Courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers
Q: This trade has been rumored for a while – did it just come about today?
“Obviously it was something in the wintertime that Brian and I discussed
in theory, and then I think we both decided to just table it. It came
up again yesterday and we talked about it. I believe it’s a good trade
for both teams. It certainly fills a need for us and I think it fills a
need for Brian’s team as well in terms of what they’re looking to do.”
Q: You guys had been rumored to be involved with a couple other big name
players – does this shut the door on trades for another winger?
“I don’t think anything shuts the door on anything else we may look to
do to improve the hockey team. We tried to improve our defense over the
last few days, we looked for ways to try to improve it, and we think we
did today. Obviously we gave up a good young winger in James, but we
believe we got a good young defenseman, same age, back in Luke. As I
said earlier I think it’s a real good trade for both teams.”
Q: Do you think this is a fresh start for JVR?
“Well, I don’t know about that. I think I’ve told you enough about how
strongly I feel about James becoming a good player, and I believe he
will become a very good player in our league. Unfortunately for us, I
think it’s going to be for Toronto now. The guy we got coming back is
going to fill needs on our team and is going to be a good young player
on our team. So I think it’s a win-win.
Q: What does Luke Schenn bring to the Flyers?
He’s a young guy, he’s a right [handed] shot, he’s a big defenseman that
plays physical and gritty, and he can move the puck. To get guys like
this you’ve got to be piking high in the draft. It’s an opportunity for
us… and obviously James was taken high in the draft too. It’s another
reason I believe why it’s a good trade for both teams.
Q: How do you think this might affect Brayden Schenn?
“I don’t know. I know they’re very close, so I’ve got to believe it will be a positive thing for Brayden.”
Q: Have you talked to Luke yet?
“I did speak with Luke … he’d already talked to Brian, so the shock was
probably over, but he seemed generally excited about a new chapter in
his life.”
Showing posts with label Paul Holmgren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Holmgren. Show all posts
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Holmgren professes faith, patience in Bryzgalov
by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor
Of all the personalities who are paid for it or who are lucky enough to have an uncompensated outlet to broadcast an opinion on the state of the Philadelphia Flyers goaltending, the only one whose thoughts really matter is general manager Paul Holmgren.
Although it's still up for debate whether or not he was the one who truly wanted Ilya Bryzgalov to fill the never-ending, always-swirling dark vortex of long-term difference-maker for the franchise, Holmgren was the one who dealt for his rights and then signed him to that $51 million, eight-year deal almost a year ago.
In the wake of an 11-game playoff sojourn that did little to reveal Bryzgalov's true talent, worth to the club's playoff hopes or a genuine quantifiable bead on just how he fared overall, Holmgren of course took the positive mindset during a wide-ranging Thursday press conference during the Flyers' break-up day:
"He had a lot of things to adjust to and react to from playing in Philadelphia, the scrutiny of the media and the scrutiny of the fans compared to what he came from (in Phoenix) with a different style of play. I don't think there's any question that Ilya will be better next year."
That vote of confidence came hours before a tweet from Sovetsky's Natalia Bragilevskaya was released, quoting the 31-year-old as saying he misses Mother Russia.
And then this, longer passage from the interview, courtesy of Metro's Dave Isaac: "What I lived through this season I wouldn't wish to an enemy… I understand the fans. They paid their money and want the show. But many forget that we are not robots, but living people. We have feelings, worries. It's easy to turn away when the club is going through tough times. Don't denounce your team. There won't be a different one."
Whatever people make of the polarity between the two, Bryzgalov will have, and certainly does deserve, some time to relax, reflect and recharge.
Holmgren's words may be those of reassurance and challenge, all at the same time. A call to be more consistent, to block out the nonsense that surrounded the fabricated drama of his interactions with the media -- what Homer called "Comedy Central" as a deterrent from doing his job, which is to stop pucks.
There were times he didn't do enough of that, allowing four goals or more on 18 occasions (two of those in partial appearances). There were times he looked unbeatable, as in his March streak of four shutouts in five starts which included that record whitewash string of 249:43.
And it had been a trying season, to say the least, for a soft-spoken man more prone to pondering matters light years beyond the locker room and offering up praise to his teammates than providing true insight into his performance.
Still, there was little in-between to act as a control amongst the extremes. The same went for the postseason, where Bryzgalov claimed the crease version of the Toilet Bowl over Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, yet was the best player on the ice for wide swaths of at least three games of a five-game loss to New Jersey.
"Did he play as good as I expected this year, I'd say no," Holmgren added. "But I think he's got one year under his belt...I said this before about other players who sign big contracts and come here...there's an adjustment period. Kimmo went through it, Danny Briere went through it. In that position, goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, I think he handled it pretty good."
So why, exactly, shouldn't he get a mulligan?
And Briere, whose NHL career began in the Valley of the Sun, backs up that sentiment: "There's no doubt in my mind it's going to be easier for him now that he's settled in, now that he knows the system and knows his teammates. He knows how it works...I went through it myself my first year. It was a tough, trying year. You learn from that."
