JT Volpe
June 23rd, 2011 is a day which will forever be remembered by fans of the Philadelphia Flyers. Earlier that year the Flyers were embarrassingly swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Boston Bruins. Just two seasons removed from a Stanley Cup Final appearance, GM Paul Holmgren made three of the most memorable, for better or worse, front office moves in the history of the franchise.
To Philadelphia: Jakub Voracek, 1st Round Draft Pick (would become Sean Couturier).
To Columbus: Jeff Carter
To Philadelphia: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, 2nd Round Draft Pick (later traded).
To Los Angeles: Mike Richards
To Philadelphia: Rights to pending free agent Ilya Bryzgalov (signed 9YR/$51MM contract).
To Phoenix: LW Matt Clackson, 3rd Round Draft Pick
Fans today still debate whether the Flyers "won" the Carter and Richards trades. One counterpoint...
 |
| Former Flyers Mike Richards and Jeff Carter celebrate their 2012 Stanley Cup victory with former Flyers Head Coach John Stevens.
But regardless of the consensus on the Carter and Richards moves the Bryzgalov signing still stings. His monster contract was bought out just two years into the near decade long term. The deal was widely criticized, and Holmgren and owner Ed Snyder came under fire for reacting too boldly in pursuit of a Cup and not building their team the right way. But for the lifelong Flyers fan, this was nothing new. Bad contracts have always been Ed Snyder's thing. Consider these examples:
John Vanbiesbrouck signed for 2YRS/$7.25MM in the 1998 offseason
Jeremy Roenick signed for 5YRS/$5.5MM in the 2001 offseason
Peter Forsberg signed for 2YRS/$5.75MM in the 2005 offseason
Vinny Lecavalier signed for 5YRS/$4.5MM in the 2013 offseason
Andy MacDonald signed for 5YRS/$6MM in the 2014 offseason
Now I'm not saying all of these contracts are awful, but it shows the Flyers trend of signing veterans to big contracts and forgoing builds through the draft in favor of trades and free agent splashes. The problem is that it hasn't worked out. While the Flyers have made the playoffs consistently throughout their history, they have only two Stanley Cup Championships won back to back in 1973-74 and 1974-75. Flyers fans don't want playoff appearances anymore, they want Cups.
So far the GM tenure of Ron Hextall has Flyers fans very excited. He has made many public statements outlining his vision of building and developing draft prospects and doing things the right away. He has already moved a few bad contracts like Scott Hartnell and Zach Rinaldo, and is trying to find a trade partner to offload Lecavalier. Other moves that have received praise were the team friendly contracts given to Michael Del Zotto and Michal Neuvirth and draft selections Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny.
But today Hextall made what is so far the best move in his short tenure by signing young forward Sean Couturier to a 6 year extension worth $4.33MM a year. In the opinion of this writer, "highway robbery" is the appropriate term. Couturier is a great defensive center who has shown the ability to shut down elite level NHL scorers. His offensive game has yet to truly come into its own, but its easy to see why when you consider Couturier was given defensive zone starts in 38.5% of his shifts last season. At 22 years old, being matched up against top lines constantly and starting over a third of the time in your own end, being 5th on the team in points with 38 is really impressive. All that being said, I can't believe Hexy pulled off this deal. Most players Couturier's age would sign a bridge deal of about 2 or 3 years, and then test free agency or ask for big money from their club around age 25 or 26 right when they hit their prime. Couturier however will be locked up now until age 29 as his six year extension kicks in next season when his current deal ends. For comparison, Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Kesler will be getting paid $6.85MM per year over the same span. Last year Kesler scored 47 points as a 30 year old. They Flyers are paying less for a player who hasn't hit his peak and who will still be only 29 years old at the end of the term.
Hextall's biggest test, the re-signing of forward Jakub Voracek, still looms on the horizon. But if Hextall signs Jake to a good contract the Flyers would have Claude Giroux, Voracek and Couturier signed long term with a young group of defensive prospects on their way and a solid goaltender in Steve Mason. As a Flyers fan, you're trained to be cynical but I can't help getting a little giddy thinking about the possible future of this team.
In Hexy we trust.
 |
No comments :
Post a Comment