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First Gauthier, now we are trading the people we got for Gauthier. Heh.

What is the general consensus on Alberts? I'm guessing he's an ok stopgap solution. I think he's making $1.25 mil this year. Found this on a Bruins blog:

The only thing that worries me is that he missed a lot of time last year because of a concussion.

He'll give our defense some much needed grit that's for sure. Hopefully he takes Kukkonen's spot.

Looks like its about time to ship kukkonen outta here.

I'm interested to see what Steven's is going to do with the third pair.

Will this guy be dressed for tonight?

I doubt it since he was trade like 30 minutes ago, but Boston is a short plane ride from Philly.

That's what I was thinking.

I doubt they even think of trading Kukkonen until Parent and/or Jones are healthy. He is now back to being the 7th defensemen. Even then Kukkonen may not be moved. Depending on the cap situation, they may decide to hang on to him for the rest of the season even if he would be the 8th defensemen, you can never have too many defensemen going into the playoffs.

At least Homer didn't sell the farm for this guy. 1 NHL goal and a career minus. If he does any better than the previous panic signings/trades (Fitzpatrick, Vandermeer, Modry) I'm okay with this. It would ease Homer's job though if Stevens just got over his Lasse hate and play him.

I'm not 100% positive but, given the salary situation, I think someone will have to go when both Parent and Jones come back. Unless big happens with Kukkonen's development -- and I am starting to doubt that at this point (though he still needs more time to prove himself) -- it may be him. The playoffs are too far away to even consider at this point. If the Flyers need someone and the AHLers haven't developed enough yet, I guess they'll worry about making another move down the stretch.

hopefully this helps...

Nearly every other defenseman >>> Rory Fitzpatrick. That's just my opinion, though. We'll see how he stacks up against Vandy and Modry in time, though. The good thing is, I think Alberts will probably be relegated to a third pairing right off the bat whereas it seemed that Modry and Vandermeer were put into more important roles.

I like this move, but please don't re-sign him and give up our 3rd.

Yes, depending on the cap situation, Kukkonen would be the first to go. But we will also have to wait and see how they approach Sbisa & Parent. Does Sbisa stay the entire season or go back to juniors? And when Parent comes back will they start him out in the AHl since he is on a 2 way contract to get him back into game shape?

I think he's just a quick fill-in and won't be re-signed. A third rounder in next year's deep draft would be overpaying IMO.

How do you think he'll be paired? If he's got some grit and is more defensive-minded, I'd imagine he'd play with Eminger, right?

Yeah, I think I'm getting too anxious with Parent. Since Sbisa's up here, I'm already expecting Parent to step right back into the NHL. I need to step back from that.

I like it. If not for a dreadful 06-07 campaign his +/- would be a lot better.

Hopefully he gets here in time to play tonight.

We need the depth right now, so it's not a terrible move.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=252537&...s=headlines_nhl

You aren't the only one. Quite a few people (including me) keep saying "when Parent & Jones come back" as if we expect Ryan to jump right back on the NHL roster. Though, I have said he may need time in the AHL to shake the rust, it won't be for long. Once he shakes it, I'm sure they'll bring him back up because he did work hard in the off season, & Holmgren said he "turned the corner" & was looking like he was top six ready, & I highly doubt he'll forget what he picked up in the off season. I think it'll all depend on how he appears to look in practice, heck they may even try him in one game, to see if he can handle it; if not, he'll go back to the Phantoms to shake the rust. We'll have to wait & see!



I agree!

Not bad. He'll be a pretty good fill in until we get healthy.

This totally crushed my day.

But I think the move is good.

I don't necessarily think Kukkonen would be the first one to go. Defensive depth is important and it would be foolish to trade someone making so little, IMO. I wouldn't be shocked to see a forward moved especially if Giroux proves to be ready.


Yes, I think that's the likely pairing we'll see.

I hope he does good for us. We really didn't move anyone special for him.

He was special to me but for a totally different reason.

I quite like this deal, too.

Depth and a little bit more reassurance on the latter part of the D pairings. A big guy who should add some grit and presence at D.



The last part sounds a bit worrying though.

