Your guide to the Flyers at the Olympics

We've officially hit a lull in Philly sports action. The Eagles have long been eliminated, the Phillies are just getting under way, the Sixers are more interested in trading for next year and the Flyers are off for two weeks for the Winter Olympic break. Fortunately, just because the Flyers aren't playing any games as a team, there are still a few individuals headed to Vancouver to represent their countries.

While Jeff Carter just missed being added to Canada's roster today and Matt Carle arguably should be on the U.S. roster, there will be four current Flyers playing in the Olympics this year. Here's what to expect from them:

Oskars Bartulis, D, Latvia: Will be top defender on a weak team
Chris Pronger, D, Canada: Could be on top D pairing for Gold favorite
Mike Richards, C, Canada: Expect more of a checking/PK role
Kimmo Timonen, D, Finland: Should get plenty of ice time

If you are feeling a little more nostalgic, there are also ten former Flyers at the Olympics:

Peter Forsberg, C (Sweden)
Michal Handzus, C (Slovakia)
Lasse Kukkonen, D (Finland)
Antero Niitymaki, G (Finland)
Joni Pitkanen, D (Finland)
Branko Radivojevic, W (Slovakia)
Luca Sbisa, D (Switzerland)
Dennis Seidenberg, D (Germany)
Patrick Thoreson, W (Norway)
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D (Norway)

While all indications are that it's Canada's Gold to lose, there should be some entertaining games along the way, especially the Canada/U.S. and Canada/Russia tilts. As for who you should root for in the Olympics, that's your call. Despite not having any Flyers on the roster, I'll certainly be rooting for the U.S. but I'll have my eye on how the Philly guys are doing. As long as the U.S. has a decent showing (Top 4) and none of the Flyers get hurt, I will consider the Olympics a success.

It all kicks off tomorrow at 3 pm when the U.S. takes on Switzerland and it ends on Sunday, February 28th in the Gold Medal game. Click here for the complete Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Schedule.

Flyers acquire Leino for Tollefsen

Clearly upset about not getting Ilya Kovalchuk the other day, the Flyers made a trade to get the next best thing: Ville Leino. Okay, he's not really the next best thing or even the 50th best thing, but this is still a good move by the Flyers.

The Flyers acquired Leino from the Red Wings for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th round pick. Leino, who has 55 games of NHL experience, is mostly a depth forward. He showed some real potential last season in Detroit when he scored 9 points in 13 games but fell off this season, notching only 7 points in 42 games. Leino is known to have a good touch around the net and put up great numbers back when he played in the AHL and in Finland.

Leino figures to just be a 3rd or 4th liner with the Flyers. If he somehow finds his scoring touch, he could be a solid contributor, but I wouldn't expect anything more than 5 or 6 goals out of him for the rest of the season. The Red Wings likely dealt Leino because they were tired of waiting for him to break out and they have injured players they needed to make room for; the Flyers are taking a chance on Leino that a change of scenery will jump-start his career.

As for Tollefsen, his time in Philadelphia had run its course. With the recent signing of Lukas Krajicek, Tollefsen was the odd man out on defense. With Danny Syvret set to return at some point after the Olympics, Tollefsen was going to be the odd man out so the Flyers were smart to turn him into an asset rather then simply waive him and lose him for nothing.

As for the cap implications, Leino will be around this year and next for 800,000. He makes 200K more than Tollefsen so the Flyers find themselves inching closer to the cap. There is some early speculation that this is just the first of a few moves for the Flyers, who still find themselves thin on defense and deep at forward. Paul Holmgren could be working on another deal that would land a bigger name defenseman at some point before the roster freeze due to the Olympic break.

While this isn't an impact move or even the Flyers answer to the Devils acquisition of Kovalchuk, Holmgren deserves some credit for ridding the team of a player who had become useless and actually getting something in return. If Leino develops into that sniping forward the Flyers have been desperate for, that would be all the better.

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.

Five Flyers to take part in 2010 Olympics, none for Team USA

Following the Winter Classic, USA Hockey announced the players that will represent the United States in the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver. Unfortunately, no Flyers were selected to play for Team USA. After their hot starts this season, both James van Riemsdyk and Matt Carle were believed to be in the running for a spot but both came up short. Goaltender Brian Boucher is the only other American on the Flyers roster and his injuries this season likely eliminated whatever slim chance he had of making the team.

There have been five Flyers selected by their respective countries to play in the Olympics in February, four of them defensemen:

Oskars Bartulis, D (Latvia)
Chris Pronger, D (Canada)
Mike Richards, C (Canada)
Kimmo Timonen, D (Finland)
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D (Norway)

Jeff Carter was also chosen as an alternate for Canada.

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 officially sign Tollefsen, goodbye Randy Jones?

As expected, the Flyers have signed defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen. Tollefsen was in Philly a few days ago getting examined by the Flyers training staff, and as long as he checked out, the team was going to sign him. He signed a one year deal with the Flyers, but his salary has not been announced. Tollefsen made $675,000 with the Blue Jackets last season, so I would expect a number in that range.

The signing of Tollefsen likely means the end of Randy Jones as a Flyer. Jones is set to make 2.75 million next season, so moving him and allowing Tollefsen to be the 6th defenseman could free up 2 million bucks for the Flyers to sign another forward. Hockeybuzz has been hinting that the Kings are interested in Jones, so look for that move to come soon. There also have been several rumors out there about who the Flyers might add at forward, from Petr Sykora to Miro Satan to Todd Bertuzzi, none of whom impress me too much.

Tollefsen may not be much of an upgrade over Jones, but he will bring a ton of energy and give the Flyers another player no wants to find themselves alone with along the boards. The fact that the Flyers were able to get him rather cheaply and can now pursue another forward makes it look even better. With the moves the Flyers have made this offseason, they are quickly becoming a team that no one will want to play against. This will be a team that all Flyer fans will love but everyone else is going to hate.

UPDATE: Tollefsen signed for 600,000, good deal.

Flyers to sign defenseman Tollefsen

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.