| 2010-2011 NHL Statistics | July 1st Status | |||||||
| To Florida | Position | Age | GP | G | A | P | Years | Cap Hit |
| Kris Versteeg | F | 25 | 80 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 1 | $3.1 million |
| -------------------------- | ||||||||
| To Philadelphia | Position | Age | GP | G | A | P | Years | Cap Hit |
| Conditional 2nd Round Draft Pick | ||||||||
| 2012 3rd Round Draft Pick | ||||||||
With all the dealings that have been done by the Philadelphia Flyers, they really needed to shift some cap space out of town to accommodate some new faces and new cap hits. On the way out on Friday afternoon was Kris Versteeg, as the Flyers dealt him to the Florida Panthers for a couple of decent picks.
Versteeg, a Cup-winning player with the Blackhawks, rejoins former Chicago GM Dale Tallon in Florida, as many pieces of that championship team have now come down to Florida and have started a cloning situation. Versteeg is a versatile player that will have some new players to play with, but will likely find himself in another top six role at the start of the season, a spot that he didn't exactly flourish under in his time with Toronto.
The Flyers continue to do the organizational shuffle and adding draft picks is usually a good way to rebuild and re-tool. Dumping salary was also very key for the Flyers, who have spent a lot of extra money in the past couple of weeks.
Cap numbers for the two teams... the Flyers have a projected total of $58.1 million for 19 players, including 11 forwards, five defensemen and three goalies, while the anthers are up to $42.8 million projected for 17 players, including nine forwards, six defensemen and two goalies, plus a buyout.
July 1st wasn't just about getting players signed on, there were also some trades to talk about as well. The Capitals were planning on likely living life without goaltender Semyon Varlamov in the 2012 season, possibly seeing him sign over in Russia, due to a logjam in net in Washington. In light of that, the Capitals were able to swing a deal to send Varlamov over to Colorado and in return they received two very good draft picks.
The Flyers continued to break the hearts of their cross-state rivals, the Penguins, by signing another popular piece of their Stanley Cup history. Max Talbot signed a new deal with the Flyers, getting a 5-year deal, worth $9 million and will likely draw the ire of the fans from Pittsburgh for the deal's entirety.
Vrbata is a solid forward who can produce a fair amount of points, in 2011, he picked up 19 goals and 29 assists in 79 games in Phoenix, which was good enough to rank him 98th among all forwards. He should be considered to be a mid-round draft pick in the hockey pool this year and with some familiar faces surrounding him, it would be fair to expect the same kind of numbers from him.
First up on the list, Vern Fiddler signed a 3-year deal, which will pay the winger $5.4 million, a $1.8 million cap hit per season. Fiddler is a blue collar winger who likes to muck in the dirty areas of the ice. In 2011, he picked up 6 goals and 16 assists in 71 games with the Coyotes. He definitely has the right work ethic to do well in Dallas, which will be important.
Next up on the list, one of the few free agents from the Stanley Cup winning Bruins team, Michael Ryder, signed on with the Stars in the afternoon, putting pen to paper on a 2-year deal, which will pay him $7 million. Ryder played well for the Bruins in the regular season, picking up 18 goals and 23 assists in 79 games for the club, shifting up and down throughout the line-up.
First up, it is a homecoming of sorts for defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who signed a 4-year, $16.5 million deal to return to the team that initially drafted him 1st overall in 1994. In 2011, Jovanovski only played in 50 games and picked up 14 points, but some health issues really held him back. It will be interesting to see who he lines up with to start the season.
Next up on the list, forward Marcel Goc signed a 3-year deal, worth $5.1 million, adding some depth to the Panthers forward ranks. Goc only figured into 51 games for the Predators in 2011, scoring 9 goals and adding 15 assists. Goc is a versatile player and should be able to fit in with whoever is on his line and in whatever role they decide to give him.
After doctors had declared him healthy from a blood clot issue in his leg, Tomas Fleischmann quickly turned into a hot commodity on the market and it was the Panthers that came out on top of his sweepstakes, giving him a 4-year deal, worth $18 million. Fleischmann split the 2011 season between the Capitals and the Avalanche before his injury, playing in 45 games, scoring 12 goals and adding 19 assists. He's a dynamic player that may give some more offensive credibility to the team down the stretch.
Brunette should add some quality top six depth to the Blackhawks as a playmaking forward. In 2011 with the Wild, the 37-year old veteran picked up 46 points (18 goals and 28 assists) in 82 games, which ranked him 111th among all forwards.
In 2011, Voracek started to come out of his offensive shell, picking up 14 goals and 32 assists in 80 games with the Jackets, but a defensive system really stifled the creativity of the 21-year old Czech and the lack of talent linemates didn't help too much either. Thankfully for Voracek, the move to Philadelphia may have opened the door for a few more points in the 2012 season.