Who's Here?
We have 18 guests online
|
|
Written by Ryan
|
|
Thursday, 08 July 2010 04:26 |
|
 I have a simple question for you. Answer it right now as you read this and then answer it again at the end of this series of posts:
What grade would you give Paul Holmgren since he's been the Flyers GM? On a scale of 32 to 55?
Now to the facts. (I'm going to skip most of the 2006-07 season waivers related activity as Homer's job that season was basically just to have enough players to fill out the roster each night ((a theme that has kind of carried on through his tenure actually)). The acquisition of Michael Leighton off of waivers only to lose him via waivers 2 months later will not count on his score.)
Free agent signings (and to a lesser extent the waiver wire) have almost become a more important part of the general manager's job than trades and talent development in the post-lockout NHL. So what has Homer been able to snag from the open market in the past 3+ years as Flyers GM? Let's have a look:
2007-08
Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell signed as 'free agents.' 1st round pick given up for exclusive rights. Kind of a trade and free agent signing in one.
Daniel Briere signed as free agent.
Jim Dowd signed as free agent.
Jesse Boulerice signed as free agent.
Rory Fitzpatrick signed as free agent.
Patrick Thoresen claimed off of waivers.
Steve Eminger was another trade for rights, and then signed as a free agent.
2008-09
Ossi Vaananen signed as free agent -> Lost on waivers
Glen Metropolit signed as free agent -> Lost on waivers
Arron Asham signed as free agent.
2009-10
Ray Emery signed as free agent.
Brian Boucher signed as free agent.
Ian Laperriere signed as free agent.
Mika Pyorala signed as free agent.
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen signed as free agent.
Blair Betts signed as free agent.
Randy Jones 'lost' to Kings via waivers, although only 1/2 his salary was lost.
Michael Leighton claimed off waivers.
Lucas Krajicek signed as free agent.
2010-11
Sean O'Donnell as free agent.
Jody Shelley as free agent.
Ok. So not looking specifically at the army of former 1st round picks Homer has signed hoping for a diamond in the rough but has actually populated the Phantoms roster with, or the fact that we had a defenseman who the Ducks deemed not ready to play even last year skate 1/2 a season and some playoffs for us 2 years ago, or the emergency call ups of Claude Giroux, David Sloane, and Jamie Fritsch, I'm going to have a look at Paul Holmgren's relationship with formerly unowned players that ended up really playing for the club.
The Short:
It's not been as great as you might think.
The Long:
Homer will never be accused of being inactive. Thank God for Metro PCS and their $40 deal because his phone bill would be astronomical if not for that little gift to the ghetto. Homer started off his career with a bang. He used some savvy to sneak into the mix on Kimmo and Hartnell before the rest of the league knew that their pants were down and made two great signings. On paper the 1st rounder might seem a bit steep of a price to pay for the right to talk to someone, but we'll call this a wash as it was Nashville's pick anyway. But to use an analogy that meechone would appreciate, after this move there's been more K's than hits in this box score (eh…eh?!?).
I know we were all amazed by Briere's play this post-season, but that doesn't cancel out 3 years of not earning his money. The bottom line, however, is that Homer needed to sign either Gomez, Drury, or Briere after the 2006-07 in order to make sure fans had something to look forward to over the long summer, and there's no doubt he won the sweepstakes by picking the Canadian over the American or the Mexican. It had to happen, and Briere still has time to blossom like the flower he is.
Of the other signings that cost us nothing to almost nothing, I look at it like this:
Success:
Dowd
Asham
Boosh
Lappy
Betts
Krajicek
Bust:
Boulerice
Metro
Fitzpatrick
Thoresen
Eminger
Vaananen
Pyorala
Tollefsen
Homer has a bad habit of signing guys in the hopes that when they put on the Orange and Black they'll achieve their full potential. He also has a habit of needing to acquire NHL caliber players throughout the year because we seem to come up one short for some games. Krajicek, for instance, worked out for us, but it never should have come down to that.
As far as Emery it'd be unfair to say what might have happened. And I'll give Homer this, Leighton was his miracle until the Stanley Cup Finals.
All in all I'm not that impressed. And the recent signing of Jody Shelley, although I'll root for him, is the one that spurred this entire post. Mixing contract extensions - Kappy for 2 years of which he only played 1, Lupul OVERPAID for 4 years, Jones OVERPAID for 2 years, Cote's extension at all - I'm not sure Homer's done such a great job in the market.
I'd love to have the time to compare Homer's waiver move frequency vs. other GM's, as well as free agent signings that only last 1 year, 2 years, etc. with other club, and who was available each year when each signing/claim occurred, but sadly I have a plant I'm growing.
Homer's free agency, contract work, and waiver wire action is only going to earn him a B- from me. And that's without even factoring in Knuble walking. True the club went from last place to the Conference Finals to the Cup Finals in 3 seasons, but I'm not sure his work in the open market had as much to do with it as a few specific key signings, the maturation of key players, and a couple trades….which we'll examine tomorrow.
Trackback(0)
|
|
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 