Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Beyond the Blame Game

Flyers have a 2% chance to make the playoffs (even Columbus has an 11% chance to make the playoffs). That should put to rest any hopes that Laviolette and Holmgren had of salvaging the season.

Sell and let the young guys play. As previous posters have said, Couterier is wasted playing on the 4th line and Lavi has totally messed up his confidence by stapling his ass to the bench at every opportunity.

If Laviolette is still coaching to save his job, then he needs to be fired as the season is lost. Giving the youth experience and preparing for next year should be the goal.

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Beyond the Blame Game
- bmeltzer

Well put Bill. It was embarassing to be a Flyers fan last night. Outside of Simmonds,Voracek and Giroux and Timonen, the core players were invisible last night. The only thing left to look forward to at this point is the draft lottery.

Still mathematically possible but honestly, other than 2 or 3 games out of this whole season has this team shown that they are a playoff team?

besides bryz, the whole team should be available for trade, I hope we are able to draft mackinon and trade g for weber and do a real rebuild and not some half a$$ one

I am also struggling to find players who have played well this season. The only one that is consistent is Zach Rinaldo - he turns up every night and has learnt to play with discipline.

besides bryz, the whole team should be available for trade, I hope we are able to draft mackinon and trade g for weber and do a real rebuild and not some half a$$ one
- mydoglicks

Bryz can't be traded because no one else would want him and his bloated deal, but should be considered for a buyout either this summer or next. Trading Giroux is a terrible idea.

Team needs to load up on draft picks.

A ) To ensure they get Seth Jones.

B ) To be able to package picks and move up and grab another D-man in the 1st round.

The forwards can be handled with a coaching change. We need our blue line to become younger, faster, and a whole lot cheaper. At this point if I can move Coburn for a 1st I take it. Grossmann, L Schenn & Kimmo I'll welcome back next year. Meszaros is a tough call at this point.

I am also struggling to find players who have played well this season. The only one that is consistent is Zach Rinaldo - he turns up every night and has learnt to play with discipline.
- MRK66

I hated his play heading into the season. Glad to say I was wrong about it. I wonder how much playing for Terry Murray had to do with that?

besides bryz, the whole team should be available for trade, I hope we are able to draft mackinon and trade g for weber and do a real rebuild and not some half a$$ one
- mydoglicks

If you are going that far with the team, Bryz should be available as well. If you aren't worried who your number one center will be next year, you shouldn't worry about who your number #1 goaltender is either.

Bryz is a good goalie but he's not elite (and for the record I do think the Flyers should keep him next year). He needs an allstar defense (and he's had allstar defenses in front of him until he got to Philly) to really shine. Philly is never going to be the Phoenix coyotes or even the 2004 Ducks who put 2 allworld defensemen between him and the puck. Outside of the on ice product the media scrutiny is also much higher in philly. There was never really any pressure on him to produce in his previous stops. He was never the man in Anaheim and in Phoenix they are happy with a good regular season. No expectations.

He can make the highlight save but regardless of the breakdowns in front of him he needs to be more consistant.

Anyway, Bryz is the least of their problems right now but he's not St. Patrick or Brodeur.

Paul Holmgren is completely to blame for putting this team on the ice. Bruno Gervais is a borderline NHL defenseman. He shouldn't be playing top 6 minutes. Letting Carle and Jagr walk and signing Fedotenko and Gervais started this whole mess. Not that those 2 would have this team in the playoffs, but they would be much better off then they are now.

Defenseman Andrej Meszaros' play since returning from his most recent injury has made it look like someone cloned Lukas Krajicek and put him in Meszaros' uniform.

- bmeltzer

THANK YOU BILL! I needed a laugh this morning after last night's loss.

I think Bill's best point was that Holmgren wasted this summer chasing the big name players and ended up having to settle for Foster and Gervais. I wonder what this team would look like if Holmgren had decided to just spend the offseason trying to grab a couple of trustworthy defensive defensemen, rather than swing and miss on Suter and Weber and end up with fringe offensive defensemen like Foster and Gervais.

