Flyers re-acquire Syvret in minor deal

The Flyers made a minor move today, re-acquiring former Flyer Danny Syvret along with center Rob Bordson for a pair of Phantoms forwards, David Laliberte and Pat Maroon.

I'm not sure why the Flyers felt they needed more defensemen, but Syvret returns to the organization he spent 2 seasons with from 2008 to 2010. In total, Syvret played 23 games for the Flyers before being waived by the club back in February. Given the logjam of defensemen already in the NHL, Syvret will likely spend the rest of the season with the Phantoms.

As for Bordson, he is a young forward who has played 15 games in the AHL this season, netting just 1 goal and 2 assists. He had considerable success in college (40 points in 40 games) with Minnesota-Duluth so he does have some upside.

The deal finally sees a resolution to the Patrick Maroon situation. Maroon, who was sent home by the Phantoms back in October, will get a fresh start with a new club. I always liked David Laliberte's upside, as he had a few good seasons with the Phantoms and even played 11 games in the NHL last season, but apparently the Flyers were comfortable moving him.

In terms of talent, the Flyers certainly gave up more than they received in this trade, as you would expect in any deal where you ship out a headcase like Maroon. While I'm not all that impressed with anything the Flyers acquired, I'm sure they are just happy to have Maroon out of the organization.

Flyers activate Parent, waive Syvret

With the Olympics winding down (USA! USA!), the NHL is getting ready to ramp up once again. Teams have already begun practicing and games are starting up again Monday, a little over 24 hours after the Gold Medal Game. Oh, and then there's the trade deadline, which is just 3 days away, on March 3rd. It's going to be a wild few days of roster moves as teams position themselves for a playoff run.

The Flyers made their first post-Olympic roster moves today, activating defenseman Ryan Parent, who has been on injured reserve since December 26th, and waiving defenseman Danny Syvret, who has also been on injured reserve. Syvret was likely just about ready to come back from his injury, but, since the acquisition of Lukas Krajicek, he has been pushed back to the 8th d-man in the organization. Syvret only makes 575,000 and is a serviceable defenseman so I wouldn't be surprised if he was claimed.

The waiving of Syvret could be a move by the Flyers to free up some cap space prior to the trade deadline. While Syvret's salary is small, every bit of money helps when you are a team close to the cap like the Flyers. What the Flyers might pursuing at the deadline is a mystery, however. They seem pretty set with depth at forward and on defense and I doubt they will make a move for a top goaltender. Basically, don't get your hopes up that the Flyers will do anything major in the coming days, what you see might be what you get for the playoffs.

Flyers sign D-man Lukas Krajicek

The Flyers may have finally found that NHL-caliber depth defenseman they were looking for. After injuries to Ryan Parent and Danny Syvret, the Flyers were left with a third defensive pairing of the slumping Oskars Bartulis and the ineffective Ole-Kristian Tollefsen. Clearly knowing that the pair wasn't good enough on a team with playoff aspirations, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren had desperately been searching for defensive help via a trade. Finding the asking price too high in a market where everyone is looking for a d-man, Holmgren went a different route and has signed recently waived former Ligthning defenseman Lukas Krajicek for the remainder of the season.

Krajicek, who was a former first round pick back in 2001, passed through waivers and was released by the Lightning and now figures to be a solid 6th or 7th defenseman with the Flyers. At 6 foot 3 and 205 pounds, he's not a big d-man but he will stay at home and protect the net. With only 70 career points in 301 NHL games with the Panthers, Canucks and Lightning, Krajicek isn't going to be an offensive threat. While he hasn't proven to be worth the first round pick the Panthers used on him 9 years ago, Krajicek is only 26 and can still be a solid contributor in the back end.

To make room for Krajicek, the Flyers sent forward Mika Pyorala to the minors. Pyorala will get the ice time he wasn't getting in the NHL with Adirondack.

The bottom line with this deal was the Flyers found a slight upgrade on defense for a cheap price. Since Krajicek was released by Tampa Bay, it's likely the Flyers signed him to something close to the league minimum, giving the Flyers a limited cap hit for some defensive depth. Given how Bartulis and Tollefsen have played recently, Krajicek has an opportunity to work his way into some decent ice time. What happens if/when Parent and Syvret come back is another story, but Krajicek certainly has a chance to stick as the 7th d-man come playoff time. If the Flyers make the playoffs.

