Just Another Bad Trade?

Trades in the NHL (and other sports), are a serious gamble. A general manager hopes that the piece he acquires turns out to be more valuable than the piece he traded away. In the past five years or so, the Philadelphia Flyers have found themselves on the wrong side of trades more times than not. Names like JVR and Sergei Bobrovsky still leave sour tastes in the mouths of the Flyer faithful. Even in acquiring Simmonds and Vorcek, the team gave up Mike Richards and Jeff Carter who have won two Stanley Cups since joining the Los Angeles Kings. With the Flyers struggling to accomplish their first win of the 2014-2015 season, one must look at the Scott Hartnell for R.J. Umberger transaction and question whether this is another one of those trades that the Flyers suffered more than benefitted from.

            Although his production was on the decline, I do not think anyone could argue the leadership and energy Scott Hartnell provided the Flyers. He provided that “X-Factor” piece to the team, and served as a mentor to Captain Claude Giroux. I will not argue that his on-the-ice play is not at the level that it once was; but he still was able to come up with big goals in crucial games during the 2013-2014 season. What did the Flyers gain by acquiring Umberger (besides cap space)? The man is NOT a better hockey player than Hartnell is. He never was and never will be. Is he as big a leader as Hartnell? Not at all! Whether it’s on the ice or the bench, R.J.’s presence seems to have an impact. Obviously, the departure of Hartnell is not the reason for all of the Flyers early season woes, and in the long run I think they will be all right. However, I think I am speaking for all Flyer fans when I say We Want to Win Now, and I think that Hartnell put us in a better position to accomplish this task.

            What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you agree or disagree with me? Share you opinion in the comment section below, I would love to hear from you.