Lack of draft picks, cap space prevent Flyers from making moves at trade deadline

I can't remember the last time the Flyers did nothing at or near the trade deadline. Seemingly every year, the Flyers make some kind of deal, whether it's for an impact player or just for someone who can fill a role. Well, not this year: the Flyers didn't make a single move at the 2010 trade deadline.

Not that they weren't trying to get something done. There were several rumors floating around throughout the day that the Flyers were looking into acquiring, among others, Dan Hamhuis, Dwayne Roloson, Milan Jurcina and Raffi Torres. They failed to get anything done, though, and that can be traced to two reasons: having no draft picks and lacking sufficient cap space.

The trading for Chris Pronger, while a good move, stripped the Flyers of several top draft picks. Teams that are unloading players at the trade deadline love getting 1st or 2nd round draft picks, something the Flyers don't have. As for their lack of cap space, it limited who the Flyers could offer in a deal. Sure, to get a top goalie or defenseman, the Flyers could have given up a prospect like Claude Giroux, but then the player they would have acquired wouldn't have fit under the cap. They would have been forced to move a bigger salary to make it all work and I don't think the Flyers were willing to part with a Jeff Carter.

So, the Flyers roster is locked in for the rest of the season. Sure, they didn't make any moves today, but luckily they didn't have any major holes to fill. Yeah, it would have been nice for the Flyers to pick up a goalie with some more playoff experience, but not at the outrageous prices I'm sure teams were asking for. Making a deal for the sake of making a deal is never a good move, so I'm glad Paul Holmgren didn't get desperate at the trade deadline. He still deserves some blame, however, because it's his fault the team wasn't positioned better to get something done.