Well is it creating a hole, you have Laughton to replace him if that did happen.

Laughton can handle some of the shutdown stuff & kick up Coots into a 2nd line center role. But this is all a guess at least from me.
- ob18

I think that would work. I'd like to give Couturier more offensive and all around minutes. I think Laughton could take his share of defensive time.

If Im trading a forward its B. Schenn for a young scoring winger (who isnt terrible defensively) or a young defenseman. If those options arent there im fine keeping what we have.

Which is exactly why Holmgren should be shown the door.......and there is a chance that even Ed Snider might do it.
- TJ

I doubt that happens. Whether or not he should be fired is beside the point, he wont be this offseason because we made the playoffs. If we miss next year or get eliminated quickly in the 1st round (4 or 5 games) then probably

Vinny has not fit, this is true but look no further than Briere. He struggled horribly in his 1st season as a Flyer but he got better. Vinny should be given the same opportunity. Vinny is no Briere in the playoffs but his experience could be helpful come game 6 and 7

I will say, even though I do dislike them, congrats to Chicago on turning the tide on the Blues.

I know Hitch is liked by many, but just another example in my eyes of a coach focusing too much on the reactionary defensive game, and playing not to lose. I think like Carlyle, he is a guy that is on the way out of the "new nhl".

Instead of a team in Chicago, that is built to be aggressive, and dictate the game.

It seemed a few years ago, the Flyers were trying to go for that identity. An aggressive, hunt the puck style and drastically shifted direction.

Vinny has not fit, this is true but look no further than Briere. He struggled horribly in his 1st season as a Flyer but he got better. Vinny should be given the same opportunity. Vinny is no Briere in the playoffs but his experience could be helpful come game 6 and 7
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Briere did not struggle his first year here. He excelled in balancing the offense, which was a lot more important than putting points on the board.

I'm just curious to see if this team actually shows some heart with their backs against the wall.
Berube is a horrible coach, his 1997 mentality playing Rinaldo with 5 minutes left down 2 in the third. Starting Hall Gill over a defender who can transition the puck.
Homer is a horrible GM, signing MacDonald for 5million, trying to buy a cup with Vinny and Streit.
Teams a cluster (frank)

5 more years of Scott Hartnell the most useless top six forward on any playoff team right now.
Also glad to see Braydn Schenn regressed and Luke Schenn got better. That was a mind (frank)

If Kimmo doesn't sign for anything less than 2million next year. He can just retire.

I'm just curious to see if this team actually shows some heart with their backs against the wall.
Berube is a horrible coach, his 1997 mentality playing Rinaldo with 5 minutes left down 2 in the third. Starting Hall Gill over a defender who can transition the puck.
Homer is a horrible GM, signing MacDonald for 5million, trying to buy a cup with Vinny and Streit.
Teams a cluster (frank)

5 more years of Scott Hartnell the most useless top six forward on any playoff team right now.
Also glad to see Braydn Schenn regressed and Luke Schenn got better. That was a mind (frank)

If Kimmo doesn't sign for anything less than 2million next year. He can just retire.
- Winning

Go home.

You're drunk.

I think everyone knows Mackinnon's pedigree (I didn't think I would have to post a disclaimer with my post).

I never said Laughton would compete with Mackinnon in points. However, if other players aren't getting the job done, and he plays a shift or two in their place, you never know.
- mikel33

I guess where we differ is the term impact. I would think Laughton could contribute. But making an impact, where he would change the direction of the series by adding him to the lineup, is doubtful in my opinion.

They are down in this series because this is a poorly put together club, with lines that do not mix well, slowness that effort cannot compensate for, and over-valuing of their young forward talent. Its possible (but unlikely) they win this series but obviously they are not contenders and will not be in the near future. Not to say that they will be contenders in the distant future -its just that it is too difficult to tell beyond 2 years or so.

Some young forwards will get better, but the pace of improvement is fairly slow and the ceiling might be 2nd line. And this will be compensated by the decline of players like Vinny and Hartnell, each of whom have nice deep contracts with NMCs. Giroux will likely have a short shelf life because teams are already hammering the crap out of him because they know we don't have much beyond him.

Regarding defence - lots of 3-4 guys. More 3-4 guys in pipeline. Will be hard to trade Grossmann with the knee injury again. Maybe Ghost can come in and change everything around but seems unlikely.

All of this will mean continued appearances in post-season and continued failures to be true contenders and continued failures to pick elite talent high in the first round.

The future is...neither black nor shining white but rather bright grey.
- PT21

I completely disagree with this post. In my opinion, the Flyers are not down in this series due to the mix of players. They're down in this series simply because they haven't played well enough, or played up to their ability. And I think the future is bright white with this team. This has a tendency to happen, when a team struggles in a playoff series. There is panic and the team needs to be completely rebuilt.

I will say, even though I do dislike them, congrats to Chicago on turning the tide on the Blues.

I know Hitch is liked by many, but just another example in my eyes of a coach focusing too much on the reactionary defensive game, and playing not to lose. I think like Carlyle, he is a guy that is on the way out of the "new nhl".

Instead of a team in Chicago, that is built to be aggressive, and dictate the game.

It seemed a few years ago, the Flyers were trying to go for that identity. An aggressive, hunt the puck style and drastically shifted direction.
- flyer_nutter

I think there are some stereotypes in play here. Hitchcock plays a very similar style to Chicago, Boston, etc. If you interview Quenneville, normally a lot of times the first thing he says is he wants to take care of the defensive end first. Hitchcock does not want to sit back in a defensive posture, not being aggressive, and not trying to dictate the game. That is just not true.
Teams lose games and series due to players on the ice. Not due to systems and philosophies.