He's gone, the evil has gone!

Ah the immortal words of Dr. Sam Loomis from the original "Halloween" Now, I don't want to imply that recently waived defenseman Randy Jones is in anyway evil or comparable to a serial killer like Michael Myers but is there any better way to make an exit then with a classic Donald Pleasence freak out?

The correct answer is no.

Sadly, I think I may have buried my lead a bit there, that's right Randy Jones has been waived. The move was made for a variety of reasons, including the emergence of several very talented youngsters during camp and for the fact that it made NO sense to pay your sixth d-man almost $3 million.

So, Jones finds himself a Phantom once again, after three plus years with the Flyers. Three plus years marked by occasional brilliance, occasional buffoonery and fairly consistent mediocrity. That said here are three reasons this is a great move.

I will try and limit myself to only three.

Why the move makes sense:

1.) Salary Cap- Last year the Flyers were handcuffed by the cap all year long. By getting Jones' $2.7 million off the books, the Flyers gain some much needed wiggle room against the cap.

2.) That brings me to point number two. Both Braydon Coburn and Ryan Parent will need to be resigned after this year. Losing Jones now makes sense because Jones wasn't coming back next year. Best to replace him now and give the young guys a shot. Also, you can now flip some fo Jones' salary over to fourth line center Blair Betts, who is an excellent role player.

3.) Hey, how about we give the young guys a shot? Ole-Kristian Tollefson was signed to be the team's seventh defeseman, but he now finds himself competing to make the team outright. Tollefson is a big, beefy guy who can't seem to stay healthy. Not a huge problem because the Flyers have Tolllefson's replacement/ competition already picked out. Meet Danny Syvret, who had a monster year with the Phantoms last season to the tune of 12 goals and 45 assists. Syvret has earned at least a look and if the knock on Tollefson is that he can't stay healthy, then look no further then this speedy, puck-moving as a fill-in. Heck, Syvret make just take the job from Tolly outright but that remains to be seen.

Well there you have it. I could go on further, but any other points may just be rehashing the above. There are some problems, but overall the move is nothing but positive. It is an unfortunate end to Jones' Philly career and it most certainly is the end. It is ver unlikely the Flyers will recall him from the Phantoms as doing so they would risk losing him to another team and being forced to split his salary with them. Essentially, the Flyers would be paying him to play elsewhere. A trade could be in the works, but what Jones would bring back is anyone's guess.

On that bombshell, it's time to end this thing. Sorry for going long. That's all for now.