John's Short Philly Update 12/11/08

Phillies: It’s the offseason and the rumors are flying. The Phillies have been reported to be interested in pitcher Chan Ho Park. He made the career move to a reliever after the beginning of his career was spent as a starter. If Philly brings him in, it isn’t known whether or not he will start or boost the bullpen. Park will be 36 next June. [CSN Philly]

I wouldn’t mind seeing Park as a reliever but there are better options. He would make an ok addition to what we already have, especially to the middle relief. Last year was Park’s first year in his 15 year career where he was primarily used as a reliever. Last season he had a solid 3.40 ERA in 54 games for the Dodgers. His WHIP was a 1.4 though and I do not want to have a guy putting men on base at that rate. Last year he was a great option in the beginning of the season but he wore down as the season went on in the late stages.

As far as starting goes, I want them to strongly pursue Moyer if anything. If we can get Moyer back, that’ll give us four solid starters. If we fail to get Derrick Lowe or AJ Burnett, which aren’t looking too good, Park may be our 5th starter which would just piss me off (and God knows what it would do to Justin). Also as Justin stated, if they make a move for Jason Marquis from Chicago, Ruben Amaro would be an even bigger idiot. He already let Pat Burrell go completely and I think he’s going to screw up the Moyer talks. Paulino was also a crappy move.

Eagles: Kevin Curtis did not practice today and his status is uncertain yet for Monday’s game versus Cleveland (4-9). He left the game with a concussion. He has been very solid in his return since the hernia he suffered in July/August. If he can’t go, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant, and Hank Baskett will be McNabb’s primary options. Maybe Reggie Brown will get back into the mix as well but he has barely been a thought in Andy Reid’s head all year. Luckily LJ Smith established himself last week versus New York.

The Eagles (7-5-1) playoff hopes are still alive. If the Saints (7-6) beat Atlanta (8-5) on Thursday and the Giants (11-2) beat Dallas (8-5) on Sunday, an Eagles win will propel them into the 6th seed of the NFC. The Eagles must win out because a loss to the Browns would make it damn near impossible and a loss to Washington (7-6) or Dallas in the last two weeks will end all hopes because those teams beat Philly earlier this year.

Keep running Brian Westbrook. It if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Flyers: The Flyers (14-7-6) are now tied in 2nd with Pittsburgh with 34 points, 6 shy of New York who have played 4 more games. They play the Carolina Hurricanes (13-12-3) tonight at 7pm. In their last 14 games, Philadelphia has gone 10-1-3, including two wins at Carolina and a loss on Black Friday in overtime.

Jeff Carter is playing amazing hockey and is still among the league leaders in goals with 20. He is already on pace to shatter his career high of 29 he had last year. Marty Biron has been very bad, giving up at least 3 goals in his 7th straight start. Antero Nittymaki should be getting the start tonight though since he is 2-0 versus Carolina, only allowing 2 goals.

The team has completely turned it’s game around since John Stevens’ meeting, the benching of Scott Hartnell, and the demotion to the 4th line for Joffrey Lupul.

Continuing reading...

Jeff Carter, So Hot Right Now, Jeff Carter...

The supermen came to the rescue again last night. Like they have in many games already this season, the dynamic young duo of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards netted goals again to help give the Flyers a 2-1 over-time victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Mike Richards scored his 4th short-handed goal of the season, tying him with teammate Simon Gagne, for the league lead. The opportunity came after Simon Gagne made a great along the boards and got it Richards, so he could deke out Michael Leighton for the goal.

After the Hurricanes tied it up quickly in the third period, both teams traded scoring chances, but to no avail. It was now time for part two of the dyanmic duo to do his magic and that is exactly what Jeff Carter did in the overtime period. He won the face-off and shot it from the circle to net the game-winner. It seems like anything he touches turns to gold right now. He's only on pace for a 60 goal season. Only, right? With Gagne, Richards, and Carter, the Flyers could possibly have 3 players with over 80 points.

Highlights after the jump. Sorry, you have to listen to the horrible Carolina announcers.

Continuing reading...

Carter Officially Signs; A Cap Outlook

According to TSN, Jeff Carter has officially signed the deal that was mentioned a week ago for 3 years, $15 million. Carter's annual cap hit will be $5 million. When Carter's deal is up, he will still be a restricted free-agent, so the short time frame turns out to be the better move for the Flyers.

I'm very excited to be staying in Philadelphia,” said Carter in a statement. "We have great group of guys on this team and I can't wait to get back on the ice and continue where we left off last season."

After the deal, the Flyers cap number is at about $52.292 million (see actual numbers after the jump). The league-wide cap is $56.7 million, so that leaves the Flyers with about $4.402million left. The above number does include Denis Topelko, Claude Giroux, and Ryan Parent. I've also gone ahead and put Mike Rathje on LITR. It does include Derian Hatcher as if he will be on the roster and playing. So, the flyers have about $4.4 million to sign new acquired defenseman Steve Eminger and re-sign Randy Jones and Riley Cote. The Flyers will also ponder whether or not they want to re-sign RFA Patrick Thoreson or Jim Dowd. The Flyers at whether Stefen Ruzicka or Kyle Greentree will be up with the big club or with the Phantoms as they are both RFAs.

