[Jlg-28]

Source : NHL.com

By : John McGourty | NHL.com Staff Writer

After the dark clouds that condemned to make last season a nightmare for the Philadelphia Flyers, the silver lining is ready to emerge.

Thanks to a series of trade that brought in a number of young players from other organizations, like defensemen Ryan Parent and Braydon Coburn, the Flyers will sport a very different look this season as these young player mesh with some of the veteran

Two young prospects are expected to be given every chance to make the Flyers' roster this season are Parent, obtained from the Nashville Predators as part of the March trade for Peter Forsberg, and Steve Downie, the explosive forward who helped lead Canada to the 2007 World Junior championship.

Here?s a look at the Flyers? top prospects.

Center

Steve Downie -- The Flyers took Downie, then ranked 72nd among North American skaters, with the 29th overall pick in the 2005 draft because of his strong skating, fiery disposition, clutch play and hatred of losing. Downie has had self-control problems, but the Flyers believe he'll respond responsibly to the opportunity to play in the NHL. He had off-season shoulder surgery.

"The surgery went well," said Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. "We knew back at training camp last year it needed to be addressed. He's doing his rehab so we can keep an eye on him and see what he's doing from a conditioning standpoint. Steve is one of those guys who does what it takes to win. He's not the biggest guy but he had a tremendous heart and will to win. Sometimes, he needs to bottle his energy and enthusiasm because sometimes he crosses the line. He needs to play on the edge and not over it. He'll learn from talking to coaches and players here. He compares to Sean Avery, a good player who gets himself in a jackpot once in a while."

Left Winger

Fred Cabana -- Cabana is also an agitator but he draws penalties while keeping his own penalty minutes within reason. Cabana isn't a big scorer, but he moves the puck well and is good in traffic. Cabana is also a decent penalty killer. Cabana was expected to be more of a scorer in juniors, but he has transitioned to defensive specialist. Cabana is the kind of player who doesn't impress with his statistics or, apparently, first impressions. It takes awhile for coaches to give him more responsibility and then he becomes an increasingly important part of the team. He's a defensive role player with some offense.

"Freddie had some ups and downs this past year, but that was expected," Holmgren said. "We keep finding there's more there. Freddie skates well and he's really smart and competitive. We expect a better year from him and we're looking for more production. If he gets here, he's smart enough to kill penalties and play against other teams' better players. That's what we project him to be."

Right winger

Claude Giroux -- Giroux has remaining junior eligibility if he fails to make the Flyers' lineup out of training camp, but one wonders how much more he can accomplish there and how much more he'd benefit. Giroux has been outstanding in his two seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He had 48 goals and 64 assists for 112 points and 49 penalty minutes in 63 regular-season games this past season and 39 goals and 64 assists for 103 points a year earlier. Giroux led the QMJHL with 10 game-winning goals last year. He was fourth in total points and sixth in goals and assists. At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, the Flyers are hoping he'll turn into a Simon Gagne-type.

"Claude has another year of junior, but he will come to camp in an effort to win a job," Holmgren said. "He's sure to look good but we think he still needs to continue to get stronger and work on things. We're happy with his development and he played well with the Phantoms when we brought him up at the end of the season. His last game was his best game.

"For Claude, it will be a matter of catching up with the pace of the game, the difference between juniors and the NHL We think a lot of Claude. He has good smarts and skills. As he gets stronger, his skating will get better. He's quick but a lack of leg strength shows he's not yet a finished product."

Defensemen

Ryan Parent -- The Flyers acquired Parent, the 18th overall pick of the 2005 draft, along with Scottie Upshall in the trade-deadline deal for Forsberg. Flyers fans loved what they saw from Upshall and likely will be even more enthused by Parent, one of the top defensive prospects of recent years. Parent is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds and can really move the puck, whether by passing or skating it out of his zone. This is a defenseman who won both the 60-yard dash and full-lap competitions at the 2005 CHL Top Prospects Game.

Parent has captained several Canadian international teams, including the 2005 World Under-18 champions. He also played on Canada's gold-medal-winning teams at the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championship. His Guelph Storm won the OHL title in his first season there. Parent is a winner. He played 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Nashville two years ago and one regular-season game for the Flyers last year.

