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I don't think he really wanted Suter or Parise. He just wanted to drive their prices up. Also, I don't think pursuing those players hurt his negotiation with Carle. Tagging space killed that deal. Next year, because he layed off the eye candy this iff season, he'll have some. Sometimes the best deals are those you don't do. This year, in a suck FA market, it is especially true. I'm fine with it...so far.

It's easy to be negative when you don't have to worry about the alternatives, which were: Bob: None. No one would trade a decent roster player for a project like Bob. Leighton: I'm still waiting to hear who we should have signed. Anyone? JvR: A wasting asset. I don't love this trade but we didn't need another year of a guy who, while talented, didn't really have a role on the team. Carle: $5.5MM for the next 6 years, cap hell. Jagr: $4.5MM and a guaranteed role Seriously, if you are going to be so thoroughly negative, as least offer a reasonable alternative.

Whatever it is, it has to get averaged out over the contract term and become part of the cap hit. This doesn't change because it gets called a "bonus". I believe the only solution is to front load the contract. Also, the NHL laid down a marker with the Kovalchuk contract a couple years back. They will disallow a contract they believe is structured to circumvent the cap.

He would probably play in CO for an aggressive offer. He won't be on a great team for the foreseeable future but it is still a good young team and a good place to play.

Except that it is a near certainty that Detroit is going to sign Suter. They have to because they don't have a #1 defenseman and Carle really isn't an option for them. So which are the teams that want Carle where Carle wants to play? Not sure there are a ton of them who will outbid the Flyers. Famous last words, I know; really more of a question. Where?

I'll bet Carle will sign a frontloaded 6 year deal at $5MM.

Jason Garrison off the board; 6 years $4.6MM cap hit. Carle will probably sign somewhere tomorrow.

It is definitely "something". They know exactly what they are getting, which isn't true of anyone else who is even a remotely plausible candidate. He's cheap and he's a known quantity who they think can fill the role.

I'm OK with this move and I think Leighton may be getting a bum rap. If I recall correctly, Leighton played very well In 2009-2010 and then got hurt late in the regular season. He never quite got back In the groove, let in that bad goal, hurt his back, got waived, etc. but before all of that happened, he was pretty darn good for us. The Flyers have had plenty of opportunities to evaluate this guy, so I defer to Homer on this one.

Parise is almost certain not to sign with Philly for the same reason he wouldn't sign with the Rangers, so there is another potential motive for offering him a contract: drive up his price. Same with Nash, same with Ryan. Part of the game for a GM.

He can shoot it and as I recall that has always been the book on him. The only knock on him has been that his skating is mediocre but his positional play has improved so much that it earned him some time with the big club. Assuming Carle is resigned (I sure hope they sign him, even if it is for over $5MM) I see Bourdon as #7 and Lilja being waived. His ceiling is probably as a 4 1/2-5 defenseman who plays some on the second power play unit. If his defensive reads and decision making with the puck progress this season, he's really on his way to being a regular NHL'er, even if not in Philly.

As I posted immediately after you just now, I'm not nearly as upset about this. There were not a lot of alternatives out there and it is only a one year deal. Also, perhaps this move helps Bryz's "soul" and improves his performance.

The silver lining is that this is a one year deal. As underwhelming as this choice is, he's appropriate for the role and perhaps after this year, if rain man doesn't perform, he's out of excuses.

I can't believe he was healthy. Either he was hurt or Stevie Y committed grand larceny.

If you would sign Jagr for a year, i think you would probably be willing to at least talk to Doan. Then again, is he a long term solution on G's right side? I tend to think not. The term is part of what makes Jagr a fit.

Cooter may be a more valuable player than Nash already at a tenth of the price. I can't imagine that Homer would up two high potential prospects and take on a $7.5MM contract for a guy who, while very good, isn't worth his contract. Also, if they do this trade, they are short of bodies because they have traded away a lot of depth and probably can't resign Jagr or Carle. This seems like a senseless, team changing for the worse deal. So much so that I doubt it will ever happen.

Yes, it is. Ask the athletes. Very few of them show up intending to do anything other than work hard and win. But things don't always work out well and when they don't, Philly is a tough place to play. We can conjure up plausible rationale, but this is reality. Not everyone is cracked up for the pressure here.

Nice work; I consider this a very relevant topic. The treatment Bryzgalov received may be the most important. I tend to doubt a big FA would worry much about getting traded (because he'll almost certainly get an NTC). But Suter, for example, would sure have to be squeezing his stick tight after becoming the highest paid hockey player in this town. I can't blame them really. But I also think Bryzgalov deserved all the **** he got. I'm a typical Philadelphian I guess.

I'm with you in that I'd be very reluctant to trade any of our defensemen for Bobby Ryan. He's a terrific player but I don't want to poke a hole in our canoe to get him.

Thank you. People are a little freaked out by this draft (including me, a little) and it is great to get some positive, first hand feedback.

I recall that one of the issues with Leighton is his difficulty in staying sharp with little work. Doesn't sound like a good back up candidate to me. Also, I agree with FC: there should be some kind of law against having Bryz backed up by Leighton in Philly. It is just begging, screaming from trouble.

Coburn and a first sounds about right but I'm not sure I like what that does for the Flyers. Right now, our top 6 is Timonen, Carle (assuming he's resigned), Coburn, Grossman, Mezsros and Schenn. Not much offense back there but very solid. Take away Coburn and you lose a lot of mobility and the team's best shut down defender. Not keen on facing the Pens without him. I'd sooner ship Mezsaros to Anaheim.

As I wrote elsewhere, this doesn't make any sense to me at all. Why would they pick for a position to compensate for moving a center off their active roster? These players are years from being NHL ready, if they ever make it at all, and do nothing to compensate for trading away NHL players. They picked who they thought was the best player on the board. Meanwhile, look at all the defenseman they chose today. It was a draft that was defenseman heavy and apparently they thought guys available later were pretty good prospects too, so good that they didn't need to use a pick on Maata.

The Flyers are very smart about using their #1's and apparently they profoundly disagreed with Central Scouting on this one. I don't get it, but OK. However, the idea that this has something to do with a pending trade for Schenn makes even less sense to me. You just don't pick for a need you don't have (which would be the case here because they have plenty of centers even without Schenn). If anything, it means they might move Cousins rather than Schenn, but even then, I think they just picked who they thought was the best player on the board.

Good return for the Flyers and a good move for Bob as well. I still think he's going to be a very good goaltender. Hope the Flyers hang onto the picks and build org depth on defense.