I think the pursuit of improving the blueline will happen again this offseason, so even if they buy out Briere and potentially Bryz, I believe there will be a thinning on the blueline to shed some additional salary.
- ravishingone

Time for Weber-madness! here we go!

The Flyers don't have to. Only problem I have is the inconsistent play by the blue-line. The Flyers were a better team down the stretch and that could be credited to the coach making adjustments, young kids playing better on the blue-line, or a combo of both.

I personally don't want to give away Coburn or Mez but I keep the option open of moving one if the right deal comes across b/c neither player has been consistent enough for me to say "we have to keep this guy".
- stveshdy

I keep all options open, that's kind of my point. I'm actually counting on Gustafsson being in the top 6, so it's a moot point arguing his readiness.

And if Lauridsen is one of the top 6 guys, he will play, and if that forces a trade, it will happen.

The other angle that seems to be missed is, I readily admit that they need another top 4 guy with good mobility. I'm not advocating rolling out with a top 5 of Timonen, Coburn, Grossmann, Schenn & Meszaros.

For poops & giggles, use Yandle's name:

Yandle-Schenn
Timonen-Coburn
Gustafsson-Grossmann/Meszaros

That is what I'd be looking at for next season. Sub in Streit or Erik Johnson or whatever Defenseman du jour the board fancies.

Not sure how playing 20+ minutes a night in the AHL, with NHL callups throughout the year hurts the long term future of Lauridsen or the Flyers.
- Jsaquella

It doesnt.

Comes down to a simple thing of whether its better to trade Coburn in the summer in the right deal, and having Oliver slotted in.

Or not.

Coburn isn't a guy I dont see as expendable. As well as being somewhat comfortable in having Oliver start the year in the top 6.

Time for Weber-madness! here we go!
- idiotsallofu

No, I really don't believe that is a possibility. I think there is a possibility to do a deal with Calgary, St. Louis, or Phoenix to acquire blueline help.

I keep all options open, that's kind of my point. I'm actually counting on Gustafsson being in the top 6, so it's a moot point arguing his readiness.

And if Lauridsen is one of the top 6 guys, he will play, and if that forces a trade, it will happen.

The other angle that seems to be missed is, I readily admit that they need another top 4 guy with good mobility. I'm not advocating rolling out with a top 5 of Timonen, Coburn, Grossmann, Schenn & Meszaros.

For poops & giggles, use Yandle's name:

Yandle-Schenn
Timonen-Coburn
Gustafsson-Grossmann/Meszaros

That is what I'd be looking at for next season. Sub in Streit or Erik Johnson or whatever Defenseman du jour the board fancies.
- Jsaquella

You've mentioned him a few times.

The guy scares the poop out of me. Soft as hell, and questionable defensively. Decent cap hit, but seems too much of what the Flyers already have in guys best suited to secondary roles.

I keep all options open, that's kind of my point. I'm actually counting on Gustafsson being in the top 6, so it's a moot point arguing his readiness.

And if Lauridsen is one of the top 6 guys, he will play, and if that forces a trade, it will happen.

The other angle that seems to be missed is, I readily admit that they need another top 4 guy with good mobility. I'm not advocating rolling out with a top 5 of Timonen, Coburn, Grossmann, Schenn & Meszaros.

For poops & giggles, use Yandle's name:

Yandle-Schenn
Timonen-Coburn
Gustafsson-Grossmann/Meszaros

That is what I'd be looking at for next season. Sub in Streit or Erik Johnson or whatever Defenseman du jour the board fancies.
- Jsaquella

Holmgren knows he needs more on the blue-line. I am curious to see what he does to address it.

Absolutely. He also doesn't skate real well, so he needs to be really solid in his positional play.
- MJL

You don't write real well, is there a minor league affiliate of Hockeybuzz we can send you down to?

The thing with Ottawa, is they had unreal goaltending. Part of that is team defense, but I dont buy into that as much. Ottawa had quite a few breakdowns, but the goaltending bailed them out time, and time again.

I know a lot of the blame is put on the Flyers style of play, but I think a lot of it had to do with forwards finally buying in to playing both sides of the ice. That forward core has a lot to blame, and far too often they were butchered along the boards, or made really stupid fancy plays.

