Part of that is the pressure put on the manager to win by the owner.
- Jsaquella

Bullpoop. Come on JSaq, you dont actually believe Homer was pressured to sign Bryz to a 25 year contract, do you?

Hard to blame Holmgren for a career ending injury to Pronger.
- MJL

its Homer's mentality to go after aging D men

never with the first pick, and Homer never has a second pick
- vejim

Luca Sbisa was a first rounder. The only defenseman or goalie the Devils took over that same time span was Adam Larsson.

Also, Anthony Stolarz, a goalie, was the Flyers 2nd round pick last year.

Here's your irrelevant stat of the day. I'm sure the homers would eat this up:

Ilya Bryzgalov in 2013: 3 GP, 3.04 GAA, .902 SV%

Henrik Lunqvist in 2013: 3 GP, 4.03 GAA, .877 SV%

Jonathan Quick in 2013: 2 GP, 4.09 GAA, .849 SV%

Drafting defensemen & goalies requires patience, because they take longer to develop than forwards in general.

The Flyers have drafted 12 defensemen in the last 4 drafts. They've also taken 4 goalies in that time.

Over the same time frame, New Jersey has taken 11 defensemen and 2 goalies.
- Jsaquella

whom have the flyers drafted who turned out to show top flight promise and what round did they take him? that's the issue here and when you pass on a guy like hamilton, you'd better have plan B given their org makeup and the landscape on D.

Honestly, if it were up to me Id break the lines down like this...

Laughton-G-Voracek
Simmonds-Couts-Read
Rusty-Talbot-Sestito
McGinn-Wellwood-?
- jak521

? is a little long in the tooth, but I agree he would be better suited to play on the 4th line than Shelley.

whom have the flyers drafted who turned out to show top flight promise and what round did they take him? that's the issue here and when you pass on a guy like hamilton, you'd better have plan B given their org makeup and the landscape on D.
- isaiah520

Are we back to criticizing the Flyers for taking Couturier over Hamilton? Seems like less than a year ago that the Flyers got the steal of the draft.

Hard to blame Holmgren for a career ending injury to Pronger.
- MJL

going into a season w/ a pronger coming off of multiple surgeries, a fading kimmo and the carle/coburn contract questions begged for a solid plan. i said so at the time and we see what's happened. failure.

Luca Sbisa was a first rounder. The only defenseman or goalie the Devils took over that same time span was Adam Larsson.

Also, Anthony Stolarz, a goalie, was the Flyers 2nd round pick last year.
- Jsaquella

and he traded him anyway...go figure

whom have the flyers drafted who turned out to show top flight promise and what round did they take him? that's the issue here and when you pass on a guy like hamilton, you'd better have plan B given their org makeup and the landscape on D.
- isaiah520

I'm responding to someone who said that the Flyers don't draft defensemen or goalies, by pointing out at least one other team that has taken fewer than the Flyers.

The plan B for not taking Hamilton was that the guy who had been ranked at the top of the draft class before getting mono and starting the season poorly was sitting there at number 8.

I recall very little complaining about taking Couturier over Hamilton last spring when Couturier had a vice clamp on Malkin in the playoffs. Now after a bad start he's a bad pick. Got it.

and he traded him anyway...go figure
- vejim

Working for your patient Mr. Snider means making moves to win today.

Drafting defensemen & goalies requires patience, because they take longer to develop than forwards in general.

The Flyers have drafted 12 defensemen in the last 4 drafts. They've also taken 4 goalies in that time.

Over the same time frame, New Jersey has taken 11 defensemen and 2 goalies.
- Jsaquella

Drafting a defenseman seems analogous to drafting a pitcher in baseball, IMO. It takes time to develop good judgement and a trick or two in addition to whatever raw talent they already have.

going into a season w/ a pronger coming off of multiple surgeries, a fading kimmo and the carle/coburn contract questions begged for a solid plan. i said so at the time and we see what's happened. failure.
- isaiah520

I like Coots, but Hamilton and Markstrom would have been sweet...mistakes by Homer

Bullpoop. Come on JSaq, you dont actually believe Homer was pressured to sign Bryz to a 25 year contract, do you?
- jak521

No pressure at all. He simply decided that he shared Bryz's love of the cosmos & hatred of bears

I'm responding to someone who said that the Flyers don't draft defensemen or goalies, by pointing out at least one other team that has taken fewer than the Flyers.

