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Jonathan Bernier, Bryz and the options


Guest Digityman

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Jonathan Bernier is 24 years old and an RFA after this season. I believe he will be a franchise goalie similar to Quick but behind Quick he won't get his chance. Add to that, the Kings have 11 players that are either UFA or RFA after this season. That's a lot of contracts ($) to sign. That's why there is discussion of moving him.

Bryz is Bryz. You get what you see. Bernier is a better goalie, nearly 10 years younger and his next contract wouldn't be such a burden as Bryz's is now.

If I'm Homer, I would make a serious run at Bernier to solve the Flyers goaltending problems for the next decade+.

Of course you have to give to get. Which leads us to what Homer would be willing to offer in a trade.

If I'm Homer, I would dangle Couturier and a 2nd :P in front of Lombardi around the trade deadline or just after the season. The Flyers have a glut of centers as usual & Laughton looked very comfortable when he was up. If Laughton doesn't work out than Cousins is also there. My point is although I know Couturier is a special player, Bernier is going to be just as special and fills a void the Flyers have had since Hextall.

Problem #1 - Now I will admit I don't know LA's goalie situation past Bernier, so I don't know if they have a capiable backup that can step in behind Quick. Maybe @AndyS can shed some light on that.

Problem #2 - Aquiring Bernier before buying Bryz out causes a bit of a problem. Homer might have to wait until the summer, then buyout Bryz (and Danny B), then aquire Bernier.

Again, I like Couturier. It will hurt but at least he would go to the West and they Flyers wouldn't have to face him but 2 times a year.

What say you?

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I keep an eye on the situation and ask Lombardi to contact me if he's going to move Bernier before the offseason so I can make an offer. I might even sketch basic outlines of a deal (but Lombardi can use that to move the price)

Then I offer sheet Bernier.

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Too much for an unproven goalie. Braden Holtby (who the Flyers shelled last night) has similar numbers to Bernier, playing on a worse team. Would you give up Couturier+ for him?

I wouldn't start thinking about buying out Bryz until after next season. There is no sure-fire better replacement so there's no rush. And no reason to give up Couturier for a goalie who may turn out to be just "ok" or "pretty good".

Edited by JackStraw
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Wow. That's a bold move after Weber. But, you might be right. Unlike Weber, I don't think the Kings couldn't match it.

Once you've taken the gloves off, you may as well keep swinging.

I don't think the Kings would match it. I do think LA is going to look to get something for Bernier but would it be more than RFA compensation?

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And with Bernier, you don't need to make an offer that kills you in order to make it untenable for LA. If you're LA, do you match a 3million dollar/year offer? For your backup goalie? Who you then can't trade for a year?

That's a 2nd round pick offer.

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They have their 1st through 3rd (unless they make the playoffs). If they make the playoffs, that's the best offer they could make Bernier (anything higher require the 3rd they'd lose to LA). Or any other RFA, for that matter. Well, unless they go all the way to about 8.5 million.

Edited by AJgoal
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@Digityman

Couturier AND a 2nd? Yikes! That's a lot for a guy you're really rolling the dice on. I guess you could say the same about Couturier. But he looks like a sound defensive forward on a team that doesn't play defence. Bernier is a backup on a team that plays great team defence.

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Broken record here, but:

No way I trade Coots for Bernier. Aside from the fact I'm a member of CFC (Citizens for Couturier), I don't trust Bernier. I'm just willing to bet he's another Marty Biron: looks real good from afar as the backup-in-waiting but when given the reigns will show not capable. If we're getting him as a backup, I'd consider it but not for Coots.

The only thing I would want from the Kings over the summer is Hextall as GM (maybe).

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I keep an eye on the situation and ask Lombardi to contact me if he's going to move Bernier before the offseason so I can make an offer. I might even sketch basic outlines of a deal (but Lombardi can use that to move the price)

Then I offer sheet Bernier.

Holmgren took Gagne and his $3.5 million cap hit off of Lombardi's hands plus when the Sharks fired Lombardi, it was the Flyers who gave him a pro scouting job until the LA gig came up. They seem to have some history of trading with each other so it wouldn't surprise me if Lombardi would give Holmgren first crack at trading for Bernier. Lombardi isn't going to trade him to another Western Conference team so who knows. I don't think you have to offer up Couturier to get him.

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The difficulty would be getting Bernier to sign with Bryz still under contract. If he's trying to get out from under in LA, coming to a place with a "clear #1" contract already on the books isn't going to be high on his list.

Then there's the point that Bryz (and the world) will know you are offer sheeting Bernier. The implication from the terms of the deal would be to bring him in as a #1 starter. But Bryz still has that contract.

Now, suppose LA matches...

The only reason to offer sheet Bernier is if you were committing to buying out Bryz.

