Your Canadiens for December 15, 2011

The Montreal Canadiens host the Philadelphia Flyers this evening at what would seem like the best possible moment. The Flyers are without their #1 defenseman Chris Pronger and also without the NHL's leading point-getter Claude Giroux, both sidelined with injuries. But we've all seen enough from the Habs to know that nothing is a given, so it's sure to still be a challenge tonight, as the Flyers come to town on a 6-game win streak and holding the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

- Travis Moen, Brian Gionta, and Scott Gomez are all out with injuries tonight, meaning the following forward lines after Mike Blunden was called up yesterday:

Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn

Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Erik Cole

Mathieu Darche - Lars Eller - Louis Leblanc

Mike Blunden - Petteri Nokelainen - Yannick Weber

Don't expect that fourth line to get much ice time, even with Petteri Nokelainen coming off his best game as a Hab. If all three injured forwards are going to miss considerable time, it seems that Pierre Gauthier will have no choice but to bring in some added depth.

With injuries to Gionta and Moen, the team is scrambling to find replacements for the penalty kill. It seems Louis Leblanc may have earned a shift down a man, while Blunden may be tried there as well. Leblanc's two-way play leaves little doubt that he will eventually be a strong penalty killer, but it is perhaps uncharacteristic of Martin to trust a green rookie with such duties.

Blunden's call-up poses another issue, in that after playing tonight's game he would have to clear waivers to re-join the Hamilton Bulldogs. While I don't think there is a huge risk of him being claimed by another team, given the lack of depth in terms of bottom 6 toughness at the pro ranks, Gauthier may decide to keep him in Montreal for a while rather than risk losing him.

- On defense, Raphal Diaz is out sick. That means Alexei "BOOM!" Emelin returns to the line-up, again forming the vaunted #KabBoom pairing with Tomas Kaberle. The full D looks like:

Josh Gorges - P.K. Subban

Hal Gill - Chris Campoli

Tomas Kaberle - Alexei Emelin

Since Emelin is again stuck on his uncomfortable right side, I am very curious to know what Jacques Martin would have done had Diaz been healthy. Emelin's size, strength, and physicality are needed all the more against a team like the Flyers, so one would hope he would found a spot in the line-up either way.

I still think the team needs to find a way to play him on the left. Many are opposed to splitting up Josh Gorges and P.K. Subban, but I see no issue with it really. They may log big minutes, but they haven't even played 30 games together, so it's not like they're joined at the hip. Martin has referred to them as a top shutdown pair, but Subban doesn't belong on a true shutdown duo at this point. Gorges is the left D who is most comfortable on right, so I'd like to see more balanced pairings with him shifting over.

- The Flyers are part of this season's "24/7," the HBO documentary series that follows the two teams playing in the Winter Classic as a build up to the actual game. Thus, there are camera crews following the team in Montreal, and the Habs will be "featured" in one of the show's episodes.

- I wonder if Flyers forward Jaromir Jagr remembers this #EmelinBoom from the World Championship. Hopefully Mr. Emelin can give us a repeat tonight.

- Last night, the Hamilton Bulldogs dropped a 2-1 decision in a shootout to the Lake Erie Monsters. Alexander Avtsin, with his 4th of the year, on the powerplay, had the only tally for the 'Dogs. Gabriel Dumont was awarded a penalty shot with 46 seconds to play in regulation, but was stopped by former Hamilton star Cedrick Desjardins. All 5 Hamilton Bulldog shooters were stopped in the shootout, while notorious first round bust Hugh Jessiman was the only player to beat Nathan Lawson, good enough for the win. Despite being held off the scoresheet, leading all skaters with 6 shots on goal, Bulldogs leading scorer Brian Willsie was named the game's first star.

- As I covered yesterday, the Canadiens will have three players on Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Championships (Brendan Gallagher, Nathan Beaulieu, and Michael Bournival). This is more than any other NHL team, and is the first time the Habs have had 3 prospects on the club since 2000 (Mike Ribeiro, Michael Ryder, and Eric Chouinard).

Two other young future Habs seem poised to make their national teams, being defenseman Jarred Tinordi with Team USA, and center Daniel Pribyl with the Czech Republic. Tinordi should be an important shutdown d-man for the Americans with some talk he may get consideration for team captain. Tinordi, captain of the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League, previously captained the U.S. Under 18 team. Pribyl, who turns 19 in 3 days, seems penciled in for a 4th line role with the Czechs.

