Ottawa is also second to last in goals per game this year. They are sacrificing offense to play strong D. Bryz would be putting up numbers like Anderson and Bishop in that system as well.
- NickTheKid87

yes I agree

they play a different system and especially now without Karlsen they are forced to play it close to the vest, rely on goaltending (they give up a ton of shots per game, but not a lot of goals) and hope to win 1 goal games

I dont care what they draft, i just want to see them draft kids who turn into NHL players.

Good, consistent drafting builds the talent pool. With a larger talent pool to draw from you can trade from an area of strength to bolster a weak spot.
- ggunky

they are strong at center, use your top 3 picks on Dmen

Ottawa is also second to last in goals per game this year. They are sacrificing offense to play strong D. Bryz would be putting up numbers like Anderson and Bishop in that system as well.
- NickTheKid87

That's the other thing. Systemically, the Sens are playing great team defense. They give up chances, sure, but it's rarely the quality of chances the Flyers are allowing.

And I still disagree that a top 4 that includes a 40 year old offensive specialist, a guy who played for 6 years in the minors and has 9 NHL games to his credit is better on paper than the Flyers group.

I'm not saying that the Flyers group is stellar. But it should be solid. Part of the reason it isn't is the play of the forwards and the style they play.

yes I agree

they play a different system and especially now without Karlsen they are forced to play it close to the vest, rely on goaltending (they give up a ton of shots per game, but not a lot of goals) and hope to win 1 goal games
- Marc D

They do a great job a clearing the front of the net. Not many rebounds allowed.

That's the other thing. Systemically, the Sens are playing great team defense. They give up chances, sure, but it's rarely the quality of chances the Flyers are allowing.

And I still disagree that a top 4 that includes a 40 year old offensive specialist, a guy who played for 6 years in the minors and has 9 NHL games to his credit is better on paper than the Flyers group.

I'm not saying that the Flyers group is stellar. But it should be solid. Part of the reason it isn't is the play of the forwards and the style they play.
- Jsaquella

They could easily be as good or better than Ottawa defensively if they played like that. The Flyers have more up front too.

yes I agree

they play a different system and especially now without Karlsen they are forced to play it close to the vest, rely on goaltending (they give up a ton of shots per game, but not a lot of goals) and hope to win 1 goal games
- Marc D

They give up a lot of shots, but you rarely see a case like the second Ranger goal, where the two nearest guys to the net are opposing wingers.

Ottawa is also second to last in goals per game this year. They are sacrificing offense to play strong D. Bryz would be putting up numbers like Anderson and Bishop in that system as well.
- NickTheKid87

I think this team is playing about up to its talent level. If you get a defensive minded coach, you will sacrifice offense for stronger D like Ottawa. Instead of losing 4-3 games, we will lose 2-1 games like in the Hitch era.

We've lost too much on defense since 2010. No more Pronger, Carle and Timonen is a shell of his former self. Coburn needs to be with a good dman to be effective. He can't be the anchor of a top pairing. Schenn and Grossman are good for what they do and thats strict defense.

Yes, I wish the Flyers played better team-wide defense. I think there would still be lapses and breakdowns even with a defensive coach as most of this team is so young and I expect inconsistency to go with that.

I think this team is playing about up to its talent level. If you get a defensive minded coach, you will sacrifice offense for stronger D like Ottawa. Instead of losing 4-3 games, we will lose 2-1 games like in the Hitch era.

We've lost too much on defense since 2010. No more Pronger, Carle and Timonen is a shell of his former self. Coburn needs to be with a good dman to be effective. He can't be the anchor of a top pairing. Schenn and Grossman are good for what they do and thats strict defense.

Yes, I wish the Flyers played better team-wide defense. I think there would still be lapses and breakdowns even with a defensive coach as most of this team is so young and I expect inconsistency to go with that.
- phillydentist

I don't think that's necessarily true, at least not for the future. Ottawa is missing their 2 best offensive players (Spezza and Karlsson) and regardless, the Flyers have significantly more fire power up front. The Sens can't match Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds, Briere, Schenn, Gagne, Read, Hartnell.

I think this team is playing about up to its talent level. If you get a defensive minded coach, you will sacrifice offense for stronger D like Ottawa. Instead of losing 4-3 games, we will lose 2-1 games like in the Hitch era.

We've lost too much on defense since 2010. No more Pronger, Carle and Timonen is a shell of his former self. Coburn needs to be with a good dman to be effective. He can't be the anchor of a top pairing. Schenn and Grossman are good for what they do and thats strict defense.

Yes, I wish the Flyers played better team-wide defense. I think there would still be lapses and breakdowns even with a defensive coach as most of this team is so young and I expect inconsistency to go with that.
- phillydentist

I'm not advocating simply adopting the Ottawa system-and even if I was, the Flyers have far more talent up front than Ottawa does with Spezza and Michalek out.

I'm advocating more of a DeBoer approach. Staying within a system to make smart plays, rather than encouraging overly aggressive plays that lead to turnovers and a load of energy wasted running around

I don't think that's necessarily true, at least not for the future. Ottawa is missing their 2 best offensive players (Spezza and Karlsson) and regardless, the Flyers have significantly more fire power up front. The Sens can't match Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds, Briere, Schenn, Gagne, Read, Hartnell.
- NickTheKid87

The Flyers look good on paper with all those names but even with Lav's run and gun offense they still struggle to score against NJD and NYR. I don't buy into the Flyers being that much more talented than OTT.

I'm advocating more of a DeBoer approach. Staying within a system to make smart plays, rather than encouraging overly aggressive plays that lead to turnovers and a load of energy wasted running around
- Jsaquella

I'm with you there.

