More On Zhitnik

From Tim Panaccio: The Flyers are 16 points behind Carolina - tomorrow's opponent - for the eighth and final playoff spot. According to general manager Paul Holmgren, the decision to trade for Zhitnik should be a signal to fans that the club has not conceded the season. The reality is, with a six-game losing streak and another injury to captain Peter Forsberg, the Flyers are out of the playoff picture. The team already has a long list of free agents it will go after in the summer and is focusing on getting a fairly high draft pick - perhaps the No. 1 overall - for the first time in decades. Sending the 25-year-old Freddy Meyer to the Island for Zhitnik will help the Flyers in their rebuilding. I don't see how trading a young player and a high draft pick for an older player with a bad contract helps in the rebuilding process. From Ed Moran: Saturday's trade with the Islanders that brought Alexei Zhitnik is sure to be followed by critics saying that trading the young Freddy Meyer for the veteran defenseman was a move contrary to everything the Flyers have said about staying young at all costs. But there are limits. One veteran out of six defensemen doesn't cut it. The Flyers have been talking to the Islanders about getting Zhitnik for weeks. When Mike Rathje went on long-term disability, his salary became available and the trade for a young defenseman for old makes sense. Zhitnik for Meyer is a good move because it provides needed experience from a player capable of playing a lot of minutes and running a power play from the blue line. Well, I agree that one veteran defenseman out of six doesn't work. However, what's the point to adding a veteran for this season? The Flyers will not make the playoffs. No way, no how. They should be trying to build for the future. Meyer was that future. Zhitnik is not. From Bullies Blog: This is a move that would make a lot more sense for a team trying to contend for the playoffs or look to make a championship run. I think we can all agree that the Flyers history of trading younger players for older veterans hasn’t exactly helped the squad. Maybe General Manager Paul Holmgren thinks the Flyers are a lot closer to competing than some of us do. Maybe he’s right, we’ll have to wait and see. But this sure looks like something you’d see from Bob Clarke, which doesn’t exactly fill me with the most confidence. Amen, brother. From Flyers Fan Central: Personally I am not sure how much I like this trade from a Flyers fan standpoint although the longer I think about it the more it seems to make sense. I don't see how this makes sense at all. Before the season started the Devils had to cough up a first-round draft pick to help clear cap space. Meanwhile, we pay a third- or second-round pick to help someone else clear cap space? I'm still shaking my head.