Habs Return Injured Betts to Flyers

The NHL announced this morning that the Montreal Canadiens have returned center Blair Betts to the Philadelphia Flyers as he failed his physical. NHL by-law 11.8 (a) and CBA clause 13.20 (a) allow the league to reverse/cancel a waiver claim if the claimed player is deemed medically unfit to play for his new team. Betts had an undisclosed knee injury which was keeping him out of action.

This is bad news for the Habs who could have really used a player like Betts to center their fourth line. Until/unless another move is made, the job is back to being Andreas Engqvist's, despite his unimpressive play.

As we reported earlier, this story was first broken on Twitter by TSN 990 Radio reporter Amanda Stein, and later confirmed by a number of journalists and sources.

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/327925.html

With this plus the news of Chris Campoli expected to miss a number of months of action, it will be interesting to see what Pierre Gauthier's next move might be. There are some UFA fill-ins still available on the market, including Bryan McCabe and Paul Mara on the back end or John Madden as a defensive center, but in all honesty, at least in this fan's view, it is time for Mr. Gauthier to make a bolder move. It seems clear the defense needs some healthy help instead of continuing to play plugs, while the lack of top end talent and grit up front may continue to be a problem throughout the season. It may be early to switch to "panic mode," but with such parity in the East, the Habs can ill afford to fall way behind their competition even in October or November.

2011/12 NHL Preview - Atlantic Division

Last week, we covered 4 of the 6 NHL divisions in our season previews (Southeast, Northwest, Central, Pacific), so today we continue on with the Atlantic, before wrapping up with the Northeast tomorrow and then finally our overall predictions on Wednesday.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Patrik Elias - Travis Zajac - Zach Parise

Ilya Kovalchuk - Dainius Zubrus - Nick Palmieri

Mattias Tedenby - Jacob Josefson - David Clarkson

Eric Boulton - Dave Steckel - Cam Janssen

Henrik Tallinder - Anton Volchenkov

Andy Greene - Adam Larsson

Bryce Salvador - Matt Corrente

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

The Devils were among the hottest teams in the league over the second half of last season but it wasn't enough to overcome a disastrous start. While the return this season of star forward Zach Parise from injury will be a boost to the club's chances, another year of wear on Martin Brodeur can't help. Still, it could be an exciting year offensively for New Jersey with the emergence of three young forwards who should earn full-time roles in Nick Palmieri, Jacob Josefson, and Mattias Tedenby. All three have the potential to be top 6 contributors and now that all have gotten their feet wet in the big league, they will look to improve on last year's point totals. After signing his huge long-term contract, Ilya Kovalchuk was hot and cold last season, finishing below a point-per-game for the first time since 2006-07. Given that they'll be on the hook for his deal for many years, N.J. will need to find a way to get the best out of him quickly.

On D, the big addition will be first round selection Adam Larsson who should be expected to earn a spot right out of training camp. The 6'3" Swede was a real gift to the Devils at 4th overall as the top 3 teams opted to take forwards. If Brodeur isn't getting any younger, he will at least be well protected by the team's top shutdown pair of Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder, provided the former can stay healthy after playing just 57 games last year.

Clearly this is Brodeur's team, but at least Johan Hedberg is capable of providing the Quebec native with more rest than his career averages would suggest. Hedberg played 34 games for the Devils last year, and 47 for the Atlanta Thrashers the year before, with numbers that compare

YourCanadiens Verdict: Bubble playoff team.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Michael Grabner

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau - Brian Rolston - Blake Comeau

Josh Bailey - Frans Nielsen - Nino Niederreiter

Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Trevor Gilles

Mark Streit - Milan Jurcina

Mark Eaton - Travis Hamonic

Ty Wishart - Andrew McDonald

Rick DiPietro

Al Montoya

The Islanders are still in rebuild mode and will likely only begin to look competitive in time for the arrival of 2011 first round pick Ryan Strome. There are some pieces in place, however, as Michael Grabner unexpectedly showed tremendous progress last season, and Matt Moulson topped the 30 goal mark for the second straight year. If Brian Rolston shows to have any gas left in the tank, he will be a good veteran presence to take some pressure off the young John Tavares and Frans Nielsen (also coming off a career year) at the center position. If players like Nielsen and Grabner pleasantly surprised, Josh Bailey was a disappointment, scoring just 28 points in 70 games despite having 17 points in 11 AHL games. Turning 22 in October, the days remaining for Bailey to establish himself as an offensive threat are getting shorter. If Bailey can't do it, though, look for a breakout from rookie Nino Niederreiter who got a 9 game trial last year before putting up 70 points in 55 WHL games.

