And In Ten Minutes, Philly Has a New Look

Well, Flyers fans...your team is going to look quite different as the 2011-2012 season approaches. On the same day that the NHL schedule was released, the Flyers made a flurry of moves that resulted in the trading of their captain, third leading scorer, and the signing of the goaltender they have so desperately needed for the better part of a decade.

The Flyers first dealt Jeff Carter and his 11-year, $58 million contract to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jakub Voracek and 1st- and 3rd-round picks in this years NHL Entry Draft. Shortly thereafter the Flyers sent their captain westward, shipping Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings for 22-year-old Wayne Simmonds and highly touted 19-year-old Brayden Schenn.

The trades work out for all three teams involved here. Philadelphia finally gets their goaltender by clearing up over $10 million in cap space. They moved quickly in signing Ilya Bryzgalov to a 9-year, $51 million deal. Los Angeles gets a bona fide scorer to add to an already talented group of forwards. In doing so, they are sending a clear message: it's time to fish or cut bait in Los Angeles.

Carter (L) and Richards (R) will have new homes in 2011-2012 (Getty)

After years of stockpiling prospects and building meticulously through the draft, the Kings are parting with two of their top prospects in return for a 26-year-old who had at times fallen out of favor with the Philadelphia media. Richards impact in Los Angeles will be massive. Richards has only missed 4 games in the past 3 seasons, posting 84 goals over that span. He is an excellent two-way forward who is gritty with scoring touch. He fits in nicely along side Dustin Brown, Dustin Penner, and Anze Kopitar, giving the Kings as good of a top-6 forward group as most teams in the Western Conference.

The most surprising player in all of this was the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets have tried in vain to build their team from the ground up with little success. Columbus, who has never made a big splash, has finally made one and it could prove to pay huge dividends. Rick Nash finally has a dynamic player to go alongside him in Carter. Carter has at least 29 goals in each of his last four seasons and will add a much needed offensive punch to what was a relatively punchless offensive last season; just 210 goals, good for 24th in the NHL.

In the wake of all of the blockbuster deals, Ilya Bryzgalov's contract was finalized. Depending on how you look at it, the contract is either a great move or a boneheaded decision by Philly management. Either way, you can see the logic: Philadelphia has needed a top-tier goaltender for the better part of a decade and for the most part one has eluded them. Many feel that with a solid goaltender, Philadelphia has put Cup-caliber teams on the ice in the past few seasons. Well, now they have their guy.

Bryzgalov has put up stellar numbers in his career, most of which was spent in Phoenix after being claimed off waivers from Anaheim. He is 156-116-35 in his career with a 2.53 GAA and a .916 save percentage, all very good numbers. But he is also 31, as of yesterday, and is now under contract until he's 40. His $5.66 million cap hit is high, and it's going to look even higher when he's 39 years old. But for a team that so desperately needed goaltending, something had to give. Despite losing a lot of offense in Carter and Richards, there is still a lot to look forward to offensively. Voracek and Simmons both have tremendous upside, with Simmonds looking like he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer and Voracek looks like he could have a slightly higher ceiling. Schenn has a high ceiling as well, as the 5th overall pick in 2009 could develop into a dynamic scorer at the NHL level.

Philadelphia loses offense in the immediate future, but down the road are actually shaping up well. They added the goaltender they desired, the prospects they longed for, and got rid of a captain whom everyone has been throwing under the bus for quite some time anyways. Los Angeles gets their big gun to compliment their already potent offense, and the Blue Jackets get somebody not named Rick Nash.

Who was the biggest winner in the pre-draft trades? Post your thoughts in the comments below.