The Flyers number one goal this offseason must have been to become a team that no one wants to play against. First, they added the big and bruising Chris Pronger, who will smash anyone that comes close to him. Then, the Flyers added Ian Laperriere, a pesky player who gets under the skin of any opponent. Now the Flyers are set to add another player with a ton of heart and character, free agent defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen. According to Anthony SanFillipo, the Flyers will sign Tollefsen if he passes a physical.
Tollefsen, who is only 25, has spent the last four seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, playing in 145 games and amassing 10 points and 273 penalty minutes. He has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, hence the need by the Flyers for him to pass a physical, but when he plays he is all grit and is willing to drop the gloves when necessary.
The signing of Tollefsen is a shrewd move for the Flyers. Tollefsen is not an AHL player and he is good enough to be a Top 6 defenseman in the NHL, meaning that the Flyers now have an extra d-man. SanFillipo speculates that this signing could mean the end of Randy Jones in a Flyers uniform, a move that would free up some money. If the Flyers sign Tollefsen to a contract worth about a million bucks a year and get rid of Jones, who makes 2.75 million, that frees up 1.75 million for the Flyers to use on another forward, presumably the rumored Petr Sykora or Miro Satan signings.
If Tollefsen is healthy, this is a solid move for the Flyers. Not only do they add some more grit to their blueline, they could also be freeing up some money to get themselves another forward. I had my doubts about Paul Holmgren after some questionable decisions this offseason, but after this move the Flyers roster is shaping up very nicely.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Flyers to sign defenseman Tollefsen
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5 comments:
Carle is a much bigger defensive liability than Jones and would free up even more cap space for flexibility throughout the season. It was Carle, after all, who cost the Flyers that perfect record of no shorties against last year.
Listen, yes Carle would free up more cap, but Randy Jones was in all accounts the worse player on the blueline for this team last season, and it was only the basic fact the team had an unbelievable offense that kept him in the plus, rather than a minus... Ridding this team of Jones takes such a weight off my shoulders since I won't ever have to worry about when he'll make another dumbass mistake out their on the ice again... I like this I like this alot
Anonymous, you also have to realize that, since Carle's contract is bigger, it's going to make him a lot tougher to move. Jones is the more turnover prone D-man and he makes less, so he's easier to ship out.
flyers need to do this! randy jones is god awful and we need to free up space to get another FA, hopefully someone to fill the shoes of knuble and lupul - we need 1 more player that can put the puck in the net!
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