Around The NHL: Flyers Trade Carter, Richards; Sign Bryzgalov

The Philadelphia Flyers have made two blockbuster deals today, trading forward Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets and forward Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings. After trading for Ilya Bryzgalov, they signed the goalie to a 9-year extension for $51 million, which will be a cap hit for $5.67 million per year. All of this news can be found on TSN. 

CH: Oh my. Let's start with the Jeff Carter trade, seeing as that news broke first. This was a move we all somewhat expected to happen, even right down to the team he was traded for. The actual trade itself favors both teams. Columbus undoubtedly gets the best player in the trade right now, and possibly for the foreseeable future. They get a center that can play next to Rick Nash for years to come. We talked on the podcast yesterday that Scott Howson needed to make a "homerun" type move as the Blue Jackets have largely been stagnant for the past few years. I mentioned they may take a player like Ryan Murphy to go for the homerun on potential. Instead, they did something even better. For the Flyers standpoint, Voracek, who is still a major project has great potential as a power forward in this league. They also get the 8th overall pick, which in my opinion, could be used on a player like Mika Zibanjead, which is exactly the type of player the Flyers love to have. They also get a third round pick in the trade.

AT: Great deal for both sides. The Flyers just couldn't afford Carter anymore with Bryzgalov wanting to come into the fold. They get Voracek, a budding winger with huge potential, the 8th pick who could end up being anyone from Ryan Murphy to Mika Zibanejad as well as a 3rd rounder. Voracek isn't carter, but he's also not signed to a huge, long term deal like Carter was. It was a bad decision and tying them down, and they made the right move. Both sides made out pretty equally here.

CH: The Mike Richards trade was a complete shocker. I can't think of a single person who honestly saw this coming, and it's a great trade for both sides again. Los Angeles gets a heart-and-soul center who they've wanted for a long time. If they can clear Ryan Smyth's salary by next Friday, they also could still be major players for Brad Richards. This is a team that is on the rise, and with a top-3 prospect pool in the league, could afford to trade Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds for him. From the Flyers standpoint, there's no going around it. Brayden Schenn is a top-10 prospect in the entire league, and Wayne Simmonds is a prototypical Flyer player. They also get a 2nd round pick in the deal, making this a great haul for a guy who has recently been wildly criticized by Philadelphia and national media.

AT: This makes the Ryan Smyth trade to Edmonton all the more likely, as you said. I know there were reports (Brad) Richards only wanted to go to an original 6 team, but to play with such a young team with legitimate opportunity could become very enticing. I know some in Flyer-land are against this, but I really believe it was an equal trade. There's always that "risk" with prospects, but I really believe Schenn will become a star in this league. You clear cap room to improve your team in required ways to get to the next level and you get a player who could become an 80+ point player. For right now with a Flyers team that was struggling to get under the cap, this makes sense.

CH: The Bryzgalov deal is long - VERY long. Nine years for a goalie is just not going to work. We see it here with Rick DiPietro. We see it in Vancouver with Roberto Luongo. There are just too many variables at play here with injuries and performance. The cap hit, however, is right in the wheelhouse it should be, but I'm sure the condition on that was to add the extra years on the contract. Very risky move here for the Flyers because while Bryzgalov is a good, top 10-12 goalie in the league, he is not elite. A lot of pressure is going to be placed on Bryzgalov after the Flyers shipped out Richards and Carter, even if it is not directly tied to him.

AT: Bryz has been pretty durable the past few seasons. I don't know if the length was the best for the team - I personally would've gone for 5 or 6 years, but they also got him at 5.6m per, much less than the 7m+ that he was rumored to be asking for. There's going to be a lot of pressure on him in a huge hockey city like Philly as compared to Anaheim and Phoenix.

CH: The overall outlook for the Flyers is very interesting. Now, assuming they don't make a play for Brad Richards (who knows?), they realistically could finish anywhere from 1st to 10th in the conference next year. They are still a good team, but they aren't a great team at this current moment. However, the future looks extremely bright for this team as when players like Schenn, Voracek, and the 2011 8th overall pick pan out, the Flyers will be in a great position. What a crazy day in the NHL.

AT: They have about 7.5m in cap space now and they have to sign/trade Nodl, Carcillo, Voracek, Leino, Powe and Simmonds. I don't see them landing Brad Richards at this point. But man, what a great day to be a hockey blogger. I love stuff like this! Should be exciting tomorrow at the draft party!

Speculation: What Will The Islanders Do With Pick #5?

According to both Katie Strang and Chris Botta, the Islanders are considering moving the #5 pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, either for another draft slot in the first round (before or after #5) or for a legitimate high-end NHL player. 

