On the same day Ilya Bryzgalov signs, the Flyers lose their captain and a former 50 goal-scorer in trades with Los Angeles, Columbus.
The beginning of the end occurred May 6 in Boston, where the 2010-11 Philadelphia Flyers' season ended with a humiliating 5-1 loss to the Bruins.
Forty-eight days later, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren traded winger Jeff Carter and center Mike Richards in separate deals with Columbus and Los Angeles, a transformational day in franchise history. Philadelphia acquired Jakub Voracek and a first- and third-round pick in the 2011 draft from Columbus, and a second round pick, prospect Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds from Los Angeles. Holmgren signed goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million contract later in the afternoon.
Philadelphia now has $7.5 million in cap room to sign Voracek, Simmonds, Daniel Carcillo, Andreas Nodl, Darroll Powe, Ville Leino, Nikolai Zherdev, Nick Boynton and Sean O’Donnell.
“Yeah, I was,” Richards said in a conference call when asked if he was surprised by the trade. “I was very shocked when I got a call early this afternoon from my agent (Pat Morris). He gave me the rundown of what he knew. I started hearing a little bit more and more. I was reading it on the internet before I was able to talk, get the confirmation from my agent about it. At first I was shocked, then excited.”
Richards and the Kings will visit Philadelphia on Oct. 15. The Flyers will host Carter and the Blue Jackets on Nov. 5.
Carter and Richards were selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft. Carter was the 11th pick and Richards was selected 24th overall. Carter recorded 181 goals and 343 points in 461 games for Philadelphia while Richards totaled 133 goals and 349 points in 453 games. Richards signed a 12-year, $69 million contract during the 2008-09 season, the same year he was named the 17th captain in Flyers history.
“I talked to (Carter) right after the first phone call from Pat, my agent. I think it was right around the time he got traded to Columbus. We weren’t sure what was going on with the team and with each other,” Richards said. “It’s disappointment. Really, over the last 10 years, really my best friend, a guy we’ve come up with together, had success together, really envisioned playing our careers together. We wanted to be in Philadelphia. We both loved it there. That’s one of the hardest parts of this day was just not being able to go through it with a guy you’ve had success with and really thought was going to win with at some point.”
Philadelphia finished second in the Eastern Conference standings with 103 points but struggled after the All-Star Break, only winning 14 of 32 games. The Flyers were pushed to seven games in their first-round series against seventh-seeded Buffalo before being swept by Boston in the second round.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was forced to rotate goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky, Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton over 11 postseason games. Unlike the 2010 playoffs, which the Flyers qualified for on the last day of the regular season and reached the Stanley Cup Final with the tandem of Leighton and Boucher in net, Laviolette often rolled snake eyes with his goaltenders this playoff season.
“I’m not exactly sure," Richards said when asked to explain what went wrong. "I wish I could tell you. When you underachieve as a team, there’s a lot of fingers getting pointed. I didn’t have a problem with them being pointed at me. I was unhappy how it ended.
“I wanted to stay in Philly for the rest of my career. That’s what I envisioned until about one o’clock, two o’clock (Thursday) afternoon. I love the city of Philadelphia and I love the organization. It’s tough to leave. I guess you don’t understand it’s a business until you’re traded.”
On Twitter: @HockeyPrimeTime and @DenisGorman
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