Philadelphia Flyers: GM Seat Getting Warmer
With the Olympic break coming up quickly and the trade deadline not too far afterwards; now is the time where we should see some movement from teams either gearing up or tearing down their respective rosters. It would be hard to argue if there is one General Manager that is currently employed that is more on the hot seat to make something happen this year than the Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. Baring some major change in the win column for the Flyers it would be hard to envision the GM being on board next year anyway. If the Flyers miss the playoffs for the second year in a row that would most certainly mean the end of his tenure at the helm. Since being faced with that pressure and the roller coaster of a season the Flyers have had to this point it would only make some moves. With the tight race in the standings as of today it should behoove the GM to strike sooner rather than later to maximize the potential for the rest of the season. What better time to let any new additions to team get acclimated than during the 18 day layoff for the Olympic break. Something has to be done because the way the roster is currently assembled is looking more and more like a team that is a first round playoff bust, at best, waiting to happen.
***I have to say that last nights game, although against the Detroit B-Team, was one of the better full game efforts I have seen all year. They played pretty even the first period and then the Flyers tipped the ice in the second and third in route to a 5-0 shutout victory.
***Speaking of that shutout…Steve Mason was nothing short of spectacular all night. What also was amazing was the “Mason” chants that the fans in attendance gave even before the final buzzer sounded. Its been too long since that happened for any goalie in this city that wasn’t meant in a not-so-pleasant way. Awesome to see/hear, and well deserved.
***A huge congratulations goes out to Marc-Andre Bourdon for finally being healthy enough to be cleared to resume his professional hockey career after a very long fight with concussion related injuries. You never want to see a player have to give up on his dream to something like that. Best of luck on your way back to the NHL.
***With the rumor mill soon to be picking up a lot of steam; one of the realities the Flyers face is that in order to get something of quality they are going to have to give some in return. That being said GM Paul Holmgren and his staff have some real work cut out for them. It wouldn’t take anyone that watched more than a handful of games this year to realize that the defense is a bit of a problem. A situation that is more than one player away from truly fixing, unless that player is a number one defensemen which the Flyers really need not only this year but in the future. Those guys are very hard to pry away from teams that have them so landing one without giving up a kings’ ransom is almost totally out of the realm of possibilities. The options to get anything of value is limited but not barren and that is probably going to require dealing one of either Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, or Scott Laughton in any deal. It is going to be hard for the GM to part with any one of those guys but the Flyers season, and possibly his job, might depend on it.
You can leave your comments as to why you would trade which player in the comment section or you can e-mail them directly to me at revphillyd@gmail.com. Also you can follow me on Twittter @RevPhillyD