, the Flyers will have three faceoff men (Claude Giroux being the other) who project to win more than 50 percent of their draws.
Another important part of the equation is something that gets less attention among fans but has been discussed by the team itself: With the late-season trade that brought Steve Mason to Philly last season and the off-season acquisition of Ray Emery, the Flyers will have a pair of goaltenders who are well above-average puckhandlers.
I would go so far as to argue that, as a one-two tandem in net, the current goaltending duo is the best pair of puckhandling goalies the Flyers have had since Ron Hextall and Garth Snow were together on the roster.
On Monday, Mason acknowledged that he, Emery and goaltending coach Jeff Reese plan to take advantage of the two goalies' abilities to handle the puck as part of Peter Laviolette's overall system.
"That’s something we’ve been talking about-- the calls that the defensemen have, whether we’re playing it or what side you want to put off," said Mason. "I think Ray’s a pretty good puck handler as well, so that’s something we’ll be able to incorporate into our system is going out and making plays with it and protecting our defensemen. Our defensemen are constantly going back and are subject to getting hit by some pretty big bodies. It’s something that I’d like to utilize and if we can utilize it more, that’s great."
Earlier today, before all the Daniel Cleary craziness started, I had a fascinating phone conversation with Reese about the topic of goalie puckhandling in general and the skills of the current two Flyers goalies in particular.
"When you talk about puckhandling, a lot of people think about the guys like Hextall or Martin Brodeur who can fire the puck hard around the glass," said Reese. "But what I always say is that a goalie doesn't have to be able to shoot the puck hard to be effective at handling it. He has to be able to stop the puck when he comes out, and leave it for his defensemen. Nowadays, you can't hold forecheckers up the way you used to, and your defensemen take a lot of hard hits when the forecheckers get right on top of them. It's a huge help to them and saves them punishment when the goalie can help them set up the breakout. It's a valuable skill and it takes a lot of work."
"Listen, it takes courage for a goalie to come out of the net to play the puck. There will be times when you turn pucks over and, inevitably, a few will end right up in the back of the net. You have to put things like that aside."
I asked Reese if the fact that the Flyers have one left-handed and one right-handed goalie could create any complications or force adjustments in the puck-playing scheme on opposing dump-in. The goaltending coach said it was pretty much a non-issue. Although most goalies prefer to be on their forehand side, which could mean more of a tendency to favor moving the puck to the right defenseman or left defenseman's side, it really would not make much of a difference.
Reese's own NHL career coinciding with the rise of Hextall and Martin Brodeur as goaltenders who revolutionized puckhandling among netminders by being able to forcefully pass the puck -- or even shoot it accurately down ice -- to create breakout opportunities on their own. I asked Reese if there are any current goalies he would in the same stratosphere as Hextall or Brodeur in that level of skill. He said that Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith has that ability in nearly comparable measure and that he also considers Mason to be quite good across the board.
I have long felt that the introduction of the trapezoid has had much more negative effect than positive. I believe it hinders goalies like Brodeur or Smith from using their ability to pass or chip the puck out of the zone with authority to the maximum benefit. It also contributes to more injuries for defensemen.
Does it even create more scoring chances? That was the ostensibly the reason why the trapezoid was introduced in the first place, but I don't think it's ever been proven to have contributed to more scoring. It may increase forechecking opportunities if the goalie can't stop the puck within the trapezoid, but it also took away the giveaways that were a byproduct of especially daring goalies who roamed from corner to corner to play the puck.
Reese agreed with me that the trapezoid makes things tougher to some degree, especially on defensemen. However, he reiterated that stopping the puck and setting up for D-men remains an important skill in its own right. He added that goalies in the Brodeur or Smith mold still could stand out, even if the trapezoid has cramped their style a bit.
With a goalie like Brodeur, the NHL could never totally legislate away that skill. Even after the trapezoid was introduced, Brodeur could still often stop the puck in a flash before it got past the goal line and then legally played it wherever he wanted to. To this day, he remains quite adept at puck exchanges and even zone clears up the wall from within the trapezoid.
Even goalies who are not adept fundamental puckhandlers when they first enter the pros can become good at it with hard work. Former Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is a good example.
