not sure if this has been mentioned yet but why all of this early speculation?

my thoughts are that we may go after some of the other teams buyout guys.
some speculated buyout candidates may be:

Heatley?
B.Richards?
Lecavalier?
Havlat?
Tanguay?
R.Bourque?
Grabovski?
T.Ruutu?
Horcoff?

If you want to laugh at irrational go read the Canucks blog if it's still up.
- mayorofangrytown

BC bud is a hell of a drug

Zeus was god like yesterday
I hope you watched
- Marc D

i saw him rocking on the pk

been saying for years i wanted him back and got scoffed at quite a bit...

Give Michal Handzus credit, because we hear it’s quite difficult to skate when you have a fork stuck in you. Which is a crude and roundabout way of saying the 36-year-old San Jose Sharks center is done.
-puck daddy writer earlier this season

go zus!

not sure if this has been mentioned yet but why all of this early speculation?

my thoughts are that we may go after some of the other teams buyout guys.
some speculated buyout candidates may be:

Heatley?
B.Richards?
Lecavalier?
Havlat?
Tanguay?
R.Bourque?
Grabovski?
T.Ruutu?
Horcoff?
- MrBigglesworth

you left out briere

lolz

Right all those that were calling us tankers are now debating to trade up in the draft....coulda had nicushkin for nothing...LOL lets pay through the nose for the sake of confidence.
- Philly1980

It's hard to tell a team to lose on purpose though. In fact, I don't think that should ever be done. I said with about 15 games left that they'd go on a mini-run because they had underachieved all year and they did. Funny thing is, if Mason played like he had in Columbus, we're probably picking 7th right now.

Right all those that were calling us tankers are now debating to trade up in the draft....coulda had nicushkin for nothing...LOL lets pay through the nose for the sake of confidence.
- Philly1980

It's hard to tell pro athletes to tank, they are competitive and always want to win. That being said winning meaningless games from a fans sake is frustrating.

not sure if this has been mentioned yet but why all of this early speculation?

my thoughts are that we may go after some of the other teams buyout guys.
some speculated buyout candidates may be:

Heatley?
B.Richards?
Lecavalier?
Havlat?
Tanguay?
R.Bourque?
Grabovski?
T.Ruutu?
Horcoff?
- MrBigglesworth

I wouldn't be surprised if Richards stays another year with Torts gone. If he does get bought out, I wouldn't be against signing him for short and cheap to replace Briere.

I would stay away from any guys with any sort of injury history. Edler will come here and blow his back out in training camp. There is already enough injury concerns on the Flyers blueline. Grossmann and Meszaros are enormous question marks.
- PLindbergh31

It doesn't matter even about their prior health history, once they don Orange and Black they are toast.

Mezsaros was a fricken iron man, never missing any games before here.

Right all those that were calling us tankers are now debating to trade up in the draft....coulda had nicushkin for nothing...LOL lets pay through the nose for the sake of confidence.
- Philly1980

Actually, there's a rumor that the Flyers were discussing trading up, which is what was being discussed. Also, if they had finished in 8th, they'd likely still have to trade up to get Jones, MacKinnon, Drouin, Barkov or Nichushkin.

In terms of value, the 8th pick will yield a similar player to what the 11th will.

Problem is, Yandle would cost around the same as Edler in trade.

John-Michael Liles would be an affordable replacement for what we lost in Carle, and that would be enough to get us back into the PO's, IMO.

Or... just go w/ Gus and see what he can give us.
- Tomahawk

What's the objective? To get back in the playoffs? Or to build a team that you can truly expect to contend? I don't see JML being the answer to the latter.

If Homers going to get a defender, he needs to look at Kevin Shattenkirk.

Kid is exactly what we need. Offer sheet him. Make it impossible for Blues to match. How much that costs is anyone's guess, but almost every team in the leauge is gonna have a similar rationale. Between Jbo and Pietrangelo alone their gonna end up spending a ton on D. Paying Shattenkirk may not be realistic, though they'll obviously do all they can too keep him.
- mochoson

I like Shattenkirk adn would love to obtain him. But he's not a player I'd go the OS route with.

It's hard to tell pro athletes to tank, they are competitive and always want to win. That being said winning meaningless games from a fans sake is frustrating.
- PLindbergh31

You can't have a team tank or even arrange for a team to tank but that being said... I still bemoaned the fact that they waited until the end of the season to go on a run and swap our number 5 position into an 11.

If they really want to show patience and go about building the team the right way, they will trade down and get two first rounders this year.

That would show me something, along with holding onto Couts, B Schenn, etc.

But it is darn hard to picture them trading down.

What's the objective? To get back in the playoffs? Or to build a team that you can truly expect to contend? I don't see JML being the answer to the latter.
- MJL

what is your acceptable time frame for this to happen?

no right or wrong answer to this, just looking for your opinion.

