Zherdev had his moments with the Flyers in 2010, but ultimately his time in Philadelphia will be remembered for being in head coach’s Peter Laviolette’s dog house more often than dressing for games.

The 26-year-old recorded 16 goals and tallied six assists in 56 games while only averaging 12:51 minutes of ice time per game. His numbers show that he has the talent to be a productive goal scorer in this league given more ice time, however his lackadaisical attitude prevents him from reaching his full potential.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told Philly Sports Daily’s Ryan Bright that Zherdev “was kind of an outsider here.” In response, Zherdev fired back at Holmgren, and called out Laviolette in an interview with Broad Street Hockey’s Teemu.

For any hockey fan, it’s hard not to notice Zherdev’s ability with the puck and how it should translate into a superstar in the NHL, but sometimes the talent’s there but the work ethic and the attitude isn’t.

That’s the case with Zherdev.

The Flyers gave him another shot at the NHL last year, and he blew it. Now, he finds himself headed back to his native land to play hockey. He had interest from other NHL teams, but not for the money he was looking for.

Zherdev’s playing days in North America are likely over. At least for the time being.

Claude Giroux and his line contributed a goal and three assists while Brian Boucher stopped 27 of 29 shots as the Flyers pushed their lead in the Eastern Conference to four points over the Boston Bruins.

Giroux scored his 22^nd goal of the season at 14:40 in the second period when he fired a touch pass from James van Riemsdyk into an open net. Giroux’s goal turned out to be the game winner.

He’s the Flyers’ leading scorer with 63 points.

In the first period, Giroux picked up an assist on Andrej Meszaros’ power play tally at 4:55. With the power play set up, Giroux fed Meszaros a one-timing pass with traffic in front of Toronto goalie James Reimer. The goal was Meszaros’ sixth of the season.

The power play was a result of a five minute major and game misconduct by Maple Leafs’ defenseman Mike Komisarek for his boarding of Dan Carcillo. After reviewing the hit, no further disciplinary action is needed.

At the same time, you never know with the NHL nowadays.

Darroll Powe provided the orange and black with a two goal lead at 9:36 in the second period when he threw a puck from a bad angle past Reimer for his sixth of the year. Powe might have scored the goal, but the play was made by Matt Carle, who had a great keep in from a failed clear attempt by the Leafs.

Less than a minute after Powe gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead, Nick Boynton was caught hooking a Maple Leaf to give Toronto a power play. Mikhail Grabovski deflected a Dion Phaneuf slapper off his visor, and past Boucher to cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1. Grabovski’s goal was Toronto’s first power play goal against Philadelphia this season.

Shortly after the Leafs cut the lead in half, Boucher flashed some leather as he stoned Colby Armstrong from tying the game.

With 12:44 left in regulation, former Flyer Joffrey Lupul got Toronto within one goal as he scored his fourth goal with the Leafs, ninth of the season. On a 2-on-1 with Mike Brown, Lupul finished a give-and-go with a slam dunk on a beat Boucher. Sean O’Donnell, the defenseman back for the Flyers, was embarrassed by a toe drag by Brown.

The Flyers return to action on Saturday night as they host the Atlanta Thrashers for their fan appreciation night. Here’s a fun fact: the Flyers are undefeated with Boynton in the lineup. An even more interesting nugget, they’re 11-5-1 without Pronger in the lineup.

Sedin leads the league with 69 points while Stamkos is the league leader in goals (39) and is second to Sedin in points (68). Crosby is second in goals (32), third in points (66).

Heck, you’ll even hear about Danny Briere on the national level. Briere, who carried the team offensively during their Stanley Cup run last spring, has tickled the twine 26 times this year, good for sixth in the NHL.

But you’re not hearing about Jeff Carter.

Carter, who signed an 11-year, $58 million contract extension in November, is quietly putting together an outstanding season.

The 26-year-old forward has 25 goals and 23 assists for 48 points in 53 games; second on the team in points behind the team leader Claude Giroux.

However, his 25 goals have come in silence. Playing for the best team in the East, Carter has to compete with the likes of Briere, Giroux, and Mike Richards for attention.

I think it’s time to start recognizing the dominant season Carter is enjoying.

In 37 since signing him extension, Carter has 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists). He has five goals in his last five games, and points in seven of his last 10. He has four multi-goal games, including a hat trick against Carolina. He’s third in the league behind Alex Ovechkin and Dustin Byfuglien with 225 shots.

Carter’s playing at the level he was two years ago when he scored 46 goals, and set a career high with 84 points. The only difference between then and now is that Carter is playing a more complete game.

