The Flyers are currently stacked with able centermen in captain Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, and Blair Betts. Briere was signed in 2007 to be the first line center of the future, but to the Flyers luck, Richards and Carter have developed into first line centers themselves.
This has forced Briere to move to the wing position, which is not as favorable as his 5’-10” build does not serve as well in the forecheck (though to his credit, he does his best). The playoffs this season have proved that Briere deserves to play center, and by all indications he will be centering forwards Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino.
This has led to the obvious speculation – who will play winger next season, Carter or Giroux?
According to CSNPhilly, “Right now the Flyers have Zherdev playing right wing on Jeff Carter’s line with James van Riemsdyk on the left. That’s their No. 1 line listed on their personnel board in the team’s administrative office at Skate Zone… In case you’re wondering, Mike Richards is slotted as centering Dan Carcillo and Claude Giroux.”
My first thought about this is that James Van Riemsdyk has not proven that he is capable of putting in first-line minutes yet. I’m not ready to count the youngster out yet, and am willing to give him a chance this season, but he needs to earn that spot. Richards is also not unreasonable for the third line center, as he tends to be a skilled grinder himself and could work well in a checking line. Carcillo played first line minutes with Richards and Simon Gagne last season, and it is expected that coach Peter Laviolette will hold his temper in line while encouraging him to take his skills to the next level.
All that being said, I would like to see Giroux get his chance at the center position. Giroux has been described as the second coming of Peter Forsberg, who is expected to announce his retirement soon. The Flyers will also need to decide after this season if they want to retain both Carter and Giroux, as they will both become RFAs.
While Jeff Carter has been the most prolific goal scorer for the Flyers in the past several years, he is also one of the more frustrating players. He is one of the Flyers over the past few years who has been known to party it up a little too much, along with Richards and former Flyer Joffrey Lupul (sent to Anaheim as part of the Pronger trade).
What frustrates me most is that Pittsburgh is in a similar situation with center Evgeni Malkin. According to Tom Mast of Hockeybuzz, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero told USA Today, “We know Malkin is a world-class center…But the one thing we have said is that we can’t make plans for Malkin to play wing unless he buys into it… The first time I asked him how he felt about playing wing, he had the perfect response. He said, ‘What does Coach think?’ … I thought it was great, because I think he wants to do what’s best for the team.”
Malkin is the type of player that works best at center, and the Pens would do better if they moved big-bodied center Jordan Staal to wing, yet Malkin will do whatever it takes to win. Unfortunately, Carter has seemingly been lethargic about moving to wing, or even considering it given the Flyers circumstances. Granted, he has more than proven himself at the center position, but the question remains – two years from now, do you want to see Claude Giroux or Jeff Carter as a Flyer?
We were debating this pretty good on the 700level at the opening of free agency. Personally, I want Danny or Mike on the 1st line and Giroux centering the 3rd. Put Carter on the 1st line as the winger. Giroux’s just a far better passer and has better vision than Carter and that’s what you need as your center. If the question’s two years from now…. I want Giroux. Sign Carter this offseason and trade him and his cap space for a Vokoun or cheaper winger.
Move Carter,
His skills are starting to slip and he is nowhere neear the skater or passer that Giroux is…
Carter is a lot like T Kerr was, plant him in front of the net for delfections,rebounds on the Power Plays.
As far as a 2-way Hockey player, J Carter is limitedy
Carter doesn’t show an intensity; hard to tell where his focus is and he was hurt in playoffs, but he definitely does not belong at center. Giroux is no second coming of Forsberg… that guy had the size to play nasty plus incredible skills. Tim Kerr was perhaps the best guy we ever had playing center in front of net… huge guy with incredible eye/hand coordination and that’s why he was so deadly. Took terrible abuse from opposition defense around the crease. Never lost a fight either when he finally said “Enough is enough!” Was sorely missed in Finals, think ’84? One of all-time favorites.
Anyway, Giroux needs to play center… he’s tough to cover as he keeps moving rather than planting… along with Richards, Briere and Betts for his faceoffs.
Carter’s skills are starting to slip? He lacks intensity? He’s 25 years old and was simply playing with two broken feet in the playoffs. He’s a proven 40 goal scorer. He’s also faster than Giroux. He is nothing like Tim Kerr who was a big, slow winger that was more like John LeClair in that he cleaned up around the net. Carter is a very skilled skater and shooter. He is not a great playmaker. Carter is also excellent defensively and is a big guy, so it’s easier for him to defend someone like a Crosby, Ovechkin, or Malkin. Also, Kerr missed the 87 finals against Edmonton. This is not to say that I don’t prefer Giroux over Carter. I do. He is the future of the Flyers and will play in many all-star games.