Changes could be coming soon for the Philadelphia Flyers, plus the latest on the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils.
Could the Flyers consider trading Sean Couturier?
PHILLY.COM: Sam Carchidi and Frank Seravalli report Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall isn’t yet ready to overhaul his roster, call up young players from the minors or pin blame for the club’s poor performance on head coach Craig Berube. However, the two pundits expect Hextall could being shaking up his roster if the club fails to make any significant improvement in the coming weeks.
Carchidi speculates some veterans, like Vincent Lecavalier, R.J Umberger and Braydon Coburn, could be shopped but acknowledged Hextall will have to find a way to get around the various no-trade clauses. While Lecavalier and Umberger have improved of late, Carchidi considers Coburn the easiest to move, as his contract expires at the end of next season.
Seravalli, meanwhile, noted Hextall claiming to have no interest in trading his young players. However, he wonders what will happen to those who’ve been given ample opportunity to perform but have yet to prove they can become players Hextall can build around, singling out Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Matt Read.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: At this point I’d say the only untouchables are Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and perhaps Wayne Simmonds and Steve Mason. All other options have to be on the table if Hextall decides a significant rebuild is in order. That doesn’t mean he will trade guys like Schenn, Couturier and Read but he should be willing to gauge their trade value to see if there’s a return which can help the Flyers. While I expect him to try to move Lecavalier, Umberger and Coburn, I agree with Carchidi that Coburn is the only one with real trade value. If the Flyers are still mired near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings in a month’s time, expect Hextall to lay the groundwork for a roster overhaul.
NICHOLS ON HOCKEY: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports of speculation the Boston Bruins are trying hard to land Arizona Coyotes center Antoine Vermette. He’s heard one team has inquired about Bruins left wing Milan Lucic but Friedman doesn’t think there’s a deal there. He also wouldn’t say Loui Eriksson was unavailable, having heard of a rumored swap of Eriksson to St. Louis for T.J. Oshie. Eriksson only has one year left on his contract and teams currently don’t want to add long-term deals.
Friedman also noted the respective GMs of the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild denied a rumored deal which would send Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth to Minnesota, though he believes it would be a good move for the Wild, depending upon the asking price. He also speculates there’s could be some behind-the-scenes issues going on regarding Thomas Vanek’s poor performance with the Wild thus far.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Coyotes don’t have to rush to deal away Vermette, as I suspect they’ll hang onto him as long as possible in hopes of driving up his trade value, which could prove too expensive for the Bruins. I don’t believe the Bruins want to trade Lucic but there has to be concern over his performance and if he’s worth an expensive long-term contract extension when his current $6 million per season deal expires in 2016. That question, however, will likely be pondered in the off-season. I don’t believe the Blues will part with Oshie for Eriksson. Given Oshie’s recent improvement I doubt they’ll consider trading him.
Enroth to the Wild would make sense for the Wild, but the Sabres will want an expensive return, probably a first-round pick and a top prospect. Sabres GM Tim Murray is setting ridiculously high asking prices for those players who have attracted interest from rival clubs. As for Vanek, whatever the reason behind his poor play, the Wild are stuck with him for at least the rest of this season, as his contract and inconsistent play makes him tough to move.
NJ.COM: Rich Chere lists Cory Schneider, Damon Severson, Adam Henrique, Jon Merrill and Andy Greene as five players the New Jersey Devils should not trade.
So where does this leave the Bruins? They’re struggling mightily to produce goals, hold off opponents in the final minutes of periods, and fight for points and position in the standings. It’s evident that they need to make moves in order to improve their roster, if they feel they still have a chance at making a cup run. If not, then they need to start moving onto plan B. There’s obviously not many moves to be made right now because of the high asking prices and ability for teams to hold out until the March deadline for a bigger return. If that’s the case, and the Bruins feel the team they have currently can hold off until the deadline to make a move, which will help propel them into the playoffs then I think we’re in for a rude awakening. It’s going to be a very long and brutal January/February for the organization and its fan base. It may be wiser for Chiarelli to wait until the off season and decide what “core” group the Bruins should move forward with and begin moving the odds and ends, even if the return isn’t as substantial as fans would hope… the team will need cap space in the off season and some definite moves (RW, D, 4th line), in order to shore up the team and become a cup contender again.