The 2011 NHL Entry Draft is next Friday, June 24 at 8 PM and continues on Saturday, June 25 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

CH: Major props to Brian Compton, who has been saying the Islanders should consider this route for months on Islanders Interactive, his online show with Chris Botta. The Islanders have a few options here, as both Strang and Botta mention. First, let's look at moving the pick for a player. Botta goes into mentioning Jeff Carter in his piece. There's little question the Flyers have to move a piece if they want to sign Ilya Bryzgalov, but reports have come out that they won't move Carter. Carter, 26, is signed for 11 more years at a cap hit over $5 million. Aside from that, no names have spurred up yet which is unsurprising. Things happen at the draft ever year that no one sees coming. From Chris Pronger to Philadelphia to last year's trade between Vancouver/Florida, it's clear sometimes these things develop on the floor that night.

AT: I've seen reports of Carter to Columbus for their 1st round pick and Jakub Voracek. I've also seen reports saying Philly will not under any circumstances move Carter. If they want Ilya, they're going to have to move a player or two.

CH: I'm very cautious about moving a top 5 pick for a veteran, but it really depends on the deal itself. For me there's a few guidelines. First, the player must be signed for an additional 3-5 years - at least. We all know how hard it is to get people to sign on Long Island, for reasons will documented by both the team and its fans (not just the arena). It makes little sense to trade for a player like Alex Semin (who I don't want anyway), who is under contract for just one more season. He also needs to be a high character player - we don't need another Kirk Muller situation. Even if they aren't thrilled to come to a rebuilding team or even to Long Island, they need to be cheerful about it and they need to be ready to play. Just like Ryan Smyth was during his short Islander tenure. Finally, the trade needs to make sense. They don't need to make a splash to make a splash. For example, trading for Alex Semin won't help the team that much. Sure, his 40 goals are nice but he is not a three-zone player and I'm not so sure he is the type of player to propel this team to the playoffs.

AT: An extension past 1 year MUST come with this deal should it happen. Giving up the 5th spot that becomes a player that will be in the organization for many years should come with equal amount of years in the player that's being traded for. I don't want Semin for a year, I want a solid winger or D-man who will help this franchise for 3+ years.

CH: Secondly, regarding moving up and down in the draft. I'm not opposed to this, but quite frankly I think they are best suited to stay at 5. They are going to get a top prospect there as long as they pick one of the consensus top 8. They have two second round picks and two third round picks. The team picks 5 times in the first 65 and 6 times in the first 100. If they want to trade pick 50 or 63/65 to move back a few spots and get another pick in that range, that's okay, but they should stand pat at 5. Since there is not much of a tiered structure to this draft, I don't think it's necessary to get back in the first round UNLESS they can get back in the top 15. A trade like that may include a roster player. I definitely do not want to see this team move any 2012 picks. There's no guarantee they will make the playoffs, and there's no guarantee they won't be in the lottery. There is zero reason to take any chances just yet, and doing so would be irresponsible.

AT: IMO, the prime situation for the Isles is to trade up to get another 1st round pick in addition to the 5th spot, much like they did in 2009 to get Calvin De Haan (though I believe they already had a 1st round pick) at the 12th spot. Draft a forward like Huberdeau, Couturier, Zibanejad or Landeskog at the 5th spot and then a solid looking D-Man like Klefbom, Siemens or Beaulieu should they fall far enough.

Overall, the Islanders certainly have options, but unless some incredible deal comes along, they are best suited at picking at the number 5 slot next Friday.

Around the NHL: Flyers trade for Bryzgalov rights

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the Philadelphia Flyers have acquired the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov from the Phoenix Coyotes for a 3rd round pick in 2012, Matt Clackson and a conditional draft pick.

Photo credit: Brian Poulsen

AT: That is absolutely stunning. I'm struggling to see how they'll fit him under the cap, though. They have only $430,000 in cap space and you have to imagine Ilya's going to be looking for a 4.5m per year contract, if not more. Not to mention there's still Carcillo and Nodl needing resigning. I can imagine a big trade coming from Philly quite soon. I forsee Hartnell and/or Versteeg departing Philadelphia in the near future.

This is going to be a Philadelphia team to be very, very afraid of if they manage to get Bryzgalov under the cap. Goaltending has always been their crux.

CH: Agreed with Alex. Certainly did not see this coming. Great deal for the Flyers, but now they have to go out and actually sign him. As Tim Panaccio says, it may be difficult. This does relate to the Islanders in a very indirect way. Evgeni Nabokov is one of the Islanders most likely to be traded this summer, and the Flyers were a potential suitor for him. Personally, I hated the idea of trading him to a division rival, especially if the Islanders goal is to make the playoffs this year. However, Paul Holmgren and Garth Snow do have a relationship based on past deals so it could have been an option. I'm glad to see that won't happen unless Holmgren figures out over the next few weeks that Bryzgalov will not sign a long-term deal with the Flyers.

Looking forward from a Flyers perspective, this could go in quite a few directions. They could go and trade Jeff Carter, which has been heavily rumored recently. There was a report the Flyers have been in discussions with Columbus for the 8th overall pick, and it could be assumed Carter was part of that. They could also opt to trade players like Kris Versteeg or Scott Hartnell, which Alex implied. Look for some deals draft weekend or soon after. Either way, it's hard to assume they will be major players on July 1, but you never know. Overall, this trade is a scary proposition for the Atlantic Division if they get Bryzgalov signed.