Paul Holmgren is completely to blame for putting this team on the ice. Bruno Gervais is a borderline NHL defenseman. He shouldn't be playing top 6 minutes. Letting Carle and Jagr walk and signing Fedotenko and Gervais started this whole mess. Not that those 2 would have this team in the playoffs, but they would be much better off then they are now.
- Jimmygrazz

With help from SR. GM Ed Snider. It is really sad, but the start of my day now has a daily ritual of checking ESPN for two things. First, where the Flyers are in the league standings and draft order. Second is where Bob is in goalie stats.

Paul Holmgren is completely to blame for putting this team on the ice. Bruno Gervais is a borderline NHL defenseman. He shouldn't be playing top 6 minutes. Letting Carle and Jagr walk and signing Fedotenko and Gervais started this whole mess. Not that those 2 would have this team in the playoffs, but they would be much better off then they are now.
- Jimmygrazz

If you want to blame him, blame him for not drafting high end D men. Would signing Carle to 5 mil a year really have helped this team all that much? Who else did he miss out on last year? Wideman? Calgary wayyy overpaid for him too. We thew the kitchen sink at Suter and Weber and it didn't work out. These GMs cant force guys to sign to their teams... they just cant. I don't know what you expect. They do however have say in who they draft and if you want to make that argument against Homer I think it is a very valid one to make.

If you want to blame him, blame him for not drafting high end D men. Would signing Carle to mil a year really have helped this team all that much? Who else did he miss out on last year? Wideman? Calgary wayyy overpaid for him too. We thew the kitchen sink at Suter and Weber and it didn't work out. These GMs cant force guys to sign to their teams... they just cant. I don't know what you expect. They do however have say in who they draft and if you want to make that argument against Homer I think it is a very valid one to make.
- hereticpride

Paul Holmgren is completely to blame for putting this team on the ice. Bruno Gervais is a borderline NHL defenseman. He shouldn't be playing top 6 minutes. Letting Carle and Jagr walk and signing Fedotenko and Gervais started this whole mess. Not that those 2 would have this team in the playoffs, but they would be much better off then they are now.
- Jimmygrazz

Keeping Carle would not have made much difference, except for leaving them $5.5m less cap room going forward. He's been horrible in Tampa.

Keeping Carle would not have made much difference, except for leaving even less cap room He's been horrible in Tampa.
- Feanor

Honestly, besides Vinny he is probably pretty high on the list of buyout candidates in Tampa.

Paul Holmgren is completely to blame for putting this team on the ice. Bruno Gervais is a borderline NHL defenseman. He shouldn't be playing top 6 minutes. Letting Carle and Jagr walk and signing Fedotenko and Gervais started this whole mess. Not that those 2 would have this team in the playoffs, but they would be much better off then they are now.
- Jimmygrazz

On this team - hindsight and all - Jagr's wish to be in the top 6 would be a no-brainer. I thought another year of his leadership and tutelage wouldn't have been a bad idea, anyway. Oh well, spilled milk.

Gonna sit back and see where they go from here. Should be an interesting summer.

Keeping Carle would not have made much difference, except for leaving them $5.5m less cap room going forward. He's been horrible in Tampa.
- Feanor

I understand he is horrible in Tampa, but he was good here. I still believe he could have been re-signed during last season for under 5.0m. Sometime players struggle changing teams/systems.

I think the days of being able to fill your D corps via free agency is starting to end, or has already ended. Trading for good ones costs too many assets when you have to compete with the offers other teams can field. Lots of decent guys (Edler, Enstrom, etc.) keep being locked up before they hit UFA. There's good reason for that. It looks like the time now when a good guy is avaliable is if a team has 2 of them and focuses on just keeping 1 (Suter, Yandle).

Personally I'm of the opinion that your top 4 defensemen do need to be very good to consistently compete. Yea if they aren't great some years you may get far in the playoffs, but I think having a strong top 4 will consistently allow you to get far. I think the goaltender is obviously important as well. They're on the ice the longest. I agree with some in here that if I'm the Flyers, I look really hard at trying to get another 1st rounder in the draft this year, especially if you can make a deal with a team that thinks they need that 1 piece to make the dance, but ultimately may fall out anyways. Get a pick that ends up in the mid teens. Absolutely ensure that you draft 1 blue chip defenseman in this draft. If they do end up in the top 3 and don't get Jones, then I'm fine with them taking one of the forwards. But still, try your hardest to get another guy this time.

