Chemistry Schemistry

 "Chemistry" has long been recognized in the hockey community as one of the key ingredients to a team's success.  How players positively interact with each other among different lines or defensive pairings, on power plays, and even in the locker room all play into the mystical force that is "chemistry".  Along with the quest GMs and coaches embark on to find "chemistry", has come the age old task of being sure to not mess with it.  Fans are always afraid of roster moves altering their favorite team's chemistry, and even things as simple as moving one winger from the 4th to 3rd line can cause a storm of scrutiny from the always knowledgeable fanbase.
 Chemistry is very important to a team's success, but two teams in the NHL are proving this season that the notion of screwing up chemistry, or even that chemistry takes time to develop, may be overrated.  The Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers had two of the greatest offseason roster overhauls in league history, yet they're both currently leading their respective divisions and the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference.

 The Philadelphia Flyers have made the playoffs 15 out of the past 16 seasons, which have included four times in the Conference Championship and two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals.  But during all of those years of thriving, the lack of a strong starting goaltender plagued the Flyers.  So when Philly struck a deal for to negotiating rights to Phoenix Coyotes free agent-to-be goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, it gained a lot of attention.  Not only could Bryzgalov become the last line of defense the Flyers have been deft of for years, but how in the world were they going to fit Bryz under the salary cap?  That's when the moves started...
 The Flyers traded away their captain, Mike Richards, to the Los Angeles Kings and their top goal-scorer for the past three seasons, Jeff Carter, to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  While Philadelphia ditched two of their top scorers and best penalty killers in the trades, they acquired Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, prized prospect Brayden Schenn, and various draft picks.  Then, in free agency, the Broad Street Bullies also added Maxime Talbot, Andreas Lilja, and hockey legend Jaromir Jagr.  Oh, and they signed Byzgalov to a 9-year, $49 million deal, too.

Jagr is having a great year in a Flyers'
uniform so far... mullet-less.

 Many thought the Flyers had improved their roster for the future, they'd stay a playoff team for this season, but it would take a while for all of these new additions to grow accustomed to playing with one another.  This was far from reality.  A little over two months into the season, the Flyers lead the Eastern Conference with 37 points, and dominated most of the game between their bitter rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the other night.  Budding star Claude Giroux leads the entire league in scoring with 37 points of his own.  Notorious agitator Scott Hartnell and Max Talbot are currently on pace to have by far the best seasons of their NHL careers.  James van Riemsdyk has also thrived in his increased role since the departure of Richards and Carter.  JVR, along with Hartnell and Talbot, is well on his way to breaking his own record of points at the end of the year.  Rookies Matt Read and Sean Couturier have already exceeded expectations, who have a combined 26 points in 27 games.  And Jagr may not be in 1996-96 form, but he has also exceeded expectations after spending three seasons in the KHL, as he has tallied 22 points in 23 games.  So much for the new guys taking time to mesh.

Kris Versteeg has 29 points this year as
a member of the best line in hockey.

 The Panthers, on the other hand, haven't exactly had the storied success that Philadelphia has.  The franchise has only made three playoff appearances in its 17 years of existence, and the team finished dead last in the East last season.  Florida brought in a new GM, the formal general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, Dale Tallon, to change things in Sunrise.  When the calendar turned the page to July 1st, the first day of NHL free agency, Mr. Tallon changed a lot.
 During the summer, Tallon and the Panthers scooped up Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski, Marcel Goc, Matt Bradley, Scottie Upshall, Tomas Kopecky, Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg, Sean Bergenheim, and goaltender Jose Theodore.  The team also hired a new coach, Kevin Dineen.  Not to mention a early-season trade sent long-time Panther David Booth to Vancouver for Marco Sturm and Mikael Samuelsson.  Even without that trade, though, Florida went through one of the most massive roster makeovers in recent history.  Expectations were low, too, due to the Panthers' inability to add any real stars to their roster and their recent history of being pathetic.
 Much to the surprise of everyone except for Dale Tallon, the Pathers, and all of their offseason additions, have been nothing short of spectacular this season.  They're leading the Southeast Division and 2nd in the Eastern Conference with 36 points.  Theodore has been a rock between the pipes, Campbell's game has restored to where it was when Chicago inked him to a massive 8-year, $57,143,000 million deal, and Jason "Boom Boom" Garrison leads all defensemen in goals.  Their top line of Fleischmann-Weiss-Versteeg is the best in all of the NHL, with all three players currently notching 29 points each (87 points total.)  None of those players have ever played with each other before.  Not even in juniors.  Not even in tournaments.
 So where would either of these teams be right now if they went into this summer fearing that they would "mess with their team's" chemistry instead of making the moves they did?

Here's a cute little picture of the Panthers and nine of their new players from a presser in the summer.