Chad, The bruins are under performing, there is not a single player playing up to his capabilities on a consistent bases. I’ve watched every game and by far the two worst under performers are Lucic and Chara. Lucic is slow cant make a pass and to be effective needs to be hitting and he is not doing that. Chara has lost several steps in his foot speed was never fleet of foot but now he cant pinch or force the play on the blue line because he wouldn’t be able to catch Jason Allison even if Chara had a lead. With all these ntc it hard to make a move; therefore the simplest move is to change the coach. Also I would like to see another forward who will bang the body but not at Stewart asking price.
I agree Caper. I would even throw Rask into that group of underperformers. He’s been letting quite a few softies get by. I would hate to see an over payment to bring in a guy who won’t fix the issue. Wait till the offseason to see who needs to be moved. If the Bruins miss the playoffs it can only be blamed on the underperformance out on the ice.
Leaves the Bruins in the cap mess Chiarelli put them in.
Jr Jacob to the rescue…
Sprinkles rich brat faerie dust on the team…
Poof Chara is 5yrs younger…
Poof Neely is scoring 50 again.
Poof Bonby Orr has knees..
Leaves the Bruins in the cap mess Chiarelli put them in.
Jr Jacob to the rescue…
Sprinkles rich brat faerie dust on the team…
Poof Chara is 5yrs younger…
Poof Neely is scoring 50 again.
Poof Bobby Orr has knees..
If you saw the recent Bruins-Sens game and are a Boston fan you had to be scratching your head after seeing Julien start the OT with 3 F and 1 D – Chara. While that may have worked in the past, Chara is now 37 and simply doesn’t have the speed he once had to deal with skaters like Karlsson and Ryan. Karlsson made him look bad on the winning goal when he took the puck away from him and set up Ryan. I’ve said for some time that the Bruins were successful in recent years in spite of Julien who was canned in Montreal and then again in NJ – with 3 games to go in the season and his team in 1st place. There HAD to be an underlying reason.
George I noticed that also. He was starting 3 forwards with Hamilton which was working but have no idea why he would do it with Chara he’s way to slow to be on the ice on any 4 vs 4 situation.
I agree, that was an awful play, but Kelly was even worse on that play, causing the whole rush the other way and forcing Chara to deal with a bad situation.
Leafs just fired Carlyle. That should solve everything. Not!
Cant make things much worse now can it?
Any idea who his replacement is / will be?
I heard ron Wilson has been seen around the acc the past couple of weeks? lol
Please please please be Torts…
lol prattle that would be hilarious!!
If it is Torts, I can promise a few things….#1 they won’t be getting 35-40 shots against every night, #2 say goodbye to your power play, #3 youngsters on Toronto, get ready to get ruined / publicly criticized daily.
Could you imagine if it was Torts, all of a sudden Kessel leading the NHL in blocked shots (sarc). As if Toronto is not already a circus of attention, you would need a bigger media room and charge for admission be a sellout after every loss.
Shanahan-hired assistants. They canned Carlyle now in the fear that he would somehow still guide them into the playoffs. Firing him then in order to make room for Babcock would have been much to embarrassing.
don’t cry non hockey fan
Yes, Julien has a tendency to play 3 forwards in the overtime session. I can’t imagine why he’d put Chara out there, especially if, as I’ve read in one story (Can’t remember where?), Chara is playing with a brace on his knee. Hamilton should have been out there, or they should have gone with a pair of d-men, with Karlsson and Ryan on the ice. In any event, according to Joe Haggerty, Cam Kneely was smoking mad and pacing the arena floor outside the B’s dressing room, after the shootout loss to Carolina. Can a coaching change be far away? In any event, there is one positive note for the Bruins, and that is the following: They’ve only had one regulation loss in the past seven games, going 3-1-3. So, they’ve managed to pick up valuable single points. Otherwise, they’d really be in trouble!
Sorry. I intended my earlier post to go below George’s comment, above.
If Cam was “smokin’ mad” that could spell trouble for Julien, now that the fired-coaches domino effect is picking up steam following Carlyle’s sacking (Bylsma, Eakins, MacLean, DeBoer). After all, he was sacked after getting NJ to 47-24-8 in 2007 with 3 games to go in the season and sitting in 1st.
