Yes, he needs to go. But the players have underperformed as well. It's not all his fault, by any stretch.
- Jsaquella

Same thing with his predecessor, was it all steven's fault too? I doubt it but he was removed too. That's not saying firing the coach is always the answer. I think we both would be defending lavy if perhaps he shortened the ice time of struggling vets 6 weeks ago, pulls Bryzgalov in the NJ blowout as opposed to the pens game, doesn't have all 6 defensemen constantly caught out of position for pinching. I didn't watch Grossmann much in Dallas but I doubt he pinched half as much as he does now.

Doing a log of reading on prospects now. Found this

11. Darnell Nurse - D - Soo Greyhounds (OHL) - 6-3, 185 - PR: 25
The physical game always stands out with Nurse. He's not going to be an offensive guy at the next level, but he has shown improvement in that side of his game. He is relentless on defense. One scout said every team wants a guy who plays like Nurse, citing his aggressiveness and abrasiveness.

8. Rasmus Ristolainen - D - TPS (SML) - 6-3, 207 - PR: 7
Ristolainen's mobility and puck-moving skills really stand out with his pro-ready frame. He has shown improvement in his second professional season and looks to have another gear to get to. With such a strong forward class, Ristolainen could drop on draft day, but his wide array of tools on the back end might be too attractive to pass up.

10. Ryan Pulock - D - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) - 6-0, 209 - PR: 11
Though Pulock has been injured, his stock has held pretty steady from the beginning of the year. He has good two-way capabilities, and his offensive upside is truly an attractive trait. He has a good all-around game but could use some smoothing out over time. Scouts like his character and hockey sense.

12. Nikita Zadorov - D - London Knights (OHL) - 6-5, 229 - PR: 17
The behemoth defenseman has all the qualities that NHL scouts drool over. His size is unrivaled among blueliners in this draft. For a big guy, he moves really well and has sound defensive awareness. One scout said he would like to see Zadorov show more consistency in his physical game and bring the same compete level every night, but the pro upside is evident.

17. Josh Morrissey - D - Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) - 6-0, 183 - PR: 24
Morrissey might not have the best size for a defenseman, but his skating is at an elite level and is a big reason why he has gotten so much first-round buzz. He has solid offensive tools, and his defensive game has improved in his draft year, which is helping improve his stock.

I like Ristolainen's size and puck moving ability based on this scouting report.

here is the link if anyone cares
http://www.cbssports.com/...-board-seth-jones-is-no-1
- nastyflyergirl

FWIW, Butsy loves Morrissey. I like Zadorov. Nurse rose above the others because he's shown a more offensive ability this year, where Zadorov hasn't.

Nurse has a super high potential, but he is very raw and may never reach his ceiling. But I do think that worse case Nurse ends up being a Chris Therien like guy-a good solid top 4 defenseman who spends a long time in the NHL.

Ristolainen would not bother me at all if they're picking 9th or so and Nurse is off the board

Here's my thing with Pronger, he is a very special defenseman, that only a handful of teams are privileged enough to have one of said rarity. If losing Pronger is so disastrous, that it totally tanks what Lavy is doing, then it further indicts him to be removed.
- JoeRussomanno

Not saying that Lavi should stay as he has had trouble with adjustements.. only that losing him has wreaked havoc in many ways.. from shifting all the dmen into roles they are no longer suited for to forcing Giroux into the captaincy early to forcing us to go hard after dmen which resulted in losing jagr.

Same thing with his predecessor, was it all steven's fault too? I doubt it but he was removed too. That's not saying firing the coach is always the answer. I think we both would be defending lavy if perhaps he shortened the ice time of struggling vets 6 weeks ago, pulls Bryzgalov in the NJ blowout as opposed to the pens game, doesn't have all 6 defensemen constantly caught out of position for pinching. I didn't watch Grossmann much in Dallas but I doubt he pinched half as much as he does now.
- JoeRussomanno

I would defend Laviolette if I saw effective adjustments in his game plan, especially the breakout. The forwards and defense get way to far apart, and it leads to turnovers and puts the defensemen in a bad spot. There's an emphasis on aggression, and it leads to guys crossing the line into recklessness and undisciplined play in the offensive and defensive zones.

