Flyers Offseason Update

Coming off a season that saw the Flyers lose in the opening round of the playoffs to the eventual Stanley Cup champions the Flyers came into the offseason with quite a few questions to answer. With free agency starting to dry up it's time to look back at what the Flyers have done to catch up with the Penguins among other top teams.The Flyers have lacked a franchise goalie since Ron Hextall and it seems unlikely Ray Emery will be the answer to that problem but given the Flyers financial problems against the cap the signing seems worth it. Emery is a spark plug with immense talent but also a repuation for being confrontational with opposing teams as well as his own teammates. Emery led the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006 but was exiled to the Russian league last year. Emery called the experience a humbling one and Flyers fans are hoping to strike gold with Emery's great talent but don't expect miracles. The Flyers also brought back former wonderkid rookie Brian Boucher, who as you may remember was the Flyers rookie goaltender in their epic 2001 Eastern Conference Finals collapse to arch rival New Jersey.With their goalie in place the Flyers decided it was time to make a huge splash to protect Ray Emery and they landed future hall of fame defender Chris Pronger. Easily one of the most hated men in the game Pronger certainly will not disappoint the Flyers fans who love the Broad Street Bullies mentality. Pronger is physical and still at 34 can be a dominant game changing defender. The Flyers paid a steep price including Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, and two first round picks. Lupul was expendable with the excess of offensive talent the Flyers have on the roster and coming up through the system. Sbisa was a promising young defensemen but the Flyers have to be more worried about winning now than waiting 3-4 years for Sbisa to fully development. The two first round picks you cannot be worried about given the opportunity to win now. The Flyers needed to bulk up their defense to slow down the attacks of teams like Pittsburgh and Washington.The Flyers lost power forward and power play beast Mike Knuble. Knuble said the Flyers offer wasn't worth considering and he left to the Capitols. The Flyers then added tough man RW Ian Laperriere from Colorado. Looking back there are still a lot of questions the Flyers will have to answer. Replacing Knuble and his in front of the net presence will be very difficult but its hard to have problems with the team acquiring a top of the line defensemen. The team once again will seem to lead the league in penalty minutes thanks to bringing in more "tough guys" so the Flyers will have to be excellent on special teams next year.