The Philadelphia Flyers Shut-Down Crew

The Philadelphia Flyers defense will look very different next year. Out is young 19-year-old Lucas Sbisa and in is the bottle-of-wine like Chris Pronger; quite good, and better with age too.
As Flyers fans think of the shift in age on the team, many panic and quickly judge the move.
Truth is—at this point, The Philadelphia Flyers average age is 28.185, well below the league average, and besides Pronger brings an offensive threat in his slap-shot, A teammates teammate with his leadership and teaching ability in such a young locker room, and a physical presence that is measured on the Richter Scale.
The Average size of Philly's top six defensemen is just over 6'0" and 200 pounds, and Pronger is no older then The Flyers returning oldest defenseman Timonen.
With 52 goals hitting the road in Lupul and Knuble, Coach Stevens will demand accountability out of his blue line; heres a quick look.

Chris Pronger

There were preliminary talks between Holmgren and the sun, in an attempt to get it to set in the east, thus making the city of Philadelphia more desirable to Ms. Pronger, but Chris assured the organization the city was a good fit for his family agreeing to a 7 year, $35 million dollar extension.
Get used to this guy Crosby, he's not your enemy because hes in orange and black, he's your nightmare because you have something that Pronger feels belongs to him (The Stanley Cup).
Philly is building the team that can finally defeat the hated Penguins, and Pronger is the anchor.
Hard to build up a guy whose reputation is better served through what he does on the ice rather then what others say about him.
Nonetheless his resume is the best in the organization (among active players) and if he plays out his eight years in Philly, that will tie for his longest tenure with any team.
May be old, but never forgets to take his medication, at 34 Pronger takes his angry pills every morning on gamedays, and in between periods too, becoming more physical as the game wears on.
With a seven year extension ready to kick in next year, Flyers fans might be biting their nails in the next couple of offseasons hoping this guy doesn't retire, however I have a-glass-half-full for you; there is no chance he plays beyond his contract with another team therein having the obligation to enforce the revenge factor on his old team, so it looks as if Richards and Carter will be able to keep their heads until the end of their playing career
(cannot say the same for other forwards in the east, a tip? enter the Flyers zone on the other side, not Pronger's side, you can try to beat him, but you may also be sipping your lunch from a straw if it doesn't go well.)

Kimmo Timonen

Most trustworthy Flyer with the puck on his stick, worthy of the assistant title but look for that to possibly shift to Prongers jersey. Not a knock against Kimmo, not very tall at 5'10" and 194 lbs but with his 3-40-43 line and his plus-19 rating while shutting down the leagues best, 'nuff said.
Championship material, if Philly wins it, Timonen plays a huge role.
Will benefit greatly with the presence of Pronger in the locker room, there will be no need to match him up against Cry Baby Crosby, Timonen's line can take either Malkins line or Crosby's line While Prongers takes on the other. Philly will have two pairs of shut down defenseman which bodes well for the team moving forward.

Braydon Coburn

At 6'5" and 220 lbs Coburn has Pronger potential, and with Pronger on the team look for Coburn to get right back on track with his development. While Coburn didn't take as many strides forward as The Organization would have liked, make no mistake, this guy can log serious minutes; game two vs. Pittsburgh Coburn played 33:46 minutes.
Power-play, penalty kill, or just straight up grind em out minutes, consider Coburn good-to-go (sure beats the heck out of Alexei Zhitnik too)

Ryan Parent

Parent is NHL regular ready, but at 6'3" he could fill out a bit more weighing in at only 183 lbs. Look for the maturation process to have assisted Parent in the off-season. Came to Philly from Nashville in part of the Forsberg deal, and should be a difference maker come April.

Matt Carle

Hmmm good kid and good player too, but the fact that he is expected to make $3.5 million in each of the next two years should pose as a red flag to Holmgren. weighing the pros and cons this guy may be more of a cap hit then a contributor in orange and black. If trades are likely to happen look for Carle to get traded for a goal-scoring forward or else a younger less expensive defenseman.

Randy Jones

Like Carle, Jones is very talented, but a little overpaid. However, with only one year left on his contract, as opposed to two, Jones may keep his spot on the blue line.
The reason why I call these last two guys trade material is not because of their lack of talent, in fact its certainly the opposite.
On a majority of other teams Jones would get his shot at cracking the top four, however with the direction the organization is going, the guys in their mid 20's earning $3 million and might be on the outs.

Kevin Marshall

With the departure of Sbisa, Kevin Marshall rises as the top defensive prospect in the organization.
With Marshall participating in his third prospect mini camp with the Flyers look for him to be ready when called upon to fill a hole with the pro team.
With four years in the Q, Marshall was hand picked by Patrick Roy as team Captain of the Quebec Ramparts

Free Agency

If the very mention of losing Sbisa made your stomach turn, your probably one of those fans saying 'well there's over two million in available cap space fill that seventh spot!'
However, good quality defensemen don't come at a discount price, unless they are 47 years old.
Don't cringe even at 47 Chelios is still one of the best conditioned athletes in the world, there is a reason why he won three Stanley Cups and three Norris Trophies as the leagues top defenseman.
What have you done for me lately?
in '06/'07 Chelios won the Mark Messier leadership award which isn't handed out to washed up 40+ year olds who should have retired years ago, its an award that is handed out to ONE captain each year, the captain deemed worthy by Mark Messier who knew a thing or two about being a captain, winning six Stanley Cups himself
If Philly were looking for leadership to help guide the young core through the ups and downs ( both of which Philly experience in a season to season basis) Chelios might just work.