Now, with his teammates and general manager guarding his back, it's time for Bryzgalov come back ready to prove himself in Year Two, to reward that patience with stops from the front.
Phanatic Hockey Editor
Of all the personalities who are paid for it or who are lucky enough to have an uncompensated outlet to broadcast an opinion on the state of the Philadelphia Flyers goaltending, the only one whose thoughts really matter is general manager Paul Holmgren.
Although it's still up for debate whether or not he was the one who truly wanted Ilya Bryzgalov to fill the never-ending, always-swirling dark vortex of long-term difference-maker for the franchise, Holmgren was the one who dealt for his rights and then signed him to that $51 million, eight-year deal almost a year ago.
In the wake of an 11-game playoff sojourn that did little to reveal Bryzgalov's true talent, worth to the club's playoff hopes or a genuine quantifiable bead on just how he fared overall, Holmgren of course took the positive mindset during a wide-ranging Thursday press conference during the Flyers' break-up day:
"He had a lot of things to adjust to and react to from playing in Philadelphia, the scrutiny of the media and the scrutiny of the fans compared to what he came from (in Phoenix) with a different style of play. I don't think there's any question that Ilya will be better next year."
That vote of confidence came hours before a tweet from Sovetsky's Natalia Bragilevskaya was released, quoting the 31-year-old as saying he misses Mother Russia.
And then this, longer passage from the interview, courtesy of Metro's Dave Isaac: "What I lived through this season I wouldn't wish to an enemy… I understand the fans. They paid their money and want the show. But many forget that we are not robots, but living people. We have feelings, worries. It's easy to turn away when the club is going through tough times. Don't denounce your team. There won't be a different one."
Whatever people make of the polarity between the two, Bryzgalov will have, and certainly does deserve, some time to relax, reflect and recharge.
Holmgren's words may be those of reassurance and challenge, all at the same time. A call to be more consistent, to block out the nonsense that surrounded the fabricated drama of his interactions with the media -- what Homer called "Comedy Central" as a deterrent from doing his job, which is to stop pucks.
There were times he didn't do enough of that, allowing four goals or more on 18 occasions (two of those in partial appearances). There were times he looked unbeatable, as in his March streak of four shutouts in five starts which included that record whitewash string of 249:43.
And it had been a trying season, to say the least, for a soft-spoken man more prone to pondering matters light years beyond the locker room and offering up praise to his teammates than providing true insight into his performance.
Still, there was little in-between to act as a control amongst the extremes. The same went for the postseason, where Bryzgalov claimed the crease version of the Toilet Bowl over Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, yet was the best player on the ice for wide swaths of at least three games of a five-game loss to New Jersey.
"Did he play as good as I expected this year, I'd say no," Holmgren added. "But I think he's got one year under his belt...I said this before about other players who sign big contracts and come here...there's an adjustment period. Kimmo went through it, Danny Briere went through it. In that position, goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, I think he handled it pretty good."
So why, exactly, shouldn't he get a mulligan?
And Briere, whose NHL career began in the Valley of the Sun, backs up that sentiment: "There's no doubt in my mind it's going to be easier for him now that he's settled in, now that he knows the system and knows his teammates. He knows how it works...I went through it myself my first year. It was a tough, trying year. You learn from that."
Now, with his teammates and general manager guarding his back, it's time for Bryzgalov come back ready to prove himself in Year Two, to reward that patience with stops from the front.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Holmgren presser on Bryzgalov and more
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers
Q: Where on the foot is the chip fracture?
“You know what, I’m not sure.”
Q: Do you think it would matter where the injury is as far as when you look at the prognosis?
“Right now, Ilya wasn’t going to play on Thursday anyway. So we’re going to just leave him back and continue to get his treatment. We don’t think this is a serious injury. We’re hoping that he’ll be back on the ice practicing with the idea that he can play on the weekend. It’s just going to be a little bit of pain management for Ilya. He feels OK today. In fact, he’s going to come in and work out tomorrow and get treatment, and try to be ready to practice on Friday. Obviously when you’re dealing with something like this, it might be too painful to skate on Friday, but we’ll see. He doesn’t feel that bad today. We’ll see how it is. It’s not a thing that surgery is required, it’s nothing like van Riemsdyk’s broken foot or anything like that. It’s a chip off a weight-bearing bone, and the doctor has said it’ll be absorbed back into his system, the little chip that’s in there, and there’s no real risk here at all. It’s just he’s in a little bit of pain right now. Some of you guys I think saw him last night limping around, but this happened in warmup. He wanted to play, we had it x-rayed after warmup with his skate on, and nothing showed… we x-rayed it again after the game, it didn’t show… and the MRI revealed this small little chip in there. So we’re dealing with it. We’ll see how the next couple days go, but nobody’s really concerned about this.
Q: Did the doctors say that it had more to do with pain management than anything?“Yes.”
Q: Was there any thought last night to not letting him play?
“We had the x-ray, Ilya wanted to play. To be honest with you, I knew what was going on, I watched the game, and I didn’t see any issues. The goals they scored were good goals. The last one he wasn’t paying attention when Matt had the bobble at the side of the net. The other goals were good goals that you can’t really fault him on. I didn’t have any issues with how he played the game and I don’t think his foot was an issue during the game.”