About time he got fired. Not a leafs fan but when I got that update, it gave me a glimmer of hope for humanity 😛
poor randy didn’t have a chance with that core of players he had to work with! on the bright side 1 less excuse for leaf fans why they are struggling
If you’re interested you can read my take on the Carlyle firing in “Canadian Corner”.
Lol Ill spam it up over there wont argue bout it in this section….
Is there truth to the rumours that Todd Bertuzzi has accepted a tryout with the Sens. Here cups Ottawa’s first Stanly Cup!!!!
Just what they need, a washed up 39 year old looking for a contract to help erase lawsuit debts.
if so, Im the man for the job
Doug Armstrong should get tar & feathered if he sends Oshie to the Broons for Ericksson …
To each their own, but I disagree that Mason is untouchable (though I note you put “maybe”). His Save % is tied for 18th right now, out of qualified goalies. The D ahead of him has been brutal, so he should be commended for having a % that high. But he doesn’t seem to be elite or even “great”, just capable. He still goes through extended bad patches, as well.
If there was a deal – Mason + Read for an even better #1 (say, Craig Anderson + a high pick or good player, just as an example), I could see Hextall going for it.
Not saying he would, but I certainly don’t think he’d call Mason untouchable. Just my $0.02!
If you think Anderson is better than Mason then you are implying that Read is more valuable than a high 1st or good player. I don’t see that being the reality.
Good point! Drop the quality of the Sens return to make it more even, but otherwise I’d say that (as a complete hypothetical) is a way to show that Mason is certainly tradeable.
No way is mason tradable and no way is Anderson even in the same ball park as mason. Mason has been getting shafted by horrible team play. He outplayed hank last playoffs and against a overall great d team. People who don’t watch the flyers play I understand such an uneducated comment. Mason is the only reason the flyers are even competitive. Besides g and vor , masons next as best players on the team.
Now I don’t watch Philly play much but as far as I can tell Mason is the poorer of the two goalies and if Philly is just having a bad year this year causing Mason to have a poor year as well he isn’t that good. As good goalies will drag a team to a few wins. Anderson has been doing that all year for the Sens.
Anderson has his faults, He is one of the elite goalies. He tends to have one good year then a bad year and cycles back and forth between them. But You are going to have to show me why Mason is such a good goalie that he stands so far ahead of Anderson.
Arg….so many typos. I don’t think Anderson is one of the elite goalies. Some how the n’t was left off of is in that sentence. He isn’t one of the elite goalies.
I guess last nights game has showed you why mason is better. And oh yeah. Younger and cheaper. No way the flyers should make a deal for Anderson. NO WAY.
The article says Hextall, not Holmgren. No way Hexy trades a 26 year old goalie who hasn’t hit his prime for a 33 year old goalie. i could see Read for a pick or a prospect.
The deal I keep seeing in my little peanut brain is: Evander Kane to the Bruins for Brad Marchand + some useful parts. (a young D-man & pick?)
Kane is a LW, I realize, and the B’s need a RW, but he’s a potential 40-goal scorer, the Bruins need goals from anywhere, and the Bruins have depth of defensive forwards. Plus, I sometimes get the feeling they, too, love Marchand’s ability but also get a little tired of his antics from time to time.
Jets would get a talented, scoring, checking forward who has huge value as an agitator (much as I &*#$ hate Marchand, he’s valuable). Plus, he’s the kind of player you NEED in the playoffs. Jets also unload a malcontent while his value is still high. And they’ve proven this year they can win without Kane’s scoring – only 6 goals, yet the Jets are in a playoff position halfway through the season!
Flame away, folks! 🙂
They could and would get way more then that package from Boston,
Kane would probably be a good starting point for ROR, and if the Jets where to trade him I would wager thats the type of return they would be looking for.
Kane is big fast and has potential, yes he scored 30 goals once and hasn’t come close since. The problem with Kane is that he has not adapted his game yet. Flying down the wing and letting a wrist shot go from the circle, everybody knows its coming. Needs to drive to the net and play more in the dirty area. Will he do that in a new scenery, that’s the question, otherwise keep Marchand because Kane will be hard pressed to get 20 if he doesn’t change his game.
