Flyers Trade Richards, Carter, Make Room For Bryzgalov
PHILADELPHIA (AP/CBS) -- The Philadelphia Flyers traded top goal scorer Jeff Carter and team captain Mike Richards in a flurry of moves Thursday afternoon. Carter will go to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Jake Voracek and the club's first-and third-round picks, Richards is headed to Los Angeles for forwards Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds and a draft choice Thursday.
Richards had been the Flyers captain and had 23 goals and 66 points this season. He has nine years left on a 12-year contract extension he signed in 2007.
Carter's agent, Rick Curran, confirmed the deal on Thursday afternoon. He said he was stunned by the news after being told repeatedly by Flyers officials that the club was not discussing trading Carter to the Blue Jackets.
Last season, despite having the East's top record for most wins of the year, Philadelphia struggled at the end, settled for the No. 2 seed, and lost to Boston in Round 2.
The Flyers cleaned house -- and created enough cap room to sign goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine year deal worth $51 million, according to sources.
Schenn, 19 (8-22-1991), was selected by Los Angeles in the first round (5th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He completed a four-year career in the Western Hockey League this past season, where he posted a total of 116 goals and 199 assists for 315 points in 224 games, mostly with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schenn has also appeared in nine games for Los Angeles over the past two seasons, recording two assists. He also appeared in seven games for the Kings' American Hockey League affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, in 2010-11, recording three goals and four assists for seven points.
Schenn led Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2011 World Junior Championships, tying a Team Canada all-time record for most points by a player in the tournament with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points in just seven games. He was selected to the tournament's All-Star Team and was also named the tournament's most valuable player.
Simmonds, 22 (8-26-1988), was selected by the Kings in the second round (61st overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. In 80 games for Los Angeles last season, he recorded 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points. He has appeared in 240 games for the Kings over the past three seasons (2008-11), during which time he's scored a total of 39 goals and 54 assists for 93 points while collecting 264 PIM.
In their 11-game postseason, Philadelphia used three goaltenders with little success: Sergei Bobrovsky, Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton. Bryzgalov would help to solve that three-pronged problem in net.
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