Q: Was the MRI done yesterday or today?
“It was done today.”
Q: Are you looking for him to play this weekend?
“Yeah, it’s going to be how it goes over the next couple days. Ilya wants to play, he feels like he’ll be OK, but we’ll just see how it goes. I think we’ll have a better grasp on how he is tomorrow. He’s going to get some treatment here tonight and again come in tomorrow and work out and get treatment done. So we’ll have a better idea where we’re at tomorrow and then probably more on Thursday and Friday. As I said, nobody’s really concerned. The doctors are not concerned, Jimmy McCrossin’s not too concerned. He’s a little sore right now. So we’ve gotta get some of the swelling out of there, and you do that with ice and ibuprofen or whatever, and go from there.”
Q: He cannot make the trip to Toronto?
“We’re not going to bring him on the trip. It just makes no sense.”
Q: Will Michael Leighton be recalled?
“No, actually we’re going to recall Jason Bacashihua tonight.”
Q: Is Kimmo’s injury one where you’re going to need a call-up as well, or do you expect him to play?
“Kimmo’s not going to play on Thursday. This is kind of a maintenance thing we had planned. Tonight we’ll recall Marc-Andre Bourdon, and then we’ll see where Lilja is. He could possibly play on Thursday but we’re not sure. So we’ll have seven defensemen there, and if Lilja can play, we’ll probably make a decision on loaning Erik back or Marc-Andre.”
Q: Is Kimmo’s injury something you’re going to have to maintenance through the playoffs?
“When Kimmo missed the time earlier, it was kind of a planned thing where we wanted to give him some rest and do some rehab. This is also part of the plan. It’s just take this day off, he doesn’t have to fly up, he doesn’t have to play the game. He can rest and rehab and get ready to play on the weekend.”
Q: Ilya said this happened in the warmup right before the game – did he say how it happened?
“He was hit. He was looking the other way when I think it was Jakub Voracek shot a puck from the side, and it hit him in an exposed part of his foot. So that’s what happened.”
Q: Are you concerned that the injury will throw him out of his rhythm?
“No, I don’t think so. He’s played a lot over the last little while here. He’s missed days in practice and he hasn’t lost his rhythm. Obviously the team didn’t skate today, he probably won’t skate tomorrow… maybe he can skate on Thursday and practice on Friday. I’m not worried about that. Obviously there’s a little bit of concern with the pain and the swelling, but Ilya’s a tough kid, he wants to play, and we look forward to seeing him on the ice with the team at practice on Friday.”
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Holmgren speaks
Sunday is a day for most of the organization and its fans to share a little face time and contribute to a good cause for the 35th Flyers' Wives Fight for Lives Carnival down on South Broad Street.
But Flyers GM Paul Holmgren took time to address the madness of the past 24 hours, as well as the club's position heading into the trade deadline which is eight days away.
But Flyers GM Paul Holmgren took time to address the madness of the past 24 hours, as well as the club's position heading into the trade deadline which is eight days away.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Holmgren talks Pronger downgrade 12/9/11
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers
Q: What changed with Chris?
Q: What changed with Chris?
“I think over the last few days he’s had some difficulties… a fairly persistent headache, just sluggish feeling – so we’re just trying to do the right thing here and get him checked out by the doctors in Pittsburgh and just see what we’re dealing with. Is it a concussion? I don’t know that we know that. We want to get a better idea, obviously.”
Q: There’s still no idea what it might have stemmed from? The high stick?
“I don’t know. I looked yesterday and I think he played four games after that particular incident after missing some time. I talked to him after the game in Winnipeg and he said he didn’t feel great in that game. He didn’t feel like himself. We got him checked out after that game and before our next game, and then obviously the dominoes started to fall with his knee, and we said a virus at first because we weren’t sure what we were dealing with. Just over the last two or three days he’s got a fairly persistent headache and a really sluggish feeling.”
Q: It probably was not a virus?
“I don’t know. That’s a good question. I don’t know that we’ll ever know that. We didn’t know what we were dealing with then and I’m not sure we do now. But concussion-like symptoms continue to persist, so we’re just going to get him checked.”
Q: Have you seen these kinds of symptoms the way he’s been having them?
“I don’t know. The protocol that we utilize now for concussions, obviously it’s very thorough. We're going through a similar thing with Brayden Schenn right now. I know he got hit in the nose in the game in Phoenix, or just below his nose… felt great and continued to play in the game, felt fine on the way home. I think we had an off-day the next day, came in Monday and he didn’t feel great. We kept him off the ice… he got checked on Tuesday, did an IMPACT test and passed that. He went out for practice, felt pretty good halfway through practice, and then came off at the end of practice and didn’t feel great. So we’re going to shut him down. Those are the rules and that’s what we’re dealing with.”
Q: So Chris passed a test before and now he’s failed one?
“I don’t think he’s had one since then. He passed the first one, this is going back actually before the first game he missed from what we said was a virus. We haven’t given him one since. Most of this has just come up in the last two or three days where he’s just got these symptoms that seem like concussion-like symptoms. So we’re going to get him checked.”