The Flyers look good on paper with all those names but even with Lav's run and gun offense they still struggle to score against NJD and NYR. I don't buy into the Flyers being that much more talented than OTT.
- phillydentist

All you have to do is compare rosters. Flyers have more talent but Ottawa uses what they have more effectively. That has been the Flyers issue, not utilizing the players they have effectively.

The Flyers look good on paper with all those names but even with Lav's run and gun offense they still struggle to score against NJD and NYR. I don't buy into the Flyers being that much more talented than OTT.
- phillydentist

The problem is, on paper, the Flyers are more talented, especially with Michalek and Spezza being out.

Last year, when those guys were healthy and they had Karlsson playing 27 minutes a night, they were 4th in the NHL in goals per game. Losing those guys has caused their coaching staff to radically change their game to being a stingy, tight checking team, rather than clinging to a style that the roster is ill suited for.

That is what a good coach does.

All you have to do is compare rosters. Flyers have more talent but Ottawa uses what they have more effectively. That has been the Flyers issue, not utilizing the players they have effectively.
- NickTheKid87

That's NHL 2k13 talk...

I'm not advocating simply adopting the Ottawa system-and even if I was, the Flyers have far more talent up front than Ottawa does with Spezza and Michalek out.

I'm advocating more of a DeBoer approach. Staying within a system to make smart plays, rather than encouraging overly aggressive plays that lead to turnovers and a load of energy wasted running around
- Jsaquella

for Pete's sake...


...that makes sense

for Pete's sake...


...that makes sense
- isaiah520

It's not a cookie cutter, you have to figure out what works best for your roster. I don't think the Flyers would do good playing a 1-4 style

That's NHL 2k13 talk...
- phillydentist

NHL 13

But not really, I mean the Flyers have a very talented team but they are not being utilized properly. A hammer is a great tool but you won't have much success unscrewing something with it.

It's not a cookie cutter, you have to figure out what works best for your roster. I don't think the Flyers would do good playing a 1-4 style
- Jsaquella

That's one thing I don't think people realize. It's not as easy as running the Devils or Senators system. My counter argument for that is "what players do the Flyers have that the Devils/Senators also have?" Obviously, the answer is none and that is exactly why you can't run an identical system. The Flyers have done a poor job at tailoring the system to the teams strengths. They did in 2010 and look how that worked out.

Ottawa is also second to last in goals per game this year. They are sacrificing offense to play strong D. Bryz would be putting up numbers like Anderson and Bishop in that system as well.
- NickTheKid87

I don't think that they're sacrificing offense to play strong D. They simply lack offensive talent to start with. Then you take two players like Spezza and karlsson out of the lineup, and you have a team struggling to score. One of the biggest misconceptions I read is that you have to sacrifice offense to play well defensively. I think it's the opposite. Playing sound defense leads to better offense. If you have the offensive talent.

That's one thing I don't think people realize. It's not as easy as running the Devils or Senators system. My counter argument for that is "what players do the Flyers have that the Devils/Senators also have?" Obviously, the answer is none and that is exactly why you can't run an identical system. The Flyers have done a poor job at tailoring the system to the teams strengths. They did in 2010 and look how that worked out.
- NickTheKid87

Agree 100%

My other worry is, when players simply aren't executing, I lay more blame at them. If the team is losing because of chronic undisciplined play, I blame the coaching staff more.

I don't mean that in taking penalties, but in the ill advised pinches, the dumb line changes, et cetera

Out of the loop today, the amount of accidents on the roads with the rain and wind is unreal.

Meszaros and Grossmann good to go tomorrow night, right? RIGHTTTTT??

I think this team is playing about up to its talent level. If you get a defensive minded coach, you will sacrifice offense for stronger D like Ottawa. Instead of losing 4-3 games, we will lose 2-1 games like in the Hitch era.

We've lost too much on defense since 2010. No more Pronger, Carle and Timonen is a shell of his former self. Coburn needs to be with a good dman to be effective. He can't be the anchor of a top pairing. Schenn and Grossman are good for what they do and thats strict defense.

Yes, I wish the Flyers played better team-wide defense. I think there would still be lapses and breakdowns even with a defensive coach as most of this team is so young and I expect inconsistency to go with that.
- phillydentist

This team isn't playing anywhere close to it's talent level currently. And if they played better defensively, offense would be increased, not decreased.

I don't think that they're sacrificing offense to play strong D. They simply lack offensive talent to start with. Then you take two players like Spezza and karlsson out of the lineup, and you have a team struggling to score. One of the biggest misconceptions I read is that you have to sacrifice offense to play well defensively. I think it's the opposite. Playing sound defense leads to better offense. If you have the offensive talent.
- MJL

I agree to an extent put there are always teams that have talent up front but can't score. LA last year, the Sharks this year, the Rangers at times. It is possible to stifle your offense by playing too defensively.

That's one thing I don't think people realize. It's not as easy as running the Devils or Senators system. My counter argument for that is "what players do the Flyers have that the Devils/Senators also have?" Obviously, the answer is none and that is exactly why you can't run an identical system. The Flyers have done a poor job at tailoring the system to the teams strengths. They did in 2010 and look how that worked out.
- NickTheKid87

Can't agree with that at all. The Flyers could absolutely play the Devils or Senators system. Another misconception is that you need certain players to play a system. Not the case.

I agree to an extent put there are always teams that have talent up front but can't score. LA last year, the Sharks this year, the Rangers at times. It is possible to stifle your offense by playing too defensively.
- NickTheKid87

The Rangers were the 11th best scoring team in the NHL last year. They lacked finishers and offensive players. Which is why they dealt for Nash. Defense doesn't stifle offense. It creates it.