When "Bob" played on the bigger ice surface in Russia, he had been taught to stay in his net and had not developed his ability to stop wrap-ins behind the net, get to his D, and hustle back into the crease. That was a weakness of his game when he first got to Philly.
For a long while, a high percentage of opposing dump ins eluded Bobrovsky completely in the trapezoid. Some pucks ticked off him into dangerous areas, which could be an even worse problem. But he put in countless hours of work on it at practice, both in Philadelphia and Columbus and is now much, much better at executing that fundamental.
Back in the latter years of when the Flyers used to practice at the Coliseum, I used to go on occasion just to watch Hextall work on his puck clearing, passing and shooting skills. It was a sight to behold, and those abilities didn't just magically appear overnight. Hextall put a lot of time, effort and upkeep into it.
Hextall's mastery was breathtaking. He used to be able to pick a strategic spot on the side boards or plexiglass and hit that same target over and over to ricochet the puck right out of the zone. He could fire breakout passes like a skilled defenseman would. He was also the first goalie I ever saw who could routinely shoot the puck from end to end. That's why no one was surprised when Hexy became the first NHL goaltender to score a regular season goal by shooting it to the other team's net, and then became the first to pull off the feat in the playoffs.
Not many goalies will be of that caliber when it comes to shooting hard and passing with zip on it with that heavy goalie stick and the modern giant trapper of a catching glove on one hand. But, as Reese pointed out, every goalie can find ways to help out their D.
The fact that the Flyers have not just one but two goalies who are already accomplished at the basics and can even get some zip on the puck could quietly become a beneficial cog in the team's system this year. Saving some wear-and-tear on the defense over the course of the year is something that can be beneficial, given the rate that defensemen (especially Flyers D-men, it seems) typically go down with injury.
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PRACTICE GROUPS ANNOUNCED
Earlier today, the Flyers announced their groupings and schedule for practice at the Wells Fargo Center as camp opens on Thursday. The roster will practice in three different group sessions. Doors open at 8 a.m. with Group A taking the ice one half-hour later.
GROUP A: 8:30-11 a.m.
FORWARDS
11 CLEARY, Dan (assuming he reports; he's still on the list)
12 RAFFL, Michael
15 McGINN, Tye
17 SIMMONDS, Wayne
23 HOLMSTROM, Ben
25 TALBOT, Maxime
37 ROSEHILL, Jay
40 LECAVALIER, Vinny
46 JOHNSTON, Andrew
53 GOULBOURNE, Tyrell
54 MANGENE, Matt
58 LEIER, Taylor
DEFENSE
3 MANNING, Brandon
26 GUSTAFSSON, Erik
32 STREIT, Mark
38 LAURIDSEN, Oliver
39 ALT, Mark (concussion; listed officially but almost certainly will not participate)
55 MORIN, Sam
62 HOSTETTER, Tyler
GOALTENDERS
35 MASON, Steve
49 STOLARZ, Anthony
GROUP B: 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
FORWARDS
18 HALL, Adam
21 LAUGHTON, Scott
28 GIROUX, Claude
36 RINALDO, Zac
42 AKESON, Jason
45 NEWBURY, Kris
47 NOEBELS, Marcel
51 STRAKA, Petr
52 COUSINS, Nick
61 FITZGERALD, Zack
93 VORACEK, Jake
DEFENSE
5 COBURN, Braydon
27 GERVAIS, Bruno
43 BOURDON, Marc-Andre
44 TIMONEN, Kimmo
63 EDDY, Cullen
68 ORLANDO, Todd
75 GILL, Hal
GOALTENDERS
29 EMERY, Ray
33 HEETER, Cal
GROUP C: 12:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.
FORWARDS
10 SCHENN, Brayden
14 COUTURIER, Sean
19 HARTNELL, Scott
24 READ, Matt
56 BROWN, Tyler
57 MATHERS, Derek
59 FLANAGAN, Kyle
64 ALDERSON, Brandon
65 BORDSON, Rob
75 CLARKSON, Doug
76 VANDEVELDE, Chris
DEFENSE
8 GROSSMANN, Nicklas
22 SCHENN, Luke
34 KONAN, Matt
41 MESZAROS, Andrej
50 LAMARCHE, Maxim
60 DELISLE, Steven
70 NEMEC, Mark
GOALTENDERS
30 DANIS, Yann
67 CHUBAK, Carsen
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