@Caper,
Everyone mentioned here stats go up 100%-2000% With a change of scenery. That being said I think Kane is a 60 goal guy elsewhere…..lol ….JK
Bruins need to keep Marchand he’s the only guy doing anything. No one else except maybe Soderberg have any scoring ability. If Marchand was traded to a offensive minded team he would score 50. Just ask Seguin. Kane would be lucky to get 20 goals in Julian’s system. Bruins need a coaching change sick of watching the dump and chase then dump to the defensemen for a weak wrist shot. That’s all they do. That’s why they aren’t winning Charas shot is gone Boychuck is gone Hamilton gets a few and Krug but that’s it.
Dave, what are you basing your comment on concerning Juliens system? The Bruins have been in the top 5 scoring teams (goals for per game) 4 out of the last 6 seasons, not counting this season. There is nothing wrong with Julien’s system. you don’t care for his system fine, but the facts show that your comment is wrong. He’s a proven winner and deserves the benefit of the doubt for an off year.
what have you done for me lately?
me,me,me
welcome to the new world order and its brainwashed citizens
Bruins can’t trade there leading scorer for someone who may score more doesn’t make sense. They have basically the same team they won the presidents trophy with last year. Boston drafted players with skill who could create offense it’s time to play them. Things will turn around with a solid effort for 60 minutes every night. Rask needs to be better and steal a few games.
No chance Lucic gets traded. Ericsson along with Marchand will be the ones leaving if the the B’s decide to shake things up. I’ve heard Ericsson to Vancouver for Kassian + but that made no sense to me.
Boston would love that, but they’re not getting any handouts nor bailouts.
Schticky and other Leafs fans,
What do you think of Carlyle getting fired?
Not shocked Carlyle’s gone, knew it was gonna happen at some point this year, leafs might as well start dealing their ufa’s and lupul for picks if they can, and if they can they should try and move out kadri dion and riemer plus whatever else is needed to get Edmonton’s 1st at the draft, and try and move kessel and bozak out for another high pick
Good if they get a coach that’s 100% defensive minded ala Pat burns (no cross ice passes), players that commit to defense 1st and focus full 60 minutes, and a management team that signs that coach and gets those players…all indications (besides Shanahan) that they won’t do any of this, but they are trying (not easy task)
The logic is stop the slide, 1st with coach and then players, followed by a complete rebuild, if needed. As much as I like Carlyle they need to do this.
It’s a win/win, if they do better (consistency) great, if they keep up run and gun hockey then good also as it exposes left over deficiencies and root causes can be resolved with proper rebuild from lessons learned, albeit at our expense 😛
Here we go again Spec. Always hating on Sabres for some reason. You do know every GM sets high prices for his players to get optimum value from other GM’s right? Enroth will probably land just a 1st or maybe a 2nd + a mid-level prospect.
Murray is setting the prices higher than most. Pricing his players out of their respective positional and stat production peers. However he can do this as there is no need to make the Sabers better this moment. He can set his price as high as he likes and hope desperation causes a team to make a call at which point he might very well manage to get a value above the worth of his assets.
Player values are not set in stone and they can be moved based on demand but Tim seems to be trying to move mountains with his bare hands.
It will be interesting to see if his tactic garners much over the perceived value of the players in question.
Myers, Stewart, Enroth…
Once he wants or actually needs to make a deal, he’ll have to come back from the land of sugarplums and unicorns.
Funny your name is realityslap considering the reality is Murray doesn’t have to do anything since the sabres are expected to finish last. Right on schedule I might add.
Minnesota may be right to pay a high price for Enroth since he may save their playoff hopes. Stewart is playing better and Myers ought not be trade for anything less than a ransom.
The Bruins should make a trade with the Panthers and bring back Shawn Thornton.
Team chemistry is a funny thing. A fickle thing. Who isn’t to say that Shawn Thornton wasn’t an integral part of making the Bruins the Bruins.
