Philadelphia Flyers: No Trades, Is This Good News?

Mark RitterMar 3, 2010

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

For a good portion of the NHL season numerous members of the Philadelphia Flyers have been linked to trade rumors, including the likes of Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne, Ryan Parent and Daniel Carcillo.

Coming the other way were Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle, Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco and a slew of others. As it turned out, none of the rumors had teeth as the Flyers neglected to make any significant trades on or before today’s deadline.

To say that hearing your name in trade rumors is a distraction is an understatement, but part of the business of hockey nonetheless—and to their credit, each one of these players have fought through all the rumors and put together a decent season for themselves.

Sure, Gagne, Parent and Briere would like to have had a better season, but they have all suffered from injuries, which has affected their games significantly.

Most recently many fans were petitioning for the Flyers to bring in a “legitimate” goaltender—a comment that has often left me question whether or not the Flyers faithful have been paying attention.

Through 18 games with the Flyers Michael Leighton (the Flyers fans latest whipping boy) has amassed a record of 13-3-1 with a 2.18 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

Looking at what was available at the deadline, you would be hard pressed to have found an upgrade in net, especially when you consider the price the Flyers would likely have had to pay for, what I perceive, to be nothing more than a band-aid solution between the pipes for the Orange and Black.

Here is the skinny on Leighton’s numbers. The 2.18 GAA Leighton has earned with the Flyers would rank him third amongst NHL goalies and his .926 SV% would rank Leighton third as well.

Critics would argue that we must look at the whole picture, after all, Leighton played some 27 games as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, which would give Leighton a combined 2.69 GAA and .908 SV%.

Well, first of all, it’s irrelevant what he did or didn’t accomplish in Carolina. What we are concerned about is what he accomplished with Philly and, thus far, his portfolio has been exceptional.

Playing devils advocate, Leighton’s 2.69 GAA would rank him 26th amongst NHL goalies, ahead of some very impressive goaltenders, including, Jonas Hiller (2.70), Cam Ward (2.74), Niklas Backstrom (2.74), Carey Price (2.76) and Pekka Rinne (2.81), just to name a few.

As for Leighton’s .908 SV%, that puts him 27th overall, tied with Pittsburgh Penguins and Team Canada goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (.908), and ahead of Brian Elliot (.907), Jose Theodore (.906), Pekka Rinne (.901) and teammate Ray Emery (.905).

Let’s face it, Fleury is not having his best year and Jose Theodore has been average for quite sometime now, that said, overall, Leighton has been just as good, if not better than many of these big name goalies, especially when wearing the Orange and Black Flyers jersey.

It is often said that the best trades are the ones you don’t make.

In the case of Carter—who has since rebounded nicely since all the trade speculation and Hartnell—arguably one of the Flyers most consistent performers and tremendous locker room presence, the Flyers brain-trust seem to have made the right deals by not, in fact, making one.

It says here the same can be said for not acquiring another goalie. By all accounts the Flyers are in good hands with Leighton between the pipes, just look at the numbers, they tell a much different story than Flyers’ fans, who were looking for change despite the young netminders strong play.

No trades, good news? You betcha!

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