Last season, the Flyers were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They came up short, but found the answer...so they thought. During the summer they added goalie Ray Emery and defenseman Chris Pronger. All of a sudden, the Flyers were Stanley Cup contenders.
Nearly halfway into the season, the Flyers have the second worse team in hockey. So much talent, so much expectations, no production! Coach John Stevens was let go and replaced by Peter Laviolette. They hoped his "no nonsense" aggressive style would give the Flyers the spark they need. Since Laviolette took over, the Flyers have gone 2-7-1. That didn't work, what's next?
It's bad, and getting worse! When you think they're coming out of it, they go the other way. Time has now become a factor. They need to turn things around, and do it soon. The only feasible option at this point would be to make a trade and shake things up a bit.
Who could be traded? Most of the big name players on the team - Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, and Chris Pronger - have no trade clauses in their contract. Mike Richards is in the second year of a 12-year contract and the Captain of the team. He is the face and future of this team. Don't expect him to go anywhere!
The best candidate would be Jeff Carter. He has another year left on his contract with at an attractive $5-million salary.
It is possible to trade one of the other big names, but their no trade clauses makes it complicated. The first obstacle would be to convince them to leave. The second would be to convince somebody to take them. Briere and Gagne have a history of injuries, making them much less desirable. Scott Hartnell could be an option; a solid player, no history of injury, with a reasonable $4.2-million salary.
The Flyers have stated that they would like to give Laviolette a chance to implement his system, rather than make a major trade. In the event a trade is imminent, don't expect anything to happen right away. The NHL has a Christmas trade freeze in effect until midnight on December 27.