The one adjustment of having the forwards not run into the zone so willy nilly needed to be made much sooner. It was one pass off the boards, and a rush the other way for the other team. A lot of that to me though, is winning the battles that there is a chance at winning. The Flyers lacked in those.
- flyer_nutter

Ottawa allowed a lot of shots, but they avoided allowing a ton of high quality scoring chances. Their goalies played well, but they also didn't face the non stop barrage of odd man rushes, and breakaways that Bryzgalov faced early in the season.

A lot of that is a direct result of the system, where the forwards would take off and the defensemen would be forced to make a high risk pass or carry the puck up themselves. That what I mean by not using the player on hand properly.

When the injuries really stuck hard, the system was simplified. The forwards started to close the gap and limit the defense's responsibility in handling the puck or making long, high risk passes because they were coached to play a more sound 200 foot game.

Not only did that result in fewer odd man rushes against, it also helped the offense, because guys who could do damage with the puck got it sooner and had more room to create.

No, I really don't believe that is a possibility. I think there is a possibility to do a deal with Calgary, St. Louis, or Phoenix to acquire blueline help.
- ravishingone

I think Weber is still a possibility, they are pretty much paying him for nothing right now. I'm thinking Nashville is going to want to start over / rebuild and what a better way to do that then trading weber.

You've mentioned him a few times.

The guy scares the poop out of me. Soft as hell, and questionable defensively. Decent cap hit, but seems too much of what the Flyers already have in guys best suited to secondary roles.
- flyer_nutter

I'm not a huge fan, but his name's been kicked around on the boards here.

Holmgren knows he needs more on the blue-line. I am curious to see what he does to address it.
- stveshdy

You don't go from trying to sign Suter and Weber to standing pat and really mean it when you say you're happy with the defense.

Ottawa allowed a lot of shots, but they avoided allowing a ton of high quality scoring chances. Their goalies played well, but they also didn't face the non stop barrage of odd man rushes, and breakaways that Bryzgalov faced early in the season.

A lot of that is a direct result of the system, where the forwards would take off and the defensemen would be forced to make a high risk pass or carry the puck up themselves. That what I mean by not using the player on hand properly.

When the injuries really stuck hard, the system was simplified. The forwards started to close the gap and limit the defense's responsibility in handling the puck or making long, high risk passes because they were coached to play a more sound 200 foot game.

Not only did that result in fewer odd man rushes against, it also helped the offense, because guys who could do damage with the puck got it sooner and had more room to create.
- Jsaquella

Meh, we've done this strip dance already, I kind of place a lot of that blame on the stupid decisions of players to begin with, systems put aside. Pinching when no coach would tell them to, or just losing coverages.

Its a weird time to be a fan of this team, I honestly have no idea what direction they will really go.

I think Weber is still a possibility, they are pretty much paying him for nothing right now. I'm thinking Nashville is going to want to start over / rebuild and what a better way to do that then trading weber.
- idiotsallofu

He cant be traded till a year past the day the contract was signed or something similar.

I dont think Snider has given up hope on Shea just yet. Wouldnt suprise me at all to see him playing for the Flyers.

I think Weber is still a possibility, they are pretty much paying him for nothing right now. I'm thinking Nashville is going to want to start over / rebuild and what a better way to do that then trading weber.
- idiotsallofu

The problem with Weber is even if he would be moved, it couldn't be until the end of July. I just don't see the Flyers waiting around to the end of July to try and fortify their blueline.

I don't think it is impossible, just unlikely.

I think Weber is still a possibility, they are pretty much paying him for nothing right now. I'm thinking Nashville is going to want to start over / rebuild and what a better way to do that then trading weber.
- idiotsallofu

Trading the required assets and taking on that massive contract for Weber right now would be a massive mistake for the Flyers. Toss out the staggering return the Predators would want and simply look at adding a cap recapture contract that has 13 years left.

The Flyers need depth now. They have other options that won't cost an arm, leg, 3 kids and every other weekend with the wife, in addition to messing up the cap.

Meh, we've done this strip dance already, I kind of place a lot of that blame on the stupid decisions of players to begin with, systems put aside. Pinching when no coach would tell them to, or just losing coverages.

Its a weird time to be a fan of this team, I honestly have no idea what direction they will really go.
- flyer_nutter

The problem is, when you have numerous players, repeatedly making the same mistakes, it screams that the coaching is lacking. Especially when it was stuff that happened for the past three years.