Here's a look at the current cap numbers via NHL Numbers:
Forwards
Daniel Briere - 6.500
Mike Richards - 5.750
Simon Gagne - 5.250
Jeff Carter - 5.000
Scott Hartnell - 4.200
Mike Knuble - 2.800
Joffrey Lupul - 2.312
Scottie Upshall - 1.225
Claude Giroux - 0.850
Steve Downie - 0.822

10 Forwards = 34.709
Update: Denis Topelko was removed because he is returning to Russia. My mistake. All the numbers are updated.

Defensemen
Kimmo Timonen - 6.333
Derian Hatcher - 3.500
Braydon Coburn - 1.300
Lasse Kukkonen - 0.875
Ryan Parent - about .850

5 Defensemen = 12.858

Kukkonen, Parent, Eminger, and Niskala will all likely compete for the 5th and 6th defensemen spots, so these numbers could fluctuate. Eminger would be more than Parent and Kukkonen, but Niskala contract will likely be substantially less. The Daily News has reported that Jones is nearing a contract that would likely be for 2 years and at about 2.75 million per year, which would really limit their eligibility to sign any FAs.

Goaltenders
Martin Biron - 3.500
Antero Niittymaki - 1.225

2 Goaltenders = 4.725

16 skaters and 2 goaltenders = 52.292

If the Flyers do sign Randy Jones to that expected contract, their cap would be at $55.042 million, which would give them about $1.658 million in cap space. However, they will have a little more room depending on which AHL/NHL players they decide to carry on the Flyers roster. If Hatcher does indeed retire, the Flyers will have about $5.158 million in cap space or $7.908 million before the Jones deal.

Continuing reading...

Teams Can Start Talking to Jeff Carter

According to Hockeybuzz, teams can now begin to talk to Restricted Free Agents. The Flyers most prized RFA is centerman Jeff Carter. Teams cannot offer a contract to Jeff Carter until July 1, but his salary demands may rise (or fall) with his conversations with other teams.

Preliminary reports suggested that Jeff Carter signed a 3 year, 15 million contract, but that seems to be the minimum on terms of years of the contract. The Flyers better work fast to get a deal done before July 1, next Tuesday.

Continuing reading...

Flyers Rumors: Carter, Cote, Jones, Eminger

According to Paul Holmgren, the Flyers are nearing the completion of contract extensions for Jeff Carter and Riley Cote. They also hope to negotiate with Randy Jones and Steve Eminger before July 1st.

Holmgren said the Flyers are very close to finalizing a multiyear deal with Carter, are also close with Cote, and are confident they can get Jones on paper before free agency opens July 1.

Eminger, acquired along with a third-round pick (which was used to draft goalie Jacob DeSerres) from the Capitals for the 27th pick overall, is also going to be without a contract July 1, but Holmgren said it will not be a difficult negotiation. Eminger made $1 million last season.

[Daily News]
Yes, we did jump the gun a little bit on the Jeff Carter deal and will make sure we wait to post any real numbers until the deal is official. Signing Cote would be a nice move because the Flyers still need that style of player on the 4th line. Steve Downie can do it, but he is more valuable on the ice using his offensive ability, rather than throwing punches and landed in the box for 5 minutes at a time.

Randy Jones is a must sign for the Flyers as he improved mightily throughout the season. He led the Flyers in +/- throughout the playoffs and he was one of their leaders for the entire season.

Steve Eminger is a former first round pick, was traded for a first round, and we'd hope he plays like a first round pick. Eminger has welcomed the opportunity to come to Philadelphia and likes how they are physical. He was honored to be traded for a first round pick and he is excited for the challenge. Eminger is still only 24 and he showed some bright spots during the playoff series against the Flyers -- which seems to be what really made Holmgren interested in him. Eminger is the third first- round pick on the Flyers roster from the 2002 NHL Draft. The other two are Scottie Upshall and Joffrey Lupul. The Flyers used their pick in that draft to select Joni Pitkanen.

Continuing reading...

Carter Deal Not Official

I just want to clear things up that the Jeff Carter signing is not official and apparently 3 years is the minimum they will sign Carter for, but they would prefer to extend him for longer. 5 years, 4-4.35 million per would be perfect and it'd be a steal if he played like the guy that went to the net at the end of the year. Earlier in the season he spent too much time around the perimeter of the zone and he'd disappear.

So, just to clarify, the Jeff Carter deal is not official, but I'd expect something in the coming days.

Sorry for jumping the gun.

Continuing reading...

