To go along with our '30 in 30' off-season feature, we'll be asking a blogger from each team some of the burning questions surrounding their club this summer.
RLD: 1. With Dan Hamhuis on board, does this make Philly's blueline the best in the NHL?
Travis Hughes: If they sign Hamhuis and keep Coburn, yes. Without a doubt. A top 5 of Pronger, Timonen, Hamhuis, Carle and Coburn is incredible. Even if they let Coburn walk and sign Hamhuis, though, that's a crazy-good D corps.
RLD: 2. If you had to put a percentage on the chances Jeff Carter gets traded, what would it be?
TH: It's tough to say. I think if there's one guy the Flyers will trade, you have to assume it's Carter, if only for the fact that every other valuable player up front (literally, except Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk) have no-trade clauses. That, and there's an overload at center right now in Philly, and Carter is on record saying he hates playing wing. Well, if Carter doesn't want to play wing and they aren't getting rid of any of the other centers, what's the solution?
Anything can happen, so it's tough to put a percentage on it, and the Flyers do love Carter. But if one player is to be traded on the Flyers, the easiest answer right now is Carter.
RLD: 3. Who do you think will be Philly's starting netminder in 2010/11?
TH: This was an easier, but still difficult, question to answer before the Hamhuis trade. With that in the mix now, things get seriously complicated across the board with the Flyers. If they sign Coburn and Hamhuis, I have to assume that Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton will be back in goal, just for money reasons. Holmgren said he's going to spend a lot more money on goaltending this year, though, so... I just don't know. We could see a trade for some bigger name goalie, or we could sign a guy like Dan Ellis. So many questions, not enough answers.
RLD: 4. If you had to choose between UFA's Asham & Carcillo, who would you keep and why?
TH: I'd probably take Asham because he's a more talented player. Honestly, though, I won't be surprised if the Flyers choose not to bring back either player. They need a guy with some better offensive tools than either player to play alongside Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, and the fourth line is pretty set at this point.
RLD: 5. To you, what was the best moment of the Flyers' great playoff run?
TH: Had to be the Boston comeback. The last two hours of Game 7 was absolutely the greatest two hours of my life as a sports fan, if you exclude the Phillies 2008 World Series win (I wasn't alive for the Flyers championships in the 70’s).
We thank Travis for taking time out to answer these burning questions in Philly! You can catch his work over at SB Nation's Broad Street Hockey, and I recommend following him on Twitter as well.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment