The reason is because they have all of their younger players playing in the NHL. Teams dont just stock pile players like Couts and Schenn in the AHL. Over the past 3 NHL drafts we have added 5 players who either have played in the NHL or look to be on the fast track to play in the NHL.
McGinn, Couts, Cousins, Laughton, Ghost.
- jak521

please cousins a third liner at best in the NHL so is Mcginn so is Laughton...

Ghost could be top 4...he needs to add a lot of weight he is only 160 lbs and 3/4 years away....

Thats not depth thats just sad....

Wasn't it he that hit Malone who is out for a long time?
- strongsupporter

Was that a dirty hit because I don't remember him getting either a penalty or a suspension?

Quite the broken record...

I want to know how you know what the players have or have not been coached. Are you at the practices? Are you a member of the media? Are you on the team? Are you a member of the coaching staff?

How do you know definitively what the coaches are telling the players to do? And if you say "because the players are doing it", I'm going to have to laugh.

And defensive hockey isn't the end-all, be-all some people seem to imagine. Look at the Rangers and their struggles. Look at Tampa and their now fired coach.

Here's what I know: you can't win if you don't score goals. It's a wonderfully simple fact.
- wolfhounds

So you don't actually watch Flyers games then for the last three plus seasons?

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Better But Still Not Good Enough
- bmeltzer

The Flyers' best line in this game was the trio of Simmonds, Simon Gagne and Brayden Schenn. They generated the most consistent pressure and created about four or five good scoring chances. Unfortunately, they struggled to finish off the plays.

man i thought they were going to score

our opps for futures...unless you want rigidly define youth as plyrs already in your system. the overriding point is that we will always have to overpay for top 4 dmen, so it would behoove us to develop a certain % of our own.
- isaiah520

Absolutely agree with the second comment. I have stated in the past that I would like for the Flyers to start drafting heavy D in the 2nd 3rd and 4th rounds. Draft best available in the 1st.

I absolutely define youth as having players in the system... If you draft very well.. so well in fact that your players make very quick jumps to the NHL (not saying this is the Flyers case), you have a lot of youth.. just not too many "prospects" (by definition standard). The Flyers have one of the youngest cores in the NHL. They can easily continue to build while remaining young.

Wasn't it he that hit Malone who is out for a long time?
- strongsupporter

With a clean hit.

The frustration is 100%understood, but reality is you guys are not that far out of the playoffs. It is very possible, playing only east teams that you guys can work your way into the playoffs.
- nbartley9

Mathematically they are not eliminated from contention.

Realistically they are.

please cousins a third liner at best in the NHL so is Mcginn so is Laughton...

Ghost could be top 4...he needs to add a lot of weight he is only 160 lbs and 3/4 years away....

Thats not depth thats just sad....
- Philly1980

Which brings me back to my original point. The Flyers top guys are already in the NHL. There are very few teams who have future top line, allstar in the making forwards stashed in JRs or AHL.

Absolutely agree with the second comment. I have stated in the past that I would like for the Flyers to start drafting heavy D in the 2nd 3rd and 4th rounds. Draft best available in the 1st.

I absolutely define youth as having players in the system... If you draft very well.. so well in fact that your players make very quick jumps to the NHL (not saying this is the Flyers case), you have a lot of youth.. just not too many "prospects" (by definition standard). The Flyers have one of the youngest cores in the NHL. They can easily continue to build while remaining young.
- jak521

problem is they always trade away that damn second rounder....a lot of great D have come out of that rd!

I think that Coburn hit on Dupuis at the end of regulation could be suspendable. The refs definitely miss a call on that one.
- NickTheKid87

No place in the game for that kinda hit.

problem is they always trade away that damn second rounder....a lot of great D have come out of that rd!
- Philly1980

They don't "always" trade that 2nd rounder. And when they do trade it, it's because they're viewed as a legit contender (over 100 point team) that needs a final piece to put them over the top... just like all other contending teams do. They've used 2nd round picks and just not come up with a lot with it when they do.

You're better than that...

Maybe don't take obvious penalties back to back. Those calls are made if you're playing the Panthers too.
- canadianpenfan

i never said the penalties weren't deserved. i was just pointing out the occurrence has happened on more than one occasion. last night's game, both calls were correct. i was surprised the 2nd penalty wasn't a penalty shot - i've seen them being called this season for less than that.

but since you've suggested i'm being a homer, one situation that comes to mind was the 5 on 3 the pens got in OT in the playoffs i think back in 08, with calls against Carter and Knuble IIRC- the 2nd of which was horrendous. Pens win.

