Flyers Enforcer Riley Cote Retires, Will Join Phantoms Coaching Staff

In a somewhat surprising move, 28 year old Riley Cote has announced his retirement and will join the Flyers’ minor league affiliate, Adirondack Phantoms, as a coach.

Cote played sparingly last year and was likely to be sent to the minors next year anyway.

Broad Street Hockey explained what the retirement means for the Flyers always tenuous cap situation.

When it comes to the salary cap, Cote’s contract immediately comes off of the books. His cap hit only sat at $550,000, but any little bit can help the Flyers’ tight money situation. It was expected that Cote would’ve either played in Adirondack next year anyway — or perhaps he would’ve spent some more time in the Flyers press box — where he wouldn’t have counted against the salary cap.

For more reaction to Cote’s retirement check out Broad Street Hockey.

Panaccio: Turco's Text Says A Flyers Move Won't Happen

Former Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco would have liked to joint the Flyers, but that won’t happen according to a text he sent to Tim Panaccio.

“We would have loved to go to the Flyers, but it’s not happening,” Turco texted CSNPhilly.com late Saturday from Scotland.

The speculation is that he could head to Chicago, if the cap and cash strapped Blackhawks decide to let Antii Niemi go to unrestricted free agency. This week Niemi was awarded $2.75 million by an arbitrator, but the Blackhawks could decline that award and let him walk.

Broad Street Hockey discussed the possibility of Niemi heading to Flyers should the Blackhawks let him walk.

Flyers Re-Sign Darroll Powe

The Flyers have come to terms with restricted free agent winger Darroll Powe on a one-year deal worth $725,000.

Flyers Trade Simon Gagne To Tampa Bay

Dan Carcillo Signs One Year Deal With Flyers

The Flyers have re-signed restricted free agent Dan Carcillo to a one year deal reportedly worth $1.075 million bucks. It represents a raise of about $90k for Carbomb.

Carcillo had previously filed for arbitration after rejecting the Flyers’ earlier qualifying offer.

And yes, the Flyers are still over the cap… For our own Geoff Detweiler’s take on the Flyers offseason so far, be sure to check out his latest feature.

Zherdev Scouting Report

From SBNation.com

Assets

• Skates with explosive strides and is one of the best one-on-one players in hockey. Can do anything he wants with the puck and oozes offense.

Flaws

• Needs a lot of work in defensive-zone coverage. Takes too many shifts off. Hasn’t shown the dedication needed to star at the NHL game.

Career Potential

• First line winger.
• Awards2003Played in the NHL YoungStars Game

Nikolai Zherdev Officially Signs One Year Deal With Flyers

The Flyers have announced that they’ve signed Ukranian RW Nikolai Zherdev to a one year deal. The deal is reportedly worth $2 million.

Zherdev To Sign One Year Deal With Flyers

Per ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun (call him Pierre LEBRON!)

Once paperwork is finalized either today or tomorrow, Zherdev will sign a one-year deal with the Flyers

No word on the money yet, but a one year deal gives the team flexibility.

Flyers And Zherdev "Close" On A Deal

Travis Hughes of BSH got in contact with Nikolai Zherdev’s agent and confirmed that Flyers have been in discussions and that a deal could be done soon.

I just spoke with Zherdev’s agent, who confirmed that the Flyers are in talks with the Russian forward. Nothing is done just yet, according to him, but he said things are “close” and that “due to the time difference, we might have something done tomorrow.”

Keep up to date on the Zherdev saga over at Broad Street Hockey

Flyers Reportedly Sign RW Nikolai Zherdev

Reports out of Russia indicate that the Flyers have signed RW Nikolai Zherdev. The news was broken by Puck Daddy’s Dimitry Chesnokov.

We’ll take the report with a grain of salt for now, since we know how dubious some of these Russian reports have been…

Zherdev spent last season playing in Russia, but was previously a member of the New York Rangers. Broad Street Hockey had this take on Zherdev.

Zherdev is a hot-and-cold player, though. He seemingly gives up a lot of the time on the ice, he’s unreliable defensively and he’s very inconsistent. He can put points on the board though, and all it would take is a little chemistry and a little hard work from him in Philadelphia to fulfill his potential as a very gifted offensive star.

Zherdev was a 20+ goal scorer in each of his last two NHL seasons. He tallied 39 points in 52 games in Russia last year.

Flyers Open Up Contract Talks With Aaron Asham

The Flyers are reportedly looking to bring back Aaron Asham.

