Flyers Notes: Bobby Ryan Trade Rumor, Danny Briere a Goner, Bryz Next?

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It’s been a busy and frequently strange 24-plus hours around the Flyers to say the least. These are just a handful of the developments since the latest on Mark Streit and Jonathan Bernier.

• Bobby Ryan to Philadelphia is starting to have that inevitable feel to it simply because the Cherry Hill native has been linked to the club for years. According to Tim Panaccio, the Flyers and Ducks are at it again.

The potential deal would send Braydon Coburn and this year’s 11th overall draft choice to Anaheim for Ryan. The 25-year-old winger scored 30 goals in each of his first four full seasons in the NHL, though he fell off that pace in 2013, netting 11 in 46 games.

Obviously, the Flyers would be helping themselves with a scoring winger, but they would also be creating another hole on their already depleted defensive corps.

Also, giving up their first-round pick seems a bit much given how deep the NHL draft is this season and when the Flyers are in desperate need of defensive help.

Coburn is coming off of disappointing season that ended early because of a separated shoulder, and given how well Erik Gustafsson and Oliver Lauridsen played in his absence, you could make the case he’s expendable.  On the other hand, as Panotch remarks in the video below, the 11th pick is a bit much – especially considering Ryan might be a luxury for the league’s ninth-ranked offense.

What was weird about all of this however was the Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi sort of refuted the story, saying he heard otherwise earlier on Tuesday. Carchidi added the story sounded “iffy.” Maybe Paul Holmgren is trolling everybody?

>> Sources: Flyers interested in deal for Ducks’ Ryan [CSN]

• One thing’s for sure, Homer wasn’t joking around when he shut down Ritch Winter, agent for Ilya Bryzgalov.

Word got out on Tuesday that Winter had been assured by Holmgren that Bryz was safe. In spite of the rumors, the organization would not be using a compliance buyout on the remaining seven years of the netminder’s contract. Frank Seravalli for the Daily News confirmed:

This mind you was mere hours after reports emerged that the Flyers were frontrunners for Bernier. Maybe the front office had already deemed the asking price was too high. Maybe it was a smokescreen compelling the Kings to stop wasting everybody’s time with this Jake Voracek nonsense.

Holmgren put that notion to rest, along with the fairy tale that he promised anything to Bryzgalov or his agent. Tim Panaccio followed up to obtain this gem:

I didn't assure Ritch Winter of anything. When the time comes to do our business we will do whatever is best for our hockey team.

Ilya Bryzgalov is still the best soap opera in Philly sports. Will he stay or will he go? Even Paul Holmgren doesn’t know!

• The one thing we can confirm besides this offseason being far too chaotic already (and they’ve hardly done anything) is the obvious. Per ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Flyers have informed Danny Briere that they will invoke the amnesty clause after the Stanley Cup Finals conclude, deleting the final two years of his contract.

A source told ESPN.com that Briere and Paul Holmgren met last week, at which time the Flyers' GM informed the veteran center of the team’s decision. No bitter feelings, though, as I’m told Briere feels Holmgren handled it with class.

At $6.5 million, Briere’s cap figure is the largest on the team, but his production on the ice has been severely lacking for the past two seasons, his worst in over a decade. He turns 36 this October, and has been battling an increasing number of injuries, so there was little reason to believe it would improve much.

We’ll certainly reflect further on Briere’s six seasons with the Flyers once the move is official.

>> Rumblings: Letang, Briere, coaches & more [ESPN]

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