On the back end, Mark Streit will return after missing all of last season with injury and - poolies be aware! - 50+ points is not an unreasonably expectation from the club's #1 d-man and PP quarterback. The rest of the defense still needs lots of work though, with the team looking to 21-year old Travis Hamonic, 23-year old Ty Wishart, and eventually - possibly even as soon as this year - 20-year old Calvin de Haan to form a new up-and-coming core.

Starter Rick DiPietro has played a total of 39 games over the last 3 seasons combined and given that he is under contract until 2021, fans around the league tend to enjoy mockingly following his injuries. Al Montoya was a nice story for the Islanders last year, seen as a bust since being taken 6th overall back in 2004, but posting a strong .921 save percentage and 2.39 GAA in 21 games, his only NHL action to date outside of 5 games with Phoenix in 2008-09. There is a big question mark in goal with regards to the status of Evgeni Nabokov, who the Islanders plucked off waivers after the Detroit Red Wings tried to sign him from Europe during last season. Nabokov initially refused to report, but there has been word over the summer that he expects to be at camp this month.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Out of the playoffs.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Sean Avery - Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik

Brandon Dubinsky - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan

Mats Zuccarello-Aasen - Artem Anisimov - Ruslan Fedotenko

Wojtek Wolski - Brian Boyle - Mike Rupp

Marc Staal - Daniel Girardi

Mike Sauer - Ryan McDonagh

Tim Erixon - Michael Del Zotto

Henrik Lundqvist

Martin Biron

To no one's surprise, the Rangers landed the big fish on the UFA market this summer, signing Brad Richards to a long term deal until the summer of 2020. With Richards in the mix, New York has a deep group of talented forwards buoyed by the young Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, both of whom made strong NHL debuts last season. Marian Gaborik missed 20 games last season and his production trailed off significantly from his first with New York, so he'll look to bounce back playing with a new center. The team's bottom 6 presents an impressive mix of size and skill with the addition of Mike Rupp giving Sean Avery some breathing room to perform his pest antics that get opposing teams off their game. Offensively, Glenn Sather has done a nice job in assembling a mix of young and old, talent and strength, for a nicely balanced group of forwards.

There are some questions on defense though, given the age of the group likely to start the season with the club. Though still only 24, Marc Staal can't be considered a green rookie, emerging as a true top pairing stalwart. When Michael del Zotto regressed in his play last season, it was former Habs' draft choice Ryan McDonagh who stole his spot as a regular contributor by year's end. In addition to those two, this season should mark the debut of Tim Erixon - a Calgary Flames first round pick in 2009 - in the NHL after signing to come over from Sweden. The 20-year old is a two-way d-man who will battle with Steve Eminger and Pavel Valentenko for a spot in the top 6.

Henrik Lundqvist is coming off another excellent season which saw him lead the league with 11 shutouts despite playing fewer than 70 games for the first time since his rookie season in 2005-06. This enabled him to set a career high for save percentage with a .923, so expect back-up Martin Biron to get enough action to keep Hank fresh.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Bubble playoff team.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Projected depth chart / lines:

James van Rimesdyk - Claude Giroux - Daniel Briere

Jakub Voracek - Brayden Schenn - Jaromir Jagr

Wayne Simmonds - Maxime Talbot - Scott Hartnell

Andreas Nodl - Blair Betts - Jody Shelley

Chris Pronger - Matt Carle

Kimmo Timonen - Andrej Meszaros

Braydon Coburn - Andreas Lilja

Ilya Bryzgalov

Sergei Bobrovsky

We previously went over this summer's remodeling of the Flyers and many in the hockey world are eager to see how it pans out. Replacing all of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Ville Leino, and Kris Versteeg up front will be no easy task, but youngsters Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, and Wayne Simmonds are no slouches. Voracek's offense may end up equaling Carter's alone, while Schenn begins his rookie season in the NHL after putting up 7 points in 7 regular season AHL games and adding 4 points in 5 playoff games at the end of last year. If Simmonds does play on our projected third line with Maxime Talbot and Scott Hartnell, they will be a trio as tough to play against as perhaps any in the league. After much talking this summer, it will be fun to see if Jaromir Jagr truly does have what it takes to be productive in the National League or if he is limited to a minor powerplay specialist role.

