No News Would Have Been Good News

As the 3:00 PM trade deadline got closer and closer, it appeared as though the Flyers were going to stand pat. Considering their position in the Eastern Conference standings and their limited salary cap flexibility, they would have done well to do nothing.

Then I read this posting on ESPN's running trade deadline blog:

"We just confirmed the Coyotes traded Daniel Carcillo to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Scottie Upshall and a second-round draft pick."

Why the hell would they make a move like that? In case you're not familiar with Carcillo, check out his stat line. So basically they traded a young, third-line winger with speed and grit who can chip in a few goals AND a second round draft choice for a poor man's Riley Cote. Brilliant.

So what was the purpose? It's not like they cleared a ton of salary by moving Upshall ($1.25 million). Maybe they did it to set up another move.

That second move? Acquiring defenseman Kyle McLaren from the San Jose Sharks organization. Not the Sharks, but their AHL affiliate. Again, its hard to see the logic in this one. Does McLaren crack the top six, or was this a move to bolster the Phantoms' Calder Cup chances?

Before the deadline, the Flyers had three solid lines (Mike Richards centering Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble, Jeff Carter pivoting Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul, and Danny Briere between Claude Giroux and Upshall). They also had the option of swapping Upshall and Gagne to and creating a modern-day French Connection line with Gagne, Briere, and Giroux.

With Upshall gone, it will be hard for John Stevens to juggle his lines. You can't play Aaron Asham, Cote, and Carcillo together. They'd spend more time in the penalty box than on the ice. Would that line get four minutes of ice time in a playoff game?

Thier D pairings were also good - Kimmo Timonen with Ryan Parent, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn, Randy Jones and Andrew Alberts. Whose shifts does McLaren take?

The formula was in place for the Flyers to make another run - settle on a starting goalie (Read: Antero Niittymaki), stay healthy, and secure home-ice advantage in the first round. I'm not saying that still won't happen, but I liked their chances a lot more yesterday than I do today.

All because Paul Holmgren made trades simply for the sake of making trades.