SAN JOSE -- When Scott Howson sat in Paul Holmgrens box at Wells Fargo Center a few weeks back, the Columbus general manager pitched a blockbuster deal to the Flyers involving winger Rick Nash.
The deal would have required stripping the Flyers of their rookie assets -- namely, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn.
Holmgren said, No, reiterating that he wants to keep his core unit of youth together.
So, when San Jose GM Doug Wilson -- whose injury-riddled club was in need of forwards with size -- called early Monday about the availability of James van Riemsdyk, the answer from Holmgren was very much like the one he gave Howson.
Holmgren, sources said, asked if Logan Couture was involved. Wilson said no. For both men, a non-starter on each side of the table.
That was as close as the Flyers got to making a major deal on Monday. In the end, they stood pat with what they had already acquired weeks ago in defensemen Nicklas Grossman and Pavel Kubina.
What you saw on the ice from the Flyers this weekend in Western Canada is what youre going to get in the playoffs. This is their playoff roster.
NHL
Holmgren said he was not displeased on what was a very slow day of trading with no truly remarkable deals, anywhere.
Disappointed?
Absolutely not, Holmgren said. A couple weeks ago, we felt we lacked some things on our back end because of the absence of Chris Pronger. We addressed those issues without giving up anyone off our team.
I like our team. Were a group that for the most part has been together all year. We put some young guys into our lineup over the course of the year and we like our team and the direction we are heading.
The Sharks, who are in a terrible tailspin after going 2-6-1 during a nine-game, 16-day road trip, reportedly offered goalie Antti Niemi for JVR, according to TSN.
We received some calls about a few of our players and some scenarios we talked about, Holmgren said. Nothing really made sense for us in the short term or the long term. I think weve stated here all along, anything we do needed to make sense both ways for us.
Nothing really came up. We made our moves a couple of weeks ago. Adding the size and experience on defense that we were looking forWe felt good about our group.
Since we made those two dealswe didnt really go in with anything that we really felt we needed to do. We like our team and were quite comfortable coming out it like we did.
No Flyer had to be more relieved than van Riemsdyk.
I cant do anything about teams calling about him, Holmgren said. Ive talked to James a number of times over the season. I think he feels comfortable, and since hes back in the lineup, hes been a good player for us.
Its his third year in the league, hes been involved in some playoff games, and was a particularly good player last year in the playoffs for us.
When San Jose failed to get JVR, the Sharks, looking for forward size, obtained wingers Daniel Winnik and T.J. Galiardi and a draft pick from Colorado in exchange for Jamie McGinn.
The Flyers didnt try to get a goalie, even though their goals against average is a frightening 2.94, a by-product of the poor play from both Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Goaltending again remains the Flyers only weakness after the trade deadline.
Its still loose-goosey from time to time, Holmgren understated. Our goaltending needs to be better. The coaches and the players have spent a great deal of time going over how were playing and were trying to tighten things up.
Thats a situation were addressing on a daily basis. You hope with 21 games left well tighten up and start to play the way we need to play to be successful down the stretch.
Realistically, the Flyers are tied to Bryzgalov for the long-term -- eight more years -- and have to pray he turns the corner. The organization is hoping that the shootout win in Calgary, in which Bryzgalov made a discernible difference, represents a watershed moment that he can build upon for the playoffs.
Whatever the Flyers do from this point on, however far they go in the playoffs, rests squarely on Bryzs shoulders.
One player the Flyers inquired about was versatile forward Paul Gaustad, whose checking line assets and special teams prowess would have been a plus in Philly.
The asking price was a first-round pick, which caused several clubs, including the Flyers, to back off.
Hes a player we talked about, prior to making any of the moves we made prior to acquiring our defensemen, Holmgren said of Gaustad. Hes a guy that had a lot of interest around the league.
You saw the price was pretty steep. Once we added our defensemen, we didnt focus on that player.
Gaustad went to Nashville at the very last minute for a first-round pick, but the Preds also got a fourth-round pick in return.
Loose pucks
The Flyers sent winger Eric Wellwood back to the Phantoms. They had to do that to be compliant with recalls to the NHL so they could use him later. Anyone on the Flyers roster as of 3 p.m. Monday is there for remainder of the season. This way, Wellwood gets playing time, but can still be recalled. ... The Flyers will have been sitting for two days in wait of the Sharks on Tuesday at HP Pavilion. The road-weary Sharks, who lost coach Todd McLellan to a stick injury suffered on the bench against the Wild, were forced to stay over in Minnesota on Sunday night because of mechanical issues with their charter jet.
Nashville, Nash, et al.
Preds GM David Poile, who made some moves earlier this month, was very active and fared best among all clubs.
As for the day itself, unlike past trade deadlines, there werent any deliberate salary dumps. Virtually all the deals were true hockey deals.
A couple of major ones, but none involved Nash, who wanted his fate reconciled, and now must wait until the summer.
Nashville, which had been wheeling and dealing right into the deadline, picked up winger Andrei Kostitsyn, who will be unrestricted this summer, from Montreal for a 2nd-round pick in plus a fifth-round pick that same year that the Preds had previously gotten in a deal for Hal Gill.
The Preds now have reunited the Kostitsyn Brothers, after Sergei was traded from Montreal to the Preds in 2010.
Chicago, looking for a defenseman, got Johnny Oduya from Winnipeg for two draft picks.
Tampa Bay, in a rebuilding mode, made three small deals.
Columbus wanted Couture from San Jose, which tried hard to pry Nash away. The Sharks and Rangers made a desperate push for Nash right to the end and couldnt get it done.
Then again, the Rangers are clearly the class of the Eastern Conference right now and have no reason to break up their club over Nash when they seem well-suited for a long playoff run anchored by goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net