It appears Chris Pronger's injury problems are ongoing as he may not be ready for training camp. The Flyers' D looks far better with him in the line-up eating up minutes and covering for a softer partner. Still with the always underrated Kimmo Timonen, who, despite his offense slowing down with age, remains a very solid veteran, Philadelphia's top 4 is top tier in calibre and cements them as a conference contender.

But even if the D misses Pronger for any period of time, they've addressed what has long been their Achilles heel by bringing in Ilya Bryzgalov as their starter. Bryzgalov has been out of the spotlight spending the last four years in Phoenix, but put up a save percentage of .920 or better in three of those four years despite a young and inexperienced team in front of him. The only question will be how he holds up in the post-season where his experience and success are far less. As a positive, he should be a great mentor to fellow Russian Sergei Bobrovsky, but with Bryzgalov signed until 2020 it's most likely the Bob's next real shot will be with another team.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Conference contender.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Projected depth chart / lines:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - James Neal

Tyler Kennedy - Evgeni Malkin - Steve Sullivan

Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis

Craig Adams - Dustin Jeffrey - Arron Asham

Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik

Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek

Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy

Marc-Andre Fleury

Brent Johnson

The Pens were rather quiet this summer while sitting and anxiously waiting for updates on the health of Sidney Crosby. Depending on who you believe, it looks at best that he'll miss the start of the season, and at worst that he perhaps will never play again. His absence is a huge loss for the Penguins, but also one for the league in general as he represents a generational talent. Still, Pittsburgh silenced many doubters last season by maintaining their Eastern Conference positioning despite having to play without both Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, so getting just one of the two stars back is still a major addition. After trading for James Neal last year, the signing of Steve Sullivan finally provides the team with enough depth at wing to go along with their trio of stud centermen and Sullivan is a darkhorse fantasy pool option for a strong bounce back performance.

Last summer's additions of Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek went a long way to stabilizing the Penguins' back end, and if Kris Letang can repeat or improve upon last season's performance, he may be on the verge of becoming a Norris candidate calibre blueliner.

Personally, I'm not the biggest Marc-Andre Fleury fan but he is a starter of sufficient quality to take this team to the promised land if they get healthy contributions from all of their forwards. He's a fine goalie when you're trying to win games 6-3 as opposed to 1-0 and will benefit from playing behind some strong defensive defensemen.

YourCanadiens Verdict: Solid playoff team.

Tomorrow we wrap up our divisional previews with the Northeast before getting into specific predictions league-wide on Wednesday!

Around the League: Top 5 Trades of the Summer

Previously, we looked at players we felt were the best value signings of the summer. Today we look at the other transactions that have occurred, namely trades, to try to identify the deals that will most help one or both of the involved teams this season and beyond.

With a thin UFA crop, hockey fans were spoiled with a significant number of high profile deals which began right before draft weekend. Here are 5 of the biggest.

5) The San Jose Sharks trade forward Dany Heatley to the Minnesota Wild for winger Martin Havlat.

This marks the third trade in Dany Heatley's 9 season NHL career, and each has been a significant blockbuster. To some, these players have been heading in opposite directions of late; in Heatley's case, coming off his worst season since 2003-04, while Havlat seems to have put the biggest knock on him - injury concerns - to rest for now, with 78, 73, and 81 games played over the past 3 seasons respectively. With two seasons of over 100 points, Heatley brings more star power to the table, but he has always benefited from highly skilled linemates, showing he may be more of a complimentary than core player. Havlat, on the other hand, has shown the ability to create offense on his own, and while he has seldom reached the 1 point-per-game mark, plays a more intense, hardnosed game than Heatley. The deal has potential to be good for both sides, with a change of scenery sometimes bringing out the best in a player. For now, though, since Havlat's cap hit is $2.5M less than Heatley's, which allowed the Sharks to sign Brent Burns (see lower down the list) to a lengthy extension, we'll score San Jose as the winner. The club was also facing Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, and Heatley all hitting the UFA market at the same time in 3 years, so they've hedged their bets by swapping for Havlat who has 4 years remaining on his deal.

