Trade Or No Trade, Flyers Hopes Rest On Ilya Bryzgalov
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Trading for a defenseman is not a topic that all Flyers insiders see the same way. The importance of Ilya Bryzgalov's success however, is one that they do.
Randy Miller, Flyers beat writer for the South Jersey Courier Post doesn't think the Flyers should make a deal for a defenseman. "I don't think you make a trade because I don't think there's a piece out there that can get these Flyers in the class of the Rangers, the Bruins, or the elite teams," Miller said in an interview with 94 WIP's Eytan Shander. "There are some years you have a chance to win the Cup, and I think at this point, two-thirds through the season, they have flaws. They've had a nice year, they have eight rookies in the lineup. Their goaltending situation is a mess right now. And I just don't see this team being an elite team."
Listen to the interview with Randy Miller:
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To Miller, the only thing that really matters is the Flyers goaltending. "Unless they get Bryzgalov playing like Tim Thomas, or Henrik Lundqvist, they don't have a shot," he said.
Though 94 WIP's Al Morganti thinks the Flyers will swing a minor deal for a defenseman, he also thinks Bryzgalov is the key to the Flyers making a run. "Bryzgalov's gotta get his game together, because there are no other options there," Morganti said on Monday. "The goalie mess, there's got to be some resolution to it." Morganti said under normal circumstances, the Flyers would trade for a goaltender at this point in the year. The number of years and dollars tied up in the Bryzgalov deal make that almost impossible.
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi agrees with Morganti on both points. "They do need to make a move, they do need to get somebody, a defenseman," he said of the Flyers trade prospects in an interview with 94 WIP's Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team. Again, it was Bryzgalov who was the focus, "they have to get the thermos man back on track. If he can get to the form he had in Phoenix, I'm not as discouraged."
Listen to the interview with Sam Carchidi:
