Philadelphia Flyers: 5 Reasons They Were Crazy to Deal for Pavel Kubina

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, with results that were underwhelming in the wake of all the hype. The Philadelphia Flyers particularly were expected to make a big move, either taking a pass at Rick Nash, finding some temporary relief in goal or acquiring a replacement for fallen defenseman Chris Pronger.

Instead, Philly’s biggest move leading up to the deadline was the acquisition of Tampa Bay defenseman Pavel Kubina in exchange for Jon Kalinski, a conditional second-round draft pick and a 2013 fourth-round draft pick.

In some ways, the addition of Kubina has made the Flyers an improved team. He brings a right-handed shot from the point and some extra long-range firepower on the power play. He helped the team get bigger in its own zone and can be physical.

However, the trade was not a deal the Flyers needed to make, and even though they gave up little for Kubina’s services, the franchise may find themselves regretting the move long-term.

Kubina Is Not a Long-Term Solution

Pavel Kubina was brought to the Flyers as the result of a problem: Team captain and future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger was lost for the season due to concussion issues. At age 36, and dealing with an ailment that has shown little signs of improvement, Pronger’s issues may take him out of commission for more than just this season. Many are speculating that the powerful veteran has played his last game.

Kubina, while sufficient as a temporary plug on a defense needing a little extra muscle, is not a true fix for the Flyers. Kubina is nearly the same age that Pronger was when the Flyers acquired him, with a fraction of the credentials. The Flyers invested in Pronger because they felt he was a true alpha-defenseman in a lineup with great potential. The team invested in Kubina because he seemed like the closest thing to a poor man’s Chris Pronger out of the names available on the trade market.

The Flyers, a franchise with tons of potential and bright days on the horizon, will need a true anchor on the blue line in order to reach elite status. Kubina is not that player. He is likely a rental defenseman in a season that seems to be fading for a Flyers squad suffering injuries and performance setbacks on the home stretch.

The Flyers Are Invested in the Future

Last offseason, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made a statement about his team: By trading away the team’s captain in Mike Richards and top goal scorer in Jeff Carter, he moved to invest in a better future at the expense of the present.

With an early season lineup featuring the likes of Matt Read, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, the Flyers’ immediate ambitions appeared to be as low as they had been in years. The team seemed competitive, but in many ways, 2011-12 was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

Of course, the team’s young talent has performed above and beyond expectation, and soon, the team found themselves in the midst of realistic Stanley Cup talks. Despite the success, it is important to keep in mind that this team’s brightest days are supposedly yet to come.

Taking on a rental like Kubina was nothing more than an attempt to reignite the notion that this could be “the year.” Kubina may help the team stay afloat, but with powerhouses like the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins hitting their stride, the Flyers’ chances for a Cup in 2012 seem slim.

As the team improves in the coming years and Kubina turns out to be simply a brief rental, it will become clear how pointless this trade was.

The Team Got Bigger by Adding Nicklas Grossman

Undoubtedly, before making a few trades in February, the Flyers saw size on defense as a concern. Andrej Meszaros and Marc-Andre Bourdon were the only significant physical forces in the lineup once Pronger went down, and this resulted in teams having an easier time strong-arming themselves to the front of the net.

Just days before acquiring Kubina, the Flyers made a move to add 230 pounds of toughness in Dallas’ Nicklas Grossman. Grossman seemed to round out the Flyers defense at a fair price while keeping rookie Bourdon’s development on track.

Within minutes of trading for Kubina, though, the Flyers sent Bourdon to their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. While Kubina is bigger than Bourdon and has more experience, it seemed pointless to bring in physicality only to replace one of the team’s more physical players.

By adding Grossman days earlier, the Flyers had addressed a need, yet they would go on to address it again with Kubina at the expense of one of the team’s future starters.

The Flyers Don't Need an Offensive-Minded Defenseman

One of Kubina’s biggest assets is his offensive abilities. He has put up at least 38 points in a season four times since 2005-06, including two 40-point campaigns.

With the Flyers being one of the top offensive teams in the league already, it begs the question: Why was it necessary to bring in a blue-liner whose primary benefits are on the offensive side of the puck?

The Grossman trade made sense because of Grossman’s size and stay-at-home style of play. But Kubina puts extra offensive spin on a group that already has Andrej Meszaros, Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle providing points.

Philadelphia’s struggles have been in its own zone, but the team seems intent on masking its defensive and goaltending issues with a crazy solution: more offense. If indeed the Flyers are looking to make a Cup run this year, instead of investing in coming seasons like they should, the organization is still picking a dangerous way to go about it.

Kubina Impedes the Flyers' Ability to Acquire a Pronger Replacement

Assuming that Pronger finds himself unable to return to the game, finding that powerful presence on defense and special teams will be top priority for the Flyers in the offseason.

By adding Kubina for the remainder of this year, the Flyers have veiled just how important acquiring Pronger’s replacement will be. Kubina’s services might be enough to mask Pronger’s absence for half of a season, but there is little chance that the team considers him a long-term replacement for the franchise’s top defenseman from the past 10 years.

With Kubina on the roster, it opens the temptation to re-sign him in the offseason. This would prevent the Flyers from going after someone younger in which they could make a big-time investment. And as a result, the Flyers would be settling for an average defensive corps, as opposed to the elite group we are used to seeing when Pronger is in the lineup to anchor the group.

Snagging Shea Weber may be a pipe dream for Flyers fans, but if the team gets focused on retaining Kubina for a few extra years, acquiring any important defenseman becomes a more complicated task for the team.