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Flyers GM on missing out on Weber: “I love our defense”

Paul Holmgren

Paul Holmgren, general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, speaks during a media availability at their practice facility Thursday, May 10, 2012 in Voorhees, N.J. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Flyers 4-1 in their best-of-seven conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

AP

The Flyers made their best effort to land Predators captain Shea Weber but lost out thanks to Nashville matching their 14-year, $110 million offer.

The day after the Preds matched turned into Philly GM Paul Holmgren’s postmortem on the affair and as Sarah Baicker of CSNPhilly.com shares, he gave Weber his best shot but they’re moving on now.

“We looked at it as an opportunity to add one of the top defensemen, if not the top guy,” Holmgren said. “Our shot, it didn’t work. I love our defense; I love the youth of our defense. … To try and add a guy like Shea Weber doesn’t really speak to anything other than maybe you are adding one of the best guys in the league.”

As for that defense, with Luke Schenn now in town they’ve added a guy with size, but they lost some skill and mobility with Matt Carle signing in Tampa Bay. With Chris Pronger not likely to come back anytime soon, the Flyers do have some issues but Holmgren believes his young guys will fill things out.

Holmgren also says they’ll look at other guys that don’t require a trade to acquire but wouldn’t rule anything out. One thing’s for sure, never count the Flyers out of anything.