You get guys running around and disciplined teams will eat that alive. Look at the Florida losses. The Panthers did exactly what the Devils did-exploited the gap between the forwards and defense to create turnovers that led to odd man situations and built a lead. Then they held it, by staying disciplined on defense and eliminating the second chances

Not saying that Lavi should stay as he has had trouble with adjustements.. only that losing him has wreaked havoc in many ways.. from shifting all the dmen into roles they are no longer suited for to forcing Giroux into the captaincy early to forcing us to go hard after dmen which resulted in losing jagr.
- Hextall271

sooner or later tho, we gotta get over this, Pronger's been gone for over a year now. I'm pretty sure they knew before last season concluded, he wasn't coming back. As dire as the situation looked from outside they should have at least started preparing for the worst. Yes it does wreak havoc. I think Bryzgalov comes out of last season looking better. The two months after pronger went down weren't kind to him. The team has no counter punch to an aggressive forecheck that takes up the clears along the boards without him. He brought a ton of leadership but so did Jagr last year and Timmonen etc. The leadership is fine imo.

We're not really in disagreement, then. I have no problem at all with the Flyers trading Gagne. But other teams have to initiate it by making a viable offer. If you actively shop the player to other GMs, the return is usually lower because you're basically trying to give the player away.

Regarding McGinn, I don't think he'll ever play a regular top six offensive role in the NHL. I see him as a third liner.
- bmeltzer

Agreed about Gagne (& McGinn for that matter) remember trying to shop Gags last time? We ended up with Matt Walker as well as a pick. We do it again we might end up with Walker for another 3 years.

The Flyers are finding out what the Whalers, Blues, Oilers and Ducks have already found out… Losing Chris Pronger is bad
- TimB

I would defend Laviolette if I saw effective adjustments in his game plan, especially the breakout. The forwards and defense get way to far apart, and it leads to turnovers and puts the defensemen in a bad spot. There's an emphasis on aggression, and it leads to guys crossing the line into recklessness and undisciplined play in the offensive and defensive zones.

You get guys running around and disciplined teams will eat that alive. Look at the Florida losses. The Panthers did exactly what the Devils did-exploited the gap between the forwards and defense to create turnovers that led to odd man situations and built a lead. Then they held it, by staying disciplined on defense and eliminating the second chances
- Jsaquella

I was trying to dumb it down a little but yea.

Not saying that Lavi should stay as he has had trouble with adjustements.. only that losing him has wreaked havoc in many ways.. from shifting all the dmen into roles they are no longer suited for to forcing Giroux into the captaincy early to forcing us to go hard after dmen which resulted in losing jagr.
- Hextall271

He should have changed things around to make his system better fit the roster, rather than ask the players to fill roles they couldn't.

As far as the captaincy, part of that falls on the veteran leaders. Given the levels of play from Timonen and Briere, it's kind of hard to see how choosing them would make a huge difference.

another asterisk
- Don'tForgetTocchet

You know it!! MB knows it, too. He said last night he wants to score a real goal one day.

I would defend Laviolette if I saw effective adjustments in his game plan, especially the breakout. The forwards and defense get way to far apart, and it leads to turnovers and puts the defensemen in a bad spot. There's an emphasis on aggression, and it leads to guys crossing the line into recklessness and undisciplined play in the offensive and defensive zones.

You get guys running around and disciplined teams will eat that alive. Look at the Florida losses. The Panthers did exactly what the Devils did-exploited the gap between the forwards and defense to create turnovers that led to odd man situations and built a lead. Then they held it, by staying disciplined on defense and eliminating the second chances
- Jsaquella

I would defend Laviolette if all of the team's recent losses did not closely resemble the loss that came before it.

If he is fired, the story about "why" (which, a lot of people can't seem to grasp) will be the very lopsided recent record against teams like NJD, NYR, and Boston.

