The Flyers have put out a
press release to announce that the club has acquired the rights to Nashville Predators defenseman, Dan Hamhuis, an impending free agent.
In return, the Flyers are sending former Nashville first-round pick Ryan Parent back to the Predators. The Flyers also receive a conditional 2011 Entry Draft pick.
I will post my commentary tomorrow.
By the way, assuming he's signed, Hamhuis will be the fourth player from the tiny town of Smithers, British Columbia to play for the Flyers. The Watson brothers, Joe and Jimmy, were mainstay defensemen on the Flyers' Stanley Cup teams, while forward Ron Flockhart was a rookie phenom (fans over the age of 35 may remember "Flockey Hockey") in the early 1980s who soon fell out of favor.
****
Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that Danny Briere and his 9-year-old son, Cameron, will be okay after being involved in a serious car accident along I-81 in New York at about 12:30 AM on Thursday morning.
Briere was driving north through the night en route to visiting family and friends in Canada, when he became drowsy behind the wheel. According to reports, his 2010 Range Rover was passing a tractor-trailer when Briere's vehicle drifted into the right lane. The truck swerved, jackknifed and turned over on its side. The Range Rover crashed into a guard rail.
Thankfully, none of the parties involved were seriously injured. Danny, Cameron and the truck driver were treated for minor injuries at a Binghamton, NY hospital and subsequently released. Briere's SUV was totaled and it took crews five hours to clear the tractor-trailer from the Interstate.
But it could have been much, much worse.
*****
I am not among the people who are anxious to see Jeff Carter run out of Philadelphia. Even so, I fully understand that he is the team's most valuable trading asset and could bring something of value in return.
In descending order of urgency, the club's most obvious needs are 1) a starting NHL goaltender, 2) reversing a lack farm system depth and high-end draft picks, 3) upgrading the 4th, 5th or 6th defense spots, and 4) a power forward winger with 30-goal potential or a pure scoring winger.
I am not really sure what to think about the whole "he's a center playing out of position" argument that was used, along with injuries, to explain Carter's poor performance in the Final against Chicago.
First of all, Carter is more of a shooter than a playmaker and, considering the fact that his usually strong skating was hindered by his foot injuries, playing wing was the most viable option. Secondly, Claude Giroux was called upon to switch back and forth several times from center to wing during the playoffs, and did equally well at both positions. I realize that Danny Briere came alive when returned to his preferred center position (although Danny never gripes about playing wing). But as well as Briere played in his own right, the emergence of Ville Leino and revival of Scott Hartnell also played a big part in Briere's 30-point outburst in the postseason. It wasn't just the position he played.
Honestly, I think what happened to Carter in the Final is just more of the same pattern that he has followed for most of his career, save for the first half of the 2008-09 season: He got into a prolonged offensive drought and started to try to do too much rather than simplifying his game and focusing on just getting pucks in deep and using his size and strength to attack the net. Carter's entire career has been marked by hot streaks followed by equally long -- or longer -- stretches where he could hardly shoot a puck into the ocean.
I've made this same argument in past seasons, and tracked Carter's hot and cold streaks in past Hockeybuzz blogs. Here was his pattern from the 2009-10 season.
Regular season
* Hot streak first 5 games of the regular season (Oct 2 - Oct 10): 4 G, 3 A
* Cold streak next 6 games: 0 G, 3 A, 4 games with no points among the 6 played
* Hot streak next 5 games: 3 G, 5 A
* Cold streak next 4 games: 0 PTS
* Hot streak next 3 games: 2 G, 2 assists, points in each game
* Cold streak next 4 games: 0 PTS
* Two-goal game vs New York Islanders on Dec 8
* Resumed cold streak next 8 games: 1 G, 1 A, 6 games held pointless
* Hot streak next 7 games: 4 G, 6 A, points in 6 of 7 games
* Cold streak next 3 games: 0 G, 1 A, pointless in 2 of 3
* Hot streak next 5 games: 6 G, 2 A, points in 4 of 5
* Cold streak next 5 games: 0 G, 1 A, pointless in 4 of 5
* Hot streak next 3 games (Olympic break): 4 G, 0 A, goals in each game
* Hot streak next 7 games (return from Olympic break): 6 G, 1 A, points in 6 of 7
* Cold streak next 8 games (end of regular season, foot injury on March 21): 1 G, 2 A
Playoffs
* Cold streak first 3 games of New Jersey series: 0 pts, -3
* Two-goal game in Game 4 of New Jersey series -- broke foot on deflected second goal
* DNP in Games 1-7 of Boston series and Games 1-3 of Montreal series
* 0 PTS in Game 4 of Montreal series
* 2 goals in Game 5 of Montreal series -- GWG and an empty net goal
* Cold streak in 6-game Stanley Cup Final vs Chicago -- 1 G (ENG), 1 A (Game 2)
While this exercise can been done for any player in the NHL and you will find that everyone has their ups and downs, the biggest problem with Carter through his career has been has that his slumps go on for too long.
The shining exception was his pre-All Star Game performance in 2008-09, where he only had a single three-game and two-game mini-drought interspersed between consistent point production. Shortly after the break that year, he hit a nine-game skid but the balance of his season was still excellent.
Carter took an undeniable step backwards this past season. Dealing him could benefit the team in other areas without negative offensive impact
if at least three among Briere, Giroux, Leino, Hartnell and Simon Gagne continue their playoff success (in Gagne's case, in the rounds preceding the Final)
and if James Van Riemsdyk takes the next step in his NHL development. That's not a given by any means. Even so, if the right deal comes along, the Flyers need to make it.
***
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the Jaroslav Halak trade from a Montreal perspective. I realize I'm in the minority here, but I think that Montreal got the guy -- Lars Eller -- who will ultimately be the best player in the deal even though he's still an unproven commodity. Ultimately, I see it as a deal that will benefit both teams.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»