Flyers' next big moves will wait

NEWARK, N.J. - Last week, Paul Holmgren predicted "a lot of funny things" would happen beginning at the NHL draft, with the salary cap shrinking nearly $6 million next season.

Holmgren might not be wrong. But yesterday's seriously hyped draft day was just about as unexciting as one of the Flyers' final games last season.

"At the draft, sometimes you get locked into just drafting," Holmgren said. "There's still 4 or 5 days before free agency starts, so there's plenty of time for lots of action around the league."

Holmgren said the Flyers' 11th overall pick generated a ton of interest in the deep first-round draft class.

"We had quite a few calls to move down," Holmgren said. "We had identified two or three players and Samuel [Morin] was one of them. Once we knew he was going to be there, we had no intention of moving back."

Otherwise, Holmgren spent most of his time at the draft chatting with Edmonton general manager Craig MacTavish. The Oilers are interested in adding Braydon Coburn, and it appears an offer remains on the table, but Holmgren wasn't willing to pull the trigger yesterday.

Coburn, 28, has 3 years left on his deal at $4.5 million per season. He is perhaps the Flyers' best puck-carrier, but also their most-sought defenseman on a roster that needs to shave spending.

A source close to Coburn told the Daily News that his camp had not been contacted about any trade as of last night. Coburn has a limited no-trade clause in which he had to submit a list of suitable destinations to the Flyers last July 1. That list has not been updated. If the Flyers were to work out a trade with a team on his list, he would not need to be notified in advance of a deal.

"We bounced around a lot of ideas, but I wouldn't say we were ever close," Holmgren said.

MacTavish told reporters that you "generally default to no deal vs. doing a bad deal."

When asked if the Flyers will to continue to shed salary, after clearing off $12.16 million through compliance buyouts of Danny Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov last week, Holmgren said: "We may."

Perhaps the most interesting nugget of the weekend came on Saturday, with the news that free-agent forward Vinny Lecavalier and agent Kent Hughes met with the Flyers' brass. Lecavalier, 33, was bought out from his deal by Tampa Bay on Thursday.

He is due to earn $32 million over the next 14 years, nearly $9 million more than the Flyers paid to have Bryzgalov play elsewhere.

Lecavalier is about to cash in twice, since he has become the hot-ticket free agent in a barren market. Sources say Lecavalier, who posted 0.82 points-per-game over the last four seasons, could bring in as much as $20 million over 4 years.

Free agency opens Friday at noon. Lecavalier, who is believed to desire a non-pressure-packed market, can clearly help any team. But where do the Flyers stand in that mix?

"I have no idea," Holmgren said. "We met Saturday night. I thought it went well. But who knows?"

Lecavalier's camp also met with Montreal, Dallas, St. Louis, Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto.

Holmgren seemed thrilled with the Flyers' second-round selection of Swedish defenseman Robert Hagg. Some observers possibly saw Hagg, the seventh-ranked European skater, being selected late in the first round before he slid to the Flyers at No. 41.

Hagg, 18, is known as a "project pick," with kinks to work out, but his upside is solid. He already has a half-season playing against men in the Swedish Elite League.

"He's one of the guys we had in the group that we were hoping would still be there when we selected," Holmgren said. "We were happy to snap him up. Robert has good size, he moves good. We like his overall game."

Doylestown native Eamon McAdam, a goalie from Team Comcast's "AAA" program, was drafted by the New York Islanders in the third round (70th overall).

McAdam, 18, finished off his third season with the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks ranked as the sixth-best North American-born goaltending prospect. He will attend Penn State in the fall, in time for the Big Ten's inaugural hockey season.

Fourteen picks later, Winnipeg nabbed Downingtown native Jimmy Lodge at 84th overall. Lodge, 18 and a lifelong Flyers fan, posted 67 points in 64 games with the OHL's Saginaw Spirit. He's likely to report back to Saginaw next season.

Two other players of local interest went undrafted: John Stevens and Steven Duda. Stevens, the son of former Flyers coach John Stevens, trained locally with Team Comcast before moving on to Dubuque (USHL). He was the 182nd-ranked North American skater. Steven Duda, from Warrington, played for the Philadelphia Revolution junior team and Saint John (QMJHL), but slid out of Central Scouting's final rankings.