PITTSBURGH -- Go to the NHL draft, come home with Chris Pronger.
Go to another draft, and trade away Mike Richards and Jeff Carter and come home with a boatload of players and prospects.
Need to get a jump on free agency? Trade for the rights to Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell.
Thats been the M.O. of Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren. Get a jump on the field, make a big splash at the draft, restructure his team.
Many observers thought Holmgren would use this draft to try and land a defenseman before free agency begins July 1.
With Prongers Flyers career seemingly ended by post-concussion syndrome, the Flyers had a gaping hole going into next season on defense that needed to be filled.
Holmgren was unable to complete a blockbuster deal at the draft, but he did swing James van Riesmdyk to Toronto for Luke Schenn to bolster his defense and make it younger at the same time.
NHL
There were a lot of conversations and not just with us, with a lot of teams, Holmgren said. Weve got a new CBA were going to be working under at some point.
Its always a busy time of year. It starts here at the draft. Did I plant seeds? I dont know. I think we have an idea of what might be available for sure, and we will go from there.
Sources say that if the Flyers want Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle, they can get him, but the Coyotes want either Brayden Schenn or Sean Couturier in return. Yandle is not a pending free agent.
Well, we know Brayden Schenn is going nowhere now and neither is Couturier, so the Yandle deal is dead.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins cleared almost 6 million in salary cap space in the Jordan Staal trade to try and get the rights to Ryan Suter from Nashville, Preds GM David Poile would not bite.
Pens GM Ray Shero feels confident he can still convince Suter, who reportedly prefers Detroit or Minnesota as his next home, to consider the Penguins given their past relationship when Shero was assistant GM in Nashville and drafted Suter.
It now appears Suter is headed to free agency along with New Jersey star forward Zach Parise, someone a lot of clubs would like to get their hands on.
A lot of people are waiting to see what happens, he said. I said all along, I like our roster. I would like to add to it instead of subtracting through free agency and other avenues.
The Schenn trade was one-for-one.
Pressed on not shoring up the defense, Holmgren said about two hours before the Schenn trade, Im not disappointed at all. Its a long process sometimes to do things you might want to do. You got to be patient. I said all along, we like our team. Well see what happens in the coming days and weeks.
We had a lot of conversations over the last few days on what is available and may be available.
Schenn was available. Whos next?
Jagr update
Holmgren did not meet with Jaromir Jagrs agent, Petr Svoboda, at the draft, but said he did talk to Svoboda before coming here and expects to have another conversation in the days ahead. Jagr appears headed to free agency.
Returning home?
Holmgren confirmed a report by RDS that he has spoken with former LA Kings coach Terry Murray about a job coaching the Phantoms.
We have spoken about the Phantoms but nothing is in place, Holmgren said.
Murray is still under contract with the Kings, but general manager Dean Lombardi has allowed him to seek another job.
Lombardi told CSNPhilly.com he expects Murray to accept some job in the Flyers organization.
If hired, this would a fifth time Murray has worked in the Flyers organization.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.