Oh, Claude Giroux, how young you look without the fu manchu or full Forsberg beard. It wasn’t long ago that Bobby Clarke was messing up your name up at the podium. I wonder how many people messed up your name after that disgusting Gordie Howe hat-trick against the Pens in the playoffs.
With Giroux, vanRiemsdyk, and Sbisa now all signed to contracts the Flyers have their last three first round selections within the system. It’s no question that all three are going to get a long hard look at training camp and preseason. Giroux is slated. All reports seem to claim that Sbisa is slated. Now we just have to wait to see what JVR can do in an orange and black uniform.
Three days left until the draft? Can anyone tell I’m excited?
Also the Winter Classic rumors are back, and in this hilarious drama that has unfolded between the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and our own Philadelphia Flyers, there are more lead changes than a six on six hockey game with no goalies. It’s as entertaining a spectacle as there can be with the “quiet” period for the NHL underway. Frankly, I don’t understand why more people don’t get excited about hockey again until free agency. To me the draft is where it’s at, but at least out of all of this hustle and bustle about the Winter Classic I’m getting some good laughs:
“The other part of that Metro report is that the Philadelphia Flyers are now the frontrunners to face the Boston Bruins in the Fenway Classic. (Frontrunners in Boston; go figure.)“
A big thank you to Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports for the early morning laugh. (article)
The funny was then followed by comments about a possible Crosby vs. Ovechkin Winter Classic…and I’d love to point out why that won’t happen in the near future, but it’s not worth my time or effort. Just know that if the Flyers indeed go to Boston they are a long way away from ever hosting the show in Happy Valley. The Penguins are just as far away from another Winter Classic as we would be. Maybe the game will come to Philly in my lifetime. It should. Fingers crossed of course.
Still nothing can bring me down this week. FRIDAY IS THE NHL DRAFT!
If you think free agency is awesome then you must have forgotten the draft all together. While it’s great to see who your team signs and all, a lot of the GM work is done right now. The rumors are flying off the handle and continue to get more and more absurdly hilarious. If you think I’m kidding take this recent rumor for example: Andrew Albert’s rights to Florida for Jay Bouwmeester’s rights. I wonder what people (Eklund) are thinking when they make up these insane ideas.
But as I said, even rumor mill stupidity can’t bring me down. Holmgren is hell bent on making a move for someone. It’s never who you suspect. I know that Calgary is reportedly dangling Phaneuf. Phaneuf is certainly no Bouwmeester and has problems defensively that were exploited this past season, but if Briere could be moved it’d be a perfect salary cap swap. Unfortunately Calgary would want to make room to sign JayBo so we’d have to dump someone somewhere else. Not to mention actually trading for Phaneuf would likely cost an arm and a leg. Phaneuf isn’t realistic. Sorry to disappoint all of you out there.
Bouwmeester always was and still remains our best option. Whether it can happen or not we will have to see. Florida is reportedly asking for a conditional first depending on Bouwmeester’s re-signing with the team he is traded to. That means it would be a 2010 1st round pick. I’m confident the Flyers would gladly offer that to talk to JayBo as long as it’s conditional. The problem is clearing cap space, and in the end Bouwmeester could in actuality cost us our 2010 1st rounder, a good player sent away as a salary dump, and a 2009 1st rounder if we get a really good return on whoever we dump. That’s likely the most expensive JayBo would be for us barring future ramifications.
I don’t know. Two top 10 NHL defensemen with Coburn and Parent? I think I like my odds with a blueline like that especially with the young offensive core we already have assembled.
Apparently JVR and Lupul are not going anywhere. That’s as much as I’ve figured out from Holmgren’s recent statements. We will have to wait and see.
As for who we pick if we keep the 21st overall selection? Kreider? Kassian?
I can promise you one thing. A lot of the players that the different scouting services have ranked are not going to end up where they ranked at by the end of their respective seasons. This is a deep draft with a lot of play. It’s a bad sign for the ranking agents when pro scouts are joking about the rankings at the combine. Some good players are going to fall. There’s going to be some reaches. That’s how it goes. The Flyers are definitely in a solid position at 21.
