I think they're about equal. No idea where this idea that AMac was some defensive stalwart came from... he is brutal in a shutdown role, just ask the Rangers' forwards.
- Tomahawk

I wouldn't say brutal. His in-zone gap and man coverages are actually quite good. The only area of concern I have with him is his center ice gap control (he gives rushing forwards too much room). But other than that, I thought he looked good for the most part since we acquired him. Our D in general had a terrible series against NY.

You have to take AMac for what he is... Probably a peak number 3 D, who can play big minutes if need be, and can be placed in a shut-down role, but isn't ideally your prime guy. For the money, the term, his age, and our D situation, he's a good piece to have rather than trading him away for an ageing and over-priced Brian Campbell. Just my thoughts though.

Campbell's deal is up in 2 years. Amac and VL are signed for 5 and 4 more years
- PhillySportsGuy

I'm well aware. Were still losing good players in that deal though. Yeah it might help money wise, especially in the long term, but we would need to make other moves in order to remain competitive now.

You almost have to still dump Grossman, which means he then needs to be replaced. I'm all for doing just that and replacing him with Mark Fayne at a comparable cap hit

*If* he does come here, you'll get to see how brutal Campbell is on a nightly basis.

- Doc_Sarcasm

Which is something I'd be worried about lol....

I wouldn't say brutal. His in-zone gap and man coverages are actually quite good. The only area of concern I have with him is his center ice gap control (he gives rushing forwards too much room). But other than that, I thought he looked good for the most part since we acquired him. Our D in general had a terrible series against NY.

You have to take AMac for what he is... Probably a peak number 3 D, who can play big minutes if need be, and can be placed in a shut-down role, but isn't ideally your prime guy. For the money, the term, his age, and our D situation, he's a good piece to have rather than trading him away for an ageing and over-priced Brian Campbell. Just my thoughts though.
- Flyers_V88

I agree with all of this!

I think the idea behind Amac's contract is by the time were in years 3-6 of it, the 5 million dollar cap hit won't seem so bad when looking at his contributions. This is of course assuming the cap continues to rise the way it has.

*If* he does come here, you'll get to see how brutal Campbell is on a nightly basis.

- Doc_Sarcasm

I'll take the guy who makes me cringe in the d-zone on a 2-year term over the guy on a 6-year term any day, especially with our kids on the way.

I'd take that $20M savings from years 3-6 to bring in help when this team's window is really wide open.

Pronger is returning
- Winning

To pick up his paycheck, maybe

If the rest of your players are good possession players, and you have a coach that relies on tactics that optimize possession, you can afford to carry one or more of Greene/Mitchell/Regehr at a time.

As a Flyers fan, I take some solace in that.
- Tomahawk

All Coaches rely on tactics that optimize possession. And regardless of how good at possession the rest of the players are on the team, there is always a place and a role on a team for the solid stay at home physical defender. And even more so if they aren't a good possession team. Because they spend more time defending. And isn't it amazing how even defenseman that don't have good puck skills, have good possession numbers when they play on a team that plays the right way?

AMac + Vinny for Campbell... please Raptor Jesus.... make it so.
- Tomahawk

CapGeek Armchair GM Roster
FORWARDS
Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($8.275m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
Michael Raffl ($1.100m) / Brayden Schenn ($2.795m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Matt Read ($3.625m) / Sean Couturier ($1.750m) / Jason Akeson ($0.715m)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($0.600m) / Scott Laughton ($0.863m) / Brandon Alderson ($0.768m)
DEFENSEMEN
Brian Campbell ($7.143m) / Braydon Coburn ($4.500m)
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Chris Pronger ($4.941m) /
GOALTENDERS
Steve Mason ($4.100m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $70,000,000; BONUSES: $1,870,000
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $1,100,000

Slowly they're
Wingers getting faster every year. Nhl is being played at a faster pace which makes it more exciting . Grossmann type players will be useless in 5 years .
- Winning

Plers getting faster and stronger has been going on for a long time. There will still be players like Grossmann in the League in 5 years.

