At the trading deadline, many thought the Flyers would make multiple moves, but instead the organization played it safe and didn’t make any moves. They reportedly received offers from Columbus and San Jose but manager Paul Holgrem didn’t deem any moves worthy of trading any key pieces away.
The Flyers had been rumored as one of the many teams wishing to acquire Rick Nash, the Captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets asked for many of the Flyers key rookies and the Flyers wisely refused to trade away their budding stars. On Monday morning there was another rumor indicating that the San Jose Sharks were offering goalie Antti Niemi for winger James Van Riemsdyk. The 21 year old also looked like a hot commodity in discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Luke Schenn, but injuries cost Van Riemsdyk 15 games, which made his trade value drop significantly.
The Flyers should be commended for not trying to sell the house for players this year. Many thought the Flyers needed to make moves to keep up with the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers and other elite teams in the NHL but truth be told the Flyers have a decent team. They have received contributions from rookies like Matt Read and Brayden Schenn to veterans like Jaromir Jagr and Daniel Briere.
The Flyers lead the league in goals scored with 209. On defense they had issues, but the additions of Pavel Kubina and Nicklas Grossman should solify the defense. The only issue the Flyers have is in net, which seems to be a recurring issue, and has been for decades. Maybe with puck blocking defenders in front of Ilya Bryzgalov he will do better and the Flyers will flourish and make a strong playoff push.