Philly Profits

As horrible as this season has been in Philadelphia, Paul Holmgren is giving Flyer fans a reason to believe.

Over the past few weeks, Holmgren has aggressively swung a series of trades that have the potential to turn the Flyers into one of the NHL's better young teams.

Now, they have a goalie in 29-year-old Martin Biron to add to that mix. It's a similar move that the Maple Leafs made last summer to get Andrew Raycroft, with the Flyers hoping that a goalie who couldn't nail down the No. 1 job in Buffalo will be able to be a sure-fire starter in Philly.

Beyond that, in trading away Peter Forsberg and Alexei Zhitnik the Flyers have added two impressive young blueliners in Ryan Parent and Braydon Coburn, an energetic forward with upside in Scottie Upshall and a variety of draft picks, including a first rounder from Nashville.

Add those to a roster that already includes Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Joni Pitkanen, R.J. Umberger, Alexandre Picard and Lasse Kukkonen

And Simon Gagne is only 25.

Next season, it appears, both NHL teams based in Pennsylvania will have the appealing look of youth.

Comments

[Sanj]

I was actually shocked with what happened in Philly. I never would have thought that they would have collapsed like they did. The thing is I don't think they are bad as their record has shown. They have a lot of talent on their roster. Now they have acquired some good young prospects, and some draft picks through trades. And let's not forget that they will have a high draft pick during this year's draft. Wouldn't surprise me if Philly is the most improved team next year.