cap hit ($5.6 million) and is a system goalie. He’s the best option right now, but his play with the team hasn’t lived up to money being spent.
Also, there’s not indication that Ilya Bryzgalov wants to stay in Philadelphia. He thinks the city is “old,” and the media has ripped him. There’s a good chance Bryzgalov doesn’t want to stay, and a better chance the team doesn’t want him.
It wouldn’t be the first time Holmgren didn’t completely tell the truth. Rick Curran, Jeff Carter’s agent, said that Holmgren promised Carter that the Flyers would not trade him when he signed an 11-year extension with the Flyers. The Flyers traded Jeff Carter.
With the Flyers likely having big plans this summer, buying both Briere and Bryzgalov out makes the most sense from a money viewpoint. Both players being bought out would give Holmgren about $9.5 million in cap space to sign Streit and other free agents.
Couple that $9.5 million with Chris Pronger being placed on LTIR, the Flyers should have roughly $12 million to operate with. That should be enough money for Holmgren to tinker with
his roster without having to worry about the salary cap.
The Flyers have the 11th pick in the first round on June 30th’s draft. The obvious thinking is that the orange and black will look at defenseman at No. 11, but the Flyers have always abided to take the best player available.
If a forward is the best player at 11, Holmgren will take him. If a goalie is the best player, Holmgren will take him. If a defenseman is the best player available, Holmgren will take him. If Holmgren has his eyes on someone that requires trading him, he’ll do that.
And if he thinks he can get the player he wants by trading down, that’s an option too. Oh, let’s not forget, if Holmgren get use the No. 11 pick as trade bait in a package to acquire a No. 1 defenseman, he’ll definitely go down that avenue as well.
Trading first-round picks isn’t something the Flyers have been afraid to do. But with the draft in Philadelphia next year, you can expect Holmgren to hold onto that first-rounder. One would think the Flyers want to have a first-round pick with the draft in town.
In terms of prospects who the Flyers could look at, there should be a defenseman that’s available at No. 11 that will intrigue Holmgren. This year’s draft rivals the 2003 draft, which has proven to be the best in league history.
After Seth Jones -- the top ranked defensive prospect who is expected to go either No. 1 or No. 2 -- there are plenty of legitimate prospects in this draft. Donovan McNabb’s nephew, Darnell Nurse, possibly could fall to 11 in which the Flyers could grab him.
A few other names to look at: Ryan Pulock, Nikita Zadorov and Robert Hagg.
The point there is that the best player available could be a defenseman or, at the very least, the difference between the forward prospect and the defensive prospect will be so minute that the Flyers should go with the need over the best player available.
It’s not written in stone that the Flyers will pick at 11. They may keep the pick. They made trade up. They may move down or move the pick altogether.
The Flyers haven’t been bad drafters, at least at the forward position. They have a long, rich history of drafting quality, and often, top forwards, even when they are picking in near the end of the first round.
Mike Richards and Carter were both drafted in 2003. They were the faces of the franchise before they blew it up in 2011. Simon Gagne was a late first rounder. Claude Giroux was another. Sean Couturier was a first-rounder. Scott Laughton was picked last year.
The Flyers don’t have a history of picking first-round defensemen. Historically, the Flyers haven’t picked many defensemen in the first round. The Flyers have only drafted 10 defensemen in the first round in their 46 years.
Philadelphia’s draft philosophy hasn’t hurt the team. They consistently draft top forwards. It can improve, starting this year, by drafting better defensive prospects. The player the Flyers pick in the first round this year likely will be a good player.
That Sunday at the Prudential Center in New Jersey will be a busy day for the NHL. The Flyers will be busy, working the phones as will every other team. There is expected to be a ton of movement at the draft, and perhaps the Flyers find their No. 1 defenseman.
What hurts the Flyers isn’t their draft philosophy. It’s their lack of patience. Their lack of going through growing pains with young players, not panicking when they have a good core in place and seeing the results.
Once they learn patience, the likelihood of a Stanley Cup will follow. They already lost a Vezina winning goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky because of the impatient owners. They can’t continue to go forward trying to buy championships.
Because it doesn’t work, it hurts. ◉