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!

Around The NHL: Ryan Smyth, Craig Ramsay, Salary Cap

According to TSN, former Islander Ryan Smyth has informed the Los Angeles Kings he'd like to be traded back to the Edmonton Oilers. Smyth, 35, has one more year on his contract, in which he'll earn $4.5 million but will cost $6.25 million on the cap. Smyth scored 23 goals and assisted on 24 others last year in a full 82 game season.

Smyth played 18 games for the Islanders in 2006-07 and scored 5 goals and had 15 points.

CH: Okay, I have to say this confuses me for a bunch of reasons. First, Smyth pretty much had to be traded in 2007 because he wouldn't budge on $100,000 per year for an extension. Then the guy cries when he is traded to the Islanders. Then he signs with Colorado, before getting traded to Los Angeles. He finally finds himself on a team that is primed to make the playoffs every year, and all of a sudden he wants to go back to Edmonton. This whole situation is bizarre.

Don't get me wrong, and I don't mean to rehash old memories, but I would make the trade for him every time. Even at 35, he is a very useful player. When the Islanders had him at 31, he was fantastic and was a huge difference maker after Rick DiPietro went down. Looking at the now, does it even make sense for Edmonton to take on that kind of contract? They've finished 30th two years in a row, so do they want to hand a 3rd line spot to a declining Ryan Smyth or let a young guy take the reigns? Especially for a $6.25 million cap hit. Unless the Kings end up buying Smyth out and he signs in Edmonton on the cheap, I don't see this happening. But this report was certainly unexpected.

AT: This kind of reinforces my opinion that Smyth leaving was better for the team. For him to turn this way on LA is absolutely pathetic on his part. Yes, he helped us out when Snow traded for him, but if he was going to act like this a year or two into his contract wanting to go back to Edmonton, I'm happier with what we have here. That's all I can really say about this.

The Winnipeg(s) have informed former Atlanta Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay and former Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish that they will not be hired for the vacant head coaching position. The two finalists for the job are Chicago Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland and former Blue Jackets Head Coach Claude Noel. 

CH: Well it's clear now that Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg(s) are going in a new direction. Ramsay did a good job working with the young kids in Atlanta last year, but with a relocated franchise, it's understandable that Cheveldayoff wanted to bring in his own guy. Mike Haviland has been a guy rumored to be ready for a head coaching position for a while, so it wouldn't surprise me for Cheveldayoff to go with him. That said, I think the better choice is Noel, whose little NHL experience could be important for a young team. He also coached the Manitoba Moose last year, so he has a rapport with the area and the fanbase. We'll see what direction they go in.

AT: Haviland seems like the most likely choice. Local guy, fans know of him and his system, works well with the organization, etc. Ramsay's a good coach but I can see why Haviland would be a more likely option.

Chris Johnston is reporting the NHL salary cap for next season will settle in around $64 million. Consequently, the cap floor will be approximately $48 million. 

CH: So now the cap floor for 2011-12 is going to be about $9 million more than the cap ceiling in 2005-06, when the salary cap was first instituted. It really makes you wonder. Now the smaller market teams are going to fall behind again, as big market teams like New York and Toronto have the ability to spend to the ceiling. So while the cap was originally supposed to reel in those teams, here we are 7 years later and the cap ceiling is $25 million more than it was seven years ago. However, the increases are a result of increasing revenues to the NHL, so that is a great thing.

As far as the Islanders are concerned, well, they obviously have a ton of room to play with. The only question is...will they use it?

AT: As much as I hate to see the Rangers getting more room to add on to their already ridiculous contracts, as Carey said this is an indication of increasing revenues with the NHL and that is nothing but good news to me. With the Islanders, I can see a more substantial version of the Wisniewski trade occurring. I have honestly no idea who the Islanders could possibly go for, although Brent Burns was rumored to be available. It is going to be one of the most important offseasons in his GM career for Mr. Snow.