I posted a month or so ago that one of the Flyers’ college signings this year, Mike Testwuide, will likely be making the jump to the Adirondack Phantoms. A big bodied power forward for Colorado College, Testwuide tallied 21 goals and 10 assists this past season. The Flyers are hoping he turns into a much younger version of a Mike Knuble. The Flyers would benefit if they could also sign his recent teammate, Bill Sweatt.
Bill Sweatt was drafted #38 overall in the 2007 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He compiled 15 goals and 18 assists last season with Colorado College. He was recently acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the trade for forward Kris Versteeg, but negotiations did not go well. As Damien Cox of the Toronto Star put it, Sweatt “declined to accept the Leaf offer, and instead an angry Leaf GM Brian Burke opted to sign German prospect Marcel Mueller. Sweatt is still unsigned, and Burke blamed his agent, Scott Norton, for the failed negotiations…. ‘I believe a more experienced agent would have got this done,” [Burke] said.’ ”
I’ve ranted about it enough, but the Flyers do not have a particularly deep farm system. Sweatt will be available as an unrestricted free agent on August 15. His agent, Scott Norton, has suggested on Twitter that Sweatt “will sign a BIG contract by the end of August,” which suggests that the Flyers aren’t in the running. Regardless, Hockeysfuture had this simple statement to describe the young forward: “Sweatt possesses all of the skills and intangibles needed to be a top-six forward at the next level.”
Sounds good enough to me.
