That’s B, some Russian alpha combo, gal, more Russian. Got it?
Every year, in every sport, we take a liking to some random B+ athlete. They’re the soup du jour, or the player of the day, if you will. That sounds good, and we’ll have that.
This summer will be no different. Everyone is aboard the Ilya Bryzgalov train. [CSN Philly via NBC Sports– so, themselves]
“He would love the adulation he’d get in Philadelphia,” the source said. “This is a big guy, who plays back in the net and can play a lot of games for the Flyers. Phoenix and the Flyers have had some talks this season about trades, includingJeff Carter."
With that last line, a summer of “Get rid of Carter, sign Bryganoy” will start. I can hear the 610 calls now: “Ey, Carter doesn’t care, he just drinks. Get that Russian guy, Briesben, from Phoenix.”
Breezegalono would be an excellent addition, but he may or may not ever play here. Even worse – sets aside my extraordinarily high number of Morning Carts page views – it might not be the best idea to get rid of Carter. Obviously, the organization likes him- he was just signed to an 11-year deal. Further, his type of talent doesn’t come along often. Sure he loafs, disappears during key stretches, and spreads his seeds like a highly-caffeinated bee, but you can’t coach what Carter has. He’s a naturally gifted scorer who can score 30 goals almost by accident. I won’t get all preachy on you, however…
… just don’t go wishing away the seventh leading scorer in the league to make room for an exotic sounding 31-year-old goaltender who just got swept by a team that is sitting at home right now.
27 Responses
Um Bryz is a UFA. Why would the talk of trading Carter have anything to do with acquiring Bryz. Carter may be moved for cap reasons to sign Bryz. But be damn sure that the return for “Carts” will be extensive.
rich- my bad, i used “trade” where I should have used “swap.” sorry if that wasn’t clear
I don’t understand it. I don’t want this guy, especially not for Carter. Bryzgalov is going to want no less than $4mil, and all he has shown is that he is garbage in the playoffs. And don’t give me the excuse that Phoenix sucks, because they don’t. Finished with 107 points last year, and Brygavlov’s GAA was almost a 3.50, and his S% was about a .900. This year in the playoffs his GAA was well over 4.00. The Flyers didn’t lose this year because of goaltending, they lost because the defense failed to clear the front of the net, winger’s (Versteeg on Chara) left their points, and the offense went dead (7 goals vs. the Bruins). Were there soft goals let in? Sure, but did was the exit a result of the goalie? Not at all, and until the defense fixes whatever got into them late in the season, teams who are big will walk all over the Flyers. I’d hope the Flyers are smarter than to trade away their leading scorer for Bryzgalov.
It would be for the rights to Bryzgalov as we did with Timonen and Hartnell. It would just be straight up High and Wide for Bryzgalov, we would end up with picks and a high end prospect as well (I.E Boedker or someone of that nature) Id do it in a heartbeat. Get rid of that lazy eyed bum and his 11 year contract.
@Kyle- No worries just wanted to clarify.
@Sleazytees- But why trade Carter for the rights to Bryz when you could just sign him on July 1 and then shop Carter to the highest bidder. Teams would line up around the corner for Carter. LA, TOR, EDM to name a few and they have lots of nice prospects they would move for a “star” like Carter.
Sure he has 11 years left on his deal but it’s at a reasonable cap number.
Sleazytees is 100% correct, not to mention he makes some badass t-shirts.
hockeybuzz.com reported that a source said Versteeg would be the one to go to PHX for Bryzgalov before july 1st so the Flyers would have the exclusive signing rights
@Yert_McGert – Versteeg would be a great option to move if they really want him, the Flyers would be fine without him.
Unload the dead weight on the roster (Carcillo, Hartnell, etc.) and just sign Bryz as a free agent.
What about Nabokov??
The dude in the pic with carter has a nice white trash look
@Matt-100% I’m sick and tired of hearing about the how aweful our goalies are and that we need a #1. For the majority of the year we were in first place “sub par” goalies and only once the defense started to fall apart everyone started to get on our goalies. Sure the back and forth was a bit ridiculous, but goalies don’t score games and when we needed the offense to step up they didn’t. Cart is absolutly useless come playoffs but I don’t see the organization trading him as Holmgren loves Carter
Bryzgalov is an A- goalie at least, thank you very much.
@Matt, you’re being ridiculous. Did you actually watch any of his games in the reg. season and the playoffs? Phoenix does suck. One guy reached 20 goals. Their second leading scorer was a defenseman (Yandle is decent, but no other forwards, really?) Bryzgalov is the reason they made the playoffs both years, and a tiny playoff sample size when the team in front of him has been heavily overmatched is meaningless.
As far as moving Carter, not going to happen guys. We just extended a perennial 40-goal candidate for less than 5.3 per, he’s not going anywhere despite his apparent playoff struggles. However, if we want to fit Bryz, I’d say at least two guys (Versteeg and Carle? Please?) are gone.
This Carter for Bryz trade makes no sense to me. Kyle hit the nail directly on the head with this post. Too much for not enough in return. I could, however, do without Versteeg/Hartnell.
Love people who dismiss Bryzgalov and have never watched him play. HE is the single biggest reason Phoenix was as good as they have been the past two years. And they got beat by a good Detroit team both years. Bryz also played really well when he stepped in for Giguere in the playoffs for Anaheim.
No, this entire collapse was not ALL on the goalies the Flyers have. But the Flyers do NOT have (unless Bob grows into it) a goalie who can steal games (see: Tim Thomas, round 2, game 2). That can (and did) swing a series. Getting a guy who CAN steal a game, who is Russian, and who is a playoff performer, could very well be the absolute best thing for Bob and his development into a top NHL goaltender.
