12/13 TBD
- MJL

regardless.. looks better than some others.

Flyers Bluelines of the Holmgren Era:



Food for thought.
- Tomahawk

Looks like the team has always been good regardless of the blueline depth and that Homer has made moves to help out the D. That's what I took from this info.

Looks like the team has always been good regardless of the blueline depth and that Homer has made moves to help out the D. That's what I took from this info.
- NickTheKid87

Looks like the team has always been good regardless of the blueline depth and that Homer has made moves to help out the D. That's what I took from this info.
- NickTheKid87

1) Suspect defensive depth at the start of the year is not a predictor of in-season and post-season success,

2) You can be solid 1-6 in October to just have it all fall apart on you (2011-12),

3) Every year there are fringe youngsters that we hang our hopes on -- most of the time they will disappoint and will be gone within a matter of a season or two,

4) Every year there are questions of age and durability,

5) The Flyers seem to win no matter what, which probably owes more to the teams' culture of success more than the bodies in the lineup.

1) Suspect defensive depth at the start of the year is not a predictor of in-season and post-season success,

2) You can be solid 1-6 in October to just have it all fall apart on you (2011-12),

3) Every year there are fringe youngsters that we hang our hopes on -- most of the time they will disappoint and will be gone within a matter of a season or two,

4) Every year there are questions of age and durability,

5) The Flyers seem to win no matter what, which probably owes more to the teams' culture of success more than the bodies in the lineup.
- Tomahawk

Exactly. That's why we need to let it play out. April and the playoffs are a long way away. It's August and who how you finish is far more important then how you start.

1) Suspect defensive depth at the start of the year is not a predictor of in-season and post-season success,

2) You can be solid 1-6 in October to just have it all fall apart on you (2011-12),

3) Every year there are fringe youngsters that we hang our hopes on -- most of the time they will disappoint and will be gone within a matter of a season or two,

4) Every year there are questions of age and durability,

5) The Flyers seem to win no matter what, which probably owes more to the teams' culture of success more than the bodies in the lineup.
- Tomahawk

Agree with all of the above especially #5. I think the team's best bet is to wait until the deadline or during camp if someone else gets hurt. In that case sign a UFA.

http://www.dailygazette.c...sley-impressed-with-unio/

Housley was pretty impressed with the Ghostbuster

http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2012/aug/12/us-junior-hockey-coach-housley-impressed-with-unio/

Housley was pretty impressed with the Ghostbuster
- jak521

The way a lot of scouts and coaches are talking about this kid, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the steal of the draft.

i think the flyers are in a much better position as far as defensive personnel than many contend. as long as the forwards back check more and bryz plays up to his capabilities, i see no need to upgrade the defense. i'd be happy with coliaicovo for the right price, however (in case timonen isn't 100% to start the season or to give him fewer minutes/game). i could see the pairings like this:

timonen grossmann
coburn schenn
bourdon/gusty/gervais

or:

coburn grossmann
coliaicovo schenn
timonen gervais/mab/gus

then it just boils down to players playing to abilities, attention to defense and we still know this team has plenty of potential.

The way a lot of scouts and coaches are talking about this kid, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the steal of the draft.
- NickTheKid87

I just hope he adds a bit of size.. he's 5'10'' 160 lbs... if he can top out at 5'11''-6' 185 lbs... he would have the size needed in the NHL.

I just hope he adds a bit of size.. he's 5'10'' 160 lbs... if he can top out at 5'11''-6' 185 lbs... he would have the size needed in the NHL.
- jak521

Get that boy to Chipoltle ASAP

http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2012/aug/12/us-junior-hockey-coach-housley-impressed-with-unio/

Housley was pretty impressed with the Ghostbuster
- jak521

looks like the flyers CAN draft a defenseman

I just hope he adds a bit of size.. he's 5'10'' 160 lbs... if he can top out at 5'11''-6' 185 lbs... he would have the size needed in the NHL.
- jak521

He probably will. Giroux was about the same size coming out of the Q. Ghostbear is older and G is more talented but most guys do add size as they progress in the ranks.

i think the flyers are in a much better position as far as defensive personnel than many contend. as long as the forwards back check more and bryz plays up to his capabilities, i see no need to upgrade the defense. i'd be happy with coliaicovo for the right price, however (in case timonen isn't 100% to start the season or to give him fewer minutes/game). i could see the pairings like this:

timonen grossmann
coburn schenn
bourdon/gusty/gervais

or:

coburn grossmann
coliaicovo schenn
timonen gervais/mab/gus

then it just boils down to players playing to abilities, attention to defense and we still know this team has plenty of potential.
- flyerscup2011

I agree to the extent that it isn't as bad as some in here make it out to be. I would still like to see them add a serviceable veteran to compete for a 5th 6th role and be able to step in to a top 4 if needed (IE CC).