While Carter still lives by his streaky ways, he’s finding ways to contribute even when he’s not putting the puck in the net. The 6’3″, 200-pound Carter still creates scoring chances with his lethal wrister. If you look at the Flyers forwards, no one besides Carter has a blistering shot. Shooters gotta shoot.

Coming into the season, Flyers’ fans pondered who was going to pick up the slack in goal column after Philly traded away Simon Gagne in the offseason.

For the orange and black, Jeff Carter’s deciding to do his part.

Cole carries a $2.9 million cap hit, and can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 when his contract with the Hurricanes expires.

The Flyers can afford to add a player with a yearly cap hit around $3 million after placing defenseman Matt Walker ($1.7 million) on waivers Thursday.

At the NHL All-Star break, the Canes are only one point out of a playoff spot. General manager Jim Rutherford will not trade Cole if he feels his team has a chance at the playoffs.

If the Hurricanes fall out of contention between now and the trade deadline, which is one month from tomorrow, the Flyers could make a run at Cole.

How would Cole fit in with the orange and black?

Cole played four seasons under Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette when he was the Hurricanes’ head coach from 2003-08, including when the Canes won the 2006 Stanley Cup.

In 50 games this season, Cole has 13 goals and 15 assists.

Flyers assistant GM John Paddock hinted that Philly will be looking to add forward depth at this year’s deadline during an interview on NHL Live.

“I think we’ll look around at trying to get a little better. But I don’t know if better is the word, but deeper,” said Paddock. “We’re looking to get a little bit deeper. … [But] we don’t feel like we have to pay a big price to do that.”

Cole would not only bring depth up front, but a playoff tested warrior. The 32-year-old has played in 43 postseason games with 14 points. When the Canes won the Cup in 06, Cole had six goals and nine points in 23 games.

At 6’2″, 205-pounds, Cole is a big bodied right winger who can help the Flyers power play. He has five power play points, including three of his 13 goals on the man advantage.

Whether Carolina is willing to trade him is still in question, but we do know that the Flyers are looking to add a playoff battled forward who ideally plays right wing.

Erik Cole fits that description.

Walker, 30, dressed in only four games for the orange and black after being acquired in the Simon Gagne trade from Tampa Bay. He didn’t register any points.

With Chris Pronger back from injury, the Flyers deemed it best to waive Walker and his heavy $1.7 million cap hit to sit in the press box.

It was only a matter of time before the team’s eighth defenseman was waived.

What this means for the Flyers is that they’re content with their depth at the NHL level with Oskars Bartulis being their seventh defenseman, but they would like to keep Walker in the system.

Should Walker clear waivers, he’ll be assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms.

It also may be a sign that the Flyers plan to being active at this year’s trade deadline, which is Feb. 28th at 3 PM.

The Flyers can afford a player with a yearly cap hit around $3 million per Dustin Leed of The Fourth Period.

Another possibility is that a contract extension with pending free agent Ville Leino could be in the fold sometime in the near future.

Because the Flyers weren’t forced to dump salary, it’s safe to speculate that general manager Paul Holmgren is up to something.

What it is, however, nobody knows.

Who’s going to win the Stanley Cup, who’s going to represent each conference in the Finals, will Henrik Sedin repeat as the Hart Memorial winner (awarded to the League’s most valuable player). So on and so on.

Each category had it’s favorites. For example, many believed the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks were all heavy favorites to win their respected conferences.

That brings us to the subject at hand: the James Norris Memorial Trophy.

Of course, “experts” pegged Detroit’s Niklas Lidstrom, Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty, Philadelphia’s Chris Pronger and defending Norris’ winner Chicago’s Duncan Keith as the preseason favorites.

No one would have thought that Andrej Meszaros would be putting together one heck for a case for the Norris Trophy halfway through the season.

Meszaros, who was acquired by the Fyers for a second-round draft choice, leads the league with a +29 plus/minus rating. The statistic itself is grossly overrated because most players with high plus/minus ratings also have high point totals. In some cases, it does show a player’s value in goal differential.

In 45 games, Meszaros has only two goals and 14 assists for 16 points, which ranks 57th in the NHL among defenseman.

What does that tell you? That Meszaros’ rating is an excellent example of what the plus/minus stat is supposed to demostrate; how good of a defensive player you are.

Meszaros is a shutdown defenseman for the orange and black.

Playing on the Flyers’ third pairing for most of the season, Meszaros is averaging just over 20 minutes per game, but while Pronger has been out of the lineup with a broken bone in his foot, the 25-year-old has been logging around 22 minutes a night.

