Fired for Winning

In a swap of recently acquired, and disappointing defensemen, the Flyers acquired Matt Carle and a draft pick from the Lightning for Steve Eminger, Steve Downie and a pick.

The 24-year old Carle is another swift, puck-moving blue liner the Flyers can’t seem to get enough of lately. After a 42 point season in 2006-07 landed him on the all-rookie team, Carle slipped to only 15 last year. The Sharks dealt him to Tampa in the offseason as part of the Dan Boyle trade. At the University of Denver, he became the first junior defenseman to win the Hobey Baker Award and seemed to be on a path to stardom. However, the Hobey seems to be a NHL jinx the way the Heisman is in the NFL. Granted, guys such as Paul Kariya, Ryan Miller and Chris Drury have won the trophy, but how about Peter Sejna, Brian Bonin and Chris Marinucci? Hobey winners who are not exactly household names.

Barry Melrose and the Lightning gave up Boyle to get him and now unload the kid after only 12 games….seems very strange.

Eminger was a curious acquisition by the Flyers from the start. Paul Holmgren dealt for him from Washington for a first round pick after Eminger didn’t even dress in two of the seven playoff games against Philadelphia last season. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Caps aren’t exactly loaded on defense, and he couldn’t even crack the lineup everyday?

Quick, name three other defenseman on that Caps team from last year…..exactly, can’t do it.

Eminger may have sealed his fate after he tripped over himself twice on Thursday in Ottawa, leading to two ridiculous scoring chances for the Sens. What’s more amazing? The fact Homer traded a first rounder for this guy, or that he actually got some value in return for him?

Downie is the most interesting part of this trade to me. He seemed like the perfect Flyer. Tough and talented with a mean streak. A notorious pest in Juniors for three different teams in the OHL, Downie also put up solid offensive numbers and seemed to be a modern day Ken Linseman in waiting. It turned out that the only things Flyers fans will remember is the hit on Dean McAmmond that drew a 20-game suspension, and the sucker punch on Jason Blake of the Maple Leafs (I’m trying to forget all his penalties and turnovers in the playoffs). Good thing the Phantoms are only across the parking lot because it seemed he was shuttled back and forth between the AHL and the big club almost every other day. Was he a winger or a center? A grinder or a goal scorer? Nobody seemed to know. For his sake, hopefully somebody figures that out for him in Tampa.

The great thing about the Flyers is that they never wait around if things aren’t working. The defense has been brutal and Eminger and Downie didn’t seem to fit. Holmgren feels his new acquisition can become a top-four defenseman, something Eminger clearly was not. Can Carle cash in on the tremendous potential he seems to possess? At first, this trade didn’t mean much to me but now I’m excited to watch him on a nightly basis. Will he join Pat Falloon and Alexander Daigle on the list of talented guys the Flyers took a chance on but never panned out? Or will he become another piece to the young core already in place?

It’s going to be very interesting to find out…

Editors Note: In his Flyers debut, Carle played almost 20 minutes at even strength, the most of anybody on the team. His 25:50 of total ice time was second to only Kimmo Timonen.