"Ryan is a very efficient player," Holmgren said. "The staff here is very happy with him. He played six games for the Phantoms after his Guelph season ended and one game for the Flyers, as a bonus. His mobility, the way he skates, is very good. He has a unique ability to defend because of that skating ability. He'll open a lot of eyes and be a factor at training camp. We'll decide then what's best for his long-term development. A lot depends on what our group looks like at that point."

Oskars Bartulis - Bartulis's skills have been compared to former Flyers' defenseman Petr Svoboda, but Bartulis is a bigger man with the skating skills of a power forward. He was a key member of the Moncton Wildcats team that won the 2006 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship and finished second in the Memorial Cup. As part of a rebuilding project, Moncton traded Bartulis last season to Cape Breton where he was the team's No. 1 defenseman, playing in all situations. He had 13 goals and 48 points in 55 games and continued to make good progress in his development.

"Bartulis had a really good training camp last year," Holmgren said. "He's a Latvian kid who came to North America as a forward and they made him a defenseman. We had him high on our list at the draft and were surprised that he was still there with the 91st pick. We're happy with his progress and hope he's ready for the next big step. He had a good playoff run. Bartulis is big and he has good puck skills."

Nate Guenin -- The former captain of the Ohio State University hockey team led the Buckeyes in penalties all four years and was voted hardest hitter in a CCHA captain's poll. He's also an excellent passer and a strong skater. Guenin grew up outside Pittsburgh and played two season in the USHL, earning All-Rookie team honors. An OSU finance major, Guenin was selected to both CCHA All-Academic and All-CCHA teams. He had three goals and nine assists in 68 games with the Phantoms and looked good in nine Flyers' games.

"With the progress that Nate made from training camp to the end of the year, he was the most improved player in our organization," Holmgren said. "He's a competitive kid with good puck skills. He grew up with R.J. Umberger in the Pittsburgh area. Nate is a big body and plays with more of an edge that R.J. He dishes out more hits. Guenin knows how to defend. He's smart, knows his limitations and plays within them."

Goalie

Scott Monroe -- Monroe went undrafted after a career at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the NCAA's southernmost outpost but his college coach, Doug Ross, said Monroe "stole" numerous games from more highly regarded opponents. The Flyers signed him as a free agent out of their training camp last September and, to their surprise, he outplayed drafted Flyers' goalie prospects Rejean Beauchemin and Martin Houle. Monroe went 14-17-0-2 with the Phantoms last year but had a decent 2.95 goals-against average and .912 save percentage."

"When we first signed Scott, he wasn't in good shape and had no idea how to get in shape," Holmgren said. "He spent the better part of last summer with us, learning our conditioning program. He was, literally, a fat kid who had a hard time getting through a game. But he's dropped a lot of weight and reduced his body fat from 15 percent to 11 percent. He still has a lot of work to do but because of his commitment to conditioning, he was able to have a decent season last year.

"There were some Phantoms' games last year in which he was the reason we won. The team wasn't great and went on a roller-coaster ride in the middle of the year but Scott looked like a really good goalie. The Phantoms played in a tough division, but he certainly came out of the season OK. We now consider him our best young goalie but he knows he has to follow up with an even better year to continue progressing in our system."

[Ryan20]

Good read, thanks Jeff.

I've said it before, I cannot wait to see Downie. I love everything about this kid, he's the kind of guy Flyer fans will love.

If Giroux becomes anything close to what Gagne is, I'll be very pleased. I expect him to end up with the Phantoms this year.

Parent will be a shut-down guy for years to come. Should be interesting to see what he can do with Crosbaby, Malkin, Cerepanov, etc.

And I've only read/heard good things about Bartulis.

The future is bright.

[dutch74]

wow, reads like these getting me pumped for the season!!!!

[tmcc]

Thanks Jeff. I love this kind of stuff. Good to know we have a solid system. Looking forward to some great seasons up and coming!

[Drew]

Just read this. Excellent article. There's going to be a lot of roster battles, which can only be a positive thing for our future.