Not too many of us refine a wish list after the Christmas Holidays, but thats where Paul Holmgrens head is at.
The NHLs Christmas roster freeze allowed GMs to focus more on friends and family and less about their foes, but Holmgren is always in upgrade mode, and Im sure hes been constantly combing over the other 29 rosters in the league.
Hes made a list of what defensemen would be competent replacements for captain Chris Pronger, and hes checked it twice. What every Flyers fan (and every member of the media) would love to know is, who is at the top of Holmgrens list when trading resumes on Wednesday?
Ideally, Nashvilles Shea Weber would be the overwhelming choice. In fact, any GM in the league would tell you Weber could be the most coveted player to change teams before the 2012-13 season commences. He has size, a 102-mph blistering slap shot, plays a physical, imposing brand of defense and is a franchise centerpiece.
The prevailing thought across the league is now that the Predators have signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a staggering seven-year, 49 million extension, theres little financial room left to pay Weber and teammate defenseman Ryan Suter. Under David Poiles watch, the organization has been pinching pennies from the day they had to pony up the NHLs expansion fee.
I feel confident Holmgren will make a major push for Weber ... just not now. For one, ever since he was handed the GM keys in Nov. 2006, Holmgren has never made an eye-popping move to acquire a perennial All-Star during the season.
Take the list of players he has acquired prior to the deadline: Jaroslav Modry, Vaclav Prospal, Dan Carcillo, Ville Leino and Kris Versteeg.
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All nice role players brought in to complement the current corps. In the case of Carcillo, it was actually a cap-savings move to free up the necessary space because the team couldnt fit Claude Giroux under the salary cap (I know it seems hard to believe, but that was the dilemma back in 2008).
Big names have come and gone at the deadline, but Holmgren simply doesnt believe in shaking up the roster six weeks from the playoffs. Lets add a piece, but not at the expense of subtracting several others.
There are many superstars who have swapped teams recently at or near the trade deadline without the results of a championship: Peter Forsberg to Nashville, Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh, Brian Campbell to San Jose, Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey, and in each instance those teams all came up short. The prevailing thought is its just too risky and the asking price is usually way too high to pull trigger on one exceptional talent when its the collective chemistry of a team that wins Stanley Cups.
Look at the past six Cup champs since the lockout and they all won with nice, complementary additions. In 2006 Carolina added 38-year-old Mark Recchi and in 2009 Pittsburgh acquired 38-year-old Bill Guerin, All-Star players past the primes of their careers who added leadership and contributions at just the right time. Those organizations didnt feel the need to mortgage their future to add the missing piece.
So where does Paul Holmgren look for defensive help? First off, the search starts with veteran players in the final year of their contracts playing for teams who dont appear to be making the postseason.
In Carolina, theres Tim Gleason and Jaroslav Spacek.
In L.A., Willie Mitchell falls under that category, but there are two defensemen who would fit what the Flyers need at this point: a strong power play presence and a veteran in the locker room with postseason experience.
Tampa Bay's Pavel Kubina and Anaheim's Francois Beauchemin fit both qualifications. Both men are in the final year of their contracts with a cap hit of 3.8 million, a number that could be easily absorbed by the Flyers now that they have space. Once again, the Flyers have draft picks at their disposal and with the emergence of players like Matt Read, Sean Couturier and the potential of Brayden Schenn, this organization doesn't necessarily have to rely on prospects like other organizations.
All of which leads me up to the Flyers pursuit of Weber. I would be surprised if the Predators trade Weber before the deadline. It would send a terrible message to the Nashville fan base. Weber's rights could be acquired in the off-season, but it will require a hefty package of picks and players since he's a restricted free agent. If Weber somehow makes to it July 1 still in Nashville, then I think the Flyers organization will look hard at submitting an offer sheet.
In fact, I would expect it.
A long term deal with a cap hit around 7 million per season would be outside of Poile's budget. The compensation would be two first-round picks, a second-rounder and a third-round pick, but when you think how the Flyers essentially dealt four first-round picks (two picks plus Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa) to acquire Chris Pronger, the Flyers can absorb whatever it takes to acquire a defenseman that you may never draft over the next 25 years.
E-mail John Boruk at jboruk@comcastsportsnet.com.