Two days after adding Nicklas Grossman, Paul Holmgren still wasn't happy with his club's blue-line depth.
The Flyers have agreed to send second- and fifth-round picks in 2012's draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina. In the midst of his 14th NHL season, Kubina turns 35 in April, and is finishing out the back end of a two-year, $7.7 million contract.
Standing at 6-4, 250, Kubina adds another imposing figure to the lineup. An All Star in 2004, he has three goals and eight assists this season while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night. Tim Panaccio describes Kubina's style of play:
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Kubina is a puck moving defenseman who fits the genre the flyers have moved to in recent years with Europeans who can get out of their own end quickly while using their skating ability to avoid trouble.
Panotch also notes Kubina has 100 blocked shots this season, which puts him fourth on the team behind only Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen, and now Nicklas Grossman, who notched three blocks to get to 103 on the season today.
Because Kubina puts the Flyers at 51 contracts, they must lose a player in their system to finalize the move.
Whether a blockbuster trade (Rick Nash?) is still on the way remains to be seen, but it sure looks like they will not be dealing for a big-name defender.