It’s been a busy couple of days around the Flyers and around the NHL, so here’s a quick rundown on some of the things you may have missed.
- Mike Richards needs surgery on both of his shoulders. He will undergo surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder this coming Friday, and when that arm is feeling better, he will undergo the same procedure on his left. Full recovery time is 10-to-12 weeks. Richards says he cannot pinpoint a particular game where he suffered the injuries, but that the pain wasn’t a sustained thing — it would come and go. Could it be a reason for his minus-4 performance in the playoffs?/
The Phoenix Coyotes are being run by the National Hockey League, according to Glendale, AZ City Manager Ed Beasley via the Arizona Republic and Puck Daddy. The team owes money to the city for parking fees and security costs, and they have been assured by the league that the money will be paid. As the Republic points out, the league has frequently stepped in to help financially ill teams, including Dallas, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, the Islanders, and Hartford. But to have a league running a team is quite rare. The real pressing issue here for the league at-large is that the NHL has, according to Beasley, been running the Coyotes since February. On trade deadline day, the Coyotes were the most active team in the league, shipping off Olli Jokinen, Derek Morris, and obviously Dan Carcillo. What role did the league have in the Coyotes hockey operations on that day and did the other teams know about it? And why hasn’t the NHL opened their mouths about this?
Marty Turco could be moved by the Dallas Stars, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. The 33-year-old goaltender is an unrestricted free agent after this upcoming season and he has an expensive cap hit of $5.7 million. Heika specifically mentioned the Flyers as a team that could be interested in Turco, but he also mentions how Dallas would probably ask for a defenseman in return. I doubt the Flyers would part with any of their trade-worthy blueliners in a deal for Turco.
