The Flyers continued the youth/salary dump movement last night, when after losing to a tired Maple Leafs team, they traded veteran D Alexei Zhitnik to Atlanta for developing prospect D Braydon Coburn. Coburn was the 8th overall pick in the 2003 draft, and he’s a blueline giant at 6’5” and 220. Zhitnik is a solid player, but it’s clear the only thing the Flyers can salvage from this season is their ability to trade veterans past their primes for youngins with a lot of potential.
The only clips Comcast showed of Coburn in their coverage was of him getting his ass handed to him by the Devils’ Mike Rupp (youtube below), so let’s hope he’ll have a better portfolio by this time next year.
Tim Panaccio aptly points out that this move is just another part of the Flyers’ “Sell now, buy during free agency” plan. Because of contract stipulations put in place as part of the collective bargaining agreement that settled the lockout, there will be a large number of high-caliber free agents this off-season, with quite a few next year too, and the Flyers could be the biggest buyers in this market. It’s good to know that the end result of this season from hell is an unprecedented opportunity to turn it around in a single summer.
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