Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
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QUICK HITS: AUGUST 26, 2017
1) Prospect update: Flyers left wing prospect Oskar Lindblom will participate in the 2017 NHLPA Rookie Showcase game on Aug. 28 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. He will join Flyers defense prospect Philippe Myers. Neither of the first two picks in the 2017 Draft -- Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils) nor the Flyers' Nolan Patrick -- are taking part.
2) All-Star Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds celebrates his 29th birthday today. Simmonds is the subject of Sunday's installment of the Flyers Top 25 in 25 series, looking at the best Flyers players of the last 25 years.
3) Today in Flyers History: In a controversial trade the Flyers would come to regret, defenseman Brad McCrimmon (embroiled in a contract dispute with the team for the second straight summer) was traded to the Calgary Flames on August 26, 1987. In return, the Flyers received a 1989 first-round pick and a 1988 third-round pick (goaltender Dominic Roussel). The first-round pick was subsequently traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the deal that brought goaltender Ken Wregget to the Flyers in the spring of 1989.
4) Over on the Flyers official website, my series of off-season articles looking at Flyers prospects continues. This week's topic: the promising uptick in Flyers' scouting in Sweden in recent years. Oskar Lindblom, Robert Hägg and Felix Sandström have all been individually profiled previously over the last year, so the focus of this piece is on more recently drafted prospects Linus Högberg, David Bernhardt and Olle Lycksell.
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FLYERS TOP 25 IN 25: JEFF CARTER
Highly skilled center and right winger Jeff Carter may not have become a franchise player during his six season with the Flyers but he was nevertheless an impact performer. Carter had a tendency to run hot and cold but when he got on a roll, he could score in bunches and play at an All-Star caliber level for sustained stretches.
Carter topped the 30-goal and 60-point marks three times as a Flyer, with highs of 46 goals and 86 points in 2008-09. His output that season was the Flyers' second-highest goal total and third-highest total points in any season since 2000-01. Only Simon Gagne's 47-goal season in 2005-06 and Claude Giroux's seasons of 93 points (2011-12) and 86 points (2013-14) have bettered Carter's production over this time period.
Big, strong and mobile with a deadly wrist shot, Carter also evolved into a good two-way player as his career progressed. At times, Carter could make difficult plays look easy. His collection of abilities were both a blessing and a curse, because he sometimes left Flyers fans wanting more consistent take-charge leadership on the ice. It should also be noted that, for whatever controversies and concerns there were about the player's alleged off-ice immaturity as a young man, Carter always kept himself in excellent physical condition and ready to compete.
The Flyers drafted Carter in the first round (11th overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft with a pick acquired from Phoenix in the Daymond Langkow trade. The 6-foot-4 standout center for the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds represented Team Canada at the 2002-03 Under-18 World Championships (two goals, six points in seven games) and at both the 2003-04 (five goals, seven points in six games) and 2004-05 (seven goals, 10 points in six games) World Junior Championships.
Prior to joining the Flyers at the NHL level, he was a major offensive force in the Philadelphia Phantoms drive to the championship in the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs. He went on to play 461 regular season games (181 goals, 343 points) and 47 playoff matches (13 goals, 21 points) in the Philadelphia portion of his NHL career.
As a rookie in 2005-06, Carter produced 23 goals and 42 points in largely a third-line role. He also showed his mettle in a game where he actually briefly returned to the ice for a shift after having part of his ear torn when he was struck by an errant puck.
Carter's big breakout season came in 2008-09. Centering a line with Joffrey Lupul and Scott Hartnell, Carter scored 46 goals and added 38 assists for 84 points in 82 games. He was selected to the NHL All-Star Game that season. Carter also led the Flyers in goals in the 2009-10 (33 goals) and 2010-11 (36 goals) seasons.
For his Flyers playoff career, Carter produced 13 goals, 21 points and a minus-14 rating in 47 games. While these numbers fell short of expectations, injuries were a factor in some of the years. Most notably, Carter sustained a broken foot during the 2010 playoffs and was largely ineffective upon his return. His best run came in 2008, when he scored six goals and 11 points in 17 games.
On June 23, 2011, the Flyers made the first of two blockbuster trades, sending Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jakub Voracek, the eighth overall pick of the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft (Sean Couturier) and a 2011 third-round pick (Nick Cousins). Flyers captain Mike Richards, Carter's best friend on the team, was traded the same day to the LA Kings in exchange for Wayne Simmmonds, top prospect Brayden Schenn and a 2012 second-round pick (later flipped to Dallas in the deal that brought defenseman Nicklas Grossmann to Philly).
Carter, who had recently signed a long-term contract extension with the Flyers and was traded ahead of a no-movement clause kicking in, sulked after the trade. He was neither healthy (shoulder issue) nor happy during a brief stint in Columbus. He dressed in only 39 games (15 goals, 25 points) before he was on the move again.
Traded to Los Angeles in exchange for defenseman Jack Johnson in late Feb. 2012, Carter was reunited with Richards as well as former Phantoms and Flyers head coach John Stevens. He went on to win the Stanley Cup in the 2012 and 2014 postseasons.
Carter was a major force in LA's second Cup run, producing 10 goals and 25 points in 26 games. In 2016-17, Carter attained his fourth career 30-plus goal regular season, and first since his departure from Philadelphia.
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