Flyers lose Syvret for a month, activate Tollefsen

One of the nicer surprises for the Flyers this season has been defenseman Danny Syvret. With all the tumult and inconsistent play going on around him, Syvret has emerged as a solid top 6 d-man for the Flyers. No, he doesn't put up big numbers (4 points in 21 games) but he rarely is out of position and consistently makes the right play. He has made quite a jump from the 7th or 8th defenseman to someone the Flyers are counting on every night.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, the strides Syvret has made will be put on hold. Syvret suffered a separated shoulder in the Flyers win over the Stars on Monday night and he will be out for a month. Steve Ott of the Stars is the one to blame for the injury as he boarded Syvret, a hit that could arguably have drawn a suspension but didn't.

In Syvret's place, the Flyers have activated Ole-Kristian Tollefsen from the IR. Tollefsen has been out since December 14th with knee problems and there is some speculation as to whether he is actually healthy enough to return or whether the Flyers are forcing him back because they are desperate for a 6th d-man. Having only played 10 games this season, Tollefsen hasn't exactly been "healthy" this year. The cynic in me wonders if he'll make it through the week without getting hurt again.

Randy Jones clears waivers, Flyers to ship him to the Phantoms

Randy Jones wasn't worth 2.75 million to the Flyers or to anyone else in the NHL. The defenseman, who the Flyers waived on Friday, has cleared waivers today and will been sent to the Phantoms in the next few days. The move automatically gives the Flyers 2.75 million dollars under the cap, money that will be used to sign Blair Betts and ensures that James van Riemsdyk will start the season in the NHL.

What happens next for Jones is the real question. The Flyers could easily stash Jones away in the AHL for the rest of the year and they would have to pay him his full salary but it wouldn't count against the cap. The other option they have would be to bring Jones back up, which would expose him to waivers yet again. At that point, another team could claim Jones and they would only have to pay half of his salary with the Flyers paying the rest with that amount counting towards the cap. Because of the salary cap implications, Jones might be stuck in the AHL for the rest of the year.

With Jones being demoted, Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen will start the year with the Flyers. Tollefsen hasn't impressed this preseason so Syvret would seem to have the edge for the 6th defenseman spot.

While the Flyers take a bit of a hit at defense, getting rid of Jones has made their forwards much stronger. Betts and JVR are more than worth the loss of Jones.

Flyers to say goodbye to Jones, hello to Betts?

Fans have been calling for it for months and they may finally get their wish. According to the Daily News, the Flyers are going to release Randy Jones this weekend in order to free up salary. Jones is set to make 2.75 million dollars this year, so waiving him would clear up some valuable cap space to sign forward Blair Betts, who has earned his way onto the team with his solid defensive skills.

Ridding themselves of Jones would be a great move for the Flyers because he hasn't done anything this preseason to prove he is much better than Danny Syvret or Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, the two defensemen vying for a spot on the roster. Both Syvret and Tollefsen make more than 2 million dollars less than Jones so it seems like a logical move to take a small hit in talent for a large boost in cap space.

What happens to Jones after he gets waived will be interesting. There are probably many teams in the league looking for help on defense but I'm not sure they are willing to take on his salary. If he ends up going unclaimed, the Flyers can then send him down to the Phantoms for as long as they want.

The upside from this move, the likely signing of Blair Betts, outweighs the negative that the Flyers will lose some of their depth on defense. Keeping Jones around as the 6th defenseman would be fine talent-wise but dollar-wise it just doesn't make much sense. Cap space is a valuable commodity in the NHL, much more valuable than an average defenseman.

Flyers trade Ryan Potulny for young defenseman

The Flyers made their first off-season move today, trading center Ryan Potulny, who played 7 games with the Flyers last season, to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Danny Syvret.

Syvret is a puck-moving defenseman who spent all of last season in the AHL where he played a total of 63 games for two different teams, the Springfield Falcons and the Hershey Bears. He scored 2 goals and picked up 18 assists while registering a plus/minus of -4. Syvret has played 26 career games in the NHL and picked up one assist. He is 22 and isn't considered a great prospect, but he could he a 5th or 6th defenseman in the future. He is a strong skater but at only 5'11'' and 195 pounds, he lacks size.

Potulny spent most of last season with the Phantoms, netting 21 goals and 26 assists in 58 games. He managed only 1 assist in limited action in the NHL this year, but in 06/07 he played 35 games with the Flyers and picked up 12 points. Potulny, 23, suffered a couple of injuries that slowed down his progress, but he was still seen as a quality prospect who could have eventually developed into a third line center. Unfortunately for Potulny, the Flyers are extremely deep at center, with Danny Briere, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter expected to be locked into center positions on the top three lines for the foreseeable future.

This deal likely came down to the Flyers trading away depth at a position of strength for something of need. Syvret is a long shot at best to play for the Flyers next year, but at the very least they have another young talent that they can groom for the future.

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