While I think they go offense, Timmy P. is thinking the opposite. Apparently Holmgren mentioned that he isn’t yet satisfied with the Flyers defensive core in the prospect pool that includes Sbisa, Parent, Marshall, Bourdon, Bodrov, and Ratchuk. Why Holmgren isn’t satisfied I will never know, but Panaccio is reporting the Flyers could be looking defense.
Timmy Panaccio’s Defensive Shortlist:
* David Rundblad (Skelleftea/Sweden)
* Ryan Ellis (Windsor/OHL)
* Stefan Elliott (Saskatoon/WHL)
* Ryan Button (Prince Albert/WHL)
* Nick Leddy (Eden Prairie/HS-MN)
* Calvin De Haan (Oshawa/OHL)
* Sami Vatanen (Jyp Jr./Finland-Jr.)
* Simon Bertilsson (Brynas/Sweden)
* Alexander Urbom (Djurgarden/Sweden)
My Offensive Shortlist:
* Chris Kreider (Andover/HS-MN)
* Zack Kassian (Peterborough/OHL)
* Kyle Palmieri (USA U-18/USDP)
* Landon Ferraro (Red Deer/WHL)
* Nazim Kadri (London/OHL)
* Louis Leblanc (Omaha/USHL)
* Jordan Caron (Rimouski/QMJHL)
* Carter Ashton (Lethbridge/WHL)
* Zach Busdish (Team South West/MHSEL)
Needless to say if the Flyers want a good selection 21st overall most of those players will do. I can promise you I’ve looked at many of them for Hockey’s Future, and there aren’t many terrible selections out there. I think offense, Panaccio thinks defense, and a goalie is out of the question. And there you have it. If you want to see their rankings or scouting reports you can visit the NHL draft site at NHL.com.
The rest of Panaccio’s pre-draft update article includes, once again, the theory that the Flyers are trying to move up to the 5th which LA currently has. If the Flyers do manage to do that while dumping salary for Bouwmeester I’m all for it. Then of course the game changes a bit. The defensemen become Cowen, Kulikov, or Ekman-Larsson; the forwards of course become Paajarvi-Svensson, Schroeder, or Schenn. The possibilities are endless for talent at the 5th position.
Holmgren still stands firm that he will pick the best available and with a team like the Flyers, full of young talent, who can blame him?
When Panaccio had a talk with the Flyers’ director of operations, Chris Pryor, all the talk was about Swedish talent. Maybe the Flyers go for a Swede:
Among European skaters, NHL Central Scouting ranks Swedes in the top eight, led by 6-foot-6, 220-pound blue liner Victor Hedman (Modo). Three others are also defensemen – Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Leksand), Tim Erixon (Skelleftea), and David Rundblad (Skelleftea). The top European goalie, incidentally, is also a Swede – Robin Lehner (Frolunda Jr.).
“The draft is heavy on Swedish talent,” Pryor said. “We knew that, which is why we spent a lot of time this past year over in Europe scouting Swedes. There could be as many as a half-dozen Swedes going into the first round.”
The Flyers’ philosophy has always been to draft based on talent and not by position. That said, the organization is hoping there might be a defenseman at No. 21. The Flyers won’t say who they like, but they have narrowed their list to three prospects they are confident will be around.
“The line is, if everything is equal, you tend to lean toward defenseman,” Pryor said. “Sometimes, a defenseman is harder to come by than a forward. This year, if it holds true, there are some defensemen out there, especially, in our area, there might be a group of defensemen we are looking at.”
Luca Sbisa was an Italian born talent who lived in Sweden and moved on to North America to play hockey in the Canadian Juniors, but does anyone know who was the last Swede straight from the Elite League in Sweden that the Flyers drafted? It was Peter (Forsberg) the Great 6th overall back in 1991.
The idea of moving up to 5th overall and taking MSP, a Forsberg-esque talent, sends shivers down my spine.
