The thing that bothers me most is that he makes bad decisions. He's a veteran player and should be able to anticipate things better or be in better position.

Kimmo may have lost a lot, but he is still a smart player who positions himself well.

What's going to happen to Streit when he really starts losing his physical abilities. He will be a $5M 7th defenseman.
- PhillySportsGuy

I'm not shocked that he has been average at best. Hated the signing from day one.

Phaneuf gets 2 games

I'm not shocked that he has been average at best. Hated the signing from day one.
- stveshdy

So did I. I would rather just see Gus play all year and make mistakes. At least we could hope he would turn the corner and gain experience. I don't think Gus would be much worse than Streit anyway.

Phaneuf gets 2 games
- JAKEw1234

For his hit on Kessel?

I just don't think a lot of injuries to our star players is a good reason to just stop getting star players. That seems defeatist, to me.
- JAKEw1234

I'm not saying that they should stop going after star players... just that adding star players on top of a crumbling foundation is not going to get them anywhere.

Teams like Chicago, LA and Boston can heavily invest in star players because they have a regular groundswell of cheap/young talent coming up through their systems... the Flyers have one of the emptiest cupboards in in the league, despite some really good drafting.

I'd rather them take a step back, shore up the foundation, and then start making a play at contention instead of doing this Calgary/Toronto circa 2005 impression of finishing just out the PO's while accumulating a lot of high-priced, bad players.

So did I. I would rather just see Gus play all year and make mistakes. At least we could hope he would turn the corner and gain experience. I don't think Gus would be much worse than Streit anyway.
- PhillySportsGuy

100% agree. I would of let the younger guys play. Sometimes you have to take a step back before going forward. Signing old age players to long term deals for big money isn't the answer. The Flyers IMO overrate there own talent and overspend on it.

Need to identify the core and then build around it. Trying to buy players and not using your farm system doesn't solve the issues.

Trading away draft picks like candy leaves you empty handed.

100% agree. I would of let the younger guys play. Sometimes you have to take a step back before going forward. Signing old age players to long term deals for big money isn't the answer. The Flyers IMO overrate there own talent and overspend on it.

Need to identify the core and then build around it. Trying to buy players and not using your farm system doesn't solve the issues.

Trading away draft picks like candy leaves you empty handed.
- stveshdy

But what do you do if the identified core isn't good enough to win anything?

100% agree. I would of let the younger guys play. Sometimes you have to take a step back before going forward. Signing old age players to long term deals for big money isn't the answer. The Flyers IMO overrate there own talent and overspend on it.

Need to identify the core and then build around it. Trying to buy players and not using your farm system doesn't solve the issues.

Trading away draft picks like candy leaves you empty handed.
- stveshdy

I wouldn't have let Alt/Lauridsen play on this cluster(frank). Le them get a full year of development in the AHL and then have them compete next year.

Streit looks god awful in this system and were still two forwards away from competing IMO.

Maybe not two additional forwards. Maybe this is just a bad mix of players. But this group is going nowhere fast, thats for sure.

But what do you do if the identified core isn't good enough to win anything?
- JAKEw1234

Then you are 1 of 29 NHL teams every year.

I'm not saying that they should stop going after star players... just that adding star players on top of a crumbling foundation is not going to get them anywhere.

Teams like Chicago, LA and Boston can heavily invest in star players because they have a regular groundswell of cheap/young talent coming up through their systems... the Flyers have one of the emptiest cupboards in in the league, despite some really good drafting.

I'd rather them take a step back, shore up the foundation, and then start making a play at contention instead of doing this Calgary/Toronto circa 2005 impression of finishing just out the PO's while accumulating a lot of high-priced, bad players.
- Tomahawk

I don't know if I'd call our foundation crumbling. I actually think we have one of the more underrated cupboards in the league, seeing as we have a lot of NHL ready or close to NHL ready prospects.

100% agree. I would of let the younger guys play. Sometimes you have to take a step back before going forward. Signing old age players to long term deals for big money isn't the answer. The Flyers IMO overrate there own talent and overspend on it.

Need to identify the core and then build around it. Trying to buy players and not using your farm system doesn't solve the issues.

Trading away draft picks like candy leaves you empty handed.
- stveshdy

I think the team is on the right track now. They have stockpiled some quality young defenseman over the past couple years.

The team is dealing with the wrong end of the Pronger trade and injury now. Those draft picks and Sbisa would be up helping the team by now if they had them.

