VOORHEES, N.J. - Picking up right where he left off last June at the NHL draft, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren again made a goalie trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and thereby may have ignited a lot of goalie gossip going forward.
Beating the 3 p.m. trade deadline by about a half-hour, Holmgren Wednesday acquired Steve Mason from the Blue Jackets in exchange for backup goalie Michael Leighton and a third-round draft pick in 2015. It was the marquee move of the day for Holmgren, who aside from making a few other minor moves in the days leading up to the deadline stood pat with the core of his team despite holes up and down the Flyers' roster.
Also acquired Wednesday was veteran checking line forward Adam Hall, plucked off waivers from Tampa Bay. On Saturday Holmgren had traded for Detroit defenseman Kent Huskins (for a conditional 2014 pick) and Monday sent minor leaguer Harry Zolnierczyk to Anaheim for fighter Jay Rosehill.
At least bringing in Mason is an intriguing move. Still only 24, he was the 2009 NHL Rookie of the Year, going 33-20-7 in 61 appearances with a 2.29 goals-against average and .916 saves percentage for what was a typical Blue Jackets team ... a bad one.
That breakout first season came after Mason was hailed as a hockey hero in leading Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships. Since those early successes, his career has dovetailed. The low point came this season, as he lost his starting position to former Flyers backup Sergei Bobrovsky, who was traded to Columbus at the NHL draft in June for three draft picks.
In 13 games this season, Mason has a 3-6-1 record with a 2.95 GAA and .899 saves percentage, while Bobrovsky has been claiming player of the week and month honors while leading the Blue Jackets to the verge of respectability. That put Mason, a pending restricted free agent, on the verge of delight that he was getting out.
"With the way that Sergei has played, he's taken the ball and really run with it," Mason said in an interview with TSN at the deadline. "Every goaltender wants to be able to have a fresh start. Nobody likes sitting on the bench. Myself, going to a new organization and re-establishing my career, I'm looking forward to that."
Mason played with Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Luke Schenn on that gold-medal winning Canadian junior tourney team and he said he's "more than thrilled" to be renewed with old acquaintances.
When asked what he thought went wrong with the Blue Jackets, Mason added, "I put a lot of expectations on myself. When one bad thing happened, it seemed to have a snowball effect, and I just couldn't get out of it. Now, with a fresh start, you just forget about all the negative things."
But Mason's presence and stature could represent something negative to starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Making his 20th straight start Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens, Bryzgalov has been relatively solid this season. But when you consider the Flyers were likely to put a player like Andrej Meszaros on Long Term Injured Reserve just so they could clear space for roster additions, there are implications going forward about a rebuilding job being hampered by the $5.66 million salary cap hit Bryzgalov's contract calls for in each of the next seven years.
With Mason on board, speculation will likely increase that the Flyers may make Bryzgalov one of two cap compliance buyouts the Flyers are allowed to exercise this offseason and next.
Holmgren said he had not spoken to his starting goalie about the Mason move.
"His job is to stop the puck while he's in the net," Holmgren said. "It's not to worry about other things like that."
Asked if Mason would naturally be considered the backup goalie, Holmgren said only, "We see him as one of our two goalies, not only for the rest of this year, but moving forward."
For now, though, Holmgren is fine with the fate that his team's inadequacies, slow start and recent injuries have dealt it. He was not going to gamble any of his young assets at the deadline in a blind attempt to alter his team's present course.
"We like our young group," Holmgren said. "I still think we can make a little push here. We'll see what happens over the final 13 games, but we have a lot of good, young players that we like and I think a lot of other teams like them, too. We didn't want to do anything to disrupt that. We'll ride out the rest of the year and try to make a playoff push."
Holmgren said he's already spoken with Mason's agent about a contract extension. His current deal is paying him $3.2 million salary with a $2.9 million cap hit in this, the final year of the deal. He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent, and considering Bryzgalov's $5.6M hit, the Flyers could be looking at $9 million or so of what's expected to be a $64 million payroll limit next season dedicated to two goalies. Or not?
"I don't think it will be $9 million," Holmgren said. "I think there's a way you can work with Steve and his agent to get his salary down a little bit. I don't think that will be an issue."
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NOTES: Nick Grossmann practiced Wednesday but still seems at least a couple of game days from playing. He's likely the only Flyer of the current injured group (Max Talbot, Danny Briere, Meszaros, Braydon Coburn, Grossmann) that will be able to return this regular season. ... Holmgren confirmed Talbot's fractured left leg ends his season. For that reason, Hall was picked up off waivers. "He's a good kid, works hard and can play any position," Holmgren said.