2007 Flyers Offseason Thread

[ice grillin you]

Same style of play but Smith is much better

why becasue he is a flyer now?

rathje when in his prime was every bit the player smith was...you had to have seen rathje before he got to the flyers

they both were solid 25 pt defensive defensivmen...smith a better hitter rathje a better puck mover...to say smith is much better than anyone is a stretch...and he def wasnt any better than rathje...essentially the same player

[Seabiscuit36]

Smith is faster, not much faster.  Rathje wasnt a bad player, i really think his body breaknig down destroyed any chance he had in the new NHL.  He was alright for the first 2 months of the new NHL, but thereafter his back/shoulder/groin gave way

[ice grillin you]

def agree with that...im talking rathje at the time of him coming over from sj is the same defensive defensemen as smith is now...id almost rather have rathje because in the new nhl he had a slight advantage over smith because he was such a good puck mover from defensive to neutral zone...but its six of one half dozen of the other as to who youd rather have...honestly i could do without either as i think there are better options in the "new" nhl

[SD_Eagle5]

Same style of play but Smith is much better

why becasue he is a flyer now?

rathje when in his prime was every bit the player smith was...you had to have seen rathje before he got to the flyers

they both were solid 25 pt defensive defensivmen...smith a better hitter rathje a better puck mover...to say smith is much better than anyone is a stretch...and he def wasnt any better than rathje...essentially the same player

Rathje is a Flyer till 2010 so your first point is null.

Smith has better mobility, Rathje was a drone. He's just an all around better player (defensive, puck handling, leadership). If Rathje had stayed healthy and we had traded him straight up for Smith you wouldn't have called that a good deal? I think a majority of hockey fans would.

[ice grillin you]

i would have no feeling on that deal...it wouldnt even register...one old defensive dman for another....bleh

im glad they got smith now because their defense is so bad he improves it but like geo said hes gonna be out of the league by the time the flyers are ready to challenge for anything...the one advantage id give to getting smith is that he was included with lupol and if not for that he wouldnt even be here where as the flyers paid a lot of money for rathje as a fa

i tell one thing id rather have than smith and thats pitkanen...either pitkanen is better than you all think or smith is a lot worse..otherwise why wouldnt the trade have been pitkanen for lupol straight up

[ice grillin you]

nm

[SD_Eagle5]

i tell one thing id rather have than smith and thats pitkanen...either pitkanen is better than you all think or smith is a lot worse..otherwise why wouldnt the trade have been pitkanen for lupol straight up

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think they save cap space by dealing Sanderson/Pitkanen for Smith/Lupol...and they had to get a defenseman back in the deal.

Pitkanen skill wise is much better than anyone gives him credit for.

[Seabiscuit36]

They did save, plus Smith is in the last year of his deal.  Joni would have costed them at least 2 mill, Sanderson was at least 1.5 i think he was closer to 2 mill. 

[ice grillin you]

smith and sanderson cancel each other out 1.9 v 1.5 and both have a year left on their deals...flyers save a couple bucks but hardly enough to influcence the trade

therefore those two didnt need to be included in the deal at all except for like sd said the flyers needed a defenseman...so in essence edm was like take smith we dont care and throw in sanderson...to me that says smith is a nothing in the deal

[Eagles_Legendz]

smith and sanderson cancel each other out 1.9 v 1.5 and both have a year left on their deals...flyers save a couple bucks but hardly enough to influcence the trade

therefore those two didnt need to be included in the deal at all except for like sd said the flyers needed a defenseman...so in essence edm was like take smith we dont care and throw in sanderson...to me that says smith is a nothing in the deal

I agree that Smith was a neglible part of the deal.  The Flyers were looking to dump Sanderson's salary and figured they could get a decent Dman in return to help the deal, but the primary part was Lupul for Pitkanen.

However, here is an interesting article I read from EDM:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Oilers/2007/07/02/4306422-sun.html

By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI

Ethan Moreau called it a bad trade.

He didn't even ask, or care, who the Edmonton Oilers got in return for captain Jason Smith yesterday. If Smith is going the other way, he considers it a bad deal.

"When you're losing a guy like that it really doesn't matter what's coming the other way, it's a huge blow to our locker-room," said Moreau, Smith's teammate for eight seasons.

"I didn't even ask who we got. I don't really care right now if we're better or worse, it's more the human side of it. You lose a great friend and a great leader, the longest standing Oilers captain of all time. It's a tough one. It's probably the worst thing that can happen as far as emotions go."

All of the Oilers, still one of the closest clubs in the NHL, were mourning the loss of their friend and leader in a deal with Philadelphia.

"It's definitely shocking, I'm very surprised," said Jarret Stoll. "The way I feel right now is the way I felt after the other trade we made earlier this year (Ryan Smyth). It's shocking.

"The guys we got in return are good players, they're going to help our team. It's just tough losing guys who are good character people, who've been here a long time. Good teammates, it's disappointing losing guys like that."

The Oilers also gave up winger Joffrey Lupul in the deal for defenceman Joni Pitkanen and journeyman winger Geoff Sanderson in the exchange. Whether it pays off or not remains to be seen, but the players aren't in the mood for evaluating trades.

"It's a tough one to swallow," said Moreau. "We're like an extended family. There will be a day and time when as a player you look at your own situation, but that's definitely not in my mind right now."

Smith and Moreau and their families had just moved into a house they rented in Los Angeles. They, along with Raffi Torres, Jarret Stoll, Matt Greene, Lupul, Zack Stortini and Shawn Horcoff are all in the process of moving into the same complex to begin training. Even in the off-season, the team sticks together. So when the captain got traded, it hit them like a punch in the stomach.

"I hear some people saying he's gone downhill the last couple of years, I don't see that," said Stoll. "I wouldn't say he's Chris Pronger, but he plays all the tough minutes, he's out there in every tough situation. I'm shocked."

Losing Lupul, meanwhile, could come back to bite the Oilers big time. He'll probably score 30 on the rebuilt Flyers.

"I guarantee it," said Stoll, adding the Edmonton native, who wasn't returning calls yesterday, feels terrible about the way his brief homecoming turned out. "I talked to him, he's happy about Philly. He's good friends with (Scottie) Upshall and (Scott) Hartnell ... he's happy about them being together, he's just disappointed how it all went here."

[SD_Eagle5]

I read that article yesterday, that had more to do with his character than it did his on ice play.

[Eagles_Legendz]

I read that article yesterday, that had more to do with his character than it did his on ice play.

Don't disagree with that.  He's still a pretty good defenseman, but I think his leadership was more of a benefit in the deal.

[BigEd76]

According to the Courier Post, the Flyers have about $1.3M left in cap room and they're looking to spend about $700K on another enforcer.  If they can't re-sign Fedoruk, they could look at Chris Simon or go after a lesser name like Andrew Peters (BUF), Derek Boogaard (MIN), Eric Godard (CGY), Cam Jansen (NJ) or ex-Phantom Josh Gratton (PHX)...

[SD_Eagle5]

Fedoruk shouldn't be an option at this point.

Simon would be my #1 choice because he's also a half decent player, plus after his stick incident last year players will be looking over their shoulders when he's on the ice.

Boogaard would be my 2nd option.

[Rome]

Boogaard would be my first choice for two reasons.

First, anyone with that many vowels in his name has to be a bad ass.

Second, the sound of BOOOOOOOOO after he kicks someone's ass in the Wach Center would be deafening.