Flyers place Gagne on Injured Reserve, attempt to bring back Randy Jones

I guess we couldn't ask for more than one season of health for Simon Gagne. Gagne, who played 79 games last year after playing only 25 in 07/08, has two hernias on his right groin and will need surgery. Anticipating that he will be out for an extended period of time, the Flyers have placed Gagne on the Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), meaning he will miss at least the next 10 games. This move frees up 5.25 million dollars for the Flyers in cap money.

Since they have the extra cap space, the Flyers decided to bring back defenseman Randy Jones, placing him on re-entry waivers. If Jones is claimed by another team, the Flyers would be responsible for half of his 2.75 million dollar salary. If Jones goes unclaimed, the Flyers will have plenty of salary cap space to keep him around, and one would assume he would get plenty of ice time. The reason Jones got sent down in the first place was never about his ability, it was all about his salary. Jones is certainly capable of playing better than Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, two players that beat him out for roster spots since they were cheaper.

The more worrisome news here is that Gagne is out for an extended period of time. While the Flyers do have plenty of depth at forward, losing a top line player is never going to help your team. The only good news is that Blair Betts is set to return to the ice in the coming days so the Flyers won't need to make any moves for another forward.

The Flyers have lacked consistency all year long and if the injuries start to pile up it's only going to get worse. That hot seat John Stevens is sitting on is only going to get hotter.

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.

Flyers lose season opener, Randy Jones

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Well, that's not the best way to start a season.

The 2008/2009 campaign started off a little rough for the Flyers, what with Sarah Palin receiving a mountain of boos (click here to see it) and the Flyers falling behind by 4 goals in the first period, but the Flyers were able to fight back to makes things interesting before they fell to the Rangers, 4-3.

The Flyers got more bad news today as they learned that Randy Jones will be having surgery and he will be out for 12 to 16 weeks. Along with Ryan Parent, that makes two Flyers defensemen who need surgery and will miss a significant amount of time. The Flyers already had some questions about their blueline but now they might have a serious issue.

As for the game, the Rangers jumped out early and silenced the crowd with two goals in the first 5 minutes as the Flyers played back on their heels. The defensemen, which had the look of a group simply thrown together, struggled to slow down the Rangers attack as the Blue Shirts added two more goals later in the period. Martin Biron also looked terrible out of the gate, managing only 10 saves on 14 shots. Of course, it's hard for a goaltender to look good when he's being peppered with shots. Biron was pulled for Antero Niittymaki after the 4th goal and Niitty took over from there, stopping every shot he faced and giving the Flyers a chance to make a comeback.

And come back they did. Mike Richards fought near the end of the first period and that seemed to energize the Flyers, who bounced back with 2 goals in the second period, one by Scott Hartnell and the other by the returning Simon Gagne. Gagne made a nice effort in scoring his first goal since January 29th and appears to be playing at full strength with very little rust. Mike Richards later added a goal 5 minutes into the third period as the Flyers made things interesting. Unfortunately they were never able to sustain a strong attack and the Rangers held on for the win.

Three thoughts stick with me after the first game. First of all, the defense needs some help. Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn are the only returning regulars and they are the only two that looked comfortable out on the ice. Steve Eminger, Luca Sbisa, Ossi Vaananen and Lasse Kukkonen all have a lot of work to do to make the Flyers back line a better unit. Sbisa looked shaky in the beginning but got better as the game went on, Vaananen's play was at least acceptable but Eminger and Kukkonen looked really lost out there.

The other issue that I hope doesn't develop with the Flyers is another goalie controversy. Niittymaki outplayed Biron tonight and he also played well for the Phantoms earlier in the week, meaning he's the hot goaltender right now while has Biron struggled so far, but let's hope it's just rust. The last thing we need is another 1 and 1A situation in Philly, because when two goaltenders share time it never works out.

Lastly, to end things on a positive note, the Simon Gagne, Mike Richards and Danny Briere line looked great. Let's hope these three stick together because they consistently put together good shifts and showed some solid chemistry.

While tonight's game wasn't the best way to start a season, at least the Flyers showed some fight after falling behind early. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back in their next game. I also expect them to try to find some answers for their blueline because with Jones and Parent out, not to mention Derian Hatcher, things seem awfully thin back there. An 18 year old and a couple of guys who belong in the AHL won't cut it. Maybe they let go of Bryan Berard a little too soon.

Flyers fill out their roster by signing Jones, Cote

Amidst all the free agent signings and trades, the Flyers also found time to sign a pair of restricted free agents yesterday, defenseman Randy Jones and forward Riley Cote. Jones signed a two year deal worth 5.5 million overall while Cote signed a three year deal worth 550,000 per year.

These signings likely round out the Flyers roster, which, if the season started today, would look something like this:

Gagne/Briere/Hartnell
Lupul/Richards/Giroux
Upshall/Carter/Knuble
Cote/Metropolit/Downie

Timonen/Coburn
Hatcher/Jones
Eminger/Parent

Extras: Vaananen, Kukkonen, Thoreson (?), Kane

The Flyers have plenty of defensemen but they seem to be one quality forward short. Patrick Thoreson is listed as an extra skater because he has yet to sign with the Flyers, although he is a restricted free agent. Signing him, if they have the money, would push Cote to a lesser role, meaning he could suit up only when an enforcer is necessary.

Barring a trade, the Flyers appear to be done making moves this off-season. There is still a possibility that Derian Hatcher could retire, which would free up 3.5 million dollars to sign another player, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. What you see above is probably what your 08/09 Philadelphia Flyers will look like.