4) The Philadelphia Flyers trade center Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Voracek and the Blue Jackets' 1st and 3rd round picks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

We'll come right out and say it: love this trade for the Flyers. Absolutely no disrespect intended to Jeff Carter, who is a tremendous hockey player and provides more offensive depth to try to get Columbus over that post-season hump. But in all honesty, it wouldn't be a huge surprise of Jakub Voracek's year-end point total is close to that of Carter's (though with fewer goals of course). Add in that Philadelphia added a top prospect to their stable in Sean Couturier, and had the money to fix their biggest weakness - goaltending - in signing Ilya Bryzgalov, and this trade appears to be a homerun. It will be interesting to monitor Carter's performance with the Jackets, who are clearly trying to shift to a "win now" mentality, having only made the playoffs once and never having won a playoff series. He doesn't seem like a natural fit to play with star Rick Nash, as both have sniping shoot-first mentalities, so the intent was perhaps to bring some scoring balance to a traditionally one-line team. It's a risky move for the club, however, with Carter's contract not ending until the year 2022 (no, that's not a typo).

3) The Washington Capitals trade goaltender Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche for a 1st round pick in 2012 and a 2nd rounder in either 2012 or 2013.

The Colorado Avalanche faced public scrutiny this season for making some questionable deals, so certainly their general manager would be careful to manage perception this summer, right? Wrong. Yes, the Avs desperately needed to fix their goaltending situation for both the short and long terms. But why they chose to pin their hopes on a still mostly unproven 23 year old who is coming off an injury-plagued season is beyond me. Varlamov is a solid netminder, always putting up strong numbers when healthy. However, he has yet to play more than 27 games in a season, so it is premature to consider him a surefire top tier starter. With many reasonable and affordable names on the goalie UFA market this summer, the logical approach for Colorado would have been to get 2 of them under contract and see what happens, while drafting and developing a young talent of their own. But conventional the Avs are not, giving up what COULD be as high as a top 5 pick in next year's entry draft, plus an additional second rounder, to acquire Varlamov, before signing J.S. Giguere as a back-up / mentor to ease the young Russian into a starting role. If Varlamov stays healthy, fans of the Avalanche won't have to feel too bad about this trade as he could play in the league for many years, but Capitals fans had to feel down right dirty after hearing this news. With a log-jam in goal already due to the strong play of fellow young netminders Brayden Holtby and Michael Neuvirth, Varlamov appeared headed for the KHL, meaning Washington basically acquired two free draft picks for what was to be a rapidly depreciating asset. And as if that wasn't enough, the Caps were then able to sign an aging Tomas Vokoun to guard their goal for a year, and he remains one of the best in the league.

2) The Minnesota Wild trade rover (but really defenseman) Brent Burns and a 2nd round draft choice to the San Jose Sharks in return for Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, and a 1st round selection.

Our last two deals rank at the top because we expect them to work out for both sides. Brent Burns is a highly underrated player who doesn't get enough press due to the league's "Eastern Conference bias." The Sharks' back-end was severely lacking after Dan Boyle, who just may hang up the skates at the end of the three years remaining on his contract, so for their team, Burns is a very important addition. Plus, from an asset management perspective, Burns' great shot and ability to take shifts as a winger (much like Dustin Byfuglien) means San Jose is likely not to notice the departure of Devin Setoguchi much. Clearly the team has been frustrated by their post-season failures, so a shuffling of the deck like this just may leave them with the right pieces in place to take a longer run at the Cup. For Minnesota, with Burns having been a pending UFA next summer, the club likely felt they wouldn't be able to re-sign him, and obtained quality younger assets in his place. They used the first rounder to select center Zack Phillips, and add Charlie Coyle, a first round pick in 2010, to their organization, essentially meaning that they picked up three 1sts for a player they might have lost for nothing in a year's time. The Wild need to hope that Setoguchi gets back to a production level like the 2008-09 season, where he topped the 30 goal mark and had 65 points, rather than the two seasons that followed of 36 and 41 points respectively.

1) The Philadelphia Flyers trade former captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings for prospect Brayden Schenn, forward Wayne Simmonds, and a 2nd round pick in 2012.