He leads the Flyers’ defenseman with 95 hits, including a nice hit on the Capitals’ Boyd Gordon in last night’s 3-2 overtime win against Washington. Oh, did I mention he scored the game winner?

While Lidstrom, Kris Letang, Zdeno Chara and Dustin Byfuglien have been enjoying great seasons themselves, Andrej Meszaros is quietly making a case for the Norris Trophy.

Holmgren, 55, replaced long-time GM Bobby Clarke after Clarke announced his resignation during the 2006-07. At the time, the Flyers were in the midst of their worst season in franchise history and head coach Ken Hitchock was fired.

It didn’t take long for Holmgren to turn the ship around.

When Philadelphia promoted him from assistant general manager to interim general manager, the Flyers were in last place and had little to no promise moving forward. It was the same story.

The core consisted of mostly veteran players with a mix of youngsters. The defense was old, and slow while the goaltending was poor. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were in their second seasons, and weren’t progressing the way they wanted under Hitchock.

Holmgren recognized that changes had to be made in order to turn the Flyers into a Stanley Cup contender, which he accomplished in each of his first full seasons as the general manager. It all started with the acquisitions of Braydon Coburn from Atlanta, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen and Scottie Upshall from Nashville.

Wouldn’t you know, the Flyers had an Eastern Conference Finals showdown with the Pittsburgh Penguins the very next season.

Under Holmgren’s watch, the orange and black have an Conference Finals championship under their belt and have the best record in the East midway through this season. As it stands right now, it looks like another deep playoff run is in the books.

So what exactly has Holmgren done as the GM?

He has acquired Chris Pronger, Matt Carle, Ville Leino, Andrej Meszaros, Dan Carcillo and Matt Walker via trade while bringing in Danny Briere, Sean O’Donnell, Brian Boucher, Sergei Bobrovsky, Blair Betts, Ian Laperriere, Jody Shelley, Michael Leighton, Ray Emery and Nikolay Zherdev as free agent signings.

Holmgren has locked up his core for the next decade with a 12-year deal for Mike Richards and a 10-year contract for Jeff Carter. He’s inked emerging star Claude Giroux to a three-year pact this year.

While he has been an aggressive and creative general manager, Holmgren’s best acquisition is head coach Peter Laviolette. Since Laviolette has taken over the Flyers, they’ve been among the elite in the NHL.

With the extension, Holmgren will be the GM until the 2013-14 season.

Shelley, who scored only two goals in 57 games with the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers last year, was added to the orange and black’s roster to drop his gloves and bring a sheriff to the lineup lacking a true authoritarian.

For the last couple of years, the Flyers had been utilizing Riley Cote as the enforcer. While Cote played the role well, getting in 65 fights in four seasons with the Flyers, but was not a good hockey player.

Cote was a terrible skater with little to none hockey skills. He played no more than four minutes a game in his stint with Philadelphia.

In 156 games in the NHL, Cote scored only one goal and had seven career points. To be frank, some goalies have more career points than Cote. For example, former Flyers goalie Martin Biron has four more points than Cote.

Playing in only 15 games last year, it was quite clear that the Flyers had no plans going forward with Cote as a player, and Cote decided to hang up the skates to join the Adirondack Phantoms in a coaching position.

However, despite Cote retiring, paying Shelley $1.1 million to serve as the team’s enforcer didn’t go over well in Flyerdom. In today’s age of hockey, a need for a fighter is not needed as much as it was five, six years ago.

With the game wanting more offense, the NHL has made several rule changes over the years to protect players and change the image that hockey is fighting on skates. By doing so, fighters have become a thing of the past. Not every team has an enforcer on their roster, but they still do serve a purpose.

Fighting is still a major aspect of the game, and despite the attempts by the critics, it will not be removed from the game. It’s how the players police the game, and if you take it out, more serious consequences could occur.

In spite of having Dan Carcillo on the roster, Holmgren came to the conclusion that the Flyers needed someone who could intimidate opponents. Shelley was his target.

A nine year vet, Shelley was acquired by the Rangers for a 2011 sixth round draft pick in February of 2010. Prior to being traded to New York, Shelley had no points in 36 games with the Sharks, however he recorded six points (two goals, four assists) in 21 games with the Blue Shirts.

Before going to San Jose, Shelley spent six-plus years playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets where he compiled 1025 penalty minutes.

While he hasn’t won over the fan base yet, Shelley is proving to be a good signing by Holmgren. The price tag may be a rad rich for everyone’s liking, but he’s playing the role of “enforcer” as good as anyone in the league.

