Flyers GM: 'I think we improved our team a lot'
By James O'BrienJul 6, 2013, 12:33 AM EDT
From the net on out, the Philadelphia Flyers will look very different next season. They spared no expense to do so.
Of course, the question is: was it all worth it? GM Paul Holmgren told CSNPhilly.com that he's very happy with the results.
"I think we improved our team a lot," Holmgren said. "We added a very good puck-moving defenseman that's going to bring us more offense from the back end (Mark Streit). We added, in my opinion, still one of the better players in the game in Vinny Lecavalier … And adding Ray (Emery) to bring in along with Steve Mason, I think, solidifies our goaltending position …"
"More importantly, we kept what we think is a real good nucleus together. We didn't do anything to dismantle anything."
Some might say that spending all that money for Danny Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov to not play for the team might count as "dismantling," but that's in the past now.
Along with questions about the Mason-Emery duo, people wonder if the addition of Streit is enough to turn around a woeful defense. Holmgren explains that some of the ugliness came from a rash of injuries. Even if he's just saying the right things, Holmgren said he doesn't expect to make more moves.
Still, he noted "you never say never on anything," which might as well be the Flyers' team-building mantra at this point.