Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.
Who's In: A pair of ex-Islanders and no one else who is very exciting; Arron Asham, Bryan Berard, Ossi Vaananen, Glen Metropolit. Unlike last year, the Flyers did not make a big splash this summer, mainly due to cap concerns.
Who's Out: Salary dumps galore; RJ Umberger, Vaclav Prospal (who was a rental), Jim Dowd, Jaroslav Modry, Jason Smith.
What's Changed: Not a whole lot. The Flyers are basically returning the same team that finished sixth in the conference with 95 points a year ago minus RJ Umberger and his 50 points. Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul and Randy Jones all received contract extensions to push this team closer to the cap than any other in the NHL, according to NHLNumbers.com. But hey, at least Derian Hatcher's $3.5 mil will only count for one more year!
This team is basically going to stay the way it is for this season unless they unload some money. When they locked up $37 million on six players, you could could kind of see all this coming. Not that they're a bad team -- not at all -- the Flyers just happen to be locked into their current roster for the time being.
Who's on the Hook: I'm not really sure that there is anyone on the hook in Philly. This is a young team that made a lot of moves last summer and reaped the benefits. They're going back out there with about the same team this year and may have improved a bit with another year under the belt of some of their younger players. Honestly, if anyone is on the hook here, it's me for writing such a short preview.
Where They'll Finish: Continuing with the theme of similarities, I would predict a similar result for a similar team. It's going to be a highly competitive Atlantic Division again this year so that doesn't make the going any easier. They should make the playoffs, but it's going to be close. They're looking at finish between sixth and ninth in my book.
Blogs to Watch:
The 700 Level
NHL Preview 2008
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin will need to be a valuable franchise asset on and off the ice to get the season going for the Capitals.
Bruce Bennett, Getty Images
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lighting have Barry Melrose as their coach, the No. 1 pick from the summer's entry draft, and countless other boosts to their franchise.
Doug Benc, Getty Images
Carolina Hurricanes
Injuries have plagued this team last season and it looks like the story will be the same this season. The Hurricanes luck will have to improve for them to have a successful season.
Gerry Broome, AP
Atlanta Thrashers
Atlanta finished the 2007-08 season 22nd in the league in goals scored and also gave up the most goals in the NHL. Obviously, things have to change for this struggling team.
Dave Reginek, Getty Images
Florida Panthers
Armed with a new coach, the Panthers will have to improve from last season, as they allowed the second-most shots on goal and finished 20th in goals scored.
Eliot J. Schechter, Getty Images
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres have missed the playoffs the last two seasons despite being in the Conference Finals for two straight years prior, the biggest challenge for this team is re-building the chemistry that they had a few years ago.
Dave Reginek, Getty Images
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens are hoping that a couple minor tweaks and the experience of last year's run will combine to make this year's team all the more dangerous.
Richard Wolowicz, Getty Images
Boston Bruins
A big boost for this team will be a healthy Patrice Bergeron..
Andre Ringuette, Getty Images
Toronto Maple Leafs
If they can get a few goals to go in, Toronto is probably not nearly as bad as advertised. Making the playoffs is quite unlikely, but they certainly have bad company in the Eastern Conference.
Dave Sandford, Getty Images
Ottowa Senators
The Senators have a big question mark at defense and Jason Smith is wearing the target on his back.
Bjorn Larsson Rosvall, SCANPIX / AP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-26-2008 @ 6:29PM
er said...
yes you are on the hook here...way to mail it in. pretty lame if you ask me.
couldn't you at least mention that they will have simon gagne back (we'll see for how long but that's another story)?
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9-26-2008 @ 9:58PM
Stu said...
Exactly way to mail it in. Gagne could be huge. Oh yeah and then there is Claude Giroux.
6 - 9 finish? Come on, do your home work.
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9-26-2008 @ 10:34PM
Kevin Schultz said...
So are you guys trying to say that this is a team that can win the Atlantic or finish in the top 4? I know the East is wide open but come on. They still have the Pens and Devils to overtake, like it or not.
Giroux is unproven. I know he could be big time. There's no doubt he put up awesome numbers in the Q, but he still has to make that NHL transition. That doesn't always happen right away. Look, if Gagne and stays healthy and Giroux turns into a star real fast, the Flyers can be a top 4 team. I'll just believe it when I see it. I can picture the other kids (Richards, Carter, Coburn) making a big improvement, but I'm not ready to jump on board. That's all.
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9-26-2008 @ 11:12PM
shwedick said...
yea, that was just awful and lazy. dear God.
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9-27-2008 @ 11:56AM
phil said...
the flyers are a good team that should improve off last year because of 2 things. 1. this will be the 2nd year together for most of these guys. 2. the younger players { coburn, jones, parent, carter, richards} will continue to get better. the rangers took a step back losing jagr. the devils will go as an aging brodeur goes. don't forget one more thing, the pens lost some talent to free agency and have a bit less depth. flyers will be a top 5 team in east.
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9-27-2008 @ 2:09PM
KJ said...
it'll be pretty hard for the flyers to have gagne back and finish WORSE! umberger was a one season thing and its good we traded him before he wanted more money, and people cant forget that we still have briere and richards.
STANLEY CUP 09!
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10-03-2008 @ 9:29PM
agw said...
to say the flyers will finish between 6th and 9th is idiotic. the flyers main competition will be the caps and the canadiens. watch out for the lightning also. and dont forget other than game 5, we were in every game against the pens, but they were healthy and we were missing our 2 best d-man and our best goal scorer. lets not make the pens head and shoulders above us
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