By Brian Capobianco
 
The Flyers were big players at the start of this off-season, trading a pick for the signing rights of Dan Hamhuis and a seventh round pick for the rights to Evgeni Nabokov. This off-season was going to be different from most of the team’s previous off-seasons, where the Flyers have gained somewhat of a reputation for not making the moves they need to make to improve the team. But every Flyers
fan started to get that feeling that this promising free agent period could be spoiled when the Orange and Black shipped the rights to Hamhuis off to Pittsburgh and couldn’t sign Nabokov before the July 1st deadline, on top of that reports started coming out that former All-Star goaltender Marty Turco turned down an offer the Flyers made to him. Flyers fans didn’t know what was going to happen come 12:00 PM on July 1st. But any fears that this would be another quite off-season for the Fly Guys were quickly squashed, as the Flyers became the most active team of the off-season so far. The Flyers signed, resigned, and traded for 5 players,all of whom are key components to what the Flyers need to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals.
 
Michael Leighton G
2 Years, $3.1 Million
($1.55Mil per Year)
Leighton earned his spot during the year and even more so during the playoffs.  Leighton has never gone into a season expecting to be the #1 goalie, so his full potential as a starter has never been realized. Let’s not forget about Boston’s Tim Thomas, who had never been a starter leading into the 2008-09 Season and won the Vezina Trophy for the NHL’s best Goaltender that year. The best part about signing Leighton is the Cap Hit, Leighton was dirt cheap, especially compared to players like Nabokov and Turco who were looking for somewhere close to$6 Million.
 
Braydon Coburn
2 Years, $6.4 Million
($3.2Mil per Year)
Coburn was a big part of the Flyers playoff run, and even if the Flyers signed another defenseman it wouldn’t have improved the team unless they kept Coburn. The Flyers were a defenseman short of winning the cup, the big four (Pronger, Carle,Timonen. Coburn) got worn out so changing Coburn for another defenseman wouldn’t have changed a thing.
 
Andrej Meszaros
4Years, $16 Million
($4 Mil per Year)
First off, it’s pronounced On-drey Mez-ar-oh-se.  We picked up Meszaros from a trade with Tampa Bay, giving up only a second round pick in the 2012 draft.  While Meszaros hasn’t had the best few seasons in Tampa he was nearly a All-Star when he played in Ottawa.  Meszaros is known as an offensive weapon from the point, so expect him to play on the second Power Play unit. He was also the 2nd defenseman on the Slovakian Olympic team which finished 4th at the Vancouver games (Boston’s Zdeno Chara was the teams top D). Meszaros is a former 1st round pick, and is only 24 years old. While he does have a hulking cap hit at $4 mil a year, he has a large upside and he is exactly what the Flyers needed.
 
Sean O’Donnell
1 Year, $1 Million ($1
Mil perYear)
O’Donnell is 38 years old, which isn’t great, but he is a strong6th defenseman. A true defensive defenseman (he’s only scored
255points in 1107 games) but you don’t hang around long in this league if you can’t play. Another bonus is that O’Donnell has only missed 31games since 1997. Signing O’Donnell also means that Oskars Bartulishas more of a chance to develop in the minors. The Flyers learned there lesson with Ryan Parent, who was put on the big club when he wasn’t ready, so he disappeared in the playoffs and was sent of to Nashville in the ill-fated deal for Hamhuis.
 
Jody Shelley
3Years, $3.3 Million
($1.1 Mil per year)
Shelley is an enforcer,so he will take up the mantle left by Carcillo, Asham, and Riley Cote(who is oddly enough still under contract).
The Flyers needed a new enforcer, and Shelley isn’t a bad one, but the Flyers paid him too much for too long. Jody Shelley is 34 years old, by the time his contract runs he will be geriatric by enforcer’s standards. Shelley has only ever scored 49 points, which is unacceptable for any forward even an enforcer. But Shelley still has an upside, unlike Carcillo and Cote, Shelley actually wins fights, and because he has the speed to play the game he doesn’t get called for chippy slashing and hooking penalties when he is trying to slowdown better players as they skate past him.Shelley also doesn’t have to be an everyday player, he’s only played more than 65 games in a season 5 times, which means Shelley could be a‘Healthy Scratch’ for 15 to 25 games, giving younger players a chance to get more playing time, notably Andreas Nodl who played well during the playoffs.
 
What to look forward to
The free agent period is still young and some of the biggest fish are still in the pond. There have been numerous rumors of a ‘Carter to Montreal deal,which would be used to clear cap space. That could lead to another big signing(such as Ilya Kovalchuk or Evgeni Nabokov). Such a deal could also open up space for the Flyers pick up another player via trade. Boston is looking to unload Marc Savard’s $4 Million dollar cap hit and long his contract (he’s signed through 2017). So if the Flyers trade Jeff Carter look for them to
pick up either Kovalchuk, Savard, or Nabokov.If they hold on to Carter, expect him to be dealt before the trade deadline, and if Leighton is struggling expect Carter to Florida for Goaltender Tomas Vokoun sometime in early March.