The Flyers are re-opening contract talks with unrestricted free agent forward Arron Asham, according to CSN’s John Boruk.

As of Monday Asham had not been contacted by the Flyers, but following Dan Carcillo’s decision to file for arbitration Monday and trade talks involving Simon Gagne, the Flyers have decided to keep their options open at the wing position.

Dan Carcillo Files For Arbitration

The Flyers agitator/playoff bench warmer Dan Carcillo filed for arbitration ahead of Tuesday’s 5 o’clock deadline. Carcillo, a restricted free agent, was handed a qualifying offer from the Flyers after the season. Frequent Flyer picks it up from there.

Carcillo, a restricted free agent, declined to accept the Flyers’ qualifying offer from June 28 – which included at least a mandatory 5-percent raise from last year’s salary.

Per the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Carcillo was due a minimum of $984,375 for this upcoming season – up from the $937,500 he earned last season.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the player and team will actually go to arbitration. The two sides are free to strike a deal before the date of the hearing. Broad Street Hockey details the NHL arbitration process.

Each side gets 90 minutes to deliver their arguments. First, Carcillo, his representatives and the NHLPA will provide their case as to why he deserves more money. Then, the Flyers and their representatives will provide the counter-argument: essentially, everything bad about Dan Carcillo. Each side then gets an opportunity to argue a rebuttal and deliver a closing argument. Again, each side gets 90 minutes, used as they see fit, to do all of that

Kovalchuk's Agent Denies Russian Report

Fire & Ice translated another Russian website report which says the agent denies the earlier report.

On the website Gazeta.ru. Kovalchuk’s Russia-based agent, Yury Nikolaev, denied he said that the Philadlephia Flyers put in a bid for Kovalchuk.

"I never said this," Nikolaev is quoted as saying in the in the translated English version of Gazeta.ru.

He also notes that Nikolaev only represents Kovalchuck’s interests in Russia, so he wouldn’t be fielding offers from NHL teams in the United States.

So the dubious Russian report has been debunked by another…. Either way, the fact that Flyers don’t have nearly the cap room to make such a signing should have always cast a doubt over the report.

Ilya Kovalchuk's Agent Claims He Has Received An Offer From The Flyers

Teemu H of @euroflyers has reported the following:

Kovalchuk is considering the offers, but hasn’t decided anything yet. This all according to his agent, Yuri Nikolaev.

He also reported that the Flyers offer is very similar to the other offers on the table for Kovalchuk from other teams.

This offer signals a possible end to Simon Gagne’s career with the Flyers, due to a need to clear cap space to sign Kovalchuk. The current rumor for Gagne has been a swap with the Toronto Maple Leafs for goalie Jean-Sébastien Giguère.

[Note by JasonB, 07/04/10 12:38 AM EDT ] The report has stemmed from the Russian website Life Sports. Here is the fairly crappy translation from google translate.

- While no decision no bargain and there, and there, - said Nikolaev, refer to SKA St. Petersburg as well as NHL.

According to the Life Sports, Ocean principal pretendenami at Ilia at the moment are the "Los Angeles", "Philadelphia" and "Colorado". On Friday it became known that the contract offers yet and the New York Islanders. All the participants transfer the battle to pay about one sum, but Covey can not say the last word.

It does appear to say that all the mentioned teams are in the hunt and are offering a similar deal. Where the Flyers would get the cap space to make such a move is a total mystery.

Flyers Ask Gagne To Waive NTC, He Reportedly Agrees

Per Tim Panaccio of Comcast Sports Net:

The Flyers are in “exploratory” talks with at least one NHL club about trading Simon Gagne, who has a no-trade clause, according to one NHL source.

Sources said no trade is imminent, but Gagne has agreed to waive his no-trade clause.

It’s being speculated that Gagne could be on his way to the Los Angeles Kings.

Flyers Have About A Million Left To Play With

Tim Pannacio of CSNPhilly estimates that the Flyers have around a million dollars left to spend in free agency this year.

The Flyers can go 10 percent over the $59.4 million cap up till season’s start. At the end of Thursday, if you subtract Bartulis’ and Cote’s salaries, they were about $1 million under. If you include Bartulis’ salary, they’re less than $500,000 over.

It’s being widely speculated now that the Flyers will look to make a trade to unload some salary. Broad Street Hockey thinks Simon Gagne could be the man on the move.

Holmgren: Goalie Not A High Priority

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren held a conference call with the media after day one of NHL free agency and was promptly asked about the teams’ goaltending situation.

