It’s been quite a while since Patrick Thoresen suited up for the Flyers in the playoffs a year ago. While the casual Flyers fan will only remember Thor by his…um…unfortunate mishap when giving nearly everything to give the Flyers a better chance to move on past the Capitals in the 2007-08 season (video), what many Flyers fans remember just as vividly is a speedy, high-energy forward that gave everything he had on every shift. He may not have scored a goal with the Flyers but every single time he touched the puck something good happened. Patrick Thoresen, now at the age of 25, was always and still is a puck shark that forchecks like a man possesed. Though he didn’t have the offensive upside Upshall had, Thor is certainly a viable replacement for the speedy young star the Flyers were forced to trade to Pheonix in order to stay cap compliant this past season. On a line with Giroux he could be absolutely deadly. Best of all, Thoresen will likely come cheap.
Back during the 2008 offseason Thor and Holmgren were in discussions for a new contract due to Thoresen’s RFA status, but the winger wanted a one-way contract to secure for his family financially. Holmgren at that point couldn’t offer such a deal, but thanks to his RFA status the Flyers retained his rights despite the fact that he played in HC Lugano in the Swiss-A League this past season.
Recently Paul Holmgren contacted Thoresen about possibly bringing the first Norwegian-born player ever to appear in the Stanley Cup Playoffs back to Philadelphia. If the Flyers can sign him it would solve many depth problems while waiting for prospects like Andreas Nodl, James van Riemsdyk, and Patrick Maroon to develop in the AHL.
Injury Reports
Everyone should know by now that captain Mike Richards had successful surgeries on both of his shoulders after the playoffs and is expected to make a speedy recovery. Carter also had shoulder issues, but did not require surgery. Darroll Powe had an MRI on hip which came back negative. Gagne will be undergoing testing this late-week at some point in New York also on his hip. Goaltender Antero Niittymaki also had yet another hip surgery after having one this past offseason which makes his odds of re-signing with the Flyers even worse.
Randy Jones, who was terrible after returning from surgery through the Flyers’ untimely end in the first round of the playoffs, had yet another surgery on the same hip that he had surgery on for an injury in the preseason that kept him out through most of December. If you noticed him falling on the ice at some of the worst moments during any game then you may have wondered why he was even in the lineup while battling such a problematic injury.
The aftermath of Jones being in the lineup wasn’t just his terrible play. His $2.7m cap hit, which might have been better served on the long-term injury reserve list where it couldn’t hurt the Flyers cap, may have cost quite a few players their jobs here in Philadelphia. Ossi Vaananen, who performed much better than Jones all season, was waived along with center Glen Metropolit in order to bring Danny Briere back into the lineup. To keep Giroux in the lineup for the rest of the season the Flyers had to dump Upshall’s salary even though he was going to be a valuable asset this offseason as an RFA winger with a lot of potential. It wasn’t all that bad because Upshall was going to need a raise this offseason anyway, but the 2nd rounder the Flyers had to send to drop him could’ve instead been coming back if the Flyers’ could have held him until the NHL draft. On top of that the pick-up from that trade, Dan Carcillo, failed to have any real positive impact on the team’s playoff chances. He was there of course, but other than one goal and a fight which seemed to spark the Penguins’ 3 goal deficit come-from-behind victory to knock off the Flyers in game 6 he was completely forgettable.
So Jones, now with a yet again reconstructed hip, remains on the roster for one more season under contract at a devastating $2.70m cap hit. His future with the team is still uncertain.
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