Newest Flyers ready for a big impact

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The No. 17 Carter jerseys still hang in the window of the Philadelphia Flyers‘ merchandise store.

Time to move them to the clearance aisle.

Wayne Simmonds owns that number now, and when he pulled on the sweater for the first time Tuesday, the reality of last week’s big, bold deals hit Philadelphia. Carter and Mike Richards are gone. It’s time to make room for the new guys.

They were part of the two biggest deals in recent Flyers history.

And now, Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek say they’re ready to fill the void left by Richards and Carter. Wearing matching team polo shirts, the trio was introduced at the Wells Fargo Center, five days after being acquired by the Flyers in two separate blockbuster trades.

They believe they can win the Stanley Cup that Carter and Richards failed to do in six seasons with the Flyers.

“I don’t feel any added pressure,” Simmonds said. “I’m going to come in here and play my game. I’m a rough-and-tumble winger. I go up-and-down the wall, take pucks to the net. That’s what I’m going to stick to.”

The Flyers acquired Schenn and Simmonds from the Kings for Richards, their captain. Voracek came over from Columbus in the Carter deal. The Flyers also acquired a first-round pick from Columbus and drafted 18-year-old center Sean Couturier.

The newest Flyer everyone really wants to see hasn’t hit town since his recruiting visit _ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov, signed last week to a $51-million, nine-year deal, is expected to visit the Flyers within the next 10 days.

It’s hard to believe any of these three would have been in Philadelphia had the Flyers not landed Bryzgalov.

When the Flyers were swept out of the playoffs by eventual Stanley Cup-champion Boston in Round 2, management knew the triple-mess goaltending situation had to go. They just didn’t realize then that Richards and Carter would be discarded at Bryzgalov’s expense.

Once the Flyers traded for him, they needed the cash to sign him, making Carter and Richards attractive trade bait.

“I think teams called that normally wouldn’t,” Comcast-Spectacor COO Peter Luukko said. “They figured, OK, they’ve got to clear some cap space.”

Trading one of them would have cleared the space in one shot.

That wasn’t good enough.

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