Which brings me back to my original point. The Flyers top guys are already in the NHL. There are very few teams who have future top line, allstar in the making forwards stashed in JRs or AHL.
- jak521

i totally disagree with that....

a lot of teams let their players spend time in minors before joining the big club...flyers are guilt of that because they have left themselves with no depth

please cousins a third liner at best in the NHL so is Mcginn so is Laughton...

Ghost could be top 4...he needs to add a lot of weight he is only 160 lbs and 3/4 years away....

Thats not depth thats just sad....
- Philly1980

Bonafide NHL 3rd liners totally qualify for depth. No team has a bunch of 1st and 2nd line players sitting around in juniors. And obviously no one knows how any of those players truly shake out when all said and done. I'm sure P. Sharp wasn't viewed as a 1st/2nd line talent player when he was on the Phantoms or still in college or wherever he played. At least they look like they got legit guys outside the 1st round with McGinn and Cousins

Quite the broken record...

I want to know how you know what the players have or have not been coached. Are you at the practices? Are you a member of the media? Are you on the team? Are you a member of the coaching staff?

How do you know definitively what the coaches are telling the players to do? And if you say "because the players are doing it", I'm going to have to laugh.

And defensive hockey isn't the end-all, be-all some people seem to imagine. Look at the Rangers and their struggles. Look at Tampa and their now fired coach.

Here's what I know: you can't win if you don't score goals. It's a wonderfully simple fact.
- wolfhounds

There's a difference between wanting a more responsible defensive team and being a team that does nothing but play defense.

Look at the Bruins. They score goals, they play great defense. It's not mutually exclusive. The Penguins win streak is largely the result of a much improved attention to playing responsible defense.

As far as your question about coaching, the results are on the ice for the past few years. The abysmal record against the Devils, Rangers and Bruins. The struggles against Tampa.

If you have an undisciplined mess of a team, then a disciplined team can usually give you fits.

Pronger wasn't just a top 4 dman, he was a franchise player. Very different. They gave up assets to get one of the top 5 defensemen in the league. Age was irrelevant because we saw that he was still dominate.
- NickTheKid87

age was relevant or we would have had to pay more. add to that, the flyers likely screwed up the over 35 aspect on that one. all of these are factors that relate to value of the plyr.

one only has to look at the exorbitant prices that were paid for EJ and gogo to further illustrate the overriding point that we need to develop a certain % of top 4 dmen or we will be up against it...short in cap space or assets to trade and ultimately questionable as to whether we could compete as a true cup contender. not asking for 4 karlssons, just trying to avoid doing carle deals (equiv of 2 1st rndrs) ad infinitum.

i totally disagree with that....

a lot of teams let their players spend time in minors before joining the big club...flyers are guilt of that because they have left themselves with no depth
- Philly1980

The Flyers biggest issue with AHL depth is the lack of draft picks. Trading Sbisa, plus two first rounders hurts the depth. Trading picks for Grossmann hurts the depth. They do rush first rounders at times, but they also haven't had first rounders in two of the last 4 years.

Quite the broken record...

I want to know how you know what the players have or have not been coached. Are you at the practices? Are you a member of the media? Are you on the team? Are you a member of the coaching staff?

How do you know definitively what the coaches are telling the players to do? And if you say "because the players are doing it", I'm going to have to laugh.

And defensive hockey isn't the end-all, be-all some people seem to imagine. Look at the Rangers and their struggles. Look at Tampa and their now fired coach.

Here's what I know: you can't win if you don't score goals. It's a wonderfully simple fact.
- wolfhounds

You don't have to be at practice to know what they've been Coached to do. Nor do you have to be a member of the media. The Flyers are a pressure forecheck team. They play the same way game in and game out. A change in strategy in a game is easily recognized. It's not rocket science. An example of this is how I pointed out how the Pens, in the game against the Flyers previous to last nights. Changed their forecheck and approach once they got the go ahead goal in the 3rd. They were able to clamp down on the Flyers. And protect their lead and win the game. The best teams can play a number of ways. Based on the oppenent, and the game situation.

I'm completely open to reading and discussing with you how I'm wrong. I'll be glad to discuss an specific changes you see the team making. As well as any specific changes you think they should make.

I haven't once stated that defensive hockey is the be all to end all. Just that it is the Flyers biggest issue with thier team play. And one of the biggest reasons why they are struggling as a team.