I think it's time to truly wipe the slate and come back with a rebuild mindset, and that's ok. They keep thinking they're just a few pieces away, make moves accordingly, but I just don't think that's the reality. There are no quick fixes, as has been said by numerous people. It'll be a little while. Get as many good players in this draft as possible, and be patient.

On this team - hindsight and all - Jagr's wish to be in the top 6 would be a no-brainer. I thought another year of his leadership and tutelage wouldn't have been a bad idea, anyway. Oh well, spilled milk.

Gonna sit back and see where they go from here. Should be an interesting summer.
- tangent_man

Exactly my point. His value would have been in mentoring G. His 20+ pts also wouldn't hurt.

I think the days of being able to fill your D corps via free agency is starting to end, or has already ended. Trading for good ones costs too many assets when you have to compete with the offers other teams can field. Lots of decent guys (Edler, Enstrom, etc.) keep being locked up before they hit UFA. There's good reason for that. It looks like the time now when a good guy is avaliable is if a team has 2 of them and focuses on just keeping 1 (Suter, Yandle).

Personally I'm of the opinion that your top 4 defensemen do need to be very good to consistently compete. Some years you may get far in the playoffs, but I think having a strong top 4 will consistently allow you to get far. I think the goaltender is obviously important as well. They're on the ice the longest. I agree with some in here that if I'm the Flyers, I look really hard at trying to get another 1st rounder in the draft this year, especially if you can make a deal with a team that thinks they need that 1 piece to make the dance, but ultimately may fall out anyways. Get a pick that ends up in the mid teens. Absolutely ensure that you draft 1 blue chip defenseman in this draft. If they do end up in the top 3 and don't get Jones, then I'm fine with them taking one of the forwards. But still, try your hardest to get another guy this time.

I think it's time to truly wipe the slate and come back with a rebuild mindset, and that's ok. They keep thinking they're just a few pieces away, make moves accordingly, but I just don't think that's the reality. There are no quick fixes, as has been said by numerous people. It'll be a little while. Get as many good players in this draft as possible, and be patient.
- eayost

Imagine if we ended up with Jones and Nurse.

I don't think its too crazy(tho probably unlikely) to think we don't have the pieces to pull something like that off.

If you are going that far with the team, Bryz should be available as well. If you aren't worried who your number one center will be next year, you shouldn't worry about who your number #1 goaltender is either.

Bryz is a good goalie but he's not elite (and for the record I do think the Flyers should keep him next year). He needs an allstar defense (and he's had allstar defenses in front of him until he got to Philly) to really shine. Philly is never going to be the Phoenix coyotes or even the 2004 Ducks who put 2 allworld defensemen between him and the puck. Outside of the on ice product the media scrutiny is also much higher in philly. There was never really any pressure on him to produce in his previous stops. He was never the man in Anaheim and in Phoenix they are happy with a good regular season. No expectations.

He can make the highlight save but regardless of the breakdowns in front of him he needs to be more consistant.

Anyway, Bryz is the least of their problems right now but he's not St. Patrick or Brodeur.
- Flyers_01[

Bryz is very inconsistent and I have said it before he lets in too many soft goals. The D is their main problem. .... Foster, Gervais, Schenn.....who is at best a 4-5 man just are not getting it done. Simmons, Giroux, Voracek, are my untouchables..Lets see what Homer can do with the great pick we are going to get along with the MAJOR adjustments he does with D. and Bryz will have one more shot next season befor the buyout is considered

Exactly my point. His value would have been in mentoring G. His 20+ pts also wouldn't hurt.
- Jimmygrazz

Jake probably never has the breakout season then.

The organization was so busy chasing its Zach Parise and Ryan Suter pipe dream that the roster suffered as a result.

Did everyone BUT Homer know this was a pipe dream? I remember during the summer when he had those offers on the table. The team was just in limbo as other 2nd tier free agents were falling by the wayside. Players that probably could have helped. Even players on their own roster like Carle and Jagr. (please don't start about the season Carle is having in Tampa.)

I don't even think Weber could have been the solution, though he would have certainly helped.

Sure you can say Homer swung big and missed. In the case of Weber so be it, he took a shot, Weber SIGNED it, and then Nashville matched. But the Suter and Parise things seemed ill conceived from the start, it seems everyone but the Flyers knew they would not sign here. And THAT, I cant give Homer a pass on.

This team from the coach on down to the backup goalie needs an attitude adjustment.