Flyers trade for veteran defenseman Kubina

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On a day when Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson spent nearly an hour with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren trying to lure him into a deal for winger Rick Nash, the Flyers upgraded on defense.

Within two hours after an embarrassing 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins (see story), the Flyers acquired veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina from Tampa Bay for a pair of draft picks.

The deal was not officially announced until late Saturday because Kubinas acquisition put the Flyers at 51 contracts (AHLNHL)one over the limit.

The Flyers succeeded in getting under by also sending Phantoms forward Jon Kalinski to Tampa Bay in the deal.

Kubina was an integral part of Tampa Bays 2004 Stanley Cup championship club under coach John Tortorella.

It is believed that Detroit offered a second- and a fifth-round pick for him. The Flyers countered with a fourth-rounder to get the deal done. Tampa has the option of taking the second-round pick this summer or 2013. The fourth-round pick is for 2013.

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.

The 34-year-old Czech has 100 blocked shots this season, which will rank him third on the Flyers, tied with fellow newcomer Nicklas Grossman, behind Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen.

Kubina has 110 goals and 272 assists in 953 career games. What is important here, is that he gives the Flyers a much-needed right-handed shot on defense.

He come with a 3.8 million cap hit and is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Rookie blue liner Marc-Andre Bourdon was expected to return to the Phantoms. That move should leave the Flyers with 890,000 cap space, according to a league source.

What Kubina can't do is play goal and right now that is a serious concern as the Flyers approach the Feb. 27 NHL trade deadline.

Kubina joins 27-year-old defenseman Nicklas Grossman who was acquired on Thursday from Dallas.

Kubina, like Grossman, will add size to the Flyers' defensemen. Kubina is listed at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds.

Without losing a starting player off the roster, the Flyers are deeper and better on the blue in terms of their top six: Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros, Grossman and now Kubina.

TSNs Darren Dreger broke the story early Saturday night.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

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