I kind of like that idea, anyone check who the Bruins are fighting with for a playoff spot. Just saying
Thornton’s been out with a groin injury for the past month, so he’s hardly the reason Florida’s battling the Bruins for a playoff spot. Thornton’s approaching 39, if he isn’t already there, so it was time to release him. Unfortunately, he’s basically washed up, as was proven last season, especially in the playoffs.
I have not really watched Lecavalier for a while but i wonder if he would be a good fit in Vancouver?
I hear he is a total bum now but he did score 20 last year and is a big bodied centre that is needed to win out west in the playoffs and vancouver is thin down the middle.
Could Lecavalier be had for a second rounder with the Flyers holding some salary or is he totally not worth anything anymore? Or is he actually worth something? Or is his contract that unmanageable even with the flyers holding salary? Or is it even worth retaining salary if youe the flyers because they would need to replace him anyway and there still wouldn’t be value there?
Happy tuesday
Lecavalier was a poor fit for the Flyers before he was even signed.
He did score 20 last year, bouncing around the lineup, and so far this year he has 12 points in 26 games, and was a healthy scratch for 7 games in a row.
I highly doubt the Flyers will hold salary to get rid of Lecavalier. He can be bought out at the end of the season for less annually than a 50% hold back on his salary.
The second rounder would be generous, and I would expect the Vancouver fans to revolt.
He is a bad contract, too long for too much, and is playing like a 3-4th liner.
The Flyers only hope to get out of this without losing cash or a prospect, is that he continues to play well after his benching.
He has 3 points in his 4 games. Maybe a playoff team will take him for a low draft pick.
If the Flyers where going to hold salary, I am sure they would have done this during last summer.
Benning recently said he was getting calls about Kassian but had no interest in trading him. the Wild should contact Vancouver about one of their goalies though as Miller & Lack are playing well for the main club while Markstrom and Ericsson are doing even better for Utica, with Thatcher Demko going to turn pro at some point the Canucks are deep in goalies (even after trading both of their starters from the year before … one of the reasons Gillis is no longer around).
Hopefully Hextall is patient. May as well tank for this years draft. That would include trading Coburn at the deadline. If they get one of the top 3 picks in the draft-then make a big trade. If its Mcdavitt or Eicehel then trade one or two young centres. If its Noah Hannifan then they have extra depth at D
Bruins should move Lucic home to Vancouver and see what they can get.
Maybe Kassian and Bonino or something. I heard Benning likes Koko.
Something could be done between these teams.
Lucic would never go to Vancouver, after his experience being there as a visiting player and and his family’s experience after the B’s won the cup in Vancouver. As a Bruin fan I would have zero interest in Kassian, the guy is an absolute joke, and you can just look in his eyes and tell he’s empty upstairs. The B’s just need to find a right wing to play on that line. They are missing the likes of Horton/Iginla on that line and also a character guy like Boychuk. If they could somehow move Kelly and his 3 mil salary and or Eriksson and replace them with a gritty scoring winger they would turn things around. Keep hearing Oshie to the B’s which would be awesome but I can’t see the Blues giving him up.
Lucic still spends time every off season in van.
But there is no way I give up bonino and Kassian for him.
Maybe Kassian and a second
The most cost effective and sensible move for the Bruins at this point is to fire Julien.This (ineffective and disinterested play) started last year when the Bruins lost in 7 games to Montreal.Last season should have been at least a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, after all they won the President’s Trophy.The warning signs were up then and this continual lethargic and soft approach make for a compelling indictment in the coach’s ability to harness this group.They were outhit in their own building Saturday afternoon against Ottawa 37 to 24.Time to move on.They did not even show up against the Canes on Sunday.
Agree with Obe on the B’s. Many parts of a very successful core are still in place, some patience is required. Chara still isn’t 100% and Krejci just got back. Need to find their game and intensity and Rask needs to find it too.
Having said that Boychuk and Thornton were leaders on that team and vocal in the room.
The players respect Julian and he just signed an extension, his system has proven too work and most good teams play a similar one. Can’t see the B’s cutting him loose. He would get snapped up right away and who would you replace him with?
This needs to come from the players and inside the dressing room.
With Caper on Lucic, not playing like he can, and as a B’s fan I watch a lot of their games. Big ticket but also a big return if you traded him. Was a distraction earlier this year, again. That doesn’t fly on this team.