Philadelphia Flyers: Kris Versteeg and 5 Flyers Who May Be Traded

Twitter accounts have been ablaze the past 48 hours with the Philadelphia Flyers potentially making an offer for Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos.

Stamkos is a restricted free agent, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have the right to match any offer.

Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News reported yesterday that the Flyers are contemplating offering Stamkos a 12-year deal worth $115 million. This would carry a cap hit of $9.58 million per year.

Flyers Nation can only hope that the orange and black pursue one of the top three players in the NHL today. Stamkos has scored 96 goals over the past two seasons and he is only 21 years old.

The Flyers have never been a franchise that is afraid of making a blockbuster deal, and they have cleared up significant cap space with last week's surprise trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.

If they really are interested in signing one of the best players in the game, they will have to move either one or two more significant salaries.

Here are the top five players most likely to be traded if the Flyers sign Steven Stamkos.

5. Scott Hartnell

I put Scott Hartnell as number five on this list because I am not enirely convinced that another team would want him for the money he makes. Hartnell earns $4.2 million per season, which is an absurd amount of money for someone who impacts the game so little.

Hartnell led the league in minor penalties for back-to-back seasons and has consistently displayed a lack of discipline on the ice. His job is to be a pest and make a difference in front of the net on the power play, but the Flyers have still struggled for the past two seasons with a man-advantage.

Pairing Danny Briere with Hartnell (or Ville Leino) is not a necessity anymore with the acquisition of Wayne Simmonds. He will bring a strong work ethic and tough forecheck that a player like Briere needs to operate.

With teams like the Florida Panthers way under the salary cap floor, they may want a big contract like Scott Hartnell's so they are in compliance with the NHL.

4. Matt Carle

Matt Carle is a young defenseman who could interest a lot of teams. He carries a cap hit of $3.43 million, but he has shown that he is a top-four defenseman in the NHL.

Clearly Carle is not as effective without Chris Pronger, but who would be? Carle tallied 40 points in 2010, and he has the ability to skate with anyone on the ice.

He averaged over 20 minutes of ice time and was a plus-30 player on the season. Those numbers alone will leave GM's around the league drooling over the 26-year-old.

The Flyers do not want to lose Matt Carle, but they wouldn't mind his departure if it meant the arrival of Steven Stamkos.

3. Andrej Meszaros

Andrej Meszaros was an absolute rock for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010. He became the Flyers' most dependable D-man when Chris Pronger was injured, registering eight goals and 32 points.

Meszaros (like Carle) was an insane plus-30 on the season, and the former first-round pick was nothing short of spectacular in his first season with the Flyers. He may just be starting to enter the prime of his career at the age of 25, but he carries a significant $4 million cap hit as well.

Meszaros is one of the top trading chips the Flyers have in their arsenal, but do they really want to deal the young star with aging Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger on the roster?

It all depends on who they receive in return.

2. Sergei Bobrovsky

After signing Illya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million dollar deal, it doesn't seem likely that Sergei Bobrovsky has much of a future with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The 22-year-old Russian came out of nowhere to start for a team that lost in the Stanley Cup Finals the previous year. Bob may have faltered at the end of the season, but he still had a spectacular rookie campaign.

He needed to adjust to the grind of a NHL season and a smaller rink, and he was playing in one of the biggest hockey markets in the world.

"Bob" posted a 28-13-8 record with a 2.59 GAA and .915 save percentage. Not bad at all.

I must admit I am a little concerned that Ed Snider and Co. have given up on Bobrovsky so soon. Hopefully Bob agrees to learn under Bryzgalov for a few years in a mentor type of role.

Wishful thinking on my part.

1. Kris Versteeg

The man with the mouthpiece, Kris Versteeg, was acquired at the trade deadline for a first- and third-round draft pick. Philadelphia Flyer fans have seemingly already given up on the diminutive forward who was a part of the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory.

It should be noted that Versteeg was injured for the majority of his time with the Flyers, but it was amazing to see how much the team flopped when he was acquired.

He scored his 20 goals (what is expected out of him), but he was a minus-nine on the season.

It will be tough for Versteeg to ever become a fan favorite after his first season with the Flyers, but he still may be a valued commodity around the league.

Getting rid of Kris Versteeg's $3.08 million cap hit should be the Flyers' number one priority if they need to move more salary.