After weeks of searching for a roster defenseman via trade, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren was forced to hit the bargain bin on Saturday. It’s being reported that former Tampa Bay blue liner Lukas Krajicek, has signed with the Flyers as a free agent
The former first-round pick reportedly passed through waivers and was released by the Lightning, leaving him available for the Flyers to pick up.
Primarily a stay-at-home defender, Krajicek has 10 goals and 60 assists in 301 career games between Florida, Vancouver and Tampa Bay. Not a big hitter, Krajicek is adept at shot blocking.
Tampa Bay placed Krajicek on waivers with no intention of bringing him back up. The 26-year old was not having a strong year in the Sunshine state and was blocking the way for some younger guys in the Lightning organization, who are in full rebuild mode.
Phila.Bright 
Ryan, I know you don’t do editorials, but what’s your take on this “bargain bin” pickup?
Considering the position Paul Holmgren is in, it’s not a bad move. Krajicek has experience and can move up the lineup and log minutes if need be. He’s extremely inexpensive, I believe a pro-rated $500k. Remember, the Flyers needed to fill a gap with this move, not win a Cup. He’s no star by any stretch, but he’s better than Oskars Bartulis and OKT right now and that’s all they need him to be.
heck, if these first two games are any sign, he’s our #4 dman. quite a steal for a pro-rated $500k.
i just ran some quick stats and found the conclusion a bit concerning…. (i just re-read them after typing it all out…apparently, i’m a geek)
last season our top 4 dmen in points were timonen (43 in 77 games), coburn (28 points in 80 games), carle (24 points in 64 games), and alberts (13 points in 79 games)…for a total of 108 points in 300 games. the same 4 dmen were a combined +34 on the season.
so far this season, our top 4 are pronger (38 in 55), timonen (28 in 55), carle (24 in 55), and coburn (14 in 54)…for a total of 104 points in 219 games. and a combined +32.
4 fewer points in 81 fewer games….and only -2 difference from last year thru 55 games. if you run that over the course of 82 games, this years top 4 d is on pace for 10 more points then last years top 4 d. not bad. but not great when you consider that you added pronger (and lost lupul, sbisa, etc).
but…maybe the problem isn’t our d.
i ran the same figures for our top 6 forwards… not so encouraging.
last year was carter (84 in 82), richards (80 in 79), gagne (74 in 79), hartnell (60 in 82), lupul (50 in 79) and knuble (47 in 82)…totals 395 points over 483 games.
this year is carter (47 in 55), richards (44 in 55), briere (35 in 48), giroux (32 in 55), jvr (31 in 52), and hartnell (29 in 54)…totals 218 points over 319 games.
over the course of 82 games, that would equal 11 less points. not so bad considering the losses of lupul and knuble…and you pretty much break even with the extra production from this years “improved” defensive production.
HOWEVER….the key is +/-
last years top 6 were a combined +86 in 483 games.
this years top 6 are a combined +16 in 319 games.
I THINK I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!!
compared to last year, carter and richards are both -19. hartnell is -14. gagne last year was +21 and he is replaced in production by briere this year who is even…that’s a -21. the only positive is the combo of giroux and jvr who are actually +3 compared to last years combo of lupul and knuble.
apparently our even strength play is HORRIBLE!!!
last year, as a team we were +99 on the season (7th best in nhl). this year, we are +35 (12th best in nhl).
thankfully we are tied for the 2nd most powerplay goals this year with 50….we had 71 last year….we’re on pace to finish with 75. not much better.
unless our even strength play improves, we’ll be lucky to make the playoffs.
John Stevens was a guy who didn’t like to run the power play through the defense. He always wanted it down low to a feeder who could send it across the crease or into the slot. When they received Chris Pronger, Stevens began trying to feed him more. With Peter Laviolette you can see a change. He encourages the defense to hop into the play, be aggressive and be available at the point.
how does that explain the even strength woes?
It doesn’t. The ES play was not good the past two years and remains not good. If you look at the Flyers losing streaks this year, they all come during power play slumps. My explanation is that the individuals on the team aren’t skilled enough to create their own chances. Between Mike Richards and his blind, cross-ice passes that get intercepted or Jeff Carter’s weakness on the puck, it doesn’t equal goals against BIG defenses. Notice that when the forwards have to pay a price to go to the net against a bigger defense, they stay on the perimeter and shoot. Carter has never beat a guy 1-on-1, he doesn’t have the skill to do what Crosby/Malkin/Gaborik/Ovechkin/Kovalchuk can do. Those guys can still be productive 5-on-5.
holmgrens gonna have to get creative to get some of these heavy contracts out of town and get some genuine playmakers in here.
the way i see it, we need to get 2 contracts off the books between gagne, briere, hartnell and carter. if holmgren can pull that off, we would have enough money to try to get kovalchuk as a free agent this offseason. maybe even take a shot at nabokov. that’s probably a pipe dream but……..
i’d love it!
alright seriously….i think bill metzer might have stole my thoughts ….exactly 17 minutes after my comment here, this was posted on the flyers site. check it out
http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=516404&navid=DL|PHI|home
He probably read your comment while perusing Ryan’s Blog. LOL