There was a lot of speculation today about the Flyers apparent trade offer for Bobby Ryan. What it is or if it’s real is left up for debate, but I know that some of the rumors “reported” were just preposterous. I don’t see how the Flyers could trade Scott Laughton or Andrej Meszaros in a Ryan deal. Youth and defensemen are just about the hottest commodities in the NHL today. A scoring winger would be nice and he will produce as he is a proven 30 goal scorer, but to give up youth and a defensemen for him is not getting fair value in the trade. A great scoring winger from Columbus just got traded for a couple of fourth liners. Read and Bourdon plus a pick or two and maybe a prospect would be fair value especially when considering we should have the upper hand because it’s well known that he wants to come here and that the Ducks have shopped him. He would be a great addition and a huge power forward upgrade from JVR, but he is not worth a kings ransom. We just attempted to add a franchise type defensemen and failed so why would we then proceed to trade any NHL defensemen from our roster? It wouldn’t make any sense. If we get Ryan it won’t be roster shaking trade.
Are we finally getting over the missed Weber signing…no? It’s going to sting for a while. Unfortunately things just got worse when it comes to looking way ahead at next year’s free agent crop. Tobias Enstrom signed a 5 year contract extension today with the Winnipeg Jets worth $28.75 million. Cap hit for the deal is $5.75 million per year. Enstrom is a superior puck moving defensemen and a great set up guy. He passes the puck brilliantly and is in the prime of his career. He surpassed the 50 point mark twice in his young five year stint in the league. Last season alone he missed six weeks due to a broken collarbone and came back and had 33 points in 62 games. Far from career totals, but after breaking your collarbone your not right for the rest of the season. He still averaged close to a half point per game and ended up second in team scoring amongst defensemen. He is a true offensive defensemen, but he is no Mike Green. He is a responsible defender. You won’t catch him on 2 on 1’s down the other end of the ice, but he’s got a big shot and great hockey sense. He came at a great price too especially when compared to defensemen in his cap hit range. For example Matt Carle’s new contract has a cap hit of $5.5 million per year. Wouldn’t you pay around $250,000 more dollars for Enstrom? His free agency value would no doubt be higher then that, but it wouldn’t break the $7 million mark. If he can be had in a trade before that contract expires I have no doubt the Flyers would consider it.
As reported earlier today by various media outlets and Broadstreetbuzz.com it looks like Lavy is on the verge of an extension. A well deserved pay day for the bench boss. He has been, believe it or not, a fan favorite here. Coaches and GM’s alike do not usually see eye to eye with the fans. Some more famously then others. Lavy’s hard working and never say die attitude fits the personality of this city perfectly. HBO helped us get a better glimpse of Lavy and that is really when the city fell in love with him. Everybody in the city used the word jam at least 100 times after that series. He also coached one of only three teams to come back from an 0-3 deficit in a playoff series. The man knows how to motivate and can get (or force) his players to get the job done. I believe he is the coach we need to win a championship. He’s a major piece to the puzzle.
On the Semin signing I don’t believe he can still command a salary of $7 million a year. He is a player who has shown flashes of being great. Pure goal scorer type. The problem is that a lot of times he disappears. No goals. No assists. Not hits. No shots. -3. It is widely known that his work ethic has been questioned. He is a $7 million question mark. The Canes overall though have had a nice offseason. They will be better with or without Semin’s help. If Semin does show up though Canes could actually be a force.
-John LaMarra
Twitter – @popesnipes77
E-Mail – lamarrajunior@yahoo.com