Sharks/Flyers Strike A Deal
2017-07-07The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired veteran center "Jumbo" Joe Thornton from the San Jose Sharks. Thornton joins the Flyers with 1 year remaining on his current deal. GM Mucyk "We are very pleased and excited to have Joe joining our team. As a fan he is one of my favorite players. This was a deal that had been in the works for sometime now, dating back to talks we had with Mr.Phillips during the playoffs. We went back and forth and came to these final pieces a few days ago which I then took my time and really debated the move in my head.
It was really tough to give up some of these young kids, but we feel that our prospect cupboards are quite stocked so we have plenty of assets and could afford to lose a few. Once these kids we have start to develop we will not have enough spots for everyone to play. We've got the expansion draft coming up and our list has been prepared for sometime now. So when we looked at the guys and positions we plan to focus on drafting, moving these assets now became a lot easier."
It is expected that Gabriel Landeskog will flank Joe on his left side, and Thronton may get an A on his jersey in Philly.
The Flyers currently own two 1sts, two 3rds, and a 6th round pick in the upcoming draft. Prior to the trade deadline the Flyers were toying with the notion of moving a pick or two, however that has changed and the organization is quite happy and looking forward to making their selections.
This years training camp will be a crowded affair with a lot of young lads out on the ice trying their best in hopes of making the team. Pavel Buchnevich is one of those lads, and the organization feels that he is just about ready to join the Flyers this upcoming season. The coaching staff will take a long hard look as many believe they would be hard pressed to keep him out of the lineup.
With Matt Murray expecedt to be the Flyers #1 goalie of the future, and having Budaj signed for the upcoming 2017-2018 season to back him up giving the Flyers a pretty solid tandem in the crease, Philadelphia hopes that Charlie Lindgren will be ready to step in and become the teams backup come the 2018-2019 season and on.
Down the middle the Flyers are awaiting Dylan Strome. For now though for this upcoming season we should see Jean Gabriel Pageau as the teams #3 with Radek Faksa taking 4th line duties. Travis Zajac will slot into either center the teams top line, or possibly the 2nd. That will depend on where the team decides to put Thornton.
With former head coach Claude Julien's contract having expired, it is expected that the Flyers will not be looking to retain Mr.Julien as the organization feels that a fresh face heading forward is best.
The Flyers have many holes to fill prior to the puck drop of the 2017-2018 season, but with plenty of cap space you can expect many things to be happening out in Philly before then so stay tuned.
I will have a big (due to the # of young guys I have) article talking about everyone young player I have here within the next couple of days.