Agreed about Gagne (& McGinn for that matter) remember trying to shop Gags last time? We ended up with Matt Walker as well as a pick. We do it again we might end up with Walker for another 3 years.
- flyler

Last time Gagne had a NTC and they really were trying to shed his cap hit more than get assets for him. This time it would be a straight up move to get an asset.

I would defend Laviolette if all of the team's recent losses did not closely resemble the loss that came before it.

If he is fired, the story about "why" (which, a lot of people can't seem to grasp) will be the very lopsided recent record against teams like NJD, NYR, and Boston.
- johndewar

hmm I grasp a pattern between myself ,you and mr, saquella

Keep Talbot and Gagne, trade Feds and Briere.

Re-sign Gagne for similar money that Talbot is making, I think that's fair. If he wants over 2.5mil a season, thanks for the nostalgia, see ya!

Address the #1 d-man (Yandle, Shattenkirk, Bouwmeester) this off-season, no sooner. Let's see where we draft and who before considering moving Schenn, Couturier, Read, etc for that #1 d-man.

I like the idea of drafting MacKinnon or Monahan as we excel at drafting forwards. Seth Jones, if we're in the top 5, would be great too.

A 4th line of Rinaldo-Laughton-McGinn would be nice to see next season.

Keep Bryz until the summer of 2014, unless something awesome comes along this summer.

Off to work, keep it real.

hmm I grasp a pattern between myself ,you and mr, saquella
- JoeRussomanno

That's Dr Saquella. I'm an internet reverend in the Church of Dudeism.

IMO you need somone like Jagr to open up tne ice for Giroux and 2 defenseman who are more mobile with the puck and you will be OK. Not a great year for you guys. If you played more of a trap style I think you would win more but it doesn't appear to be Lavy's style.

IMO you need somone like Jagr to open up tne ice for Giroux and 2 defenseman who are more mobile with the puck and you will be OK. Not a great year for you guys. If you played more of a trap style I think you would win more but it doesn't appear to be Lavy's style.
- powerhouse

Voracek has been better than Jagr, but thanks!

IMO you need somone like Jagr to open up tne ice for Giroux and 2 defenseman who are more mobile with the puck and you will be OK. Not a great year for you guys. If you played more of a trap style I think you would win more but it doesn't appear to be Lavy's style.
- powerhouse

See?

He gets it!!

Not really a trap style though, just one that is more disciplined in it's two way play.

That's Dr Saquella. I'm an internet reverend in the Church of Dudeism.
- Jsaquella

Thanks to all this Lebowski talk lately, I've become addicted to watching it. Literally six times in the past week

The on ice lines after Laviolette used the Yahtzee cup to pick them:

24-28-93
19-48-25
12-10-17
26-14-36

Luongo is the second best goalie on your team and would've been long gone if your GM could've found a buyer early in the season. Why is it that Schneider, who has superior stats to Luongo, get's benched anytime he has a bad game but Luongo has to have 3 or 4 bad games to have Schneider play?

At his cap hit Luongo, still a very good goalie, needs to play regardless if there's a better goalie on the roster.
- Flyers_01

Disagree, he would have been gone earlier if Schnider didnt struggle at the beginning of the year

Thanks to all this Lebowski talk lately, I've become addicted to watching it. Literally six times in the past week
- BulliesPhan87

I watched it a couple nights ago. My wife actually stayed up with me to watch it.

IMO you need somone like Jagr to open up tne ice for Giroux and 2 defenseman who are more mobile with the puck and you will be OK. Not a great year for you guys. If you played more of a trap style I think you would win more but it doesn't appear to be Lavy's style.
- powerhouse

Voracek.

I watched it a couple nights ago. My wife actually stayed up with me to watch it.
- Jsaquella

I've finally inducted it into my list of 'Perfect Movies'. A prestigious and renowned honor, I know

Chip Alexander ‏@ice_chip 31s
Hearing Boychuk going on waivers at noon with purpose of sending him to Checkers. Also Nash to be reassigned. We'll see.

Poor kid's going to get a new nickname after this season. 4th time on waivers.