And a good reason I can see this happening is the obvious relationship between LA and the Flyers and the afterglow LA must be feeling from that Cup victory.

I'm not entirely sold on Bernier, but he can probably be gotten from LA for less than Couturier. How about we rid ourselves of two useless assets and give up the 2014 and 2015 2nds? ;)

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I'm not sold on him either, but I like the hypotheticals. So, when you hand him the offer sheet, you say, prove you're a number 1, steal the spot, and we buy out the competition at the end of the season. It's a fair conversation to have in the negotiation. If a guy who's never been the number one starter on an NHL team can't handle that kind of challenge and balks, then he probably can't handle the challenge of playing goalie in Philly, either. If he's confident enough that he can win the job in a fair competition, then he should jump at the chance to prove it.

Of course, that's my opinion.

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Jonathan Bernier is 24 years old and an RFA after this season. I believe he will be a franchise goalie similar to Quick but behind Quick he won't get his chance. Add to that, the Kings have 11 players that are either UFA or RFA after this season. That's a lot of contracts ($) to sign. That's why there is discussion of moving him.

Bryz is Bryz. You get what you see. Bernier is a better goalie, nearly 10 years younger and his next contract wouldn't be such a burden as Bryz's is now.

If I'm Homer, I would make a serious run at Bernier to solve the Flyers goaltending problems for the next decade+.

Of course you have to give to get. Which leads us to what Homer would be willing to offer in a trade.

If I'm Homer, I would dangle Couturier and a 2nd :P in front of Lombardi around the trade deadline or just after the season. The Flyers have a glut of centers as usual & Laughton looked very comfortable when he was up. If Laughton doesn't work out than Cousins is also there. My point is although I know Couturier is a special player, Bernier is going to be just as special and fills a void the Flyers have had since Hextall.

Problem #1 - Now I will admit I don't know LA's goalie situation past Bernier, so I don't know if they have a capiable backup that can step in behind Quick. Maybe @AndyS can shed some light on that.

Problem #2 - Aquiring Bernier before buying Bryz out causes a bit of a problem. Homer might have to wait until the summer, then buyout Bryz (and Danny B), then aquire Bernier.

Again, I like Couturier. It will hurt but at least he would go to the West and they Flyers wouldn't have to face him but 2 times a year.

What say you?

Sorry Digity..i would like to get rid of Bryz but with that said i don't want to move the following...

...G of course Coots is #2 and no to either Schenn brothers and no to Harnell(seems he has become the heart and soul of this team) everyone else we can discuss find a neutral ground to make something happen and i will now after thinking about it add Jake to that list...

...instead i'd keep the corp intact and ride this season out to evaluate further...

...now some players i have mention as hands off....but some i would include in deals for other pieces besides a goaltender...if that makes sense...basically i could be persuded to move just not for Bernier... :ph34r:

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If I'm Homer, I would dangle Couturier and a 2nd in front of Lombardi around the trade deadline or just after the season. The Flyers have a glut of centers as usual & Laughton looked very comfortable when he was up. If Laughton doesn't work out than Cousins is also there. My point is although I know Couturier is a special player, Bernier is going to be just as special and fills a void the Flyers have had since Hextall.

Don't you think LA has also has a glut of centers? Kopitar, Richards, Stoll, Richardson. They just traded us B. Schenn. Why not tend an offer sheet?

I think we have a better chance of going after M. Smith as a FA.

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I'd do what I can to get him at the trade deadline this season. Bryz needs a much better back-up, so he can take a few games off & stay sharper.

And then we get a really good look at what Bernier can do within Lavy's system.

If you have to give up something to get my franchise goalie for the next decade, you do it. Personally, I'd much rather give up a pick or two, but if I had to, I'd much rather trade Read than Coutourier.

Maybe Briere would be a good fit in LA for the playoffs? Make it some kind of package deal?

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Come on guys, it's the Philly way, make a blind long term commitment and cross your fingers. This has Ed written all over it!!

In all seriousness, I would trade Coots for Bernier. FIrst off, as much as I love Coots, his skating has regressed in my mind. Still think he will be a star, but not a super star because of the lack of break away speed, don't think he will ever have that. He does have the smarts and skill set to be an excellent player in this league.....BUT, the Flyers would still have Giroux, Schenn and Laughton for the long term, you can win a championship with that group all mature and some playoff experience under their belts. You can't however, win a cup with Bryz or any other bum we have).....a move on Bernier would finally solve a DECADES long problem. I saw him play 4 times this year, convinced he is the real deal. He would be the unquestioned starter in more than half the leauge.

Just talking skill sets here, I think Bernier AND Holtby are in the top 10 goalies in the league. I think Holtby is a tad better than Bernier, sooo Bernier would go through some growing pains in Philly, but ya know what, he stops the shots that should be stoppped....imagine that.

Edited by jammer2
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