Philadelphia Flyers: Two Blockbuster Trades to Shake Up the NHL

Blockbuster trades, every fan's dream to witness, and every GM's dream to complete successfully.

Gretzky to Kings, Cam Neely to Boston, Rob Blake to the Avalanche, Mats Sundin to the Maple Leafs.

The lists go on and on. Today we have witnessed the year's two biggest blockbuster trades. That in fact is saying something considering how busy the trade deadline is.

Today marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one in Philadelphia—the end of the Mike Richards-Jeff Carter era, and the beginning of the Ilya Bryzgalov era.

Today marks the day that Philadelphia Flyers GM, Paul Holmgren (pictured above) took the Flyers organization and flipped it upside down.

The following slides will break down today's deals that shook up both the Flyers organization and the NHL.

Mike Richards to Kings for Schenn, Simonds and 2nd Round Pick 2012

Since breaking into the league in 2005-06, Mike Richards has been counted on for his point production.

After taking the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, Richards and the Flyers were swept away by the Stanley Cup champion Bruins this season.

It wouldn't be considered to be as elite this past year as it was in the 2008-09 season where Richards had 80 points in 79 games played, but make no mistake, Richards is still a dominant force in the NHL today.

The Flyers trading him (along with prospect Rob Bordson) to the Kings is not as surprising as how much the Kings gave up to acquire him.

Coming back to the Flyers are roll player and RFA Wayne Simmonds (14 goals 16 assists in 80 games played this season with the Kings) and highly touted rookie player Brayden Schenn (two assists in eight games played this season) and a second round pick in this year's 2012 entry draft.

In my opinion, the Flyers come out on top in this trade because not only did the Flyers get rid of a 12-year, $69 million contract, they also acquired the speedy RFA Simmonds and the highly touted Brayden Schenn.

The Kings gave the Flyers some cap space which they desperately needed to sign newly acquired goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, but they also did not over compensate, because Simmonds still needs to be re-signed.

Jeff Carter to Blue Jackets for Jakub Voracek, 8th Overall and 3rd Round Picks

Talk about a commanding price.

If you thought the Flyers made off like bandits in the Mike Richards trade, they certainly made off with even more in this deal that sent Jeff Carter (36 goals and 30 assists in 80 games played) to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for RFA Jakub Voracek, the 8th overall pick in the first round of this year's draft, and this year's third round pick.

If the Philadelphia Flyers had salary cap problems before today, the doing away of Mike Richards contract and Jeff Carter's 11-year, $58 million contract erase those problems completely.

Despite giving up Jeff Carter and his 231 points over the past three seasons, the Flyers acquired badly needed cap space as well as Jakub Voracek (14 goals 32 assists in 80 games played), the 8th overall pick, and a 3rd rounder.

This is a prime situation for the Flyers and Voracek as the Flyers organization will be able to resurrect his career and get more point production from Voracek than he was able to in Columbus.

The acquisition of a young Voracek sort of reminds me of another forward that came to the Flyers from the Detroit Red Wings: Ville Leino. Leino resurrected his career in Philadelphia becoming a prime set up man on the team.

The Flyers are obviously hoping that Voracek (if re-signed) could do the same.

Philadelphia obviously is now very excited to have the eighth overall pick, as getting younger as a team seems to be the ultimate goal in their trades today.

The Flyers ultimately gained more in this trade because they freed up cap space in addition to acquiring Voracek and the picks.

They used that cap space to sign..... (see next page)

Ilya Bryzgalov Signs with the Flyers, Will It Fix the "Problem" in Goal?

Ilya Bryzgalov.

Flyers fans, the nightmare in net could finally be over.

The Flyers have not really had a number one goalie for the past couple seasons.

Alternating between Michael Leighton, Brian Boucher, and young phenom, Sergei Bobrovsky.

But today, with the trades of Richards and Carter, the Flyers freed up more than adequate cap space to sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 millon deal.

Will the goaltending door in Philadelphia finally stop turning around and around?

Will this be the Flyers year?

These questions and more will be answered in the coming season, but one thing is for certain, the NHL is vastly different thanks to these blockbuster trades swung by Flyers GM Paul Holmgren