Flyers have quiet Trade Deadline on Monday

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

The Philadelphia Flyers were almost completely dormant as the 2011 NHL Trade Deadline passed as of 3 p.m. (et).

Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren awoke from his slumber to make just one minor deal, acquiring prospect forward Tom Sestito from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for prospects Michael Chaput and Greg Moore.

Sestito will be assigned to Adirondack of the American Hockey League.

“Well, he’s a big kid, I think he’s got 30-some-odd points down there in the AHL…he was there last year on an entry-level contract. I like the fact that he’s got a chance to play at some point for us, if not later this year then maybe next year,” Holmgren said of the new addition to the franchise.

Sestito, a 23-year-old former third-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2006, had four points in nine games with the big club this season.

Chaput, an 18-year-old native of suburban Montreal, was Philly’s third-round pick in last June’s draft. He tallied 55 points in 55 games this year with the Lewiston MAINEiacs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, his third with the team.

Moore is a 26-year-old native of Maine who was Calgary’s fifth-round selection in 2003. In 10 games with the Rangers (’07-’08) and Blue Jackets (’09-’10), he failed to record a point. In 16 games with Syracuse of the AHL, he notched five goals and 10 points.

As for the reasons why the club was not a player at the deadline:

“I get the impression throughout the day, watching it go down, that there weren’t a lot of deals out there that made sense for us. As I said all along, the moves we made in the Summertime, the players we added
then…the trade for Kris Versteeg, we felt what we needed to do, and we’ll leave it at that.”

Philadelphia, which is off until Thursday, suffered an out-of-character 4-1 loss at Ottawa on Saturday to a Senators club which featured eight AHL players that spurred fresh gossip on potential deals for additional depth. None was forthcoming, as Holmgren opted to stand pat with the best record in the Eastern Conference as other lesser clubs spent plenty of time on Monday wheeling and dealing.

“I get the impression that there weren’t many. I know Florida made a lot of deals today with players who were unrestricted. Because of our asset-contingent draft picks, we’re not as well stocked as a lot of teams,” Holmgren said when asked if other teams tried to take advantage of the Flyers’ position as the top team in the East on trade deadline day to fulfill their own needs.

“I kind of get the feeling that the prices were pretty high for basically nothing out there.”

Tim Panaccio of Comcast SportsNet tweeted on Sunday that the Flyers might have interest in third-line forward Marty Reasoner of the Florida Panthers due to his cap-friendly contract.

That did not come to pass, as Reasoner, also under the microscope by TSN of Canada as a possible pick-up for NHL-best Vancouver, stayed in Sunrise despite the Panthers’ near-fire sale Monday.