You should ALWAYS take the best player at number 1 regardless of position and needs.
- 77rams

Best is highly subjective. Recent successes aside, they've missed in first round too

NHL Scouting didn't rank European skaters back then.
- 77rams

Oh ok. Did not know that. Thanks.

Guys that got drafted after Ricci that year:

Jagr, Derian Hatcher, Keith Tkachuk, and .......(wait for it).......Marty Brodeur.

Other interesting names in that first round with ties to the Flyers: John Slaney, Turner Stevenson, Mark Greig (the Whale!), and the immortal Shawn Antoski.
- johndewar

So only a few first ballot hall of fame players and arguably the best goalie ever.

Pitbull!

Edit: Jagr also wasn't even a top 10 ranked skater.
- NickTheKid87

Scott Scissons

Sam Carchidi ‏@BroadStBull
"I haven't even thought about it," Homer says of a coaching change.


Lavy will be gone by saturday.....
- Philly1980

I hope Homer names himself interim coach so we can get 4-sentence bashes of him instead of just 2.

So only a few first ballot hall of fame players and arguably the best goalie ever.
- opeth_pa

Don't forget Espen "Shampoo" Knutsen!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=418170

most likely late but oh well

I hope Homer names himself interim coach so we can get 4-sentence bashes of him instead of just 2.
- Flyskippy

Welp, he was interim GM and head coach when he was with the Whale in the early to mid-90's, so holding both roles wouldn't be completely foreign to him.

Another thing to remember about dmen... 20 years ago most d were big and slow. The position has changed now. Kids actually want to play d now. The days of you can't skate or shoot means you play goal or d are over. Just an opinion

Best is highly subjective. Recent successes aside, they've missed in first round too
- TheGreat28

Very subjective.

I was saying, for example, if you have a forward rated higher on your board but you need defense, don't pick the D-man you've rated lower because of the need.

Always select the best player available regardless of position, even if it gives you an excess at that position.

Yes, he can theoretically get better. But his numbers are on par with his previous couple of seasons, but this is likely who he is. He's not the type of guy who's going to carry play in the offensive zone. He gets in front of the net and makes things happen/disrupts play. There will be fluctuation in luck (luck of the bounce).
- bradleyc4

A team needs a balance of players. There is only one puck. Some players carry the puck and create. Some players are snipers. Some go to the net and create space for the former, etc. Simmonds has shown that his offensive success is much more then luck. He's just plain good at it.

Another thing to remember about dmen... 20 years ago most d were big and slow. The position has changed now. Kids actually want to play d now. The days of you can't skate or shoot means you play goal or d are over. Just an opinion
- SMS4016

Like most of our d-men.

I guess it depends on the gap. I wouldn't reach in first round, but Laughton is really redundant here and you give up value in trading forwards for defense, as we saw with JVR. So if it was a small gap I would have event with Maata.

Wasn't Laughton considered a little bit of a stretch? I though he was rated high second round?
- TheGreat28

so was Richards and Giroux as far as where many had them rated.

A team needs a balance of players. There is only one puck. Some players carry the puck and create. Some players are snipers. Some go to the net and create space for the former, etc. Simmonds has shown that his offensive success is much more then luck. He's just plain good at it.
- MJL

Very much wanted and needed player on the team, that I agree with.

I hope Homer names himself interim coach so we can get 4-sentence bashes of him instead of just 2.
- Flyskippy

2 for gm 2 for coaching lol

I hope Homer names himself interim coach so we can get 4-sentence bashes of him instead of just 2.
- Flyskippy

2 for gm 2 for coaching lol

Completely agree. The defenders cannot get the puck out of the zone cleanly (Pronger & Carle). If you watch a Flyers game, they rarely get odd man rushes against the other team and this is a direct reflection of this glaring hole in the lineup.
- aantny88

Winning D zone battles and getting the puck up the ice is a team effort. There is no particular weakness amongst the current defenseman in terms of their ability to skate or pass the puck out of the zone. Even last night, there were many good first passes and such...but they have to be followed up by posessing and advancing the puck through the neutral zone and into the o zone. The Flyers lack cohesion in this regard and did a lot of dump with little chase. The lack of odd man rushes has more to do with how the Flyers forwards pressure (or don't pressure) the oppostion in the defensive and neutral zone than it does the lack of puck moving ability of the D corps imo. The Flyers played most of their 103 pt season last year without Pronger. There's no way Matt Carle was the difference maker that caused this kind of drop off. He's been pretty bad for Tampa and not what they thought they were getting for $5.5 mil.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=418170

most likely late but oh well
- phi1671

who was the player who used the actual broken stick to play the puck a week or two ago against the Flyers?

Did you see what created those odd man rushes for the Devils last night? Defense did. Playing a sturctured checking game with puck pressure all over the ice did. There is not one defenseman on NJ that is considered a top rate puck mover.
- MJL

The Flyers don't pressure the puck in the neutral zone, and there aren't layers to their checking all over the ice, to create those turnovers, and create odd man rushes. They have a deep forecheck, if the opposition beats that easily, then it's a free skate into the Flyers end. Just like the Devils did last night. You can label Gervais's pinch as idiotic all you want, but that is not what lead to the odd man rush. You talk about systems but don't seem aware that Gervais is doing what he is supposed to be doing there, and is not backed up by the forward support that is supposed to be there. It is by design, and it is taught by the Coach.
What personell are missing from last year? Jagr and Carle? Do you really beleive that having them would turn this around? I'm as big a fan of Carle as there is, but he isn't that good, that he'll turn it around!
!
- MJL

If Pronger didn't suffer an untimely career ending injury, a lot of the issues they have no wouldn't be happening.

It's amazing how that gets overlooked. Pronger was not expected to play here for 2 or 3 years and then retire. They expected him for at least 5 or 6 years, at which time they would have had more years of picks to replenish the ones dealt away.

So suddenly it's Holmgren's fault that Pronger got hit in the eye and basically had to retire?
- Jsaquella

The defense isn't even the biggest issue. It's team defense that is a bigger issue than the 6 defensemen.
- Jsaquella

agreed

And guess what. Having Matt Carle wouldn't turn this team around. And you know what the current conversation would be. Holmgren screwed up and paid Carle too much, and he would be added to the scapegoat list. As sure as the Sun comes up.
- MJL

Sure as poope

I've been thinking about Briere's NMC and I can't see him waiving it. If he isn't traded that pretty much forces the Flyers to buy him out to get cap space. So Briere pockets $3.3m over the next four years.

Then he can go out as FA and pick whichever team offers the best deal and lets him stay close to his family. And I don't think it's a stretch to suggest a team will give him a two-year, $6.7m deal. Combined with the buyout Briere would be doubling his income over the $5m he would be paid if he allowed himself to be traded.

who was the player who used the actual broken stick to play the puck a week or two ago against the Flyers?
- nastyflyergirl

Phaneuf.