Shelley, who has seven fights in 38 games with the Flyers, knows when to drop the gloves and when not to. That’s huge for a team because sometimes, it’s best not to fight. For instance, with a three goal lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Not only does Shelley know how and when to fight, he also is a hard working player. He doesn’t skate around looking for fights, but rather plays his position rather well and delivers hits when they’re available.

On a line with Blair Betts and Darroll Powe or Carcillo, Shelley averages around six minutes a game. Playing on the fourth line, Shelley has the trust of head coach Peter Laviolette, something that Cote never was able to gain.

His hard work pays off every once in awhile as it did against Atlanta a couple games ago. After blocking a shot in the defensive zone, Shelley skated up the sideboards all alone before sniping Thrashers’ goalie Ondrej Pavelec.

The Flyers are paying him to win fights, not score goals, but whenever he lights the lamp, it’s a welcomed addition.

Just like Shelley has been to the Flyers.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello appears to have reached the point where he’s decided it’s time to shake things up a bit. According to Rich Chere of the Star Ledger, Lamoriello has asked his captain Jamie Langenbrunner, who was a healthy scratch on Thursday against Philadelphia, to waive his no-trade clause.

The Flyers are one of “several teams” to have interest in the 35-year-old right wing, and are offering New Jersey two draft picks—a third and fifth rounder as reported by the  Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi.

Langenbrunner carries with him a $2.8 million cap hit, and will become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. If you’re wondering if the orange and black have enough room to bring him into the fold, the answer is yes.

The Flyers have $3.6 million in acquisition space available; they only have $413,000 in cap space, however they’re permitted to to add a full season cap hit to the current roster because long-term injured reserve is factored into the total (per Capgeek.com).

Langenbrunner, who has been the New Jersey’s captain for the last three-plus years, isn’t having the best of seasons, but then again who is for the Devils? In 31 games, the Minnesotan has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points and is a brutal minus-15 this year.

It’s believed that he wants to stay on the East Coast.

Why are the Flyers interested in Langenbrunner?

Pretty simple: playoff experience, depth and one heck of a resume.

Langenbrunner has 232 goals and 388 assists in 996 games in his 15-year NHL career. He has four 20-goal seasons under his belt, and has won two Stanley Cups—one with Dallas in 1999 and New Jersey in 2003. In terms of playoff experience, Langenbrunner has played in 137 postseason games and has 86 points.

The Flyers, who were a Michael Leighton five-hole save away from possibly extending the Stanley Cup Finals to a Game 7 in Chicago, could always use another veteran leader to use in the playoffs. Remember the role Billy Guerin was going to fill when he signed a tryout deal with the team during the preseason? Langenbrunner would fill those shoes.

On paper, depth up front is not a necessity for Philly as they’re already very deep up front. With three solid lines in place already, adding Langenbrunner would only create a bigger logjam for coach Peter Laviolette. Considering Dan Carcillo, Jody Shelley and Nikolay Zherdev are already rotating press box duties, two of the three would become healthy scratches for each game.

That is unless Flyers GM Paul Holmgren decides to waive or trade one of Carcillo, Shelley or Zherdev.

Should the Flyers acquire Langenbrunner, he would be a huge upgrade at right wing. He brings another scoring option despite a miserable season thus far, and a winger who can play Laviolette’s system. He can play in all aspects of the game, and back checks very well.

Imagine a line consisting of Andreas Nodl, Mike Richards and Langenbrunner. Talk about one heck of a shutdown line with some scoring touch to boot.

If Holmgren can pull off this deal, it will go down as another positive mark on his resume as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Pronger underwent a CAT scan on Tuesday by Dr. Steve Raikin, and the results came back positive for the Flyers.

Holmgren said that the 36-year-old has been cleared for light skating tomorrow, and will be re-evaluated on Jan. 12th.

It has been three weeks since Pronger had surgery to repair the bone. He was scheduled to miss four-to-six weeks. The likelihood that he returns to game action next week is highly unlikely.

The Flyers could be aiming for mid-to-late January.

Pronger has 15 points in 31 games in his second year with Philadelphia. He’s a plus-six, and has 24 penalty minutes. He is third among Flyers defenseman in points behind his partner in crime Matty Carle (18) and Kimmo Timonen (16).

The Flyers have been using 23-year-old Oskars Bartulis, who is a minus-three in nine games.

For the most part, the Flyers have managed without their anchor on the blue line, but that’s because of the play of Andrej Meszaros. In the six games without Pronger, Meszaros has two points, a plus-six rating and is averaging 21:21 minutes of ice time.

On the season, Meszaros has 14 points in 38 games and leads the NHL in plus/minus with a +25 rating.

Without Pronger so far this season, the Flyers are 4-3-1.