Some thoughts here on Dan Hamhuis and Evgeni Nabokov ...
I spoke to a GM late Saturday night about why the Flyers would walk away from Dan Hamhuis right now and why they would trade him to a team that is already better than they are in their own division.
This GM told me the "best" offer the Flyers had was a 5th round pick for Hamhuis. They were gonna go back to Philly knowing that was the market if they could not sign him next week.
Then Ray Shero finally realized that Sergei Gonchar is not going to re-sign. Shero met with Holmgren 4 times on Friday - we counted them - and upped the ante to a 3rd round pick.
“You gotta make that deal if you think it’s no better than 50-50 you sign the kid," this GM told me. "No one else would have given Philly a third-rounder. [Holmgren] had his rights for 8 days and turned it into a third-round pick. That’s pretty damn good.”
That's why the Flyers bailed right then on Hamhuis instead of going into next week.
And with all due respect to Bill Meltzer, I have spoken at length with people involved in these negotiations in person and Hamhuis wanted to be anointed as the 3rd d- man ahead of Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn.
I would have agreed on Coburn but not Carle. The Flyers were not going to split up Chris Pronger and Carle for Hamhuis. Their intention was to make their 3rd pair stronger. Their intention was to never again get caught on the ice in a SC Final with their 3rd pair hung out to dry in 2 games for 2 critical goals. They were willing to overpay on a guy to make sure that 3rd pair was rock solid.
It wasn't money. You all know the Flyers overpay for everyone. I spoke to a number of people n Newport Sports Group. Hamhuis wanted to be the third cog here very badly. It meant that much to him - more than money.
Okay, Nabokov ...
Looks to me the Flyers are trying to buy time for Sergei Bob Bobrovsky, Johan Backlund and Joacim Eriksson. One of them is expected to emerge as the No. 1 within a year or so. I think the Flyers overstocked with prospects in goal with the intention of creating a competition to bring forth one guy. Which is what you should do at every position in your organization.
Sources told me late Saturday the Flyers likely have the inside track on Nabokov, but Sharks GM Doug Wilson also told me during a scrum with others that he was willing to go back to SJ if need be after the draft to see how this plays out. There's another team out there who also wants Nabokov's rights.
Wilson also said things are more complicated than it appears with Nabby. He said there were "nuances" no one was aware of. I have no idea what that means. That's a potential red flag.
But, as Frank Seravalli of the Daily News witnessed himself, Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren met with Wilson, then went into the stands where the agents are to speak personally with Nabby's agent - Don Meehan, of Newport.
Obviously, Meehan must have told him that Nabokov would be willing to come to Philly.
It's ironic that on the night the Flyers strike out with one Newport client (Hamhuis), they get the puck moving on another.
We'll see what happens from here and, as always, I will be posting and Tweeting on CSNPhilly.com through SAT's 2nd round of the NHL Draft.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • 
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