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The Flyers have traded Scottie Upshall and a 2nd round draft pick to the Phoenix Coyotes for Daniel Carcillo. The Flyers also acquired defenseman Kyle McLaren from the San Jose Sharks for a 6th round draft choice.

My initial reaction when I heard the Scottie Upshall deal was...."You have got to be kidding me!" (I used different language, but the sentiment was the same). Essentially these two guys are the same type of player, so why did we have to throw in a 2nd round draft pick? I immediately thought that there was something else coming, another deal with Phoenix possibly, or another deal with another team altogether. Turns out there was nothing. Just a bunch of Flyers fans asking "Seriously? That's it?"

Not knowing much of Daniel Carcillo, other than the fact that he is a third line player for the Winnipeg Jets when I play NHL 09(Why is there a team in Phoenix again?), I headed over to TSN.ca for a breakdown of the trade. Keith Jones and Darren Pang analyzed this deal, and came to the conclusion that it is a win win for both sides.

Here is the video of their breakdown.

I guess I can live with this deal. I don't like the fact that he has been in Wayne Gretzky's doghouse this year for taking "selfish" penalties. We are already the most penalized team in the league at 17.9 penalty minutes per game. A team with Carcillo and Scott "The Skating Minor Penalty" Hartnell doesn't seemed likely to play much 5 on 5 hockey down the stretch. But if he can be a faster, more skilled version of Riley Cote, and he can stay disciplined, then I am all for it. I am guessing he will be thrown out there with Briere and Giroux, which could make for an interesting line. I still don't understand the 2nd round pick being thrown in there though, so I think we overpaid slightly. Maybe Holmgren and the Coyotes both knew Upshall won't resign with Phoenix next year, so the pick is some kind of compensation for that fact. And, for all the Upshall fans out there, it didn't seem likely that we were going to resign him either, so this isn't that big of a loss.

The acquisition of McLaren is basically a depth move as he was immediately placed on the Phantoms. He has some knee issues, so I believe the plan is to let him play in the minors and get his knee healthy, and if we need a veteran D-man come playoff time, he is the guy we put into the lineup.

All in all, I am a little disappointed with the lack of activity from the Flyers. I realize they kind of handicapped themselves by operating right at the salary cap, but there were some moves that could have been made to get the guys they need and still be under the cap. It should be an interesting rest of the season, as the Devils, Rangers and Penguins all seemed to make their teams better.