It's a new beginning for Pavel Brendl, which he says he appreciates, though he's still not quite sure why he needed one.

	“	I'm excited to come in here. I'm sure everyone heard all the comments on me about how I don't work hard and blah, blah, blah. I'm a little bit tired of that. ”
		— Pavel Brendl, Flyers prospect

"I'm excited to come in here," the new top Flyers prospect said. "I'm sure everyone heard all the comments on me about how I don't work hard and blah, blah, blah. I'm a little bit tired of that."

All those bothersome blahs followed Brendl around for the past couple of years in New York, even if he happened to be spending the bulk of that time scoring goals in Calgary. Three years as a member of the Western Junior League's Calgary Hitmen, Brendl scored 172 goals … and still didn't overcome his mixed reviews.

There were some scouting reports that this guy taken by the Rangers with the fourth-overall pick in 1999 looked like a teen-aged Jaromir Jagr, but in more ways than one. Soft hands ... and soft in the middle.

"I could still use to lose a pound or two," Brendl said with a straight face, "but other than that I'm feeling great. I'm looking forward to starting a new career here and do the best I can."

Everyone from two different Rangers general managers to a variety of Rangers beat reporters would tell you that's exactly what Brendl didn't do since he became such a heralded draft choice. Arriving at his first camp at the age of 18, scouts and management were said to be stunned at how ill-prepared Brendl seemed and how disinterested he behaved.

His conditioning might have been somewhat improved a year ago, but all the goals Brendl scored for the Hitmen didn't carry over into the preseason, and he was sent back for a third junior season in Calgary. Then last summer, Brendl made what he thought was a major commitment to the club, only to find out the club didn't feel that way.

"The first year (in New York) I didn't show up in the shape I had to," Brendl admitted last week. "I wasn't in the best shape, but I was sick the first couple of days. But the second year I thought I was in great shape and did what I had to defensively. It came down to I wasn't producing offensively. So I was told to play defense, and I wasn't good enough there so I got sent down again.

"Then this year, I don't know if it makes any sense. I went there (to Rye, N.Y.) a month and a half before camp to get into shape. So obviously before I went there I wasn't in the best shape I could be, because that's why I went early -- to get into shape. I guess they expected me to be in the best shape right away when I got there. It didn't make any sense to me.

"I thought it was enough time -- a month to get into shape. So I knew I wasn't in shape then, but I knew I was going to get there. I guess it just wasn't soon enough for the Rangers organization."

	“	He tried to work hard, but they don't trust him in New York, so they trade him here ... They sent him to juniors two times right after camp and that's not good ... They said he's in bad shape, but I don't know why. He's got a great shot and great hands but he needs to work hard. That's all. ”
		— Jan Hlavac, a former Ranger, on Brendl

Brendl, who said he never received an off-season conditioning program to follow from the Rangers, didn't have long to ponder his confusion. Four weeks into another disappointing prospects camp, Brendl found out he was joining Kim Johnsson and Jan Hlavac as part of the four-player trade that landed Eric Lindros in New York.

While the trade was proclaimed a winner on both ends of the New Jersey Turnpike, it didn't resolve the curious questions of whether Brendl had been given a fair shot in New York or not.

"He tried to work hard, but they don't trust him in New York, so they trade him here," Hlavac said of his younger Czech countryman. "I don't know what the management wanted from him. They sent him to juniors two times right after camp and that's not good. I don't know why he didn't have a chance. I was surprised because he was (a high pick). They said he's in bad shape, but I don't know why. He's got a great shot and great hands but he needs to work hard. That's all."

The trade that sprung Brendl loose from the Rangers completed an offseason reconstruction effort that appears to have given the Flyers a fighting chance for a Stanley Cup next spring. And for the first time in Brendl's career, he feels someone other than he and his teammates expect him to be part of that endeavor. He seemed to sense that from the start.

"They announced the trade on a Monday," said Brendl. "I was here working out on Tuesday."

But the first impressions he makes in Philly won't be enough for Brendl to reverse the reputation he's carried with him from Broadway.

"We knew we needed a defenseman who could move the puck and they were willing to put (Johnsson) in it," said Flyers president Bob Clarke. "We needed someone who could score off the wing … and Hlavac fits that hole. And Brendl, well, he's a gamble. We think he is going to play, obviously, or we wouldn't have traded for him. Right now, he is a prospect and we'll see how we can develop him. But he has to work hard himself."

If you denote a tone of suspicion in that statement … no need to guess.

"Work ethic is something you have to work on with Brendl," Clarke said. "It's all offense and no defense with him. So far, that has been the worry; that defensively, he doesn't worry too much about it. But when he gets the puck on the attack, he can really score. Players coming out of junior all over the world are like that. You have to teach them how to play the game properly. If you don't, they won't play."

	“	I don't think my defense was ever too bad, it's just being about being in the right time and right place. ... I believe I'm smart enough to know where to stand at a time that will let me make a play. ”
		— Pavel Brendl

For his part, Brendl respectfully disagrees with criticism about his defensive abilities. But he says he'll have no problem doing whatever the Flyers feel is necessary for him to improve.

"I don't think my defense was ever too bad, it's just being about being in the right time and right place," said Brendl. "The first year (in Calgary) I was a plus-65 and led the league. The next year it was plus-45, and the third year a little less because that team wasn't as good as it was. But I believe I'm smart enough to know where to stand at a time that will let me make a play.

"But I will do whatever the coaches want me to do and I will play wherever they want me to play. I've played all three forward positions. So I don't really care where they put me. Whatever level I've played, I've scored goals. So I'm pretty confident that I can score at the NHL level. If I get into a scoring position, I can score."

In addition to the conditioning problems he had the past couple of summers, Brendl said part of his problems in New York stemmed from what he sees was an unwillingness of management -- both the Neil Smith and Glen Sather regimes -- to offer him a helping hand.

"The first year there was different management there and they wanted me to play different," said Brendl. "They wanted me to play more defensively. But I never talked to any of the management people. In the two years I was there, the GM I talked to maybe once. That was Sather, and (assistant GM) Don Maloney a few times. But I never talked to anyone with the organization enough. I guess I wasn't the right fit for the New York Rangers."

Of course, that was then and this is now.

Although most recommendations would see Brendl start out playing across the parking lot for the Flyers' top minor-league affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, Brendl has set his optimistic aim higher.

"I'm not thinking about going to the AHL yet," he said. "Camp just started and I'm here to play for the Philadelphia Flyers. It's very important to me to make that team. And if I do, I definitely can't wait until we play New York."

Rob Parent of the Delaware County (Pa.) Times is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.