You already have a ton of examples of the team playing better this year after the coach simplified the system to cover for the lack of experienced NHL defensemen in the lineup.

You can say we've done this strip dance already, but the fact is, after the coach finally changed things up, they went on their best run of the year, played better defense and scored more goals.

If Pulock, Nurse, Ristolainen and Zadorov are ALL gone by #11 -- plus Jones going first overall -- there are going to be some damn good forwards who would be the potential best available player.
- bmeltzer

True...assuming the run on those four D men (plus Jones) and Drouin, MacKinnon and Barkov are gone:

We're looking (at least 2 out of):

Nichushkin
Lindholm
Shinkaruk
Monahan

some nice players right there...

The problem is, when you have numerous players, repeatedly making the same mistakes, it screams that the coaching is lacking. Especially when it was stuff that happened for the past three years.

You already have a ton of examples of the team playing better this year after the coach simplified the system to cover for the lack of experienced NHL defensemen in the lineup.

You can say we've done this strip dance already, but the fact is, after the coach finally changed things up, they went on their best run of the year, played better defense and scored more goals.
- Jsaquella

Ohhh hell I agree somewhat, but place blame largely upon other areas of the organization as well.

Ohhh hell I agree somewhat, but place blame largely upon other areas of the organization as well.
- flyer_nutter

I'm not absolving other areas of the organization. I put blame on the players, GM and owner, too.

But I saw too many coaches get more out of less than Laviolette has, and it hasn't just been this season. This season is just when the bottom fell out of the barrel.

The good thing is, it sure seems that the players are still buying what he's selling, because when he finally changed, they did their best to make it work.

True...assuming the run on those four D men (plus Jones) and Drouin, MacKinnon and Barkov are gone:

We're looking (at least 2 out of):

Nichushkin
Lindholm
Shinkaruk
Monahan

some nice players right there...
- exlund

That's the main reason I'm not locking into one guy. There's going to be several good players on the board when they walk up to the podium. There's a lot to be excited for

I'm not absolving other areas of the organization. I put blame on the players, GM and owner, too.

But I saw too many coaches get more out of less than Laviolette has, and it hasn't just been this season. This season is just when the bottom fell out of the barrel.

The good thing is, it sure seems that the players are still buying what he's selling, because when he finally changed, they did their best to make it work.
- Jsaquella

I have to believe Lava will be on a very short leash this year. If the team flounders out of the gate similiar to Hitch when he was here, they will not hesitate to move on from Lava. I have to figure like Bill mentioned, Murray will still be in the organization in some capacity, he would be the logical choice to be the interim coach.

The Vancouver Province's Jason Botchford thinks that the Canucks' best bet for a "reboot" is trading Alex Edler. Of course, this is not easy because Edler in January signed a five-year, $30 million deal, and he took less to stay with the team in order to help them bring other players in. But Botchford says Vancouver's defense is a strength, and it has a number of young players ready to play bigger roles. Edler could be a nice chip to acquire some forward help -- and help them get bigger up front. Edler's no-trade clause doesn't start until July, so the Canucks have time to gauge the market, which Botchford thinks would include the Flyers and Ducks.
Source: Vancouver Province

I have to believe Lava will be on a very short leash this year. If the team flounders out of the gate similiar to Hitch when he was here, they will not hesitate to move on from Lava. I have to figure like Bill mentioned, Murray will still be in the organization in some capacity, he would be the logical choice to be the interim coach.
- ravishingone

I agree...the problem is, they could have done that this year and had a lot of good options to take over the job this summer.

The Vancouver Province's Jason Botchford thinks that the Canucks' best bet for a "reboot" is trading Alex Edler. Of course, this is not easy because Edler in January signed a five-year, $30 million deal, and he took less to stay with the team in order to help them bring other players in. But Botchford says Vancouver's defense is a strength, and it has a number of young players ready to play bigger roles. Edler could be a nice chip to acquire some forward help -- and help them get bigger up front. Edler's no-trade clause doesn't start until July, so the Canucks have time to gauge the market, which Botchford thinks would include the Flyers and Ducks.
Source: Vancouver Province
- stveshdy

If Edler's on the market, he'd top my wish list. No question.

If Edler's on the market, he'd top my wish list. No question.
- Jsaquella

Have to be all over that.