October 15, 2008

High hopes is a good catch phrase to describe the feeling surrounding the 2008-09 season for the Philadelphia Flyers, after advancing to the NHL’s final four last year.

The Flyers were bounced from the Eastern Conference Finals by Pittsburgh Penguins team that was better than Philly in almost every facet of the game.

The offseason was a relatively quiet one for the Flyers, especially in comparison to last year, where a team coming off its worst record ever made several big moves to turn things around. During my post-mortem on last year’s season, I made a few predictions, let’s see how they panned out:

“On the unrestricted side, don’t expect them to resign Vinny Prospal, who disappeared after the first round of the playoffs. The reality is that Prospal was a fill-in for Simon Gagne, who missed much of the season due to concussion issues. Gagne is expected to recover in time for the start of next season.”

Prospal is back in Tampa.

“They face a decision with team captain Jason Smith, who was a leader and a warrior for Flyers, but nagging injuries on top of a guy who never exactly was fleet of skate made him a liability at times in the playoffs. I don’t expect the Flyers to resign Smith.”

Smith landed in Ottawa.

“On the restricted side, they have three key free agents – Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Randy Jones. Carter should definitely be the priority here. While he was once considered trade bait, since those rumors began to float mid-season, Carter began to assert himself on the ice, and was one of the Flyers’ top forwards in the playoffs. Indications are that the Flyers will make a strong push to resign Carter.”

Carter was given a multi-year deal and will remain a major cog for the Flyers.

“Randy Jones also proved to be strong in the playoffs, at one point leading all players in plus/minus. Expect the Flyers to lock him up.”

And they did, signing Jones to a two-year deal.

“R.J. Umberger is another story. The Flyers would love to bring him back, and he showed he could be a valuable contributor with his scoring explosion against the Canadiens. But if another NHL team were to offer Umberger a big contract, one along the lines that Mike Richards got or what Jeff Carter is expected to get, do not expect the Flyers to match it. Umberger is a solid player, but the Flyers don’t put him in the same skill level of a Richards or Carter.”

The Flyers would have loved to have kept Umberger, but in the salary capped NHL, they just didn’t have the space, sending R.J. to Columbus for a first round draft pick.

One of the points missed on was Derian Hatcher’s decision to rehab in an attempt to continue his career. The Flyers were too cash strapped to pursue a big-name defenseman as well, choosing to bring in a myriad of defenseman to camp, some young, like Mike Eminger and first round draft pick Luca Sbisa, as well as some veterans, like Brian Berard and Ossi Vaananen.

Injuries have already become an issue in the pre-season, with two blue-liners that were expected to play major roles out for a significant period of time. Ryan Parent had surgery to repair a bum shoulder, and Randy Jones is due for hip surgery.

The loss of Jones and Parent necessitated a deal with the Boston Bruins for Andrew Alberts.

One of the biggest pieces of news was the naming of Mike Richards as team captain, a move which was not terribly unexpected, although some had thought Kimmo Timonen could have gotten the nod. Richards was one of the best all-around forwards in the league last season, and is expected to be a regular contender for the NHL’s Hart Trophy, the league MVP award.

Injuries aside, the Flyers should have a strong season, and 100 points is not out of the realm of possibilities. The Atlantic Division is looking like a three-way battle between the Flyers, defending Eastern Conference champs the Penguins, and a reshuffled New York Rangers squad.

The Flyers have a ton of depth at the forward position, have some injuries and question marks on defense, and feel better about Marty Biron, now that he’s shown he can carry a team for stretches.

Let’s call it second place in the Atlantic, fourth overall in the Eastern Conference for the Flyers. I think they are on the verge, but they may need to sacrifice one of their young forwards to find the missing piece they need at the blue line.