PHILADELPHIA - One day after an embarrassing loss,
the struggling Philadelphia Flyers decided to shake things up.
The Flyers on Wednesday placed center Petr Nedved, defenseman
Nolan Baumgartner and left wing Niko Dimitrakos on waivers.
The moves come on the heels of Tuesday's 9-1 loss to the Buffalo
Sabres, the latest trouncing in what has been a disappointing
start to the season for Philadelphia (1-4-1).
The trio of Nedved, Baumgartner and Dimitrakos all have
struggled this season, combining to record only one point in a
total of 14 games.
To fill their spots on the roster, the Flyers plan to recall
left wing Ben Eager, right wing Stefan Ruzicka and defenseman
Alexandre Picard from Philadelphia of the American Hockey
League.
"We decided we wanted to recall three players from the
Phantoms," Flyers assistant general manager Paul Holmgren. "In
order to do that, we had to place some players on waivers today
(Wednesday)."
Nedved logged 12 minutes of ice time Tuesday and has failed to
record a point in six games this season. The 34-year-old Czech
has 308 goals and 397 assists in 948 career games over 14-plus
seasons with Philadelphia, Phoenix, Edmonton, Vancouver,
Pittsburgh, St. Louis and the New York Rangers.
Signed to a two-year deal this past offseason, Baumgartner has
one assist in six contests and played nearly 19 minutes Tuesday.
The 30-year-old has six tallies and 37 assists in 124 career
games with Philadelphia, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Chicago and
Washington.
Acquired in a deadline deal with San Jose last March, Dimitrakos
did not appear in Tuesday's drubbing and has no points in two
games this season. The 27-year-old has 24 goals and 38 assists
in 155 career contests with the Flyers and the Sharks.
Despite suffering a first-round playoff loss to the Sabres last
season, the Flyers were expected to be one of the top teams in
the Eastern Conference in 2006-07. But their explosive offense
has managed just 12 goals while the defense has yielded a
league-worst 26 goals.