Then you are 1 of 29 NHL teams every year.
- jmatchett383

I mean even just winning a playoff round or two.

But what do you do if the identified core isn't good enough to win anything?
- JAKEw1234

Need to find ways to build around it. In my opinion here are the players to build around: B. Schenn, Couturier, Giroux, Voracek, Mason

-Bryz was nominated for 1 vezina.
- JAKEw1234

I was talking about candidacy, not official nomination. People used to say that he carried that team on his back, and they would be nothing without him... boy, were they blowing sunshine up the wrong hole, or what.

-I don't think they expected Briere to be a perennial 95 point scorer when hey signed him.
- JAKEw1234

The salary cap back then was like ~$50M -- Briere's $6.5M was like 13% of that.

To put it in today's terms, if the cap is $71M, 13% would be $9.25M. You'd better be getting more than 50-70 points for a guy making that kind of cheddar.

I was talking about candidacy, not official nomination. People used to say that he carried that team on his back, and they would be nothing without him... boy, were they blowing sunshine up the wrong hole, or what.





The salary cap back then was like ~$50M -- Briere's $6.5M was like 13% of that.

To put it in today's terms, if the cap is $71M, 13% would be $9.25M. You'd better be getting more than 50-70 points for a guy making that kind of cheddar.
- Tomahawk

Had Richards and Carter not developed into top line caliber players, Briere would be viewed very differently during his tenure in Philly.

I wouldn't have let Alt/Lauridsen play on this cluster(frank). Le them get a full year of development in the AHL and then have them compete next year.
- jmatchett383

I understand your point. I just feel like you can try to develop and be successful but that doesn't mean it will translate to the NHL level. Best way to gain experience is to play at the highest level.

Now if we are talking about an 18-20 year old then its different.

Need to find ways to build around it. In my opinion here are the players to build around: B. Schenn, Couturier, Giroux, Voracek, Mason
- stveshdy

I'm not even sure if he's part of that group.

I'm not even sure if he's part of that group.
- PhillySportsGuy

FYI: Brayden Schenn hasn't scored in 12 games.

I don't know if I'd call our foundation crumbling. I actually think we have one of the more underrated cupboards in the league, seeing as we have a lot of NHL ready or close to NHL ready prospects.
- JAKEw1234

Who's close or NHL-ready? Raffl only had to play a grand total of 2 AHL games to leap-frogg everybody down in ADK -- that's pretty sad.

I understand your point. I just feel like you can try to develop and be successful but that doesn't mean it will translate to the NHL level. Best way to gain experience is to play at the highest level.

Now if we are talking about an 18-20 year old then its different.
- stveshdy

I think Lauridson and Alt are fine in AHL for now. No sense in bringing them up into this mess. You don't want to kill their confidence.

In hindsight, I would have liked to see the team just go with Gus instead of signing Streit. It's not like Gus is much worse than Streit has been.

I'm not even sure if he's part of that group.
- PhillySportsGuy

He's still a young player. Maybe he doesn't turn out to be anything but when looking at this roster he's one of the better young players. I wouldn't be opposed to trading him for the right piece.

LeFraud James?
- jmatchett383

no fraud jeeroux

I was talking about candidacy, not official nomination. People used to say that he carried that team on his back, and they would be nothing without him... boy, were they blowing sunshine up the wrong hole, or what.





The salary cap back then was like ~$50M -- Briere's $6.5M was like 13% of that.

To put it in today's terms, if the cap is $71M, 13% would be $9.25M. You'd better be getting more than 50-70 points for a guy making that kind of cheddar.
- Tomahawk

I think it's now apparent that Phoenix is just a haven for goaltending. Either way for Briere, he was great and serviceable in the time he was here.

I understand your point. I just feel like you can try to develop and be successful but that doesn't mean it will translate to the NHL level. Best way to gain experience is to play at the highest level.

Now if we are talking about an 18-20 year old then its different.
- stveshdy

Yes, if you are shielded. If 3 of your top-6 are Gus/Alt/Lauridsen are expected to play all 82, they're going to face tough competition and get destroyed both on the ice and (possible) mentally. Lauridsen and Alt are refining their games in the AHL, and that's a-okay with me. If they get called up due to a slew of injuries, then I'm okay with that. But I wouldn't slot all 3 of them in as full-timers this year. Remember, this is Alt's first non-collegiate season, and Lauridsen only has 1 pro year under his belt. They're still relative newcomers to pro hockey.