The plan B for not taking Hamilton was that the guy who had been ranked at the top of the draft class before getting mono and starting the season poorly was sitting there at number 8.

I recall very little complaining about taking Couturier over Hamilton last spring when Couturier had a vice clamp on Malkin in the playoffs. Now after a bad start he's a bad pick. Got it.
- Jsaquella

Couturier was rated much higher going into his draft year before he contracted mono as I recall.

In other words, the Flyers were lucky for the opportunity to draft Couturier in the first place.

Drafting a defenseman seems analogous to drafting a pitcher in baseball, IMO. It takes time to develop good judgement and a trick or two in addition to whatever raw talent they already have.
- johndewar

Which is kind of my point about the Flyers, from Snider on down, having the patience of a three year old kid who is told he has to go take a nap while his favorite cartoon is on.

Working for your patient Mr. Snider means making moves to win today.
- Jsaquella

but the moves Homer makes are not working

Couturier was rated much higher going into his draft year before he contracted mono as I recall.

In other words, the Flyers were lucky for the opportunity to draft Couturier in the first place.
- johndewar

Couturier was the top rated skater heading into the season. He started off poorly after the mono. Still managed to put up 96 points.

I would have been fine with taking Dougie Hamilton, but it's not as if the Flyers decided to draft Hugh Jessiman instead of him.

Are we back to criticizing the Flyers for taking Couturier over Hamilton? Seems like less than a year ago that the Flyers got the steal of the draft.
- NickTheKid87

i like couts, but if you have no plan besides a big UFA Roll of the dice to get a top pairing dman- the most critical position in the game these days- it would not have been a reach to draft for need in this case. he was the next guy chosen and we always have a glut of centers. this lack of a plan on D is an org fail.

and he traded him anyway...go figure
- vejim

For Pronger though.

I just hope the injuries dont pile on....
- Philly1980

You wanna see injuries.. look at Detroit. Wow. Thing is, if I was a fan of a team that had won 4 cups since 97, I'd probably be able to handle some bad luck now and again.

Couturier was the top rated skater heading into the season. He started off poorly after the mono. Still managed to put up 96 points.

I would have been fine with taking Dougie Hamilton, but it's not as if the Flyers decided to draft Hugh Jessiman instead of him.
- Jsaquella

Exactly.

I'm responding to someone who said that the Flyers don't draft defensemen or goalies, by pointing out at least one other team that has taken fewer than the Flyers.

The plan B for not taking Hamilton was that the guy who had been ranked at the top of the draft class before getting mono and starting the season poorly was sitting there at number 8.

I recall very little complaining about taking Couturier over Hamilton last spring when Couturier had a vice clamp on Malkin in the playoffs. Now after a bad start he's a bad pick. Got it.
- Jsaquella

Flavor of the week. People were PUMPED to see JVR outta here. If he has a few more game like he had last night they will be flipping out saying what a terrible trade blah blah blah..

I may be a JvR apologist, but I honestly didnt like the move from the beginning. Im still gonna wait to see how Schenn rounds out, and I hold on hope that he becomes a true top shutdown guy.. but watching JvR last night tear up the Pens made me wish he was still in O&B.

I'm responding to someone who said that the Flyers don't draft defensemen or goalies, by pointing out at least one other team that has taken fewer than the Flyers.

The plan B for not taking Hamilton was that the guy who had been ranked at the top of the draft class before getting mono and starting the season poorly was sitting there at number 8.

I recall very little complaining about taking Couturier over Hamilton last spring when Couturier had a vice clamp on Malkin in the playoffs. Now after a bad start he's a bad pick. Got it.
- Jsaquella

Cooter is a fantastic pick and a steal IMO.

i like couts, but if you have no plan besides a big UFA Roll of the dice to get a top pairing dman- the most critical position in the game these days- it would not have been a reach to draft for need in this case. he was the next guy chosen and we always have a glut of centers. this lack of a plan on D is an org fail.
- isaiah520

you already have Giroux and Briere as your centers...I dont get the need for all these centers?