Right now it’s not high on our priority list. I said at the end of the year, I think Michael had a strong year regardless of what happened in the final and even in the last game. I think Brian Boucher played very well. He had a tough year with injuries, with being behind Ray at the very start he did not get a chance to play early in the year. He won a big playoff series for us. We’re comfortable. Does that mean we’re not going to look around and see if there’s something else out there that makes us better? We’ll certainly continue to do that. But if the season were to start tomorrow, I’d certainly feel comfortable right now with our goalies.

Despite goalie not being a “high priority,” Holmgren traded for the rights to Nabokov and reportedly offered Marty Turco a $6 million deal before free agency even started… So, yeah… Not a high priority?

Flyers Sign Forward Jody Shelley

The Flyers have signed 34 year old Jody Shelley to a three year deal. Philly.com’s Frank Servalli calls him an “instigator”

Shelley, meanwhile, signed a three-year deal worth $1.1 million per season. Shelley, 34, is a 6-foot-3, 220 pound instigator that posted two goals and 7 assists for 9 points over 57 games this year. Both of Shelley’s goals this season came against the Flyers. He has posted more than 100 penalty minutes in a season six times in his career and more than 200 minutes in a season three times.

Dan Carcillo is unsigned as restricted free agent. Shelley could possibly be his replacement as the team tough guy/instigator.

Flyers sign D Sean O'Donnell

TSN is reporting the the Flyers have signed yet another defenseman, Sean O’Donnell on a year deal. From Philly.com

O’Donnell, 38, skated with the Los Angeles Kings for the last two seasons. Last year, O’Donnell posted three goals and 12 assists for 15 points with a plus-14 rating.

O’Donnell is a 15-year NHL veteran, splitting time between the Kings, Devils, Wild, Bruins, Coyotes and Ducks. O’Donnell teamed up with Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger in 2007 to bring a Stanley Cup to Anaheim.

The deal is reportedly worth $1 million

Braydon Coburn Signs 2-Year Deal

The Flyers have reached a deal with restricted free agent defenseman Braydon Coburn. The deal is for two years, with a cap hit of $3.2M per year.

Coburn completes a very impressive defense for the Flyers, but the cap hit from his deal and Andrej Meszaros’ likely means that the Flyers will need to move a forward to clear space.

Flyers Trade For Tampa Defenseman Andrej Meszaros

TSN Darren Dreger says he’s confirmed that the Flyers have made a deal for Tampa Bay Lighting defenseman Andrej Meszaros for a second round pick.

Tim Pannaccio looks at the ramifications of the trade on the Flyers' cap

Okay, FLyers had $9.3 million before today. They have $5.3 million left right now after Meszaros deal

Flyers To Make Offer To Dan Ellis?

CSNPhilly is reporting that the Flyers will make an offer to free agent goalie Dan Ellis this afternoon. His rights had been traded to the Montreal Canadiens in the last week, but contract negotiations didn’t seem to go anywhere so he will head to unrestricted free agency today.

Ellis shares an agent with Michael Leighton.

Flyers Prepare for Free Agency With a Few Holes to Fill

At noon eastern, the NHL's free agents are free to sign with any team. Normally, this is a big event for most teams, especially the Flyers. Last year, the Flyers' big acquisitions were Ian Laperriere and Brian Boucher as they had signed Ray Emery long before then.

This year, the Flyers are once again in the market for role players instead of big name free agents. The team only has a few holes to fill, mostly on the defensive side. But this wouldn't be the Flyers if they weren't searching for a goaltender.

Even with the signing of goalie Michael Leighton on Wednesday, the Flyers are still likely looking for an upgrade in net. Outside of that, the team has one, maybe two holes to fill up front and one or two holes to fill on defense. With restricted free agents Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe, and Braydon Coburn given qualifying offers, the Flyers are really only looking for a No. 5 defensemen and some depth players.

With that, let's look at who the Flyers could be targeting Thursday.

Forwards

The Flyers have their top-six forwards set and expect to have Carcillo and Powe fill out the bottom six. Any potential targets will likely be able to fill in on the wing for a low cost. Some that might garner interest include:

• Alex Tanguay: 30 years old, $2.5 mil cap hit last year, 37 points in 80 games.
  
  Tanguay had a rather disappointing year in Tampa Bay last year but scored 41 points in 50 games for Montreal the year before. He'll likely cost too much for the Flyers, but if he's willing to take a short-term deal for around $1.25 mil, he would be a great addition to the team. But this is highly unlikely.
• Colby Armstrong: 27 years old, $2.4 mil cap hit last year, 29 points in 79 games.
  
