Flyers deal Versteeg, lose out on Leino

Kris Versteeg sure wasn't with the Flyers for long. After being acquired from Toronto back in February, Versteeg played in just 38 games for the Flyers before being shipped out of town again. According to TSN, the Flyers have shipped Versteeg to the Panthers for a second round pick in either 2012 or 2013 plus a third round pick in 2012.

The trade of Versteeg was likely made so the Flyers could clear some cap space and go after another free agent forward. My first assumption was that the Flyers would finally re-sign Ville Leino, but that idea was quickly shot down once it was reported that Leino signed with the Sabres for 6 years, 27 million. At a cap hit of 4.5 million per year, I'm glad the Flyers passed on bringing Leino back. He's a great contributing player but he certainly isn't worth that kind of money.

As for Versteeg, the Flyers got decent return for a guy they dealt first and third round picks for originally. While I liked him, he had his shortcomings and probably wasn't worth his 3 million dollar salary. Given that he has only played in 250 games in the NHL and he has already been traded four times, there might be something more to the story on him.

As for what the Flyers plan to do to replace Versteeg, that's a complete mystery. Maybe we will see the return of Simon Gagne?

Leighton shines yet again as Flyers take commanding 3-1 series lead

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

It's getting to the point where I have run out of things to say about how good the Flyers are playing. Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Finals was more of the same for them as they had a ton of energy, scored timely goals and got rock solid goaltending in a 3-0 win over the Canadiens. The win was huge for the Flyers as they come home needing just one more win before they can move on to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 4 was all about the Flyers showing whether they could bounce back from adversity. After getting outplayed in Game 3, the Flyers needed to respond or else the Canadiens were going to make take all the momentum in the series. The Flyers didn't let that happen, though, as they dominated play for most of the game and effectively neutralized the Canadiens boisterous crowd.

Michael Leighton once again came up big for the Flyers, stopping the meager 17 shots the Canadiens put on net. This game was another instance where Leighton didn't have to be ridiculously good, just in the right place at the right time. With the Flyers defense blocking 27 shots themselves, Leighton just has to be ready for those few tough chances that actually get through to him. For those scoring at home, that's 3 shutouts in 4 games against Montreal.

Offensively for the Flyers, they continue to get scoring from all lines. Tonight, with the top line and power play failing to produce any goals, Claude Giroux got two goals from the third line and Ville Leino got a goal from the second line. The emergence of Giroux, who now has 8 playoff goals and 16 playoff points, has been one of the better stories of the playoffs and really shows just how deep the Flyers are at forward. How many other teams in the NHL have a third line center that can do the things this kid can do? As for Leino, just remember to chuckle at the fact that the Flyers got him for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th round draft pick as you notice his 12 points in 12 playoff games.

The Flyers also got a boost in Game 4 by the return of Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere. While neither player scored a point, both each made an impact in the game. For Laperriere, it was mixing it up with the Canadiens every chance he got. For Carter, it was making the most out of the incredibly short shifts in the beginning of the game as he tried to get his legs under him. Once he did, he had a few flashes of brilliance on his way to tying for the team lead in shots.

After a rocky Game 3, all is well in Flyerland again. While the Flyers have three more chances to put away the Canadiens, you can bet they will be focused on putting them away at home in Game 5 and avoid having to go back to Montreal again. If they play at all like they did in Game 4 they will be just four wins away from bringing home the Cup.

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.