-Nick Carroll

The summer of 2007 proved to be the crucial turning point for the Flyers, wiping out memories of a brutal 2006-07 season and recharging a proud organization that would go on to make the Eastern Conference Finals two of the following three seasons, including this year’s Cup run. 

That all started with the well-documented trade for the rights of defenseman Kimmo Timonen and left wing Scott Hartnell. With this in mind, it would be understandable to generate excitement over the Flyers dealing for the rights of defenseman Dan Hamhuis from Nashville (which were dealt to Pittsburgh last Friday) and later goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

However, it is becoming clear that the landscape of the NHL and salary cap management is changing.

When the Flyers dealt for Timonen and Hartnell, the team had a great deal of cap space and basically handed the players blank checks. At the time these moves were necessary, the team needed a culture change and Timonen and Hartnell, as well as Danny Briere, helped provide that. But in retrospect, the Hartnell and Briere contracts look like mistakes, and mistakes like these do not allow the Flyers the cap freedom to overpay players such as Hamhuis and Nabokov to prevent them from hitting the open market.

What this means is that the most promising trade the Flyers made through free agency may have been to deal Hamhuis to Pittsburgh for the Pens’ third-round pick in 2011. There is no guarantee that Hamhuis will sign in Pittsburgh due to logistics (Canadian media believes he wants to sign closer to home, Vancouver, B.C.) and demands (reportedly wanted the Flyers to promise him being listed as one of the team’s top three defensemen).

Overall, it just seems like Hamhuis wants to test the market unless he gets bowled over with a contract approaching five million, and considering the Penguins pricey investments into Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, the Flyers would probably be just fine with Pittsburgh tying up another large chunk of their salary cap into another individual.

However, going back to the only team that matters, soon after the Flyers dealt the rights the Hamhuis, they decided to press their luck with the rights of another soon-to-be free agent in Nabokov. If the Flyers were to lock up the Russian goalie, he would mark the first reliable goalie the Flyers have had since young Hextall, ending a search that lasted over two decades.

However, it does not appear likely that the Flyers will be able to reach an agreement with Nabokov. Throughout the franchise’s history, the Flyers generally save money on the goaltending position and use these funds in other places. Nabokov made $5.4 million last year, and it is highly unlikely the Flyers would make an offer in that neighborhood, especially considering that the team still needs to re-sign Braydon Coburn, as well as bring in another defensemen and only has 10 forwards and Riley Cote under contract. Also, the team has the looming free agencies of playoff heroes Claude Giroux (restricted) and Ville Leino next summer. Considering all of these factors, the Flyers have the cap space ($10.6 million) to bring in another short term answer, but probably do not have the ability or the desire to lock up a long term, high priced answer. The team will not be able to give Nabokov an offer he can’t refuse, like it has done for free agents-to-be in the past.

Another sign the Flyers will not break the bank on a goaltender comes in the ESPN report that the team offered a three-year, $6 million offer to Marty Turco, who declined. The $2 million-per-year offer would be in line with the Flyers’ history of low price history, even in the case dealing with a big name. Most likely, Nabokov would receive similar treatment (granted, he would obviously receive a more enticing offer than Turco, who has struggled the past few seasons in Dallas).

Nabokov, who will be 35 when the season starts, also has the option to head overseas to the KHL in his homeland, Russia. Nabokov does not have to settle for a Flyers offer that will probably be somewhere in the $4 million range and would most likely be limited in years.

What all this means is that the Flyers will probably be heading into July 1st with the same issues that the team currently has now, rendering all of these draft day dealings pointless. Meaning that, on top of filling out the roster, the Flyers will be in hot pursuit of the answer in net just like every other summer for the past 15 or so years.