Q: The doctor in Pittsburgh has become the doctor of choice?
“Dr. Maroon has been used before with Ian Laperriere from a couple years ago, with his issues we sent Ian there to see him. Obviously he’s become more of a concussion star with Sidney, I guess.”
Q: Is there a timetable on Schenn?
“We’re going to keep him shut down through the weekend here and see how he is on Monday.”
Q: Schenn is not going to Pittsburgh because his symptoms aren’t as severe?“Right. Right now we just see this as a mild concussion.”
Q: Does this put the pressure on to make any kind of move?
“Well, we have seven defensemen right now that are healthy and we’re happy with their play. Every other day, you’re talking with somebody about what’s out there, but I like the way our team is playing right now. I like the way the young kids have played on defense, and I don’t feel a need to really rush into anything.”
Q: How frustrated is Chris?
“I feel bad for Chris. He’s a very experienced hockey player that still wants to play the game at the highest level. I know this last year for him has been very frustrating, with the injuries he had last year and to have to deal with what he’s dealt with this year. He’s frustrated.
Q: If this turns into a long term thing…
“I still feel like between Kimmo and Matty Carle and [Braydon Coburn] and [Andrej Meszaros] we still have four pretty good guys that can play a lot of minutes. On the other hand, it’ hard to replace a Chris Pronger no matter what you do. You’re not gonna get that guy. We’ll see what happens over the next little while. Hopefully we’ll get some better news after Chris visits the doctors in Pittsburgh, and we’ll see what happens from there.
Q: This hasn’t kept him from rehabbing his knee?
“He’s had some fluid taken off his knee since the surgery. This was a couple days ago… that’s the reason he shut down that part. His knee’s actually doing great right now. I think he was on the right timetable to come back from the arthroscopic surgery he had. This other thing is just kind of getting in the way right now, and we need to get some answers and get to the bottom of it.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Holmgren on Pronger
Following Monday's 4-2 win over Toronto, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren addressed questions surrounding Chris Pronger's eye injury:
Q: Did he go to the hospital?
A: “No, our eye doctor came here. He’s going to see the eye doctor every day for the next four days. We think after that time that he’ll be out of, we don’t want to say danger, but if everything goes ok and if the swelling goes down, he should start on some kind of an exercise program shortly after that, and we’re hoping he’ll be able to rejoin the team within ten days to two weeks. And skating-wise, not necessarily playing wise.”
Q: Is there a prognosis on it?
A: “Well, not really. The prognosis is that he was hit on the side here and there’s a lot of swelling around his eye and the hope is that the blood doesn’t build up there and create issues. That’s why he’s going to be on bedrest here for the next four days.”
Q: Which doctor?
“Doctor Goldman.”
Q: Holmgren, when this happens, what will be the course of action?
“Well, when Chris comes back, he’ll be wearing a visor. We made it mandatory in the American Hockey League and it’s not an issue. Obviously some of these players have been around a long time and for whatever reason they don’t want to wear them. I think the improvements on the visor over the last few years, compared to what it was ten or 15 years ago, are tremendous. Other than getting a little sweat in there and some water on the visor, I don’t think it’s a big issue.”
Q: Did he lose his sight at all?
A: “No. It was blurred.”
Q: Because of the salary cap right now, I don’t know if you guys can afford to bring somebody else up or are you comfortable with Lilja, Walker and…
A: “We have players we can use. We’ll be fine.”
Q: But he was obviously in a lot of pain?
A: “He wasn’t in the mood to talk. I think he was very scared, and rightly so. When something like that happens to your eye, you’re worried and you don’t know what’s going on, but I think he settled down over a period of time and was fine.”
Q: Did you think Toronto was a little careless with their sticks tonight overall?
A: “It’s a fast game, and things happen quickly. The first six games you could say we were careless with our sticks. It’s a freak accident, and obviously a very scary accident.”
Monday, June 20, 2011
Holmgren's draft conference transcript
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers
Q: Can you walk us through the depth of this draft and the overall look at this draft and how it compares to others in the past?
“I think this is a fairly decent draft. We had our end of the year scouting meetings, it ended ten days ago, and our list looks pretty good. If you look at guys that we think are going to be first round picks I think it’s comparable to last year. There are drafts that have been better, think back to the draft of 2003. It’s not looking like that but there are a lot of good players and I think there are some players that if they are drafted on the right team, they will have the chance to play right away. I think that’s a good thing.
Q: Are you looking at this draft as an opportunity to move up? If I’m not mistaken you don’t pick until the third round. Correct?
“Right. Just like any other draft we go in with an open mind, listening and seeing what’s available. Obviously, there are teams trying to jockey for positions right now. I think there are a few teams from what I can gather that have later picks that are trying to move up. There are teams that are willing to improve their team. It’s funny how that’s changed, I think, with the last number of years, I believe anyway, that most teams are trying to build their teams prior to July 1st and when you get to July 1st over the free agency period maybe just try to add that one piece. It just seems likes there’s a lot of talk right now anyway around the league, so there could be a lot of things happening as we get closer to Friday.