  Armstrong is a name who has been tossed around Philadelphia for some time, but he has always cost more than he is worth. He has never scored more than 40 points in a season, but if he can sign for $1 million, he'd be a good addition to the third line.
• Marek Svatos: 28 years old, $2.05 mil cap hit last year, 11 points in 54 games.
  
  Svatos is a guy just like Tanguay. They had tons of potential but have just never seemed to reach it. Svatos' problem has been his durability though, as he's never played more than 69 NHL games in a season. Again, it's unlikely he signs here (like a lot of these players), but at a reduced rate he could be a good risk to take.
• Vinny Prospal: 35 years old, $1.15 mil cap hit last year, 58 points in 75 games.
  
  The Flyers are very familiar with Prospal, as he's had two previous tours with the team. Prospal is probably going to be coveted by a lot of teams due to his resurgence last year with the Rangers, so he'll likely be priced out of the Flyers range. But he's a guy who can move up and down the lineup with ease. If he doesn't receive a raise, he'd be a bargain.
• Jon Sim: 32 years old, $1 mil cap hit last year, 22 points in 77 games.
  
  Another former Flyer, Sim would be a good addition to the team if they weren't freely letting Arron Asham go. The two have similar styles and personalities, but Asham has more skill. If the team doesn't wish to re-sign Asham, signing Sim wouldn't make much sense.
• Maxim Afinogenov: 30 years old, $800k cap hit last year, 61 points in 82 games.
  
  Last year, Afinogenov was a guy many Flyers fans -- including myself -- secretly hoped the team would sign. He was an excellent low-risk high-reward type of player and the Thrashers won that gamble. Even though he played in a division that inflates scoring, Afinogenov has skill that could come cheaply. Even giving him a 25 percent raise would still make him worth the risk, but he'd likely want to play and not sit as the 13th forward.
• Miroslav Satan: 35 years old, $700k cap hit last year, 14 points in 38 games.
  
  Satan was another player who was seen as a low-risk, high-reward deal last year. He didn't quite pay off the same way Afinogenov did, but he'd surely come cheaper. Whether he'd be happy as a 13th forward or not is another question, which applies to all of these options.
  

Because the available forwards are likely looking for full-time jobs, the Flyers will probably have to continue carrying Riley Cote and/or a player who spent last year on the Phantoms as their healthy scratches. While there are attractive options, the Flyers likely aren't attractive to the players looking for jobs.

Defense

With the Flyers looking for at least a #5 defenseman (dependent upon whether Braydon Coburn re-signs), and likely a No. 7 to push for playing time, the Flyers will be shopping heavily for a blue liner. The options here are numerous, so we'll just run down a few.

• Dan Hamhuis: 27 years old, $2 mil cap hit last year
  
  We all remember Hamhuis: the player acquired for Ryan Parent and then flipped for a third-round pick. Well, he still has yet to sign and may yet be available to the Flyers. If his price comes down, the Flyers may make another attempt at the defenseman. Paying him between $3.5 and $4 mil may be feasible, but he appears to want more than that from a different team.
• Henrik Tallinder: 31 years old, $2.56 mil cap hit last year
  
  
  Tallinder is someone who will only be looking for a minor pay raise, something around $3 mil. He's a big body who would fit in well on the blue line. He's someone worth keeping an eye on.
• Anton Volchenkov: 28 years old, $2.5 mil cap hit last year
  
  You may remember Volchenkov for his hit on Simon Gagne, but he's going to be highly sought after on the free-agent market. It's likely that he gets completely overpaid (Washington?) on the market, but he's someone the Flyers are looking at.
• Mark Eaton: 33 years old, $2 mil cap hit last year
  
  Eaton came up with the Flyers and grew up in Delaware, so him returning would be a great storyline. But he's overpaid at $2 mil per, so he'd have to take a paycut in order to return.
• Jordan Leopold: 29 years old, $1.75 mil cap hit last year
  
  Another Penguins defenseman who may be available. He was a trade deadline acquisition who will likely seek a pay raise above his value. A three-year deal worth about $10 million wouldn't be bad, but he'll probably be looking for more.
• Nick Boynton: 31 years old, $1.5 mil cap hit last year
  
