44 players were traded in 25 deals on Tuesday before the NHL trading deadline. The Flyers acquitted themselves nicely, gaining several draft picks, young players, and a guy who should be able to step in to be the number one netminder that has been missing for years.
I can't believe I'm writing this, but I really like the moves the GM Paul Holmgren made in the past few weeks. He's had some duds to be sure -- Mike York, anyone? -- but in dealing Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik, and Kyle Calder he shed a significant amount of payroll while at the same time getting younger and quicker, especially on the blueline.
Given these developments, it's not entirely unreasonable to make the argument that Holmgren should be retained as the team's general manager. The only drawback that I can see is that in dealing Zhitnik, Holmgren guaranteed that Derian Hatcher will remain with the team as the only veteran defenseman (not counting Joni Pitkanen, but really -- is anyone?). And, while the Daily News' Ed Moran would disagree with me, I still say the team needs to cut its losses in regards to Hatcher.
**See below for some extra deadline day commentary and analysis:
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