Trading Carter? I’m on the fence. No, you don’t just give away a 30-40 goal scorer. But the guy doesn’t show up when it counts. He can’t lift a puck over a goalie. There are a NUMBER of teams who would line up to trade for him. Pit them against each other, have an auction, and get a number of blue chip prospects (a couple can’t-miss defensemen should be the centerpiece) and if you get a good enough deal, pull the trigger.
It probably wouldn’t hurt to break up the Carter-Richards friendship. Maybe Richards would say “oh shit, nothing’s guaranteed, let’s win a fuckin Cup here.”
It COULD be great for the team. BUT, only for the right package (ha, package).
Those who were deluded that the goalies could have been good enough if the defense were stronger are dead wrong. That was like last year’s Phillies (and hopefully not this year) when the offense sucked but we still pulled off an incredible regular season record. Didn’t matter in the playoffs, good pitching shut us down. Same thing with the Flyers, doesn’t matter if we get over 100 pts in reg season, mediocre goaltending won’t get you past the offenses in the playoffs. The rest of the team should be accountable for how terribly they played, but goalie HAS to be fixed.
hey I’m the first to say we need a goalie, i just don’t think we need to move carter to do it. he’s too valuable. remember, he’s 26 and has had three 30+ goal seasons, including a 46. that type of natural talent doesn’t come along often.
J.T. makes several spot-on points. Bob is, at this point in his development, incapable of stealing a big game, and Boosh is a reliable backup, period. A veteran goalie Bob can communicate with would be invaluable. Right now, the only guy he can talk shop with in his mother tongue is Nik Zherdev, and that’s not something I’d like to see continuing. Maybe it’s not Bryzgalov, but it’s someone like him. And in Bryzzy’s defense, GAA is strictly a team stat, wheras SV% is a purely positional stat.
A point I haven’t seen raised much is the depth the Flyers have at Jeff Carter’s position. There are four bona fide first line centers on the roster right now (Cap’n Mikey, Groo, Danny, Carts). I’m no big fan of Jersey Shore Jeff myself, but like it or not, he’s a talented player with high potential value in the open market, and the glut of great centers only adds to his expendibility.
Carter for Bryz would be a bad idea for all the aforementioned reasons. A Versteeg+ would be more reasonable for someone of his caliber. This timeline probably works better as far as Bob coming into the starting role after Bryz’ contract expires.
Carter for Rinne — seeing as Weber just demanded some more potent scoring on his beloved Predators — wouldn’t be terrible. Heck, throw in Hartnell too.
But Nashville giving up RINNE for that? Ehhh, that’d be amazing and all, but the guy made his way into being pretty much at least the 3rd best goalie in the NHL this year.
J.T., I’ve felt the same way. Having a goaltender who can steal a game can be a HUGE momentum boost for a team. I’m not saying that the defense didn’t suck it up against Boston, but having to come back from 2 or 3 goals every game has got to be exhausting both physically and mentally. I’d love to see Bob be the future of this franchise if he can have the proper training/mentorship. He’s still young enough to be malleable and Bryz could be his sculptor.
But as many have said, Carter probably shouldn’t be the one to go. Versteeg is a decent player (not great, but decent), but he just never seemed to click with this team. Getting rid of him really wouldn’t be a big loss.
Is it wrong that I want this solely so Philly Phaithful can make a “Nobody Beats the Bryz” T-shirt?
It’s refreshing to see some actual knowledgeable fans here in this article instead of the typical “OMG, the Flyers suck, trade Richards/Carter and rebuild!!” BS most idiot Flyers fans have come to be.
Carts for Bryz is not a great trade IMO. You’d be robbing Peter to pay Paul in a way. The Flyers scored 7 goals in that Boston series, offense was just as big of an issue as the D was. I don’t like Carter much for the reasons some of you guys listed above but the guy is a talented player. He’s just a pure goal scorer. He’s not going anywhere. Richards isn’t going anywhere. If anyone goes it’ll be a mid-level guy like Versteeg. If I remember correctly Hartnell has a no trade clause and he’s around 4 mil a year…even if he waived the NTC would a team really want that salary for the production he puts out?
The Flyers WILL do something, at least I hope they will. I’m not sold on Bob yet, I think he WILL be good…but is he Stanley Cup quality for next season? IMO he is not.
I shit on Carter’s chest
Carter should know, there always needs to be some tat for tit.
But what about Leino in addtion to others (Versteeg)?
Remember he turned down an $3 mil or so offer by the Flyers earlier in the season, so how much not signing him again will free up some space?
The Flyers fans forget that while you think the team can do without “dead weight” like Hartnell, go look at the tapes. How many goals did Briere and Leino get while Hartnell was doing the unglamourous work in from of the net. Without those deflections, Briere especially would’ve lost about 30 percent of his production. There were very few players paying the price to be in front like that. And certainly not Jeff Carter.
@Lydia are you kidding me? Not Jeff Carter? He broke his foot last year standing infront of the net on a Chris Pronger slapshot, let’s not forget he then came back and played, with his foot still ailing. Jeff Carter is certainly not one who shy’s away from standing infront. And OK, if GAA is team based, and S% is positional, then Bryzgalov’s .879 S% this year should say it all. And don’t give me that bull that Phoenix wasn’t good, they finished with 107 points last season and allowed the least goals in the West, and Bryzgalov’s playoff numbers were a 3.43 GAA with a .906 S%, that’s better than the Flyers have finished this year and last year.
Comments are closed.