Agree with a number of points you eluded to in your thread PB but certainly there are also a number of points I know for a fact are inaccurate and simply wrong based on what I've read and come to understand from those who follow the team on a regular and first hand basis. Unless you know Mike Richards and/or Jeff Carter on a personal level or are around the team on an inside and everyday basis, to be able to publicly indicate how either acts on or away from the rink is for all intensive purposes bogus. However that's fine because as a Flyer fan for some 43 years, I've come to read, see and hear these types of comments from Flyer haters regularly and have, for the most part, learned to shrug them off and have actually come to obtain a good laugh from the majority of them.

Now as for the Jeff Carter deal, first of all he was traded right now, at this time, for one reason, that being to soley free up the cap space necessary to finalize the Bryzgalov deal and hence the trade had nothing to do whatsoever with his play on or off the ice-end of story. With regards to the Richards deal an hour or so later, when the initial shock wore off and I was able to absorb the comments, reasons and explanations by both GM Holmgrem and owner Snyder for the trade, it made more sense and became more clear to me.

As most of us kniow, both players were drafted in 2003 and were to become the cornerstones for the Flyer franchise in its' quest to win the team's first Stanley Cup since 1975. After two years or so to get accustomed to the NHL and their new surroundings, etc., the Flyers under their leadership and direction failed to win a championship in the five or six seasons which followed. In the pair's defense however it should be strongly noted that the team neglected to acquire a legitimate number one netminder which for the most part is the essential ingredient in hoisting a Stanley Cup. 

So following this season when management did its' complete and total team evaluation, they concluded the club simply wasn't going to reach its' goal and in turn decided to make the Richard's trade, in essence the other remaining half of the 2003 cornerstone draft pick. The decision to trade Richards and Carter for that matter, based on Holmgrem's comments, had been made made prior to the day the deal was announced. 

In turning the page, the Flyers finally and significantly upgraded their goaltending, their depth and more importantly their size at wing, their youth, the team obtained what many observers say is the best young player currently outside the NHL in Schenn and a surprise selection with the number eight overall pick in this year's draft with the acquisition of Couturier, who most thought wouldn't have been available when the eighth selection came around.

In the end the departure of Carter and particularly Richards came as a shock to the entire hockey world and particularly to Flyer fans alike when the deals were announced but after the dust had settle, we Flyer fans will welcome a new start to the 2011-12 campaign and for a change, a breath of fresh air between the pipes. Amen and a relatively good article PB.    

 First of all they tried to trade him a couple of seasons ago and that is just plain fact. It was the Leafs who pulled out of that almost done deal at the time and he was shopped to other teams at the time as well but they could not get back what they felt he was worth, so their lack of love or faith in the kid was documented in that situation. He went on to play some good hockey after that and things quieted down and they then tabled the long contract. Secondly have you taken the time to look at some other Flyer contracts? The amounts of money they are paying players like Meszaros and Versteeg to name a couple. Those two players being moved would have freed up more than enough money for Bryzgalov and we both know nobody would have said peep about them being dealt or anything negative about it being done for purposes of getting the goalie. With that said to say choosing to move a guy they were giving a 12 year contract to just because of money is absolutely ludicrous and comical. Other issues arewere on deck here.

 Rumors are just that, however we as fans and myself being one that has followed and loved this team all of my life and watch and follow them intently can and will make assumptions based on what we hear along with what we see on the ice.

I am basing my assumptions and opinions on this matter in the first post and your welcome to yours but if you seriously think this was just about the salary cap you need to clean your glasses off because they had MANY other alternatives to use/deal for that purpose and that is just plain old financial fact not open to anyones opinion. They CHOSE to move Carter and Richards and not any other large contracts of which they have a number.

Updating these trades:

From Philly                       To Philly

Carter                        Voracek (7th overall pick) Right Wing

                                 Couturier (8th overall pick) Center

                                 Cousins (68th overall pick) Center

Richards                    Simmonds Right Wing

                                 Schenn (5th overall pick) Center

                                  2nd round pick in 2012

Departed FA's              Signed FA's

O'Donnell                     Lilya

Leino                           Jagr

                                   Talbot

                                   Bryzgalov