I am not against us trading Kari, but can you really see us sticking with Pavelec and Hedberg as our 1-2? I would still get another goalie, and ship off Moose or just let him go. Again, the list of goalies that I posted a few days ago, I am sure if we offered at least double for what some of them are making, we will come in under what Kari was paid, and be getting a good deal. I mean Conklin is only getting $750K, Weekes- 700K, and Clemmensen is making 500K. I don’t know if we can get Conklin because if I am Detroit, I would resign him as soon as I can. If NJ signs Clemmensen, which I would too, then that leaves Weekes. He is not bad either, and you just know that NJ is going to have to let one of those two go. I still say we get one of these underpaid backups.

St. Louis played Holt last night as Mason faltered. Is he any good too?

Not taking anything away from what you say about van Riemsdyk, I am sure that it would be a great trade, but I still think that we need to get another goalie.

YEah, I saw Mirtle’s take on the 1-2 goalie tandem, and I think that is what we have tried to have. But it is too lopsided.
Why do you think Sterling won’t make it?

You still haven’t said what goalies you would go after, Falconer. Who do you like? Who do you think we have a chance at landing?

I can see this deal happening at some point but not at the deadline. The Flyers have a chance to go deep into the playofs:Lehtonen has no playoff experience to speak of (since his only experience was truly unspeakable). You can say Theodore to the Avs, Huet to the Caps but both of those teams were much more desperate than the Flyers and their playoff chances much murkier. From the Thrashers point of view, the UFA goalies this coming summer are much older than Lehtonen and shopworn (Fernandez, Khabibulin, Biron, Nittimayki-I’m assuming Thomas will resign with Boston). Putting Lehtonen into that market would fetch much more than Van Riemsdyk,imo.

Why would Philly make this trade at the deadline? I think that Nittymaki-Biron are fine. Philly ‘s defense is good enough. Biron is up and down, but he played well enough in the playoffs to get them to the Eastern Conference Finals. If I am Holmgren and Stevens, I wouldn’t do a thing. This is typical Flyers crap. They are gritty, and if their key guys stay healthy, they have as good a chance as anyone to win the Eastern Conference. Instead of the Pens in the final, for my money, it is going to be tough to call, but Boston, Philly and Washington. Philly is just one of those teams you can never count out. Washington is better this year than last year; if Theodore is on, then they will go far! Boston is also so much better too! I don’t really see any other team threatening any of those three. Well, the Devils, actually may. They are better this year too, but if they are getting beat by Florida, I don’t know. When Brodeur is back, I guess we will see. Their offense is better this year than last. Parise has stepped it up, and they have Rolston and Shanahan this year. The leadership Shanahan provides may make a difference. Also, if they have a few key players like Boston now has, it can make all the difference in the world. If they can score, then they have a better chance. That was their problem last year; Brodeur was awesome, but no scoring.

Getting back to the Van Riemsdyk for Lehtonen trade, if they get Lehtonen, who would you let go? I guess Biron or would it be Nittymaki? Both are UFAs this summer, and Biron is more expensive. I would resign Nittymaki and let Biron go. Although Nittymaki will probably ask for more money, and if he becomes the #1, he should ask for more too.

I know that some of those goalies are older, big pix guy, but they are still proving their worth. Khabibulin may be injured right now, but he is the reason why Chicago is in 4th and are holding that spot; not Huet. Although Huet played well last night. Fernandez doesn’t seem as dominant as Tim Thomas, but he is still playing effectively. If they are available, I would still take them, but I would go after a younger goalie first. Biron is 31, Conklin is 32; Fernandez is 34; Khabibulin is 39; Theodore is 32; Anderson is 27; Niittymaki is 28, Clemmensen is 31; Weekes is 33. Of that group, my top choices are, in this order: Conklin, Anderson, Clemmensen and Niittymaki. And really I would take either Niittymaki or Anderson equally. Weekes, although I think he is not as good as Clemmensen, I would stil consider him too. Weekes is going to be 34 in a month, and even though he and Fernandez are about the same age, it seems that Fernandez gets injured a lot. I would rather have Weekes than Fernandez just for that reason alone. Why get another goalie that is going to be injury prone? Anyhow, getting another forward is not a bad idea since we don’t know if Kovalchuk is going to stay or not after the deadline or even after next season, but it never hurts to have another blue chip forward prospect. Especially if we are trading away a goalie who, plays well sometimes, but is not consistent enough to be a good #1 goalie for a team that is trying to improve. I think this is why the Islanders are struggling, in a way, too. DiPietro is good, but he is always injured. I think the Isles jumped the gun when they signed him long term.

Kari lacks the game-in-game-out consistency that’s required to be a top 5 NHL goalie. James Van R. has tremendous talent. A weak supporting cast hurt his performance at the junior championship, not his own talent. That Canada team wa just too deep.

… and I’m not convinced Pavelec is ready to be #1. For Kari, the light seems to be coming on – he’s battling and starting to play like a #1 goalie – maybe not the best in the league, but certainly a solid one. As important as that position is, it seems that trading him for a prospect carries significant downside risk. Sure Riemsdyk looks like he’ll be good, but do you really trade an NHL goalie for a projected 2nd line prospect?

If Van R. is a 2nd line prospect, we have plenty of those already. I don’t think that Pavelec is ready to be the #1 goalie. I know that other teams are interested in Pavelec too, and Guy Carbonneau has been quoted recently as saying that Kari is still a good goalie even though his stats don’t show that. But there is what we have seen here in Atlanta, and we need a goalie that is going to be solid, consistent, and doesn’t get injured mysteriously every October/November every season, and then plays strong when he comes back when it may be too late to qualify for the playoffs. We need a goalie that is committed to playing well night in and night out, and is going to stay healthy. That is why I posted the list I did of goalies up for UFA; there are some goalies in that list that are being paid very little and are not appreciated by the teams they play for. I still can’t believe that Conklin is getting less than 1 mill when he is the one that helped Pittsburgh get into the finals not Fleury. And Fleury is having a crap season right now. I think the lack of a good backup is also hurting them, but they are not publicly admitting it. I think Shero made a huge mistake not resigning Conklin. And, they coud have afforded him! On the contrary, Detroit is benefitting from his great play while Osgood has been dismal. I would be paying for him to be a #1 not a #2! To me, he is clearly worth more. I just wonder if he would play anywhere or would he be so selective that he would not come here. I wonder if DW or ASG even gave him a thought. If they don’t after this season, then they are fools; similarly, Detroit would be foolish to let him go! I don’t see them letting him go, but I wonder if they have any young goalie prospects waiting in the wings. I just made a pun! ha ha. Anyhow, I just can’t sit through another season with this repetition of Kari and Hedberg’s up and down play. I know that on some nights, the defense and the defense played by our forwards does not help, but ultimately it comes down to the goalie too. Look at Brodeur, you can’t tell me that he did not have a bad defense after Rafalski and Niedermayer were gone, and he didn’t give up. I mean Kari has played some great games since he has been back, but what about the 1st half of the season and the injury? Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if he takes that time off not because he is injured, but because he is mentally frustrated with the way the rest of the team is playing?!?! I am sure that I am not alone in this assumption.