Flyers trading away...

[Chambokl]

So Mike Holgrem has traded away Jeff Carter (Columbus) and Mike Richards (LA Kings) and has sign Bryzgalov for 9 years and $ 51 million....

Quite happy... I think they are weaker now...

They are getting Brendan Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, 1st round draft choice (8th), 1 second round and 1 third round...

[Paulio]

Terrible moves by Philly. Being a Penguins fan, I like this a lot..

[Hearzy]

Was just reading up on this. Some wild trades. Wonder how this will come out for them.

Can't really decide if this is a good or bad idea...

[cleek]

here's my take , I like the signing of Bryzgalov but not for 9 years ( 5 would have been more like it ) but get used to front end loaded contracts that will see players signed until they are in their 40's ... then they get bought out. Carter I was not surprised to see go ,he is a natural center playing the wing so he could do better playing the pivot with Nash. What Philly got in return was essentially two first round picks ( Voracek was an 7th rnd in 2007)plusthe 8th this year ( somegoodoptionsavailable ) and a 3rd so good return plus even more important they dumped a big long term contract ( 5+ million 11 years ) . I was however really shocked to see Richards moved but they got a good young player in Simmonds and the best prospect not playing in the NHL in Schenn + plus a 2nd rnd pick . Again dumping 5+ million deal with 9 years left in Richards contract. Good return but this may be viewed as great return in a couple of years when the players received develop.
The reason why Philly could do this is because of the immergence of Claude Giroux and the potential of James Van Riemsdyk. This move will also allow Briere to move back to play center . All in all pretty ballzy day for Paul Holmgren , I bet the fans in Philly want to string him up for trading Richards. Hockey trades are very $ orientated these days unlike 30 years ago, trading players to dump bad contracts is part of the wheeling and dealing now.

[golfisforfun]

Clearly Richards is a PROBLEM player... With that much talent and leadership, you have to have serious chracter flaws in thr oom or off the ice to be traded in the prime of your career for unproven players...

[Cruban]

Good trade for Columbus and great trade for LA. How about Kopitar and Richards as a 1-2 punch.
Philly is really rolling the dice though, if I was a season ticket holder I would be very upset.

[Tyler.M]

as a flyers fan and things i`ve heard were that there was drama between both carter and richards. i expected one of them to go and was supposed to be carter but when i heard they let both go wasnt to happy. Philly is still pretty deep but this might hurt them, JVR really came into his own in the playoffs this year i`ve always liked the kid but i think if they are relying on him, giroux, briere, and the rest of the guys, they`re in trouble. Goalie is something they`ve struggled with for ever so will be interesting to see if bryzgalov will even show up. well i`m sad but what can you do.

[jeffc]

well, they also picked up Couturier yesterday which will bode well for the future, probably didn't think they would get him picking so late.

[DecoyOctopus]

If they can sign Brad Richards then it was a good deal, if not you just traded away pound of pound one of the toughest players in hockey.

[leafman]

i think this hurts them for signing players in the future as they showed no loyalty to 2 guys they gave big contracts to imo.

[davevandyk]

well, they also picked up Couturier yesterday which will bode well for the future, probably didn't think they would get him picking so late.

ya that was fortunate for sure. I don't know much about the kid Ottawa selected to be honest, but I was surprised Ottawa didn't scoop this guy up.

[mberube]

Couturier is talented but not a great skater and is flagged as possibly a very good junior that might not make an impact in the NHL because of lack of speed and agility. It remains to be seen but that is the main reason why he got picked later than expected.

[nokids]

Talbot and Jagr to Philly??? I dont want to miss Philly vs Pittsburgh games next year. The rivaly just got more spicy!

[justsomeguy]

Philly is always trying to buy a team versus building a team. Once in a while it all comes together, but most of the time you end up blowing a ton of $$$$ for nothing.

Who knows, maybe Jagr/Briere/Giroux will be fantistic - or maybe they will flop. Maybe Vokoun will solve all of their goaltending issues, or maybe Pronger is past his prime and their defence sucks - or maybe not. One thing for certain is that next year's team will be totally different from this year's, and their players have no idea what management is thinking...

[nokids]

Maybe Vokoun will solve all of their goaltending issues,