Flyers Waive Tough Guy Cote; Deal In The Works?

According to several sources, including the Philadelphia Daily News, the Flyers have waived tough guy Riley Cote. It was just the first of the small roster moves today for the club, however, as they also put goaltender Ray Emery on long-term injured reserve, likely ending his season.

The moves clear close to $2 million off their cap, causing many to believe the Flyers are preparing to make a deal.

Here's Frank Seravalli, beat writer at the Daily News:

NOW, with the deadline just 48 hours away, I am hearing from league and team sources that the Flyers are talking shop with the Nashville Predators.

That’s not surprising… the Flyers have connections to Nashville GM David Poile, they play in the West, and they nabbed Peter Forsberg from the Flyers a few years back.

The name I keep hearing is Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis.

Hamhuis, 27, is due to be an unrestricted free agent come July 1. His current cap hit ($2 million) is pretty manageable to fit this season.

Interestingly enough, I’m hearing that the Preds would like to re-aquire Ryan Parent. Nashville drafted him 18th overall in 2005. Parent was part of the Forsberg to Philly swap, even though the Flyers knew about his back problems.

Here's what Geoff Detweiler, a writer at SBN's Flyers site, Broad Street Hockey, had to say about Hamhuis:

Hamhuis was discussed around here a month ago, and I must say I’m a fan. For the right price – I hypothesized something similar to Syvret/Nodl or Parent/Asham – I would definitely make this trade, then pick one of him or Coburn to resign this off season ... .