Flyers Sign Zherdev, What Does it Mean for Gagne?
The Flyers announced a significant free-agent signing Friday afternoon.
The Eastern Conference champs have inked Ukrainian right wing Nikolai Zherdev to a one-yer deal.
"Nik is a highly-skilled player who, at 25-years-old, we feel will be a good fit to our core of forwards," Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement.
Flyers considering waving Gagne......signing Zherdev?Could the Flyers consider waiving Simon Gagne if they can't find a trade partner? According to TSN's Darren Dreger, a few NHL executives he's spoken with believe that's an option Philadelphia will use if they can't move Gagne in the next few days.
The Flyers need to clear salary cap space to officially sign Nikolai Zherdev, a free agent forward who spent last season playing in Russia. Gagne is due $5.25 million for the 2010-11 season, the last year of his contract.
Trading Gagne may be a must The Flyers appear to be amid a salary-cap squeeze that can only be solved by trading Simon Gagne.
According to various reports in Russia and Canada, the Flyers are close to an agreement with free agent right wing Nikolai Zherdev but need to shed Gagne's $5.25 million salary to clear room for the talented Ukrainian.
Meanwhile, Gagne told French-speaking television station RDS that he has not yet waived his no-trade clause.
Interest in Gagne expected to pick up The Flyers' attempts to clear space under the salary cap by trading veteran left wing Simon Gagne appear to be indirectly related to the New Jersey Devils' attempt to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuk.
The Devils reportedly are close to signing Kovalchuk to a seven-year, $60 million extension. Once that deal is finalized, other NHL teams in the running for Kovalchuk -- namely, the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders -- will need to look in another direction to add offense.
Flyers Exploring Trades for Gagne 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.
Gagne, the Flyers et al., were asked to think about the deal over the July 4 weekend, sources said.
Hockeybuzz.com first reported that the Flyers had asked Gagne to waive his no-trade clause.
Flyers Trade Hamhuis' Rights, Pursuing Nabokov When the Flyers traded Ryan Parent for future unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis last week, they thought they had found a top defenseman who would play a five position.
Late Friday night, the club traded Hamhuis’ rights to Atlantic Division rival Pittsburgh for a third-round pick next year. Why? Because negotiations had stalled – not over money or length (the Flyers would have given him at least $4 million a year on a four-year deal), but over something more tangible: playing time and position.
Flyers Acquire Hamhuis; Will Now Try to Sign Him The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired the rights to one of the most sought after free agents-to-be on defense in Nashville Predators blueliner
Dan Hamhuis .
On Saturday afternoon, the club announced it had traded defenseman
Ryan Parent to Nashville for
Hamhuis and a conditional pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Hamhuis is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, so the Flyers will try to sign him
to a deal as soon as possible.
Flyers to trade Carter - Possibly for a goalie? Carter, who has struggled in consecutive playoff seasons and is entering the final year of a contract that pays him $5 million.
Carter certainly deserves credit for returning early from two broken feet, and it would be unfair
to judge him on his playoff performance. But with
Briere and Giroux flourishing at center and
Carter out of place on the wing, there is simply no room for him on the roster.
So the question may not be whether the Flyers should trade Carter, but for whom? Do they deal him for a young goalie, like
Jonathan Bernier ,
Jonathan Quick ,
Carey Price or
Jaroslav Halak ? Or, do they trade him for a much-needed, top-line right wing like Florida's
Nathan Horton ($4 million cap hit for three years) or Anaheim's
Bobby Ryan ($1.9 cap hit for one year)?
FORSBERG WAS OFFERED CONTRACT TO JOIN FLYERS IN MARCH The Philadelphia Flyers nearly had an unexpected boost prior to their lengthy playoff run as
Peter Forsberg told Swedish newspaper Expressen that he had been offered a contract to join the team on March 2nd.
Forsberg told Expressen that Flyers' general manager Paul Holmgren approached him about joining the Flyers for the remainder of the regular season when both
Jeff Carter and
Simon Gagne were struggling with injuries. Forsberg stated that only his own injuries prevented him from joining Philly.
Chicago dresses Pronger up in a dressWith the Stanley Cup final shifting back to Philadelphia for Wednesday's Game 6, the Chicago Tribune today offered a little gift to Blackhawks fans in the form of Chris Pronger showing some (Photoshopped) leg on its back page with the tagline of "
Chrissy Pronger : Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane," highlighting just how serious a slight this really is.