Q: Could you imagine a scenario in which you guys could jump into one of the first two rounds?
“I don’t think it is out of the question, but you never know what’s going to happen. It’s something we are certainly trying to stay involved with just to see what people are talking about, more than anything.”
Q: Do you feel that, from an organizational standpoint, there is that need to move up in the draft?
“Again, we will continue to look at things and see what’s available and do what we think is right for the organization. We will sort through that one. We have a lot of picks. Look at where we are at this year, we have five picks right now. Next year we are missing a couple already. Obviously we can’t continue to do that. We need to, especially the higher picks – we can’t keep giving them up. I think we have made some deals for higher picks that have given us good players that are still of a good age that will be good players for a number of years, but looking at this draft, we’re certainly open to talking about certain things. Whether anything happens or not, I don’t know, but right now our first pick is at 84 of the 3rd round and there is a chance that we can get a good player there.”
Q: Would you consider any particular players in this draft to be NHL type ready players? There has been a lot of talk with Gabriel Landeskog being that type of player.
“Gabriel’s [Landeskog] name comes up early because he looks like he is physically ready right now. I think that is why people say that about him being NHL ready. It’s funny – you go back to last year’s draft and you look at guys that you think are going to go in the first round and you look at what came out of that round and played right away… I don’t think anyone would have said Jeff Skinner was ready to play in the NHL, and he gets drafted by Carolina, they put him in and he makes their team and has a tremendous year. You just never know. A lot of it is depending on what the team needs and a lot of it depends on how their training camps go and how their pre-season goes. I don’t know if you can just say there’s this guy and this guy. I think it just depends on who drafts them and what their needs are as they move into their regular season.
Q: From a position standpoint, is there a need to beef up on any position in particular?
“I think if you look at our team right now, we are very strong down the middle and I think our NHL team we have a couple older guys on the back end, Kimmo [Timonen] and Kris [Versteeg] but we do have some good guys that are fairly young, Braydon [Corburn], Matt Carle and [Andrej] Meszaros, are still all still fairly young if you consider their age, but I don’t know if there is any none, obviously we are going to try to draft the best player available regardless of the position. We probably need to strengthen all areas, and that’s kind of where the open mind comes in. When we get to that point we’re not just going to try for one position. If you look on our reserve list we could probably add something in every category.”
Q: How much drop off is there if you don’t have a high number one pick?
“When you get going to [pick number] 17 or 18, you’re probably looking at… who knows, you might get the same player at 45 or 50. It’s just that much of a crap shoot. We’re talking about 17 and 18 year old kids that aren’t fully developed and something in their game needs to be improved, whether its their skating or take out their physical structure, you know they are going to get older and you believe they are going to get stronger, something needs to improve. If we had a pick in the top 17 where we thought we would get a real solid prospect… probably after that it becomes a little more of a gamble.
Q: How much does volume of picks matter to you as much as having a high pick? How much do you improve your chances if you have an extra second rounder or a second third rounder?
“I think they improve drastically; it’s another stab at a prospect. The fact that we don’t have any second round picks is not an ideal position. We haven’t had one for a while so we are looking around at things right now.”
Q: I kind of get a feeling that this a draft that you would want to have something in the first two rounds.
“That’s fair to say. I think if you talk to any of the other 29 teams, they’d probably say the same thing. It’s a fairly good draft, there are some good top-end guys and as I mentioned from 17 down, you might get the same player. They are all good prospects, so it’s a considerable draft. [We are] drafting at 84 right now and we’d like to move up, absolutely. Are we going to be able to? I don’t know, we will see how it goes.”
Q: If you have to clear cap room, what are the chances of getting a draft pick, trading a veteran player, what are the chances of getting a fairly high pick back?
“I don’t know right now. I don’t feel like we are in a position to have to clear cap space. We still don’t know what the cap is going to go up to, [but] kind of have an idea that it’s going to go up a fair amount. There are some players that we have, Ville Leino, that [are] unrestricted and we want to keep in our mix. So, we are going to have to do some tinkering here. It’s not a like we are in a position where we absolutely have to move cap space or move people to make cap space.”
Q: The impression from the other people around the league is that you do have to move cap space to be able to re-sign [Ilya] Bryzgalov and [Ville] Leino. So you’re saying that you don’t have to?
“We’ll see how it goes. There are things that we want to accomplish as we get closer to training camp, but that’s a long time from now. There is no fire sale going on here. We are going to continue to try and sign Ilya [Bryzgalov], obviously, and continue to try and sign Ville [Leino], then we will see. It’s not like we are caught between a rock and a hard place right now.
Q: Could you have a deal for Bryzgalov by the end of the week?
“I guess we could. Right now we are going to talk again tomorrow. Like I said, on Friday, we know where they’re at and what they want to accomplish. I think they know where we’re at. Obviously to make a deal, there is going to have to be some sort of a compromise. It might take some time and we are going to keep looking at it.”
Q: Is the compromise in years rather than dollars or is it both?
“I would say it’s both right now.”
Q: Would you like to have the [Ilya] Bryzgalov situation settled by the draft?