This is still a playoff team in my opinion. No one in here is saying this is a cup winning back line regardless of what some negative fools think. It is a looong way to April. This team makes the playoffs in the east as is, and we all know Homer will make some kind of deal if the situation warrants it.

Now we all know Coburn has no one timer slapshot, Bryzgalov will never be successful in the NHL, Schenn is a bust, losing Lilja shows us all we are fools, missing Meszaros shows us how horrible the Flyers are at cap management, not getting Nash dooms us to being 30th in the league in scoring, and not trading for Ryan dooms Giroux to 35 points and AHL demotion by January (barring a lockout of course). But I for one and willing to look past all of these catastrophic season ending calamities and actually wait until they play some games before I declare us all fools for believing the Flyers could beat a CHL team let alone make the playoffs in the Eastern conference.

But that's just me.

Get that boy to Chipoltle ASAP
- Giroux_Is_God

Just make sure we stock him up on Chipotlaway.

http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2012/aug/12/us-junior-hockey-coach-housley-impressed-with-unio/

Housley was pretty impressed with the Ghostbuster
- jak521

seems like if ghost can continue developing and put on 20 pounds we might have our next kimo waiting in the wings.

I just hope he adds a bit of size.. he's 5'10'' 160 lbs... if he can top out at 5'11''-6' 185 lbs... he would have the size needed in the NHL.
- jak521

he just needs to hang out with me for a couple weeks, I'll fatten him up

I agree to the extent that it isn't as bad as some in here make it out to be. I would still like to see them add a serviceable veteran to compete for a 5th 6th role and be able to step in to a top 4 if needed (IE CC).

This is still a playoff team in my opinion. No one in here is saying this is a cup winning back line regardless of what some negative fools think. It is a looong way to April. This team makes the playoffs in the east as is, and we all know Homer will make some kind of deal if the situation warrants it.

Now we all know Coburn has no one timer slapshot, Bryzgalov will never be successful in the NHL, Schenn is a bust, losing Lilja shows us all we are fools, missing Meszaros shows us how horrible the Flyers are at cap management, not getting Nash dooms us to being 30th in the league in scoring, and not trading for Ryan dooms Giroux to 35 points and AHL demotion by January (barring a lockout of course). But I for one and willing to look past all of these catastrophic season ending calamities and actually wait until they play some games before I declare us all fools for believing the Flyers could beat a CHL team let alone make the playoffs in the Eastern conference.

But that's just me.
- MBFlyerfan

You left out Grossmann has 2 bad knees. The guy can barely walk!

But the good thing about the defenseman drama is, that we haven't had to read daily posts about Jody Shelley still being on the team!

seems like if ghost can continue developing and put on 20 pounds we might have our next kimo waiting in the wings.
- JoeRussomanno

.....or at least have drafted an NHL caliber defenseman for a change.

You left out Grossmann has 2 bad knees. The guy can barely walk!

But the good thing about the defenseman drama is, that we haven't had to read daily posts about Jody Shelley still being on the team!
- MJL

Well, had I mentioned Shelley and how he has absolutely destroyed the Flyers cap structure and pretty much prevented them from making any kind of big money offers to any free agents, I really would be a fool.

You left out Grossmann has 2 bad knees. The guy can barely walk!

But the good thing about the defenseman drama is, that we haven't had to read daily posts about Jody Shelley still being on the team!
- MJL

Easy now, I've noticed the board has been rather clean today

looks like the flyers CAN draft a defenseman
- flyerscup2011

Drafting isn't the problem... it's developing. Rushed Pitkanen, rushed Seidenberg, rushed Sbisa, cut bait on Marshall and Lehtivuori, couldn't get Bodrov out of Russia, probably mishandled Bartulis... IMO, that's some serious undermining of the scouting dept by management.

Here's the defensive corps of the other 4 teams of the division:

Rangers
Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto
Ryan McDonagh
Marc Staal
Anton Stralman
Stu Bickel
Michael Sauer

Penguins
Kris Letang
Brooks Orpik
Paul Martin
Ben Lovejoy
Deryk Engelland
Matt Niskanen
Simon Despres
Robert Bortuzzo

Devils
Andy Greene
Mark Fayne
Peter Harrold
Adam Larsson
Bryce Salvador
Henrik Tallinder
Anton Volchenkov
Marek Zidlicky
Matthew Corrente

Islanders
Travis Hamonic
Andrew MacDonald
Matt Carkner
Mark Streit
Lubomir Visnovsky (pending)
Ty Wishart
Mark Katic


Aside from the Rangers, I think the Flyers are right up there with the rest of the teams in the division in regards to defensemen.

Also, I can't see the Rangers be as good defensively as they were last year. Pretty much all their dmen had career years. What are the chances of that happening again? Plus they'll have to commit to offense a little more after it killed them in the playoffs.

.....or at least have drafted an NHL caliber defenseman for a change.
- MBFlyerfan

I don't think its a matter of drafting an NHL caliber Defenseman so much as its that they don't draft the 1-2 guys.