Carter Traded to Columbus

			2010-2011 NHL Statistics				July 1st Status
To Columbus	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Jeff Carter	F	26	80	36	30	66	11	$5.3 million
--------------------------
To Philadelphia	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Jakub Voracek	F	21	8	14	32	46	0	RFA
2011 1st Round Draft Pick
2011 3rd Round Draft Pick

Well, if the Philadelphia Flyers are to sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a long-term deal, they were going to have to move out some salary cap space and as it was rumoured for some time, it was Jeff Carter who received the axe, falling down on Thursday afternoon.

For Carter, the Flyers receive Jakub Voracek, a skilled centre that hasn't found his way with the Blue Jackets in his first few seasons with the club and some top end draft picks as well.  A 1st and a 3rd round pick should be a good turnaround for a quality player like Carter.

On the flip side, the Blue Jackets may have found themselves a real centre to play with Rick Nash, as he has already developed in the NHL as a 26-year old forward.  Carter has some playoff experience and some crafty offensive skills.

Cap figures for the Flyers got a little rosier with this deal, but now they have two players to sign and not just one.  Currently, I have the Flyers at 16 players (9 forwards, 5 defense and two goalies) at an annual cap projection of $53.1 million.  With the cap ceiling projected to hit $64 million, that leaves under $11 million for the last five to seven players, including a huge extension for Bryzgalov.

In Columbus, the cap situation was looking far more like the Jackets may struggle to hit the cap floor, but a deal like this for a large lump sum, does help them out this year and for the next 10 seasons after this.  With Carter now in the fold, I have the Jackets in at a projected cap rate of $41.6 million for 14 players and a buyout, giving them only $6.4 million to the cap floor for only seven to nine players.  There should be no troubles with the floor now.

I'm a big fan of this deal for the Blue Jackets, I think this is the deal that may give them that lift in the Central Division, not to mention the scoring race, that will get them into the playoffs once again. If Carter and Nash can gain some sort of chemistry or magic together, this deal will pay for itself in the long run.

For the Flyers, they are about to take a pretty good gamble on Bryzgalov as their number one guy, but with some pretty good defense in front, it might not be a bad gamble to have him in the line-up, maybe just an overly-expensive price to pay for this gamble.  In Voracek, the Flyers will get to work with another good offensive talent, give him some more offensive players to work with than what he was working with in Columbus, thus likely increasing his stock value for the coming season.  Two high end picks will also work for the long-term in Philadelphia, which is also very exciting for Philly fans.