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Meltzer's Musings: 6-20-10

June 20, 2010, 11:29 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The acquisition of Dan Hamhuis to the Flyers' defense corps gives the Flyers the best 1-to-5 group that I ever remember the team assembling. From what I understand, Hamhuis' addition will not affect the club's efforts to resign restricted free agent Braydon Coburn (who made $1.3 million last season), nor will the club actively shop Matt Carle (who has two seasons left at a $3.4 million cap hit).

The team wants to be as stacked as possible on the blueline, in order to relieve some regular season minutes from Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen, be better able to withstand injuries, and provide head coach Peter Laviolette more options when he needs to juggle defense pairings.

The number six defenseman, by necessity, will be a low-salaried youngster. Oskars Bartulis has the inside track but will have competition at training camp. It remains to be seen if any among Kevin Marshall (who would carry an $875,000 cap hit on the NHL end of his entry-level contract), Joonas Lehtivuori ($850,000), Denis Bodrov, Marc-Andre Bourdon or Erik Gustafsson are ready or able to push Bartulis. The club may not carry a seventh defenseman to start the season. Danny Syvret, a restricted free agent, made a prorated $575,000 last season during his time with the big club. Bartulis will make $600,000 for the next three seasons after signing a long-term contract during last season.

Mike Rathje ($3.5 million) finally comes off the Flyers' salary cap this summer, but something still has to give salary-cap wise because his in-season cap space has been covered by the LTIR allowances. In light of the club's need to acquire a starting goaltender this offseason, is that the club is going to have to shed a big salary up front if it keeps its 1-4 from last season intact and subtracts cap space by resigning and retaining Coburn.

Simon Gagne, an unrestricted free agent after next season, makes $5.25 million against the salary cap next season but has a no-trade-clause in his contract. Scott Hartnell, who also has a no-trade-clause, has three seasons left at a $4.2 million cap hit. Jeff Carter has one season left at $5 million before he becomes a restricted free agent and does not have a no-trade.

The club will save $600,000 on the cap by letting winger Arron Asham leave as an unrestricted free agent, and is likely to save an additional $550,000 if little-used Riley Cote is waived. Unrestricted free agent Mika Pyorala will not be resigned, but only made the league minimum last season. A small part of the total will go back on the cap when Darroll Powe, a restricted free agent, receives a modest raise on the $520,000 he made last season.

The Flyers will have a modest saving of $125,000 it were to waive Brian Boucher (who is signed for one more season at $925,000) and opt for recently resigned Johan Backlund as its backup goaltender.

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According to multiple sources, Paul Holmgren has been inquiring about goaltender trade possibilities -- both for veteran keepers and youngsters -- on a virtually league-wide basis, and the trade route rather than signing a free agent appears to be the club's preferred method to landing a starting goalie for next year.

One rumor that surfaced yesterday was that the Boston Bruins are dangling Tim Thomas, who has three years left on a contract that carries a $5 million cap hit. The 36-year-old Thomas, who was the 2008-09 Vezina Trophy winner but lost his starting job to Tuukka Rask over the course of last season, will make $6 million in actual dollars this season.

While Thomas would be a significant upgrade over any of the goaltenders the Flyers used last season and his competitive nature would play well with the Philly crowd, his age and contract length are definitely major concerns. So is the fact that, although Rask is the present and future for the Bruins in goal, the club has allegedly set its sights high on a return it wants to for Thomas.

I don't know specifically what Boston wants but, through process of elimination, I arrived at Simon Gagne as the most logical trade fit if he's willing to waive his no-trade.

You aren't going to trade Jeff Carter for a goalie Thomas' age, nor is the organization deep enough prospect-wise to be able to easily move Claude Giroux or James Van Riemsdyk. That would leave Gagne as the most desirable remaining target, if he's willing to go to a Boston team that struggled offensively all last season and saw first-hand in the playoffs that Gagne still has some clutch goals left in him. Gagne would also be a fairly close cap-figure match to Thomas and plays a two-way game that's a must to be a fit for the Bruins' system.

Will it happen? I have no idea. There are too many variables and alternative possibilities. But it is an interesting possibility to debate. From a Boston perspective, it would add to their forward corps, give them a year to evaluate whether they want to commit a long-term extension to the 30-year-old Gagne and they still have Rask in goal. For the Flyers, the loss of Gagne would sting a little, but they would have a good shot at another run to the Finals with an upgrade in goal, an already-upgraded defense and a forward lineup that while not with its share of question marks has the potential to be offensively potent.
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