Flyers hope to shore up defense with acquisition of Matt Carle

The Flyers are one of the best offensive teams in the NHL this season, scoring 3.67 goals per game, tying them for the highest average in the NHL. Their big problem, and the real reason they have started so slow this season, has been their defense. Since the injuries to Randy Jones and Ryan Parent, the Flyers have been playing with a makeshift defensive group that includes two guys who shouldn't be regulars in the NHL in Steve Eminger and Andrew Alberts. GM Paul Holmgren knew he couldn't sit around and wait until Jones and Parent got healthy so he made a big move today that should go a long way towards fixing their defensive woes.

The Flyers acquired defenseman Matt Carle and a third round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Steve Downie, Steve Eminger and a fourth round pick. Carle, a former Hobey Baker Award winner, is a 24 year old defenseman who has played four years in the NHL, most of them with the San Jose Sharks. He has great upside and is a huge upgrade over Eminger. Carle hasn't shown a lot of consistency while playing with the Sharks and Lightning, but he is strong with the puck and won't turn it over as much as Eminger.

Losing Downie won't hurt the Flyers much in the long run. Downie is a complete headcase at this point and has been jerked between the Phantoms and the Flyers so much I doubt he knows what's going on. Ever since his meltdown in the playoffs last season, Downie has been a liability and can't be trusted to make the smart play on the ice. He was never going to amount to much in Philadelphia so maybe a chance of scenery will do him good in Tampa.

Eminger was acquired this past offseason for a first round pick but never really proved he was worth that price. Like Carle, he's been inconsistent, but I don't see enough in his game to fret over his loss.

The move puts the Flyers right up against the cap. Eminger and Downie made a combined 2 million while Carle is nearly a 3.5 million dollar cap hit. Carle is under contract through the 2011-2012 season, another reason to like the deal if he plays to his ability. Making this deal does not rule out the possibility of Brendan Shanahan from signing with the team, in fact it clears up a forward spot. The Flyers would have to make some sort of move to clear up more cap space, but Shanny could be a Flyer yet.

Overall, I like this deal. The Flyers get rid of a pair of underachieving players and bring in a young defenseman who can solidify the back end. Hopefully this can begin to fix the goals against problem and the Flyers can get back to their winning ways. If it doesn't, I expect more drastic moves to follow.

Flyers make a trio of moves leading up to free agency

The NHL free agent frenzy begins tomorrow, but that hasn't kept the Flyers from being busy. After officially signing Jeff Carter on Friday, the Flyers made three more moves to help shore up their roster.

First, the Flyers signed defenseman Steve Eminger, who they acquired from the Washington Capitals at the draft, to a one year deal worth a little over a million dollars. The Flyers view Eminger as a possible top six defenseman next year, considering his salary and how much they gave up to get him.

Next, the Flyers waived defenseman Denis Gauthier, who spent his entire year last season with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Gauthier played parts of two seasons with the Flyers and was a strong presence on the blue line, unfortunately injuries and declining play have derailed his career. Waiving Gauthier and his 2.1 million dollar contract will lead to a buyout of his contract, which will cause only a 700,000 dollar cap hit.

The Flyers also made a trade today, acquiring defenseman Tim Ramholt from the Flames for Phantoms forward Kyle Greentree. Ramholt spent last season in the AHL and tallied 24 points in 77 games. He appears to be more minor league depth for now, although he is only 23 and could develop into an NHLer with more experience. He was ranked as the 7th best prospect in the Flames system according to Hockeysfuture.com. Greentree was big and a little slow and his future is probably exclusively as an AHL player.

After all of these moves, the Flyers have continued to add depth to their blueline and appear to be maneuvering themselves under the cap to make at least one free agent signing. While they won't be able to afford the big names like Brian Campbell, they should be able to get a solid d-man with their available cap space.

Flyers continue dealing, acquire defenseman Eminger from Washington

The Flyers continue to make moves to shore up their defense on Draft Day. First, the Flyers traded R.J. Umberger to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a pair of draft picks. Then, with the 19th pick in the draft the Flyers picked up defenseman Luca Sbisa. Finally, the Flyers traded their original first round pick, 27th overall, to the Washington Captials for defenseman Steve Eminger and the 84th pick in the draft.

Sbisa has decent size (6'1'', 190) and described as a good puck mover, much in the mold of Mark Streit of the Montreal Canadiens. He's from Switzerland and was believed to be amongst the top 12 North American players in the draft. For more on Sbisa, click here for his profile from Hockeysfuture.com.

For more immediate help, the Flyers acquired Steve Eminger. Eminger, 24, is a restricted free agent who was the 12th overall selection by the Washington Capitals back in 2002. He has spent parts of the last 5 seasons in the NHL, accumulating 6 goals and 37 assists to go with a plus/minus of -44. He is coming off a season where he dealt with an ankle injury that limited his playing time and he was a healthy scratch for a number of games, but he did see solid ice time when the Capitals played the Flyers in the first round, even scoring a goal in the fourth game of the series. Eminger is a puck-moving defensman, something the Flyers desperately need. He often played on the power play in Washington, and can lead the rush out of the zone. Eminger clearly is a talented player who needed a fresh start and the Flyers are prepared to give him one.

So, to sum up the day, the Flyers lost R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick but added Steve Eminger, Luca Sbisa and two 3rd rounders. The Flyers dealt away from a position of strength to pick up their biggest need: defense. Eminger still has to be signed, but he will likely sign for a little over a million bucks, his salary last season, so the Flyers should still have room to maneuver under the cap to add more pieces.

The Flyers continue to shift and mold their team, adding players that fill in the holes from last years squad. Eminger isn't the top flight defenseman we hoped the Flyers would add, but he will certainly be a 4th or 5th d-man. GM Paul Holmgren clearly has some more moves up his sleeve, it will be interesting to see what else he can pull off to improve the team.