  As someone who was waived twice last year -- and we wanted on the Flyers -- Boynton should come pretty cheap. He should fit in perfectly on the team as a No. 5 defenseman, though the Flyers could likely do better if they wish to pay more. As a No. 6/7 defenseman, Boynton should be what the team is targeting.
• Zbynek Michalek: 27 years old, $1.25 mil cap hit last year
  
  Michalek would be great in the No. 5 slot as he's one of the better defenseman you've never heard of. He'll likely double his cap hit, which is still more than worth signing to a multi-year deal. He should be what the team is targeting to fill their third-pairing.
• Andreas Lilja: 34 years old, $1.25 mil cap hit last year
  
  Lilja is a guy who should have his cap hit reduced. He's someone the Flyers will likely go after in the bargain basement for a cheap emergency option. As a No. 7, he'd be fine.
• Mike Mottau: 32 years old, $762k cap hit last year
  
  Mottau is probably a good value for his cap hit, which should remain fairly similar. It's unlikely he's good enough to fit the team's No. 5 need, but he'd certainly challenge Oskars Bartulis for playing time. Not the best option, but not the worst.
• Brett Lebda: 28 years old, $650k cap hit last year
  
  Lebda is similar to Mottau, so there isn't really much more to say on the subject.
  
• Kurtis Foster: 28 years old, $600k cap hit last year
  
  Foster is someone who is garnering a lot of interest lately. He rebounded from a horrific leg injury to score 42 points last year. It's unlikely he'll fly under the radar in free agency, but he'd be worth taking a shot at, hoping he can fill the No. 5 defenseman job. If he is signed, the team will probably look for a more veteran guy backing up, such as Boynton or Lilja.

Goalies

Now, for the most interesting position. Despite re-signing Leighton, the Flyers will still likely look to upgrade the position. What that means for Brian Boucher is another matter, but the team understands that a Leighton/Boucher/Backlund triumvirate just won't cut it.

• Marty Turco: 34 years old, $5.7 mil cap hit last year
  
  Turco is someone who evokes strong opinions from both sides. The Flyers reportedly offered him a three-year, $6 mil offer that he refused. They likely won't go much higher than that, but with the dearth of teams looking for starting goaltenders, they may be able to grab a top-flight goalie later in July.
• Evgeni Nabokov: 34 years old, $5.375 mil cap hit last year
  
  Nabokov is someone the Flyers clearly would like, but he's determined to test the waters. It appears as though he will be battling Turco for the biggest offer, so whoever loses out should see their price drop dramatically. The Flyers look to be the beneficiary of that.
• Jose Theodore: 33 years old, $4.5 mil cap hit last year
  
  Theodore has quite a negative reputation, but the truth is that it's largely overblown. He's not nearly as bad as his detractors say he is but he's not nearly worth his most recent pricetag. At $3 mil per, he'd be an upgrade over many of the names that follow, but he's one of the few goalies that haven't been linked to the Flyers in recent weeks. This appears to be a long shot.
• Chris Mason: 34 years old, $3 mil cap hit last year
  
  Mason is a guy who appears to be a sleeper for the Flyers. He's just as good as anybody else on this list, and he shares his biggest knock with everybody as well: He's inconsistent and prone to bad goals. But since he will likely fly under the rest of the big names on the market, he could come in as a steal. Look for him to be a very nice consolation prize for some team.
• Dan Ellis: 30 years old, $1.75 mil cap hit last year
  
  If there was a front-runner for the Flyers to sign, it would have to be Ellis. He has a lot of skill, is still in his prime and will come at a low cost. He wants the chance to start, and he's unlikely to get that in Montreal. Philadelphia appears to be a great destination for him, if for no other reason than he and Leighton will have to decide between matching pads or opposite color schemes.
• Martin Biron: 32 years old, $1.4 mil cap hit last year
  
  Yes, he's a possibility to return. While he's certainly servicable, the Flyers will likely sign him only if all the above named goalies reject them. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but it will mean something went horribly wrong.
• Antero Niittymaki: 30 years old, $600k cap hit last year
  
  Last season, the Lightning (insert pun here) struck it on the head with Niittymaki. He was almost as much of a steal as Leighton -- that half-price cap hit divided by two thing is pretty tough to beat -- was, and should command a decent raise this season. The problem is that he is still not a legitimate No. 1 netminder due to his inconsistencies and injury history. He likely won't return either, but he would still be better than Martin Biron returning.

So there it is. The Flyers could sign a handful of these players, or they could sign none of them. But here's where they're likely looking. It will all come down to price and fit.