The Rangers are a separate team, with separate issues. I haven't watched the Rangers game in and game out. To say exactly what their issues. Other then looking at the team stats, and that they're struggling to score goals. I can't tell you why specifically players like Gaborik and Richards aren't producing. Haven't watched them play enough to know.

Both stopping the other team from scoring, and and scoring goals are equally important. But it starts with playing the right way.

i totally disagree with that....

a lot of teams let their players spend time in minors before joining the big club...flyers are guilt of that because they have left themselves with no depth
- Philly1980

Who have they really "rushed" in recent years? If I'm not mistaken, Couturier was known to be one of the more NHL ready players in that draft, and certainly wasn't out of place last year. Schenn already played in the AHL with the Kings no? They let guys like Kevin Marshall, Bartulis, MAB stew in juniors and in the AHL for a while. And brilliant picks like 3rd rounder Garrett Klotz.

Who have they really "rushed" in recent years? If I'm not mistaken, Couturier was known to be one of the more NHL ready players in that draft, and certainly wasn't out of place last year. Schenn already played in the AHL with the Kings no? They let guys like Kevin Marshall, Bartulis, MAB stew in juniors and in the AHL for a while. And brilliant picks like 3rd rounder Garrett Klotz.
- eayost

Sbisa was rushed. You could make the argument Bobrovsky was, as well.

problem is they always trade away that damn second rounder....a lot of great D have come out of that rd!
- Philly1980

The Flyers took a defenseman in the second round of the 2007 NHL draft, they just took the wrong one, as did Buffalo, Vancouver, Washington and Boston before them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NHL_Entry_Draft

i totally disagree with that....

a lot of teams let their players spend time in minors before joining the big club...flyers are guilt of that because they have left themselves with no depth
- Philly1980

I disagree
Couturier earned his spot last year, and played extremely well in the AHL earlier this season, do you really think he would have been better off playing a 4th full season in Junior last year? Remember he was ineligible for the AHL, it was NHL or Juniors.
Schenn coming off an injury, started the year in the AHL last year, came up, and played very well in the 2nd half of the season. Again he also played very well in the AHL this year on a crappy team. He sure looks to me that he deserves to be in the NHL.
Rinaldo has paid his dues and has also earned his spot. Gus played well in the AHL, got his callup, struggled, and back down he went.
I'm really not sure who on the current roster is being rushed into the NHL, McGinn played well when called up and will have every opportunity to earn a spot next year, while Harry Z is 24 or 25 and has little left to learn at the NHL level.

As far as prospects go, Ghost will most likely have another year in college, followed by at least one in the AHL; the Flyers have commented multiple times that Cousins would also need time in the AHL. I think there is a spot for Laughton next year on the big club, but do really think he isn't ready or able to be a 4th line center?

age was relevant or we would have had to pay more. add to that, the flyers likely screwed up the over 35 aspect on that one. all of these are factors that relate to value of the plyr.

one only has to look at the exorbitant prices that were paid for EJ and gogo to further illustrate the overriding point that we need to develop a certain % of top 4 dmen or we will be up against it...short in cap space or assets to trade and ultimately questionable as to whether we could compete as a true cup contender. not asking for 4 karlssons, just trying to avoid doing carle deals (equiv of 2 1st rndrs) ad infinitum.
- isaiah520

How did they screw up the over 35 on that?....it was a freak injury, much like the lappy injury. You can't envision injuries like that happening and forcing yourself the handle it for the rest of the deal. Teams sign players to over 35 contracts because they EXPECT them to play until it is over, not retire midway through.

That is why there was such a huge amount of talk about making career ending injuries void the over 35 rule.

problem is they always trade away that damn second rounder....a lot of great D have come out of that rd!
- Philly1980

Since 2007 the only big names who have come out of the 2nd round are PK Subban, Justin Faulk, Voynov, Roman Josi, and Travis Hamonic.

They are 2% of the entire 2nd round picks from 07-12.

Furthermore.. D-men the Flyers passed up on to take the best available.. since 05.

I will not look at players outside of the first round.

05- Vladimir Mihalik
06- Dennis Persson, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Chris Summers, Matt Corrente
07- Hickey, Alzner, McDonagh, Shattenkirk, Ian Cole, Blum, Brendan Smith, Petrecki, Ross
08-MDZ, Cuma, Carlson
09- would have picked 26th, Olsen and Despres were the only two d-men pick after that.
10- would have picked 29th no d picked after that
11-Hamilton, Murphy and Oleksiak are the only 3 to have played in the NHL so far.

Mathematically they are not eliminated from contention.

Realistically they are.
- Scoob

mathematically I have a chance to win the powerball
just sayin.....