We love the moves the Kings made this summer, and while they paid a hefty price, they've acquired the kind of player you can build a hockey team around in Mike Richards. Along with Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Simon Gagne, and Dustin Penner, Richards gives the Kings what might be the best all-around top 6 forward group in the league. Brayden Schenn will be a great player in the NHL, but how his offense will translate to the big league is still unknown. The Flyers are gambling a little in the short term, but created a bunch of cap space to complete theyother moves they wanted to make and added a surefire bluechipper to the system. Wayne Simmonds is no slouch either, a guy that many feel could eventually be a top 6 power forward, but with limited offensive production thus far, remains more of a tweener two-way third line type. In any case, all three players swapped in this move are expected to play significant roles on their teams for the upcoming season, and both clubs can be considered favourites to make noise come playoff time, which is why we consider this to be the move with the biggest impact this off-season.

Extreme Makeover: NHL Edition

In today's Around the League report, we will look at two teams who have made drastic changes to their NHL rosters over the last 3 weeks: the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers. Through a series of trades and signings, both have gone about overhauls of their clubs for very different reasons, but ultimately, both have made significant improvements.

The Philadelphia Flyers

Roster THEN (May 6, 2011, Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals):

Kris Versteeg - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter

James van Riemsdyk - Claude Giroux - Daniel Briere

Scott Hartnell - Darrell Powe - Ville Leino

Jody Shelley - Blair Betts - Daniel Carcillo

Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn

Andrej Meszaros - Matt Carle

Danny Syvret - Sean O'Donnell

Sergei Bobrovsky

Brian Boucher

Injuries & Scratches: Chris Pronger, Nikolai Zherdev, Andreas Nodl, Ian Laperriere, Michael Leighton, Oskars Bartulis

Roster NOW (July 6, 2011, projecting for opening night 2011-12):

James Van Riemsdyk ($1.654m) / Claude Giroux ($3.750m) / Daniel Briere ($6.500m)

Wayne Simmonds ($2.500m) / Brayden Schenn ($3.110m) / Jakub Voracek ($2.250m)

Scott Hartnell ($4.200m) / Maxime Talbot ($1.800m) / Jaromir Jagr ($3.300m)

Andreas Nodl ($0.845m) / Blair Betts ($0.700m) / Jody Shelley ($1.100m)

Kimmo Timonen ($6.333m) / Chris Pronger ($4.921m)

Andrej Meszaros ($4.000m) / Braydon Coburn ($3.200m)

Andreas Lilja ($0.737m) / Matt Carle ($3.437m)

Ilya Bryzgalov ($5.666m) / Sergei Bobrovsky ($1.750m)

Injuries & Scratches: Oskars Bartulis ($0.600m) / Ian Laperriere ($1.166m)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,522,262; BONUSES: $3,815,000

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $777,738

Evidently satisfied on the blueline once they would be bolstered by a healthy Chris Pronger, the Flyers identified goaltending as their main need this off-season and traded for the rights of pending UFA Ilya Bryzgalov. The problem, however, was a lack of cap room to fit in Bryzgalov's exorbitant salary demands. Amidst rumours of divides and cancers in the locker room, GM Paul Holmgren underwent a process very similar to that which Bob Gainey followed during the 2009 off-season. Both teams had a strong year one year prior, but were then unceremoniously swept from the playoffs by the Boston Bruins the following season, and proceeded to blow their core apart.

First came the Jeff Carter trade. Sent to Columbus for Jakub Voracek and a 1st round pick (Sean Couturier). "Ok," Flyers fans thought, "we got a great return AND now we have the cap room we need! Awesome!" But Holmgren wasn't done there.When rumours were floated in the moments following the Carter deal that Mike Richards was also on the market, people thought it was preposterous. But only a few hours later... BAM! Mike Richards was a Los Angeles King in return for Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. And just like that, two offensive catalysts that had led the Flyers all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals just a year ago had been cast off.

Trading both Carter and Richards let the Flyers sign Bryzgalov to a HUGE 9 year, $51M deal, giving them credible netminding (or - they had better hope it will) for the first time in ages. The team also had suddenly created a new youth movement, boasting a top-notch young core including the following all at age 23 or younger:

Brayden Schenn

James van Riemsdyk

Wayne Simmonds

Jakub Voracek

Sean Couturier

Given that the club is looking to contend immediately, they were active on July 1st, supplementing their offense with the surprising acquisition of Jaromir Jagr, and stealing depth roleplayer Maxim Talbot from state rivals the Pittsbugh Penguins.

