By Michael Rushton
Phanatic Magazine
The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Monday that they have acquired the rights to Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell from the Nashville Predators in exchange for the 23rd pick in Friday's 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
"We are very excited in acquiring the exclusive rights to negotiate with Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell," said Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren in a release on the team's Web site. “Both of these players are going to be unrestricted free agents on July 1. This was an opportunity to get our foot in the door a little sooner. We are extremely excited about adding these two players to our roster."
However, not only do the Flyers have their foot in the door, they may have already kicked it off the hinges.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Tim Panaccio, both players have agreed to six-year deals with the Flyers. The paper reported that Timonen's deal is for $37.8 million, while Hartnell's will total $25.2 million.
By pulling off the deal, the Flyers essentially got first rights to negotiate with the pending free agents. The only cost was a draft pick that orginally belonged to Nashville, but was sent to the Flyers as part of the Peter Forsberg trade.
Timonen, who's brother Jussi played 14 games with the Phantoms last year, was widely considered to be the best puck-carrying defenseman available in this year's free agent crop. The 32-year-old, who will be 38 when his deal expires with the Flyers, had 12 goals and 42 assists in 80 games last year with Nashville. His 55 points ranked him 11th among NHL defenders and was a new career high.
“Kimmo Timonen is a tremendous two-way defenseman," Holmgren said. "He is a very good skater, he moves the puck extremely well and he will help us in all areas of the ice.
The Finland native has recorded 79 goals and 222 assists for 301 points in 573 games with Nashville and was named the third captain in team history in 2006. The two-time All-Star could be paired with fellow Fin Joni Pitkanen when he joins the Flyers.
In Hartnell, the Flyers get a 25-year-old who can play either wing position. He posted 22 goals and 17 assists last year in 64 games with the Preds. 10 of his goals came on the power play, where Philadelphia ranked 28th out of 30 teams.
"Scott Hartnell is a big, power winger who has shown steady improvement over the course of his career in Nashville," Holmgren said.
Orginally drafted by Nashville sixth overall in the 2000 draft, Hartnell posted 93 goals and 118 assists in 436 games with the club.
The move is just the latest by Holmgren as he attempts to quickly and efficently rebuild the Flyers. His biggest chip, Forsberg, has now netted him a number one defender (Timonen), and prized defensive prospect (Ryan Parent) and a pair of hard-working forwards (Scottie Upshall and Hartnell).
The Flyers sent Forsberg, who is also set to become a free agent on July 1, to Nashville on February 15 for Upshall, Parent, the 23rd pick in the draft (now Nashville's) and a third-round pick in 2007.
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