Flyers Dump Richards, Carter To Sign Bryzgalov

To say the Philadelphia Flyers went through a massive overhaul on Thursday would be an understatement. General manager Paul Holmgren was certainly busy just one day ahead of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, dealing away two of his franchise's key players while signing their long-awaited savior in net to a long-term, high money contract.

Former 40-goal scorer Jeff Carter was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for winger Jakub Voracek, a first round draft pick (8th overall) and a third rounder. The Flyers followed this move up by dealing captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, as well as the Kings' second round selection. With the money saved by dealing those two, Holmgren was able to sign Ilya Bryzgalov - whose rights were acquired by Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago from Phoenix in exchange for a third round pick, Matt Clackson and future considerations - to a whopping nine-year, $51 million contract that will see him donning the black and orange into his 40s.



There are certainly two schools of thought to this for Philadelphia. On the one hand, they were able to develop enough cap space to sign a top-level talent at the position that has been their downfall for numerous seasons. And in dumping salary, they were also able to acquire a good deal of young talent that could surely help the Flyers down the line. On the other hand, the Flyers just dealt away a combined 59 goals and 132 points from last season - not to mention Richards' strong leadership and two-play, as well as Carter's legitimate 40-goal ability.

The big issue at hand for Philadelpia was to gain enough flexibility under the salary cap to sign Bryzgalov. He was reportedly seeking a long-term deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $6-7 million a year. And even with cap going up to around $64 million for the upcoming 2011-12 season, that would still require Holmgren to shed some salary off the team's $59,626,551 payroll. While it was assumed Richards and Carter were made available based upon their contracts - Richards entering the fourth year of a 12-season deal at a $5.75 million annual cap hit and Carter about to start his 11-year extension that would provide a $5,272,727 cap hit annually, it was never figured that Holmgren would actually deal both of his team's 2003 first round draft picks.

But alas, they went one right after the other. First Carter to Columbus, then Richards to Los Angeles. Carter will immediately match up with winger Rick Nash for a stellar one-two punch on the Blue Jackets' top line. Meanwhile, Richards affords the Kings an offensive force with strong leadership skills at a very reasonable price (albeit for the long haul.)

With over $11 million saved from those blockbuster deals, the Flyers were able to comfortably sign the 31-year old Bryzgalov to a contract that comes with the added pressure of being the most stable (and I use this term loosely throughout the remainder of this statement) netminder the franchise has seen since Ron Hextall.

The Flyers didn't just give up Richards, Carter, a third rounder, Matt Clackson and future considerations just for Bryzgalov, though. They did get some good, young talent that currently stand as compliment pieces to the franchise but could soon develop into key offensive contributors, especially under the tutelage of head coach Peter Laviolette.



All the players acquired on Thursday, with the exception of Schenn, are currently slated for unrestricted free agency next Friday afternoon. Schenn, the Kings' 2009 first round (fifth overall) draft pick), will begin his entry level contract that sports a base salary of $900,000 but could grow to $3.11 million based on performance bonuses. The 19-year old suited up for LA in eight games last season, notching two assists and a minus-1 rating. Simmonds, 22, is a former second rounder of the Kings and is coming off a 30-point campaign that saw him notch 14 goals. As a third-fourth liner, Simmonds is a nice support player who is defensively smart, provides physicality on the ice and can chip in on the score sheet in the 30-40 point range. As mentioned previously, Simmonds is on par for a new contract. But the Flyers could help themselves out a bit by mentioning the 10-point slide he had from 2009-10 in their negotiations. Voracek will also be a restricted free agent this summer after lighting the lamp 14 times last season while adding 32 assists. It was the 21-year old's second straight season around the 50-point plateau after actually hitting the mark in 2009-10.

Those three will now combine to try and replace some off the offensive lost with the departures of Richards and Carter, while players such as Claude Giroux and James vanRiemsdyk are sure to see an uptick in their offensive expectations. And they will do so in front of a goaltender who has a mountain of hope and hype riding on his shoulders.

Bryzgalov is undoubtedly a top-level goalie in the NHL and is coming off a campaign with 36 wins and seven shutouts, just one year after posting 42 and eight, respectively. He's backstopped the Coyotes, a team known for disappointment, to two straight postseason appearances and even has a Stanley Cup to his name after putting up three solid wins as the No. 2 on the depth chart behind Jean-Sebastien Giguere with the Anaheim Ducks.

But is also has never been the starter on a team where winning the Stanley Cup is the expectation every single season. And for as good as he's been during the regular season, he has also crumbled in two straight first round playoff exits to the Detroit Red Wings.



That can't happen now that he's in Philly, otherwise the Flyers would be just as good going with Michael Leighton, Brian Boucher or Sergei Bobrovsky. He has to meet his hype and his new contract by playing out of his mind during the regular season and the playoffs, giving the Flyers a legitimate shot at hoisting the Stanley Cup they just missed out on a year ago.

If he doesn't, Flyers fans will let him know it. They know what they lost to get him - two franchise players that have endeared themselves immensely to the people in Philly. If Bryzgalov turns out to be just another in the revolving door of Flyers goaltenders (and the most expensive one to date), he's going to have a rough nine-year ride in the City of Not-So-Brotherly Love. And it likely won't take that long for Holmgren to be searching for a new job, as the success of this deal should be critical to his future employment as Flyers general manager.