How much better is this team than last year's? Well they lost the entirety of what was considered their "1st line" for their final game of 2010-11, and it is no sure thing they will be able to immediately replace the offensive contribution. Certainly Bryzgalov makes them a cup contender if he can reproduce his regular season performances and step up his playoff game with his new team. The East looks a lot tougher now with contenders in Washington and Philadelphia both addressing their Achilles' heel between the pipes. But will Jagr be a productive NHL'er at age 39? Will van Rimesdyk step up his game and put up big numbers at the NHL level? Will Jakub Voracek continue progressing in a new environment? And will Brayden Schenn be ready for a significant role in his rookie pro season? Many questions remain for this team that will have very little wiggle room against the cap should the answer to any of these questions be "no." They should be able to compete for a division or even conference title, but then we could have said that about the Flyers last year and the year prior. It remains to be seen if this group can get over the next hump.

The Florida Panthers

Roster THEN (April 8, 2011, Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning):

David Booth - Marty Reasoner - Jack Skille

Sergei Samsonov - Mike Santorelli - Steve Bernier

Evgeny Dadonov - Ryan Carter - Shawn Matthias

Michael Repik - Tim Kennedy - Niclas Bergfors

Jason Garrison - Mike Weaver

Dmitry Kulikov - Keaton Ellerby

Clay Wilson - Joe Callahan

Tomas Vokoun

Scott Clemmensen

Injuries & Scratches: Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz

That's a little scary. Other than a strong goaltending duo, it is almost hard to believe this is an NHL roster. It isn't hard to understand, then, why the main motivation for the Panthers rebuild was a need to spend about $30M just to reach the salary cap FLOOR!

Roster NOW (July 6, 2011, projecting for opening night 2011-12):

David Booth ($4.250m) / Stephen Weiss ($3.100m) / Kris Versteeg ($3.083m)

Tomas Fleischmann ($4.500m) / Sean Bergenheim ($2.750m) / Tomas Kopecky ($3.000m)

Evgeni Dadonov ($0.875m) / Scottie Upshall ($3.500m) / Matt Bradley ($0.950m)

Shawn Matthias ($0.850m) / Marcel Goc ($1.700m) / Mike Santorelli ($0.600m)

Brian Campbell ($7.142m) / Mike Weaver ($0.900m)

Dmitri Kulikov ($1.325m) / Ed Jovanovski ($4.125m)

Jason Garrison ($0.675m) / Keaton Ellerby ($0.787m)

Jose Theodore ($1.500m) / Scott Clemmensen ($1.200m)

BUYOUTS: Ville Koistinen ($0.466m)

Injuries & Scratches: Jack Skille ($0.825m) / Michal Repik ($0.816m) / Steven Reinprecht ($2.050m)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $50,972,042; BONUSES: $800,000

CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $13,327,958

Whereas the Flyers had a strong team and rebuilt to fill a need, the Panthers had needs all across the board and changed their composition at every position. Clearly the most notable upgrade comes in the group of forwards. While the team still lacks true top-end talent (particularly down the middle), they now have offensive depth to at least compete with most other clubs around the league.

On the back end, adding Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski - despite their large and long contracts - will be a major boon to the development of youngsters like Kulikov and Ellerby.

The main problem with Florida's situation isn't the moves they have made. Rather, it's a problem with the National Hockey League in Florida and the terms of the present collective bargaining agreement. If there is going to be another NHL lockout next year, you can take the Panthers as a prime explanation for its necessity. As a team that practically gives away more tickets than it sells, even with the present revenue sharing plan, Florida cannot afford an annual salary of $48M. Certainly they can't afford to commit to the long-term deals of players like Campbell and Jovanovski. The NHL needs to understand that for future sustainability, the growing salary cap won't allow for the maintenance of competitive parity around the league. The only way to ensure that is finding owners with deep pockets and doing the best to grow the game in ALL 30 markets. There is no room for obvious gaffs in wasted marketing dollars like Stan Lee's Guardian Project. That money - undoubtedly a significant sum - could have been invested in market development instead.

And there needs to be a shorter leash on these markets. If it's been tried and failed for many years running, it's time to give another market a try. The health of the league and growth of the game will be stronger feeding off interested markets (even if only short term) than sticking around in places where hockey is an after-though at best.

Is this Florida team better? No doubt, they are miles ahead of any team the Panthers have iced in years. But it's going to take more than that to build a fanbase. Is this a playoff team? Certainly no guarantee there, though they may find themselves competing for the 8th spot. And given the disinterest in the marketplace, it's going to take a lot more than a bubble club to start gaining the momentum to sustain a franchise.