“Well, we would like that to get resolved at some point. I am not sure it matters prior to the draft; there is still enough time after the draft to get a deal done. The important thing is that there was progress made when Ilya [Bryzgalov] and his agent, Ritch Winter, were in town. I don’t see any reason why that’s not going to continue. I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t really give you a definitive answer. There is enough progress, which kind of gives me hope, anyway, that we can make a deal at some point.”
Q: Have you or the other general managers been told a definitive date when you’ll have the salary cap number for next year?
“No. It usually comes before the draft. I have not heard anything…a definitive date this year.”
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Bryzgalov conference call transcript
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers
PAUL HOLMGREN
The Flyers have acquired the rights to Phoenix goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov for a 2012 3rd round pick along with the rights to Matt Clackson. There’s also a conditional pick if we sign him.
Q: Are you confident that you can sign Bryzgalov?
“We’re going to give it our best shot. Obviously we gave up an asset to get a chance to get in early so we have every intention of trying our best to get a deal done.”
Q: I spoke to Rich Winter yesterday for quite a while and he wants four or five years. Are you willing to go that far with Bryzgalov?
“Well, we’ll see what we can do. He’s certainly not an old goaltender. He’s 30 or 31 years old. I feel like he’s got a lot of good years left in him. We’ll see how it goes. When you get into a negotiation like this, you’re dealing with a salary cap, you try to get a number you can live with. We’ll see.”
Q: Would you have to part with one of your pieces up front in order to make this work and are you comfortable doing that?
“Well, once we know what the salary cap is going to be next year, we’ll have a better idea what we need to do down the road. We have options. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Q: Do you think it’s possible to sign Bryzgalov and Ville Leino, or if you sign Bryzgalov would it be almost impossible to re-sign Ville?
“I don’t know Sam. Obviously we still have the intention of trying to sign Ville. With the salary cap, you can only do so much. We’re trying to get the best team we can get to get ready for the 2011 season. We’ll see how it goes. There’s a lot of things that need to happen between now and July 1. We’re going to see what we can do.”
Q: Can he mentor Sergei Bobrovsky?
“I don’t know him that well – in fact I hardly know him at all. Just from talking to some of our guys… when Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell played with him, he was a young kid behind [J.S.] Giguere. Some of the information we have on him from his days in Phoenix, it’s all good. He’s a team guy, and he must have gotten along pretty well with the guy who was playing behind him in Phoenix. I don’t see an issue with that. I think the fact that they’re both Russians probably would help.”
Q: Do you ever know when you go into this what you’re looking at in terms of money and length of contract?
“I probably don’t know now. We have some ideas we’ll bounce around… I’m sure Ilya’s agent has some ideas of his own that he wants to bounce around. We’ll see if we can get a deal done. We got our foot in the door now, we have some time to look at certain things and try to work through the issues and get a deal.”
Q: Are you comfortable negotiating before the actual salary cap number for next season is known?
“I’m not sure it matters, Frank. We kind of have an idea what it is, we don’t know the exact number but we do have an idea what it’s going to be. Obviously because of our tagging space right now, I don’t know that we could sign a guy right now, at this time – for the same reason we couldn’t sign Ville at this time. We’ll do what we can do, and as I continue to say, try to get a deal done. We didn’t make this trade to acquire his rights just to try to hang around. We’re going to try our best to get him signed.”
Q: What’s the conditional pick?
“I’m not going to talk about it just because it’s a moot point right now, and when it happens, it happens. It’s not a first round pick or a second round pick, so you can go from there.”
Q: Is that the reason you did this now instead of waiting closer to the draft, so you do have the time to hammer out something?
“You never know what’s going to happen. You gamble and wait till July 1, you don’t know who else is involved. This gives us negotiating rights, which nobody else has. Is it an advantage? I don’t know. At least we get first crack at it, and we’ll see what we can do.
Q: What does this deal mean for Bobrovsky? Do you still see him as the goalie of the future?
“I don’t know. We’ll see if we can get a deal done with Ilya. I still think the world of Sergei and I think he’s one of the top young goalies in our game. Having said that, and again as I said at the end of the year, we continue to try to make our team better. Right now the position we’ve put ourselves in, negotiating with Ilya, if we can get him signed, it’ll make our team better.”
Q: There’s been a perception outside the organization for years that the flyers haven’t invested a lot in goaltending. Inside the organization, does that end the discussion if you sign him, that you have made an investment in goaltending?
We’re trying to get better, as we try to do every year. Our idea is to put ourselves in the position to win the Stanley Cup. We haven’t really had an opportunity to talk to Ilya’s agent yet. Once we get the ball rolling there, we’ll see if we can get him signed. If we do, I think we’ll have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. I feel confident in saying that, anyway.
Q: What interests you about Bryzgalov?
“Well, you look at how he played not only when he was in Anaheim, but the last few years in Phoenix, I think he’s probably one of the reason, probably the biggest reason why they became a playoff team the last two years, with his play in the regular season. I know last season he and his team took Detroit to seven games in a hard-fought series, and this year was obviously not as good for Phoenix in the playoffs, but he’s one of the better goalies in the league. You can make the argument that he’s among the top 10 goalies in the league, if not higher. We’re happy to get this opportunity to talk to him early and we’re going to try our best to get him signed.”
