Inside the Flyers: Flyers' return on Richards and Carter trades looking better and better
NEWARK, N.J. - With the season just past the halfway pole, it's a good time to reflect on Bombshell Day.
NEWARK, N.J. - With the season just past the halfway pole, it's a good time to reflect on Bombshell Day.
That was last June 23, when Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made the most stunning set of one-day moves in franchise history.
It was the day the Flyers dealt captain Mike Richards and sidekick Jeff Carter - star centers who were the faces of the franchise - and signed goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
The Carter trade was in the wind. The Richards deal was, well, off the shock meter.
Said club chairman Ed Snider at the time: "We would trade our own mothers if it made us better."
Three and a half months into the season, the deals have made the Flyers better, based on the numbers produced by the players in the respective trades.
Richards was sent to Los Angeles for Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, and a No. 2 pick in the 2012 draft. Carter was dealt to Columbus for Jakub Voracek, along with the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft - it turned out to be Sean Couturier - and a third-round selection that produced Nick Cousins, a feisty forward who entered the weekend with 23 goals and 52 points in 42 Ontario Hockey League games this season.
Here are the players' numbers heading into Saturday night:
Richards: 14 goals, 12 assists, plus-3 in 40 games. Average ice time per game: 19 minutes, 15 seconds.
Simmonds: 13 goals, 13 assists, even in 46 games. Average ice time: 15:46.
Schenn: two goals, two assists, minus-6 in 18 games. Average ice time: 12:34.
Carter: 10 goals, seven assists, minus-9 in 30 games. Average ice time: 19:57.
Couturier: 10 goals, eight assists, plus-16 in 42 games. Average ice time: 12:31.
Voracek: seven goals, 20 assists, plus-4 in 46 games. Average ice time: 16:24.
Totals for Flyers' acquisitions: 32 goals, 43 assists, plus-14.
Totals for Richards and Carter: 24 goals, 19 assists, minus-6.
The Flyers' acquisitions have combined for eight game-winning goals; Richards and Carter have zero game-winners.
Despite missing time with a concussion, Richards is tied for the Kings' lead with 14 goals. Simmonds, having a breakout season, has one less goal than Richards and has supplied toughness along the boards and in front of the net. Schenn has had an injury-plagued season and has yet to find his rhythm.
Thus far, the Richards portion of Bombshell Day has been fairly even, but in the long term it figures to favor the Flyers if Schenn blossoms into the player scouts project. And the second-round pick the Flyers will receive in June could further enhance the trade.
As for the Carter deal, the Flyers have gotten the best of it, primarily because Couturier looks like the steal of the 2011 draft.
Carter is out indefinitely with a separated shoulder. Couturier, who recently turned 19, has been arguably the Flyers' biggest surprise. A long shot to make the team in the preseason, he has excelled on the penalty kill and lately has demonstrated the offensive skills that produced consecutive 96-point seasons in the Quebec Junior League.
By now, you may be familiar with the story: Couturier contracted mono the year before the Flyers selected him, and the weight loss slowed him at the start of the 2010-11 season. That explains why a player, projected by some scouts to be the No. 1 overall pick, slipped to No. 8. Now he is being compared to a younger version of Jordan Staal.
The Flyers' 28-14-4 record is similar to the same point last season (30-11-5). They have five fewer points, but they have had Chris Pronger for only 13 games, and the star defenseman had played the majority of games in last year's first half.
Even without Richards and Carter, a pair of key special-teams performers, the Flyers' power play has improved (from 16.6 percent to a 19.5 percent success rate), and the penalty kill has been virtually the same (82.8 percent last season; 82.7 percent this season). And the production has increased slightly, from 3.12 goals per game to 3.35.
In short, despite a revamped roster that has numerous players that are still blossoming, the Flyers have not gone backward and have, to borrow one of coach Peter Laviolette's favorite words, more jam.
Asked if he would make the deals again, it took Peter Luukko a nanosecond to respond.
"Oh, sure," said the president of Comcast-Spectacor, the Flyers' parent company. "I think Peter wanted consistency . . . and he has that."
Give Holmgren props for his boldness - trading Richards and Carter was akin to the Phillies dealing Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in their primes - and for acquiring players who have validated the Great Makeover.
Now if only he can get his new goalie to live up to expectations.