Flyers may look to add defenseman by deadline

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DETROIT -- Two weeks from the NHL trade deadline, everything is very quiet.

I cant remember the last time it was this quiet so close to the deadline, Toronto general manager Brian Burke said last week.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren would agree.

The standings are so tight in the Eastern and Western Conferences that some clubs arent sure if theyre buyers or sellers.

For instance, going into Sunday night, only four points separated the eighth seed (playoff cutoff) from the 12th seed in the West, while eight points separated the fourth seeded Flyers from the ninth seeded Capitals in the East.

Of late, there have only been three trades of consequence.

Theres still a lot of teams deciding what to do and which way to go, Holmgren said. You look at the standings that is easy to understand.

Heres a question. If the Flyers continue to struggle against quality, playoff opponents, how much does that impact what Holmgren does at the deadline?

That is a hard one to answer, Holmgren replied.

Defense remains the Flyers priority at the deadline. They gave up four more goals Sunday in the 4-3 loss to the Red Wings (see story).

There are a handful of rental players out there, such as Montreals Hal Gill and Dallas Nick Grossman. A lot of clubs will be competing for them.

Gill has a Stanley Cup (Pittsburgh), which makes him more valuable to a Cup contender.

Everybody is looking for defensemen, Holmgren said. Even the teams that have it try to load it up this time of year with defensemen.

The Flyers are not playing well defensively in their own end, Holmgren said, noting its not just the defense, but the forwards, as well.

The goaltending has been poor, regardless of whos in net lately, and that puts all the more pressure on the defense which has two rookies back there in Marc-Andre Bourdon and Erik Gustafsson.

Holmgren says he doesnt pin the Flyers defensive woes on the youngsters.

Theyve continued to play well, he said. That doesnt mean were not looking around to try and improve ourselves. Its no different than any other time.

You are always looking to improve if you can and then you weigh the cost of it and whether it makes sense. Then go from there.

The long-term absence of Chris Pronger has finally caught up to the Flyers in the second half of the season.

Its magnified because the goalies, both Ilya Bryzgalov an Sergei Bobrovsky, are giving up four and five goals a game, as well.

But heres the thing. Given the last line of defense -- the goalie -- cant make the stop, its putting that much more pressure on the defense.

Im not sure if that is the reason, Holmgren argued. Obviously, we have struggled here, of late, in a lot of different areas. One night it is power play, one night its penalty kill. Were not playing as well as we need to play in our own zone right now.

Plus, its not any, one issue. We have to do better in our own end. We continue to show a pretty good ability to score goals, but I think it gets harder to score once you get to this late in the year.

That goes back to the point about the young guys have to understand that its a different game now and they have to bear down on things. Overall, we need to play better.

Given the two best defensemen arent expected to be in play until perhaps the NHL DraftNashsvilles Shea Weber and Ryan Suter -- its unlikely the Flyers make a major deal for a defenseman.

Free agency or at the draft is where they have been prone to making major moves in recent years.

You weigh what the cost is, Holmgren said. I dont have any trouble making a deal now that makes sense now or and for the future.

These rental deals, you just got to weigh the cost and make the call. Right now, none of those are coming to fruition for anyone, I dont think.

Its a timing thing right now. Were still two weeks to the deadline and not a lot happens two weeks out.

That said, the Flyers need points. The last two weekends, the Flyers have lost eight potential points in the standings.

The top-seeded Rangers won Sunday and are eight points ahead of the Flyers in the Atlantic Division.

Were a situation now where we need to need to win games and get points, Holmgren said. Everyone needs to play better.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

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