Q: Ed Snider was pretty adamant that he didn’t want to go through another season like this again with the goalies. How much did that weigh in on this?
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to field a good team. We want to win a Stanley Cup. We’re trying to make ourselves better in all areas. We’re going to give it our best shot.”
Q: Are you comfortable exceeding the salary cap once it’s announced, like you did last year?
“We’ll see, Frank. It’s not a comfortable spot to be in. The more you get into the summer, the more difficult it becomes to move money. We’ll see how it goes.”
Q: You said you could not sign Bryzgalov until the new cap is announced – is that correct?
“Unless we made some kind of a deal.”
Q: In the past you’ve had success doing this obviously with Kimmo and Scott Hartnell, and it didn’t quite work out last year with Dan Hamhuis. What point in your mind do you say we have to get this done or move on to something else, or do you not worry about that at this point?
“I’m not really too worried about it right now. I think we have some time. Ideally before you get to the Draft, you’d like to know if you have a deal in place, and then we’ll see what we can do at the draft in order to – if we need to make some adjustments or whatever. As long as we sense over a period of time that we’re making some progress, I don’t feel uncomfortable going late into June 30.”
Q: Is it the goal to do this and keep the team, at least the core players, intact?
“[We have some] good pieces that you need to win a Stanley Cup. In acquiring Ilya, we have an opportunity here to negotiate a contract and get him signed sort of ahead of other teams that might have had those same ideas in mind. So we’ll see what we can do. If we can agree to a deal, and then necessary adjustments in order to get him in the salary cap, I think we’ll still have a good team – if not better.
Q: If you’re able to sign him, do you think he’ll have a good impact on Bobrovsky?
“I would assume he had a good relationship with his [other] goaltender in Phoenix. From what I can gather talking to Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell about his time in Anaheim, he was sort of behind Giguere when they won the Stanley Cup. He was in a little bit of a different role, but he was a good kid, certainly no issues that we hear of with the guy. He’s a good goalie, and I think the fact that they’re both Russian can’t hurt.
Q: When Ilya was in Phoenix he had a pretty significant workload. Do you see him doing that here or do you think you can pare that down just a little bit?
"That’s one of those things that you play by ear. I’ve said numerous times, that I really like Sergei and that he’s got a really bright future as a Flyer, so we don’t want to lose track of that. Having said that, if we can sign Ilya, he’s a guy that is used to the workload. So there’s a little bit of give and take there. He played 70 in Phoenix… maybe he can play 65 here with I assume easier travel than they have in Phoenix, maybe he can play more than 70. We’ll just play that as it goes if we can accomplish what we need to accomplish and get him signed. First things first right now – we’ll deal with that later.
PAUL HOLMGREN
The Flyers have acquired the rights to Phoenix goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov for a 2012 3rd round pick along with the rights to Matt Clackson. There’s also a conditional pick if we sign him.
Q: Are you confident that you can sign Bryzgalov?
“We’re going to give it our best shot. Obviously we gave up an asset to get a chance to get in early so we have every intention of trying our best to get a deal done.”
Q: I spoke to Rich Winter yesterday for quite a while and he wants four or five years. Are you willing to go that far with Bryzgalov?
“Well, we’ll see what we can do. He’s certainly not an old goaltender. He’s 30 or 31 years old. I feel like he’s got a lot of good years left in him. We’ll see how it goes. When you get into a negotiation like this, you’re dealing with a salary cap, you try to get a number you can live with. We’ll see.”
Q: Would you have to part with one of your pieces up front in order to make this work and are you comfortable doing that?
“Well, once we know what the salary cap is going to be next year, we’ll have a better idea what we need to do down the road. We have options. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Q: Do you think it’s possible to sign Bryzgalov and Ville Leino, or if you sign Bryzgalov would it be almost impossible to re-sign Ville?
“I don’t know Sam. Obviously we still have the intention of trying to sign Ville. With the salary cap, you can only do so much. We’re trying to get the best team we can get to get ready for the 2011 season. We’ll see how it goes. There’s a lot of things that need to happen between now and July 1. We’re going to see what we can do.”
Q: Can he mentor Sergei Bobrovsky?
“I don’t know him that well – in fact I hardly know him at all. Just from talking to some of our guys… when Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell played with him, he was a young kid behind [J.S.] Giguere. Some of the information we have on him from his days in Phoenix, it’s all good. He’s a team guy, and he must have gotten along pretty well with the guy who was playing behind him in Phoenix. I don’t see an issue with that. I think the fact that they’re both Russians probably would help.”
Q: Do you ever know when you go into this what you’re looking at in terms of money and length of contract?
“I probably don’t know now. We have some ideas we’ll bounce around… I’m sure Ilya’s agent has some ideas of his own that he wants to bounce around. We’ll see if we can get a deal done. We got our foot in the door now, we have some time to look at certain things and try to work through the issues and get a deal.”
