Flyers Trade Umberger, Later Acquire Eminger

Early into the draft night, the Flyers traded the rights to R.J. Umberger to Columbus for the 19th pick overall. It was a move the Flyers clearly needed to make because of the salary cap. They basically had to pick Carter or Umberger and they chose Carter, which is the right decision. Well, we think they chose Carter, but they have declined everything about signing him.

With the 19th pick, the Flyers drafted Luca Sbisa, an offensive-minded defenseman who can also play forward at time. It has been said that he doesn't make too many mistakes in his own zone. He was the 10th defenseman drafted at the time. Central Scouting had this to say:

Strengths: Luca is a poised and, sometimes, too poised a defenseman. One would say that a lot of times his calmness with the puck is misinterpreted as either slowness or laziness; that's not the case with Luca. He is a smart player who moves the puck at the right time and carries the puck correctly, supports the rush and is adjusting very well to the North American game."

Areas to improve: "He needs continued adjustment to the North American game, he isn't afraid under a forecheck but sometimes under a hard forecheck of one or two players of the opposition, he will tend to throw the puck away too early. As much as the poise comes in to play with the puck on his stick, when the puck isn't on his stick I think that will be an area that will get better with time."

Pogo will go into greater detail discussing all of the Flyers picks after the draft is complete.

Later in the draft, the Flyers traded the 27th overall pick to Washington for D Steve Eminger. With the Flyers lacking a 2nd round pick, it would have been smarter to hold onto the pick and draft a goalie. Let's face it Biron and Niittymaki are FAs after this season. The Flyers haven't had a top goalie prospect in awhile.

Last year, Eminger was often a healthy scratch for the Washington Capitals, but he did see time in 5 playoff games against the Flyers. Holmgren had this to say,

Steve is a player we’ve always liked," said Holmgren. "He’s a former teammate of Mike Richards in Kitchener, so we those two have a connection. He’s still just 25 years old. I don’t believe he’s reached his peak yet and still has a ways to go. We think he’s going to be a nice fit."

I'm really not a big fan of the trade.

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R.J Umberger to Return Wednesday

R.J. Umberger, the Penguin killer, is expected to return on Wednesday when the Flyers visit Pittsburgh. Umberger has missed the past six games with a sprained left knee. In 71 games, Umberger has 12 goals and 37 assists.

Coach John Stevens is not positive on who he'll replace in the lineup. When asked, Stevens responded with:

Good question. I haven’t decided yet, but we’ll certainly make room for Umby,” said Stevens. “I think Umby has been a versatile guy that can play either the left or the right and he certainly belongs in our top nine forwards. If he’s ready to go, he’ll go in.”

I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I'd assume that it would be Jim Dowd or Patrick Thoreson.

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