[slickdtc]

G Anthony Stolarz going the other way.

People are somehow upset at this trade. They seem to think Stolarz has any chance of unseating Carter Hart or any of our other prospects coming up at goalie. Stolarz has been around this team for what seems like forever for a young goalie, but between health and us having more established goalies, he never really got a consistent chance.

I did not know Talbot had declined sharply over the last 2 seasons. But prior to that he came right over from the Rangers and was an iron man in net for them. Yet another reclamation project at goalie for the Flyers (Mason, Biron, Neuvirth, Elliot, Mrazek, etc). Guys who are decent and may have even been pretty good at one point, but we never get that consistent high and they eventually fade away. Until Hart was forced in to action, this team HATES playing a really young goalie. In fact, they’ll go out and sign a guy to replace one who had a good year before trading him away after he struggles as a backup (Bobrovsky).

Some people may think Stolarz is Bob in this scenario, I guess with Talbot playing some form of Mrazek/Bryzgalov. Not quite. Talbot is a free agent at years end, Stolarz is a RFA, Elliot is also an UFA. We got something for a goalie who probably wasn’t going to be here next season. That seems like a good idea. I don’t think Stolarz was going to overtake Hart this year or ever.

Stolarz may blossom in Edmonton. But as long as Hart is the man, this doesn’t matter that much. Maybe some picks would’ve been a nicer haul but I don’t think Stolarz value to some fans is as high as they think it is within the league. It’s highly like the Flyers got hosed, but dude got dealt for a 31 year old, terribly (stats wise this season) pending free agent. I’m not sure either of these clubs expects these guys to be the answer, they’re just rolling the dice.