Is he worth Hartnell? It's a trade that could help both sides. Not saying we could or should, just intrigued by everyone's opinion.
- mochoson

Absolutely worth Hartnell.

not sure if this has been mentioned yet but why all of this early speculation?

my thoughts are that we may go after some of the other teams buyout guys.
some speculated buyout candidates may be:

Heatley?
B.Richards?
Lecavalier?
Havlat?
Tanguay?
R.Bourque?
Grabovski?
T.Ruutu?
Horcoff?
- MrBigglesworth

Would love to see them get a skilled (natural) winger of decent size to play with BSchenn.

I wouldn't be against any of the guys you named depending on price and term. I don't think Center is an area of need for this team, so I'd rule those guys out.

You can't have a team tank or even arrange for a team to tank but that being said... I still bemoaned the fact that they waited until the end of the season to go on a run and swap our number 5 position into an 11.
- mayorofangrytown

Imagine if Laviolette had recognized his team's weaknesses earlier and went to the simplified system that stressed better team defense in early February, rather than waiting until it was all but hopeless to gain a playoff berth.

Would love to see them get a skilled (natural) winger of decent size to play with BSchenn.

I wouldn't be against any of the guys you named depending on price and term. I don't think Center is an area of need for this team, so I'd rule those guys out.
- johndewar

When Braydon played with Jake it was a very dynamic line.

Just need to clone Voracek, and they are good.

It's hard to tell a team to lose on purpose though. In fact, I don't think that should ever be done. I said with about 15 games left that they'd go on a mini-run because they had underachieved all year and they did. Funny thing is, if Mason played like he had in Columbus, we're probably picking 7th right now.
- NickTheKid87

Here's the thing, really -- I asked some of the hockey analytics guys at the Vancouver Sun about what I was looking at with the Flyers, and they told me straight up that the Flyers were absolutely not as bad as they looked when they were in 14th place in the conference.

They had injuries, horrific shooting percentages at 5v5, horrific save percentages at 5v5. Some of that was due to talent and poor play; they deserved to be where the were in some cases.

But the analytics guys said that, more likely than not, they were due for a hot streak if they simply played hard, because the percentages would correct themselves, and that while they would likely miss the playoffs, their metrics were that of a team that would finish ninth or 10th in the conference.

That's what they did. I tend to believe in the developing area of Corsi, possession time, etc., and in this case, it truly wasn't that the Flyers blew a draft pick by not tanking. It's that, all things being equal, they simply weren't awful enough to be as bad as Calgary, Florida, Buffalo, Carolina, NJ, etc.

He's generally played in very favorable minutes... high offensive zone start %, middling competition, spends most of his time w/ the Sedins (both ES and PP), always has had a solid partner to rely on (Salo, Bieksa), and isn't counted on as a primary PK'er. He's prone to being over-zealous (trucking over Mike Smith) and borderline dirty plays (Eric Staal at the WC's).


- Tomahawk

Yes, which is exactly how a player like Edler should be used. That's how you win. And every good defenseman needs a solid partner. A top defensive pair is made up of partner's who rely on each other, and compliment each other.

Is there a Chris Pronger under there somewhere waiting to get out? He hasn't been put in a position to have to do any heavy lifting, so it's impossible to say at this point. So... you can understand why I would balk at possibly having to put together a Pronger-esque kind of trade package to get him. There's too much that's still unknown.
- Tomahawk

Who is expecting him to be Chris Pronger? He's done plenty of heavy lifting. He plays in all situations including the PK. You don't pay a Pronger-esque package to get him. If the price is too high, you walk away.

Imagine if Laviolette had recognized his team's weaknesses earlier and went to the simplified system that stressed better team defense in early February, rather than waiting until it was all but hopeless to gain a playoff berth.
- Jsaquella

without all the breakaways and odd man rushes they gave up, Bryz would have looked a heck of a lot better.

he might not even be in the buyout conversation right now, if they played a better system

It's hard to tell a team to lose on purpose though. In fact, I don't think that should ever be done. I said with about 15 games left that they'd go on a mini-run because they had underachieved all year and they did. Funny thing is, if Mason played like he had in Columbus, we're probably picking 7th right now.
- NickTheKid87

They could have taken the time to evaluate some of the younger guys that they have in the system....Fire the coach and start fresh this year.

It doesn't matter even about their prior health history, once they don Orange and Black they are toast.

Mezsaros was a fricken iron man, never missing any games before here.


- Marc D

Meszaros went from Cal Ripken to a guy being held together by Elmer's glue

what is your acceptable time frame for this to happen?

no right or wrong answer to this, just looking for your opinion.
- Marc D

It's going to take a few years. It's a process. But it's not going to happen if they don't solve the defense issue.

Actually, there's a rumor that the Flyers were discussing trading up, which is what was being discussed. Also, if they had finished in 8th, they'd likely still have to trade up to get Jones, MacKinnon, Drouin, Barkov or Nichushkin.

In terms of value, the 8th pick will yield a similar player to what the 11th will.
- Jsaquella

hey im happy with the 11th pick....i dont want to trade up....dont want to trade down...