Flyers Acquire Bertuzzi, Begin search for Goalie and Defenseman

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Mandaou

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Mar 6, 2002
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Flyer’s Acquire Bertuzzi in a Blockbuster

The Flyers have always been an organization that isn’t afraid to make changes. With the team overachieving this year, the Flyers went out and solidified their team’s chances of a Cup run by acquiring superstar villain Todd Bertuzzi after he was made available by the LA Kings.

“Our organization has been attempting to acquire Bertuzzi for years, last night we achieved what we set out to do and traded for the league’s best power forward. We gave up a lot of assets for Todd but we obviously feel he is worth the price. Heck, he’s only 30 years old, he’s not ready to retire and certainly is not at an age where his play will start to head down and we expect to get 3-4 yrs of top level productivity from Todd.â€

After two years of retooling while trying to remain competitive, the Flyers strongly turned in another direction, with the acquisition of 30 year old Todd Bertuzzi and now can be seriously be considered a Stanley Cup contender. The price was steep, as the Flyers traded 2 promising centers in Marek Zagrapan and Dan Fritsche both former #1 picks, along with skilled Russian Alex Suglabov and a 2nd round pick for Bertuzzi, $500,000 in cash and a 5th round pick.

“The organization is lucky to have the depth we do at certain positions that have allowed us to make this trade as a result of good drafting and some fortunate trades. With the development of Connolly, we know are as deep as anyone in the league and we still have Jeff Carter who we expect to sign next year.†The Flyers currently have Arnott, Gomez, Fisher and Connolly down the middle, although it is expected that Fisher may move to the wing, however, that probably won’t happen until next year as Carter will not be ready this year.

The Flyers are not resting comfortably though. They’re still seeking another starting goalie to relieve Hasek despite the brilliant play of Irbe and it has been leaked that the team is looking for a defensive defenseman. The Flyers have told the media that they will be very aggressive in acquiring a goalie and a defenseman even if it means paying a higher price than what could be considered justified.

“We’re not finished making changes. There are several teams in front and in back of us that have incredible talent, such as the Devils, Bruins, Sharks, Blues, Wings and several other teams. We know we’re still a step behind those teams but hopefully we can close the cap either from within orfrom outside the organization.â€
 
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