Rangerland Forum Information

[jkman61494]

Per ESPN.com

OK, so we've talked about nearly every option the Philadelphia Flyers could explore regarding their goalie future. Most involve trading for a young goalie or signing one of the big free agents -- most notably Ilya Bryzgalov. However, is it possible they will trade for a top veteran goaltender?

The Courier Post's Chuck Gormley writes, "There are whispers that they may make a pitch for Buffalo's Ryan Miller, the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom or, yes, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur."

This is the first we're hearing of this and it sounds like pure speculation -- especially since the Flyers have strong options in Bryzgalov and Tomas Vokoun in free agency. In addition, trading for a high-priced veteran goalie makes little sense because the deal with not only cost the Flyers valuable assets, but it could also force them to cut payroll to get under the cap with their new goalie.

If some team such as Philly would give up the farm to acquire Hank would you ever consider it? As crazy as it may sound, my answer would be yes. While it's always awesome to have a franchise goalie,and I certainly don't yearn for the days of Mike Dunham, there are teams that have succeeded without elite goalies.

With that said, I'd only EVER consider it if we got something along the lines of Mike Richards, JVR and one of their three goalies in return.

[xcheck24]

You realize by trading Lundqvist to the Flyers for the packages you guys are mentioning, the Rangers would essentially become the Flyers, right? No goaltending with some decent pieces up front. And the Flyers show every year that they're not going to do much without a goaltender.

I know people around here don't think Lundqvist is a big money goaltender, and it's a fair argument. But do you remember the years between Richter and Lundqvist? I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK THERE.

And I love Marty Biron, but there's a reason why he's been a back-up for a few years.

[jburns]

I know people around here don't think Lundqvist is a big money goaltender, and it's a fair argument. But do you remember the years between Richter and Lundqvist? I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK THERE.

But we had Mike Dunham!

[xcheck24]

But we had Mike Dunham!

Yeah...and it wasn't a good thing.

And Pete, I get what you're saying, but I'd rather they stay on this path than trade one of the big cornerstones of getting them onto the right road.
That being said, they need to do something before Lundqvist is beyond the prime years to helping them win something. You know, like some scoring.

[Rocha]

And Pete, I get what you're saying, but I'd rather they stay on this path

But what path are they on? In the past three seasons they

- Made the playoffs on one of the final days of the season, lost in the 1st round.
- Missed the playoffs on one of the final days of the season.
- Made the playoffs on one of the final days of the season, lost in the 1st round.

Unlike the Capitals who have awesome regular seasons but fizzle out in the playoffs, or teams like Pittsburgh, Philly, Boston and Tampa Bay who have good regular seasons and then make deep playoff runs, this Ranger team has given no indications it's moving upward or there's a real good team there just waiting to mature.

Let's say the exact same roster came back next season -- would you really be surprised if they didn't make the playoffs? I'm not sure what some people are wanting to protect here. I'm not saying they need to scrap it all and start over, but this team needs to take a few risks to break out of their streak of barely keeping their heads above water.