September 27, 2009

Flyers Place Jones on Waivers

NEWARK, NJ -- Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren met with the media prior to Saturday night's game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center, to discuss the team's decision to place defenseman Randy Jones on waivers.

Holmgren: "It was a difficult decision, obviously. We will see what happens over the next couple of days whether he gets claimed off waivers or not. We need to have some flexibility with our roster and this potentially could give us more flexibility."

Q: You can add 4 players out of this move.
 PH: "Other than to say it gives us flexibility...I wouldn't speculate on players. The picture will become more clear on Monday."

Q: Was it more of a financial decision move or rather the way he was playing?
 PH: "Randy is a good, experienced player. Obviously, he missed a lot of time last year, but he played decent at the end. This year coming off surgery he's just kind of getting back into it. I'm not worried about his overall play."

Q: Do you think his play had been affected since the Bergeron hit?
 PH: "I don't see that. He's played in good games since then.I don't think that's an issue. Obviously, we talked about that to Randy when he was suspended (for the hit). It was just one of those things. Randy is not a dirty player. He is not known in any circles as a dirty player. He probably is not even known as a physical player. He is just a good, smart defenseman who uses his stick more than his body to break up plays. I don't see that as being an issue.

"We made a decision today to put him on waivers at noon and now we have got a reprieve for like 48 hours just to see what happens.

"We have a game tonight and we have a game Tuesday and our roster does not have to be finalized until Wednesday until I believe it is 3:00 pm. There is still time. I will probably meet with John and the coaching staff tomorrow at some point. It is an off day for the players. We will go over things and see where we are at. We will formulate a plan."