Still, Holmgren said yesterday in a conference call with reporters that he is not basing his plans on the strange goal that decided the Flyers' fate.
"As I said at the end of our season, it's unfair to look at Michael in the light of just that last goal," Holmgren said. "I think he did a lot of good things for our team, so we're still looking at a lot of different things right now in terms of where we're going to go. We'll decide that in the next little while here."
Holmgren said he does plan to eventually talk to Liut and Leighton. After all is said and done this weekend, Leighton might be the Flyers' best option heading into free agency - where prices for the available goaltenders could get steep.
Brian Boucher and Johan Backlund are the Flyers' only goaltenders under contract next season with professional experience. Backlund signed a 2-year deal last week.
Holmgren said he is torn about which way the NHL's goaltending is heading. The final four goalies standing in the playoffs were Leighton, Chicago's Antti Niemi, Montreal's Jaroslav Halak and San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov. None of those players has credentials like Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo or Ryan Miller, who were all bounced early in the playoffs.
"You look at the veteran goaltenders that played in the playoffs just this past season, look at the guys that were standing at the end," Holmgren said.
For now, the Flyers aim to have the best blue line money can buy in front of whoever is next year's goaltender. If they can get Dan Hamhuis and Braydon Coburn extended, they'll have the NHL's highest-paid defense.