Comment from a Bruins fan on HF:

Good trade. Keep this guy all season and push Jones out the door. Release him in the offseason and replace him with Parent next year.

How come you want Jones out?

That 2.75 million dollar cap hit. Jones is not a special player he can be replaced with much more affordable options that are just as good as he is. Alberts would be better for the team anyway, he is a good physical presence and adds a more important dimension that Jones doesn't.

Fair enough. Who would you say is better and more affordable?

It sounds like Alberts makes a lot more mistakes than what Jones would though.

Well we can't truly judge Alberts until we see him play for us. He might play very well for us he may surprise us and be as big a disgrace as Modry was. If we use him on the 3rd pairing I think he will be great but if we try to use him on the 2nd pairing he may have some troubles.

Overall I haven't seen him much but I think he is right in the same area as Jones. Even if Alberts ends up playing terribly I would still like to see Jones moved out and a cheaper guy in. Ratchuk maybe given a shot next season or another one of our good AHL defenders like Bartulis. If not them then look at one of the many cheap underrated FA and steal another Vaananan. Only costs us 1 million.

That's true. I guess Coburn was kind of in the same position before he played in his first game with us. Now look at him... I agree that Alberts has to be on the 3rd line though, like you said, the 2nd would be risky.

I haven't seen Vaananan play yet. Is he quite solid?

Time will tell but, so far, I'm finding myself to be a huge Vaananen fan and I think he may be the best signing we made in the offseason. I think Vaananen is what Homer wanted Modry and Vandy to be. I think I'm leading the Vaany fan club.

Tim P's article on Alberts: Link

I forgot it was Hartnell that gave him a concussion.

That was an incredibly hard hit to the head, as well. Was that the one Hartnell was suspended for?

Yup. Basically Hartnell hurt him and Jones took out his friend. He should fit in well. He can play like the Waterboy, just look around and see the faces that hurt him and picture those goes heads on the opposition

Well just think about the last time Homer traded for a big, decent skating defenseman...He is now a star. I am talking about Coburn if no one picked up on it. I think this move could be a good one if this guy develops like Coby did.

Coburn and Alberts are two different types of players. Coburn was billed as a smooth skating, offensive minded, puck moving defensemen, which he has become, while Alberts is a physical, stay at home, defensive defensemen.

Seems like a so so move.

I rather have Kuks out than Sbisa. I would assume Kuks would get the scratch (for Alberts) and Sbisa would be kept in.

once our injured players come back we will get rid of alberts

I would say that's a safe bet considering they moved Luca up to second pairing with Coburn & dropped Eminger down to third pairing with Kukkonen, & Kukkonen only had 8 mins of ice time the other night in the Rangers game.

True, but Coburn was playing in a system which didn't suit him, he came here and hit it off. I think what Flyers25 is trying to say is given the opportunity, Alberts could do well as the stay at home defensemen. But then there is his mistakes that's been talked about, hence why Boston got rid.

You guys are so quick to ship our players out. I'm just curious, what's with all the Kukko hate? Also, i think you should treat the Alberts signing just as it is...a band aid, not more, nothing less. I don't have high expecations from this guy.

i like this move. alberts will add some much needed toughness to the backend. also, this gives kukko a chance to get familar with the bench

I think you should get over your love for Lasse and accept the fact that he's not a good dman. Without the puck he's ok, but with the puck he's absolutely horrible.

I don't think anyone has ever claimed he's some Lemieux with the puck. If that's what you're expecting, of course you think he's horrible. He's a defensive d-man who's job isn't playmaking. He's the best shot blocker on the team and had the lowest giveaway ratio of our d-men last year so it's not like he's losing the puck either. He's steady and deserves a chance.

While you may be correct, he would probably have the lowest give away ratio because he touches the puck a lot less. 25% of his give away ratio was the ONE give away to AO right in front of the net that cost us a goal.

Giveaway ratio? You don't need to look on nhl.com's stats to know that he's horrible with the puck. Just watch him play. He makes very poor decisions time after time. You don't need a stats page to realize that. If shot blocking is his big upside, big deal. If he can't get the puck out of the zone, that's a big problem.