Flyers trade pitkanen?

Question

who thinks this is stupid? yeah he had a bad year but was still 3rd on the team with points. His first two years, in my opinion, where pretty good. 27 points in his rookie year and 46 points in 58 games in his second. If you look at last year just being a bad year(as it was for every flyer) and if he continues where he was going, you figure he is good for about 65(46/58*82) points what is what the top Dmen are getting.

True he made a lot of deffensive errors but playing with the experienced kimmo would do a crapload of help and make him a lot better.

Oh as for the trade, they got smith and lupul for pitkanen and sanderson. Sanderson showed he still had something left last year but could just never finish the plays. He really just had that one pretty long hot streak but then he was done for the season. Plus he is getting older so i can see why we got rid of him.

But i dont really know much about lupul or smith so fill me in on what you think about them and/or the trade

so basically,

sanderson for lupul does nothing but change the name on the back of one of our players jersey

pitkanen for smith trades
-young for old
-inexperience for experience
-offensvie "defensemen" for defensive defensemen
-sloppy team work for leadership

if thats the case, its a good move i think

Answer 1

yes this was dumb joni pitkanen is young and they get smith back but hes old. dumd move joni is a young bright defender. but also a timmonen that they aquired could help a young pitkanen

Answer 2

Mixed emotions because though I expected Pitkanen to be further along by now, he is still young. That said, he is a RFA so I am sure that Edmonton has locked him up for a few years, if he starts to live up to his potential, he could be back as a UFA in a few years. The potential is still there. He did have an extremely hard time learning systems, especially defensively and though he put up points, he would jump up on plays at inappropiate times and he was the QB on the pathetic PP, so the points would come from there as well. He often seemed disinterested but at the same time Pronger looked the same way at his age, but he is Canadian, mind you Lidstrom was about equal to him at his age and he ended up excelling. Another thing is the PP QB is taken care of with Timonen.
As for Lupul and Smith, they really struggled last year BUT I do think a change of scenery will help both. Lupul is young and was out of place last year with Edmonton but was great with Anaheim and a key in the Pronger deal. Like Pitkanen, still young with huge upside. Smith is a real character guy (Captain in Edmonton) who really doesn't make that much and I think he will get his act back with Philly.
Something that does worry me is that Kevin Lowe and Charlie Huddy know defenceman so they may think that Smith is not that great and Pitkanen will excel but Smith only has to concentrate on playing good D, which in this situation I think he can.
Mixed reactions but overall I like the make-up. Smith could also be in the running now as Philly's captain.
As for Sanderson, he may be suited better for Edmonton's style and do good there but I am indifferent on seeing him go. IMO, he was just taking up roster space.

Answer 3

He was inconsistent and bad on defense. Maybe a year with Kimmo would help. Maybe it wouldn't. The thing is that the Flyers want to make the playoffs NOW. THIS YEAR. With all their youth, they can afford to lose one inconsistent maybe. Smith is a solid, experienced, stay-at-home defenseman with leadership skills. Frankly, I would say you got a good deal without Lupul even being thrown into the mix. Lupul has also been inconsistent, but he has a tremendous upside. What you saw from Sanderson is what you get. He's old and not getting any better. I'd call it a fair trade.

Answer 4

I think it is a good trade for both teams. I like Pitkanen but the Flyers paid a tonne of money for Kimo Timonen and he will be the power play pointman and Jason Smith is a good d-man and he is a stay at home defenceman that can be counted on in his own end. I thnk Philly will be ok with him instead of Joni.