Now that the playoffs are over, here are some Flyers notes surfacing. Pretty much quoted the whole article, but cropped out a tiny bit and tried to group it all by topic.
Leighton wants to re-sign. "I hope to get the opportunity to stay here as a No. 1 and if not, then elsewhere," he said.And although the Flyers lacked for adequate NHL-ready depth on defense in the playoffs, Holmgren said he doesn't feel the need to upgrade there in free agency. The third pair could improve.
"Our guys need opportunities to play," he said, later referring to young Ryan Parent, who the club hasn't given up on. "Our coaches did a good job of playing their best players in the playoffs. " Do we need to find a guy? I think we have those guys."Holmgren didn't seem too concerned with the overabundance of top centers on the club "Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and Danny Briere" competing for the top three lines.
Briere's 30 points in the playoffs proved he needs to be at center. At the same time, Giroux's talents are lost on a third line or at wing.
Said Briere: "Everyone knows I feel more comfortable in the middle." Briere added he would do whatever benefits the team most, even going back to wing.Holmgren defended Scott Hartnell, who had some serious personal issues that greatly affected his play during the regular season. Those issues were concluded late in the season, and Hartnell was the second best forward on the club behind Briere in the playoffs.
It now appears Hartnell will not be traded (he has a no-trade clause), even though the Flyers contemplated doing that during the regular season.
"I don't remember one time that Scott talked about [his problem]," Holmgren said. "He stuck with it. He stuck to it. He continued to work. And I think he played tremendous in the playoffs for us. I thought he came on in the last 20 games and it carried over into the playoffs. He had some issues to deal with that weren't very nice."
Hartnell said the worst times are behind him.Last year, Holmgren told the media that Richards had much to learn as a captain and needed to take some things to heart over the summer. Holmgren was asked if he felt Richards had grown and gave a telling response:
"[He's] two games from where he needs to be," Holmgren said, meaning two more wins for a Cup. "I don't mean that in a bad way."A number of surgeries are pending, depending upon final exams. One surgery for certain is that Betts will have his right shoulder repaired to prevent future dislocations. That happened twice this season. Holmgren said there was a list of other players who may need surgery.Goalie Johan Backlund agreed to a two-year contract extension. He may require surgery on his left hip because of a groin problem. Holmgren said he will need surgery, but Backlund said he wasn't sure. "I've been feeling pretty good," Backlund said. "I learned to play over here and it's a totally different game. I learned a lot and learned to play this style."Holmgren said he felt it would be "easy" to re-sign his four top restricted free agents: Braydon Coburn, Darroll Powe, Dan Carcillo and Parent. "Though Holmgren did not comment, the Flyers likely won't re-sign unrestricted free agent Arron Asham.