Real News – Not Just Talk

First of all, I have to say I felt a bit of respect yesterday when I browsed in to a thread on the Flyers Official Message Board (where I am a member) and found they were talking about what I had posted.

http://forums.philadelphiaflyers.com/index.php?showtopic=13397&st=4040

Of course, it was met with resistance. But, it was just what fellow blogger Justin Everitt and I had chatted about over a late night IM session. It wasn’t a rumor, it wasn’t “insider information” and except for the stats and Kessel’s current availability, it wasn’t fact.

Today, however, is another day and this is fact.

Free agent defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen was in Philly yesterday for a physical. If he passes, the Flyers are planning on signing him to the big club, not the Phantoms. With this signing, they are looking to free up some salary in an attempt to also sign Petr Sykora or Miroslav Satan.

So what does this mean for the Flyers in the upcoming season?

Pronger, Timonen, Coburn and Parent are already a lock as the top 4 d-men, leaving someone on the third pairing (Jones and Carle) on the chopping block.

If it was just about salary, Carle is the easy choice since he makes the most of the two in question. However, he’s only 25 and considered to be the defensive project in the organization. Plus, his 4 goals and 20 assists in 64 games last season weren’t too shabby either. On the down side, his puck handling and passing need some work and he tends to pinch in from the point way too often.

After coming back from injury, Jones logged 4 goals and 4 assists in 47 games. Truth be told, he never really recovered and tended to be more of a liability on defense than anything else. I also read that he had off-season surgery, but haven’t seen anything as far as his condition or how he’s responding to rehab.

So, will they go with the prospect or continue with the “Randy Jones Experiment”?

Only Tollefsen’s physical results will tell.