Boston helps Philly its solve D crisis
With Ryan Parent on the shelf for the next three months, Randy Jones another eight weeks from coming back, and Luca Sbisa maybe headed back to juniors soon so as not to start his free agency clock (though that’s looking less and less likely), the Flyers had to do something.
So Boston, which had two NHL-quality players wasting away in Providence, was more than happy to send over Andrew Alberts and his way-too-big $1.25 million salary. Not reported in that TSN article, but included (from what I’ve heard), is an ECHL-level winger named Ned Lukacevic. The pick is also a conditional fourth-rounder in ‘09, not a straight-up one. If Alberts, who’s in the second season of a two-year deal, re-signs in Philly, it becomes a third-round pick. Pretty sure Boston traded its fourth-round pick in 2009 in the Manny Fernandez deal.
This solves both teams’ problems, actually. Philly gets its servicable, if overpaid, defenseman and Boston gets to call up defenseman Matt Hunwick, who impressed at camp but just couldn’t crack the top 6 because of Alberts’ contract predicating that he stays up, and forward Vladimir Sobotka, also a victim of Alberts’ cap hit.
