Flyers sign G Aubin, place Hatcher on IR

The Philadelphia Flyers signed veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin to a one-year contract Thursday.

[Bleed Black and Orange]

Hatch has had an excellent run and a Hall of Fame career. I think he'll make a terrific addition to the coaching/player development staff. I dare say his playing days are over. The boys acquired some terrific D men that can fill the hole Hatch is leaving. We'll definitely be faster on defense this year.

[Red Wings25]

Bleed Black and Orange wrote:

Hatch has had an excellent run and a Hall of Fame career. I think he'll make a terrific addition to the coaching/player development staff. I dare say his playing days are over. The boys acquired some terrific D men that can fill the hole Hatch is leaving. We'll definitely be faster on defense this year.

I agree, just by virtue of losing Hatcher and Smith, the Flyers have become faster, smarter, and more reliable in the defensive zone. Now, we wont have any pylons on our defense and "experts" wont be able to say that our D is slow. I think Steve Eminger is going to be another Braydon Coburn, as an offensive defenseman, and Ossi Vaananen will be able to offset Hatcher and Smith, in terms of toughness and grit. He'll block alot of shots, as well. Add in Ryan Parent, who looks to make a serious push for the roster, and then consider that Bryan Berard will be at training camp, and he's still a talented defenseman, and it looks like the Flyers will actually be loaded on the defensive end, if everything goes right. If berard can make a significant impact on our team, I think the defense should look like this:

Timonen-Coburn
Jones-Berard
Eminger- Vaananen

Kukkonen and Parent can be used as 7th and 8th defensemen, or they could trade Kukkonen.