Flyers Trade Claude Raines to Detroit

I didn't think it was possible, but the Flyers got another team to give them something of substance for The Invisible Man, Claude Raines (aka, impending free agent, Kyle Calder). Interim G.M. Paul Holmgren should be given a long term deal after this one because I have no idea how he pulled this trade off. Who knows, maybe Clarkie is consulting for the Red Wings these days.

For those not in the know, this past offseason the Flyers traded useful defensive center Michal Handzus to Chicago for Calder, who was coming off a 26 goal season and seemed poised to establish himself as a big time NHL goal scorer. Well, to say things haven't worked out would be a pretty big understatement. Calder did not score his first goal until the 28th game of the year and only has nine so far this season.

However, it appears that Detroit was so enamored with his "upside" and "grittiness" that the Flyers received 25 year old defensemen Lasse Kukkonen, as well as a third round pick, in the deal. Again, the fact that we didn't have to pay someone to take Calder off our hands astounds me. Plus, Kukkonen was Joni Pitkanen's defensive partner while the two were growing up in the Laplands of Finland. This trade is a potential win win. We get rid of a turd in Calder, and it also gives us the potential of getting Pitkanen's career back on track.

This trade is more evidence of why the NHL's collective bargaining agreement is so much better than the one used in the NBA. In the NBA, a team can be buried in purgatory for years and years due to the constraints of their ridiculous salary cap, which requires the salaries of all traded players to match up within 25%. In the Good Ole' NHL, the salary cap rules are no where near as tight. A team can totally do a 180 in one year's time. Your Philadelphia Flyers are setting themselves up to do just that.

The Flyers will go into this year's offseason with about half of the $47 million projected salary cap to spend on free agents. Plus, thanks to their last couple drafts and the recent Forsberg, Zhitnik, and Calder trades, the Orange & Black literally have a cornucopia of young prospects at every position besides goalie, as well as the likely number one pick in this year's draft. If you can't tell, I can't wait for the offseason to get here.

The Flyers will not be held down for long. Mark my words.