Q: Are you comfortable negotiating before the actual salary cap number for next season is known?
“I’m not sure it matters, Frank. We kind of have an idea what it is, we don’t know the exact number but we do have an idea what it’s going to be. Obviously because of our tagging space right now, I don’t know that we could sign a guy right now, at this time – for the same reason we couldn’t sign Ville at this time. We’ll do what we can do, and as I continue to say, try to get a deal done. We didn’t make this trade to acquire his rights just to try to hang around. We’re going to try our best to get him signed.”
Q: What’s the conditional pick?
“I’m not going to talk about it just because it’s a moot point right now, and when it happens, it happens. It’s not a first round pick or a second round pick, so you can go from there.”
Q: Is that the reason you did this now instead of waiting closer to the draft, so you do have the time to hammer out something?
“You never know what’s going to happen. You gamble and wait till July 1, you don’t know who else is involved. This gives us negotiating rights, which nobody else has. Is it an advantage? I don’t know. At least we get first crack at it, and we’ll see what we can do.
Q: What does this deal mean for Bobrovsky? Do you still see him as the goalie of the future?
“I don’t know. We’ll see if we can get a deal done with Ilya. I still think the world of Sergei and I think he’s one of the top young goalies in our game. Having said that, and again as I said at the end of the year, we continue to try to make our team better. Right now the position we’ve put ourselves in, negotiating with Ilya, if we can get him signed, it’ll make our team better.”
Q: There’s been a perception outside the organization for years that the flyers haven’t invested a lot in goaltending. Inside the organization, does that end the discussion if you sign him, that you have made an investment in goaltending?
We’re trying to get better, as we try to do every year. Our idea is to put ourselves in the position to win the Stanley Cup. We haven’t really had an opportunity to talk to Ilya’s agent yet. Once we get the ball rolling there, we’ll see if we can get him signed. If we do, I think we’ll have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. I feel confident in saying that, anyway.
Q: What interests you about Bryzgalov?
“Well, you look at how he played not only when he was in Anaheim, but the last few years in Phoenix, I think he’s probably one of the reason, probably the biggest reason why they became a playoff team the last two years, with his play in the regular season. I know last season he and his team took Detroit to seven games in a hard-fought series, and this year was obviously not as good for Phoenix in the playoffs, but he’s one of the better goalies in the league. You can make the argument that he’s among the top 10 goalies in the league, if not higher. We’re happy to get this opportunity to talk to him early and we’re going to try our best to get him signed.”
Q: Ed Snider was pretty adamant that he didn’t want to go through another season like this again with the goalies. How much did that weigh in on this?
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to field a good team. We want to win a Stanley Cup. We’re trying to make ourselves better in all areas. We’re going to give it our best shot.”
Q: Are you comfortable exceeding the salary cap once it’s announced, like you did last year?
“We’ll see, Frank. It’s not a comfortable spot to be in. The more you get into the summer, the more difficult it becomes to move money. We’ll see how it goes.”
Q: You said you could not sign Bryzgalov until the new cap is announced – is that correct?
“Unless we made some kind of a deal.”
Q: In the past you’ve had success doing this obviously with Kimmo and Scott Hartnell, and it didn’t quite work out last year with Dan Hamhuis. What point in your mind do you say we have to get this done or move on to something else, or do you not worry about that at this point?
“I’m not really too worried about it right now. I think we have some time. Ideally before you get to the Draft, you’d like to know if you have a deal in place, and then we’ll see what we can do at the draft in order to – if we need to make some adjustments or whatever. As long as we sense over a period of time that we’re making some progress, I don’t feel uncomfortable going late into June 30.”
Q: Is it the goal to do this and keep the team, at least the core players, intact?
“[We have some] good pieces that you need to win a Stanley Cup. In acquiring Ilya, we have an opportunity here to negotiate a contract and get him signed sort of ahead of other teams that might have had those same ideas in mind. So we’ll see what we can do. If we can agree to a deal, and then necessary adjustments in order to get him in the salary cap, I think we’ll still have a good team – if not better.
Q: If you’re able to sign him, do you think he’ll have a good impact on Bobrovsky?
“I would assume he had a good relationship with his [other] goaltender in Phoenix. From what I can gather talking to Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell about his time in Anaheim, he was sort of behind Giguere when they won the Stanley Cup. He was in a little bit of a different role, but he was a good kid, certainly no issues that we hear of with the guy. He’s a good goalie, and I think the fact that they’re both Russian can’t hurt.
Q: When Ilya was in Phoenix he had a pretty significant workload. Do you see him doing that here or do you think you can pare that down just a little bit?
"That’s one of those things that you play by ear. I’ve said numerous times, that I really like Sergei and that he’s got a really bright future as a Flyer, so we don’t want to lose track of that. Having said that, if we can sign Ilya, he’s a guy that is used to the workload. So there’s a little bit of give and take there. He played 70 in Phoenix… maybe he can play 65 here with I assume easier travel than they have in Phoenix, maybe he can play more than 70. We’ll just play that as it goes if we can accomplish what we need to accomplish and get him signed. First things first right now – we’ll deal with that later.
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