Richards and Carter and Bryz, OH MY!

There is little doubt that Brian Burke is seething. On the eve of the NHL Entry Draft, after proclaiming that he was open for business with his top three draft picks, Paul Holmgren decided that he was going to give Mr. Wheel and Deal a lesson in taking over the day's news cycle. In separate deals he traded Mike Richards to LA for Brayden Schenn (OH NO HOW WILL HE EVER BE A LEAF NOW?!?!), Wayne Simmonds, and a draft pick, Jeff Carter to Columbus before his no trade clause could save him from such a horrific end for Jakub Voracek, the 8th overall pick, and some other pick, and then signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a criminally insane 51 year $9M deal which surely contravenes the salary cap. Needless to say, reaction was immediate and muddled:

But apparently, no-trade clauses on decade-plus contracts and multiple public (and private) assurances that those two would remain don't mean anything. The pair that shepherded the Flyers out of the lockout, through the dark year, and onto their best three-year stretch in over twenty years? Gone within the hour. Surely, we'll reflect more on this - I got a little sidetracked - in the coming days, but the gravity of what took place from 3:25 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on June 23rd, 2011 cannot be understated.

The Flyers completely changed course today. Rather than build a team with centers and defense (Paul Holmgren's method) the team opted to sign a goalie to a nine-year contract (Ed Snider's way). While that contract will surely look terrible for years to come, most people won't care. The Ed Snider way proves that long-term, multi-million dollar contracts are temporary. If he doesn't deliver in a couple years, he's gone. And we'll try again.

- Geoff Detweiler, Broad Street Hockey

By the "whoever gets the best player wins the trade unless the team with the best player resides 1 km from the Hockey Hall of Fame" rule, the Flyers lost their trades. They are immediately worse off on paper. Of course, the Ewing Effect Theory means that the team could do better once they are freed from the imposing presence of two young, elite players. At the very least, Philly's vets can sleep tight now that the predatory Jeff Carter is out of town.

More links after the jump and add any others you want in the comments.

The bitter, stunning end of Richards, Carter in Philadelphia - Puck Daddy
Wyshynski and seemingly Paul Holmgren seem pretty stunned with yesterday's events.

Just Like You, Mike Richards Found Out He Got Traded on the Internet
This is equal parts hilarious, par for the course for Flyers' GMs (who can forget Bobby Clarke justifying the firing of Roger Neilson by saying that he "went goofy on us" which I guess was how cancer was explained to him), and sad when you get to the end.

Holmgren’s D-Day conference call transcript - Flyers Faithful
Based on this I am going to assume that Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk will be traded on the same day in at most four seasons.

Laviolette, Briere stunned by trade - Philadelphia Inquirer
This is what happens when Paul Holmgren isn't shopping players?

NHL salary cap set at $64.3-million for next season - The Globe and Mail
That is the magical figure to punch in over at CapGeek for all of your rosterbating needs. That's almost $25M higher than when the salary cap was first implemented or almost what the Leafs spent in 2003-2004. Thank God for that lost season.

Paul Holmgren shakes up Flyers - The Globe and Mail
The Hat also notes the scummy move by both the Kings and Flames to leak that they requested NTCs to be waived.

Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds traded to Flyers - Jewels From The Crown
Quisp works his way through the rammifications, large and small, of the blockbuster trade Lombardi pulled.

Jackets Acquire Jeff Carter from Philly for Voracek, 8th Overall and a Third Rounder - The Cannon
The Cannon's writers react to Jeff Carter's arrival. I wonder how they feel about him reportedly being supremely irate that he was traded. And can you blame him? Have you ever been to Columbus?

How, and why, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Mike Richards - Puck Daddy
Apparently all Lombardi had to do was get a reportedly drug-addled Holmgren on the line.

Random Late-Night Thoughts - Maple Leafs Hot Stove
An assortment of thoughts including the news that the Leafs did not want to send Nikolai Kulemin to the Flyers as part of a package including Nazem Kadri for Jeff Carter. I'm going to go ahead and thank our lucky stars Burke didn't get a call back.

Unicorn Sightings - Puckin' Eh
The best point: that it took MIKE RICHARDS to fulfill the Brayden Schenn trade fantasies. Yeah, go read some of the trade offers on the intertubes and laugh at their hilarity.

Do you approve of the totality of the trades?