Flyers deal rights to Hamhuis to the Penguins

Well, that didn't last long. Less than a week after acquiring the rights to soon-to-be free agent defenseman Dan Hamhuis from the Predators, the Flyers have shipped Hamhuis to the Penguins in exchange for a 3rd rounder in the 2011 draft. The Penguins will now have exclusive negotiating rights with Hamhuis until July 1st, after which he will become an unrestricted free agent. Yep, in a span of a week, Hamhuis has gone from a potential beloved Flyer to a hated Penguin. Ah, sports.

Apparently, the Flyers didn't want to sign Hamhuis for the amount of money he wanted. While my initial reaction to this deal was utter shock that the Flyers would make a trade with a division rival, when you take a look at the bigger picture you realize that the Flyers basically traded Ryan Parent for a 3rd round draft pick. While it is painful that the Flyers just made the Penguins a better team, the Flyers did get great value for a defenseman who was pretty awful in the playoffs.

So much for all of that "best Top 5 defensemen in the league" talk. Perhaps now the Flyers will turn their attention to their biggest need, getting a starting goaltender? More on that coming soon.