Flyers Resign Carter

According to Sportsnet.ca, The Flyers have resigned restricted free agent centerman, Jeff Carter to a 3 year deal believed to be worth no less than $15 million.

Sources are telling Sportsnet that Carter has agreed to a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers that is believed to pay him no less than $15 million.

Should the deal be completed, the Flyers remove the risk of Carter -- a Group 2 free agent on July 1st -- getting any offer sheets from teams wanting to scoop up the Flyers centre.

Well, at least we know that one of our restricted free agents will be back. However, with little cap space left, I'm almost positive that R.J. Umberger will not return to the team unless Paul Holmgren starts creating some more financial magic. The buyout of Derian Hatcher or his retirement is starting to look more and more set in stone. The Flyers definitely need to sign Randy Jones because they're very thin at the blue line.

If I was the Flyers, I would have at least tried to lock up Carter for a few more years. Only 3 years and high price tag will put them in a bind in a few years if they play to re-sign him again because he'll expect a raise. Hopefully, he proves the worth of his contract. More on the deal once it becomes official.

Continuing reading...

Around the Rink: Flyers News

According to Chuck Gormley of the Courier Post,

The Flyers will likely bring up Denis Gauthier if they make the playoffs. They cannot call him up before April 6th, however, because he will likely be picked up by another team through the waiver process.

"Denis is an NHL defenseman," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "He's a victim of the salary cap."

Denis Gauthier, if he doesn't commit the stupid penalties he did with the Flyers last year, would be an improvement of the third-line defensemen that the Flyers have put out thus far this year. When Randy Jones returns, he will replace Lasse Kukkonen in the line-up. Gauthier will compete with Modry and Parent for the final defensive pairing.

Currently, Claude Giroux's junior team, the Gatineau Olympiques is currently in the playoffs and holding 2-0 series lead in the first round. As long as the Olympiques keep winning, Giroux will remain with them, which could be until the end of May. Giroux already has 2 goals and 5 assists in those two games.

Lastly, Paul Holmgren has begun contract talks with Jeff Carter's agent, Rick Curran, but nothing is imminent. Carter becomes a restricted free-agent July 1st and there is a strong possibility that he may receive an offer sheet from another team. It'd be smart for the Flyers to try and lock him up long-term before another team sets his price.

Continuing reading...

Flyers with a Powerful Win

The Flyers scored 4 power-play goals to defeat the New York Islanders 4-1. The teams skated through the first period goal-less, but the Flyers scored early in the second when Danny Briere found a bouncing puck and put it in the wide open net. Roughly 10 minutes later, Scottie Upshall and Jeff Carter took advantage of a Rick DiPietro turnover to put the Flyers up 2-0. Jeff Carter now leads the team with 26 goals on the year and has 6 in his last four games. Scott Hartnell scored two power-play goals in the third period to complete the Flyers scoring. Marty Biron made 32 saves in the win.

The Flyers are now 5-2-1 in their last 8 games since their 10 game losing streak. Derian Hatcher returned tonight and Joffrey Lupul may be able to return for the Flyers home and home series with the Maple Leafs this week. Mike Richards remains on his three week time table, which may allow him to return next week.

Continuing reading...

Jeff Carter for a Case of Tastykakes

The Flyers fell behind early again. Very early. Jussi Jokinen scored 31 seconds into the game for the Lightning. In his return to the lineup, Daniel Briere tied the game with top shelf wrist shot after a couple beautiful plays by R.J. Umberger. A little less than two minutes later, Jeff Carter scored on a beautiful back hand to give the Flyers the 2-1 lead and they kept it going into the second period.

The lone second period goal came from Tampa's Quellet as he knotted the game at 2 and it stayed that way heading to the third.

The third period seemed like those of late. It looked like another game going to overtime, and then the shoot-out, and we'd be happy with a point, but Jeff Carter circled in the offensive zone and lifted a wrister pass Lightning goaltender Mike Smith with 1:54 left to give the Flyers the 3-2 lead and victory.

Jeff Carter is really starting to become the player we saw lead the Phantoms to a Calder Cup Championship. He is becoming more physical and extremely hard to take off the puck. Some may say that trade rumors got in his head, but once the deadline passed, he has been playing very well. If he can keep up this play when Richards, Lupul, and Hatcher return, I'll feel much better going into the playoffs. The Penguins and Bruins both lost tonight, so the Flyers gained in both the division and the playoff race.

Riley Cote and Andre Roy squared off for two rounds of fighting. The first fight was a draw, but Cote landed a one punch knock-out in the second bout.

Continuing reading...

Finally...a win

The Philadelphia Flyers have snapped a 6 game winless streak with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Wachovia Center. Tonight's game was a must-win game before the team embarks on a 6 game road-trip, starting with the hated Lightning. The Flyers were lead by two goals from Joffrey Lopul along with goals by Daniel Briere and Jeff Carter.

The Flyers have also extended their streak of scoring a power-play goal now in nine consecutive games.

Continuing reading...