CapGeek Armchair GM Roster
FORWARDS
Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($8.275m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
Michael Raffl ($1.100m) / Brayden Schenn ($2.795m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Matt Read ($3.625m) / Sean Couturier ($1.750m) / Jason Akeson ($0.715m)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($0.600m) / Scott Laughton ($0.863m) / Brandon Alderson ($0.768m)
DEFENSEMEN
Brian Campbell ($7.143m) / Braydon Coburn ($4.500m)
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Chris Pronger ($4.941m) /
GOALTENDERS
Steve Mason ($4.100m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $70,000,000; BONUSES: $1,870,000
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $1,100,000
- Feanor

I can see the headlines now. Another season of heartache

When you have Drew Doughty in the lineup you can have Matt Greene playing third pairing minutes. Who's the Flyers version of Doughty?
- PLindbergh31

Drew Doughty normally isn't on the ice when Greene is playing. Doesn't matter. There is always going to be a need on teams for the stay at home defensive defenseman.

So the Kings have a Drew Doughty, and also have a Matt Greene type. The Flyers don't have a Drew Doughty type, yet they still have a Matt Greene type. Interesting.

I can see the headlines now. Another season of heartache
- Winning

I'm not predicting a Cup but that's a better team than we iced this past season.

CapGeek Armchair GM Roster
FORWARDS
Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($8.275m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
Michael Raffl ($1.100m) / Brayden Schenn ($2.795m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Matt Read ($3.625m) / Sean Couturier ($1.750m) / Jason Akeson ($0.715m)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($0.600m) / Scott Laughton ($0.863m) / Brandon Alderson ($0.768m)
DEFENSEMEN
Brian Campbell ($7.143m) / Braydon Coburn ($4.500m)
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Chris Pronger ($4.941m) /
GOALTENDERS
Steve Mason ($4.100m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.500m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $70,000,000; BONUSES: $1,870,000
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $1,100,000
- Feanor

Definitely don't hate it. Once you LTIR Pronger you call up McGinn/Rinaldo and one of Alt/Lauridsen.

I still like the idea of dumping Grossman and going after Mark Fayne.

DEFENSEMEN
Brian Campbell ($7.143m) / Braydon Coburn ($4.500m)
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
- Feanor

Looking much sharper. No more redundancy issues w/ our bigs.

I still like the idea of dumping Grossman and going after Mark Fayne.
- mochoson

Ideally, agreed.

Drew Doughty normally isn't on the ice when Greene is playing. Doesn't matter. There is always going to be a need on teams for the stay at home defensive defenseman.
- MJL

You missed the point. When a team has a top pairing all around stud like Doughty playing 25 minutes a game, having average guys playing sheltered minutes against 3rd and 4th line players does matter.

I'm not predicting a Cup but that's a better team than we iced this past season.
- Feanor

Hartnell on first line is a disaster

Hartnell on first line is a disaster
- Winning

A 52 points in 78 games disaster.

And I can't get rid of every dicey long term contract on the team.

A 52 points in 78 games disaster.

And I can't get rid of every dicey long term contract on the team.
- Feanor

Evander Kane »

I think they're about equal. No idea where this idea that AMac is some defensive stalwart came from... he is brutal in a shutdown role, just ask the Rangers' forwards.
- Tomahawk

This is really not correct. There's nothing about MacDonald that is brutal. Is he capable of shutting down top lines with spotty support and team defense behind him? No he's not. Is he overmatched when being overextended in minutes played against top lines? Yes, that was the situation in NY with how they used him. What he is is a solid defender and all around defenseman, that upgrades the Flyers defense. Really wish the hyperbole could be dispensed with, just because a player isn't liked or a signing isn't liked. Same thing was said about Striet last year from the same sources.

A 52 points in 78 games disaster.

And I can't get rid of every dicey long term contract on the team.
- Feanor

Read-Giroux-Akeson
Hartnell-Couturier-Voracek
Raffl-Schenn-Simmonds
Bellemare-Laughton-Alderson
-McGinn

Campbell-Coburn
Streit-Fayne
Timonen-Schenn
-Lauridsen

Steve Mason
Thomas Greiss

My version of your lines, Grossman for Fayne

That's a tiny first line.

You missed the point. When a team has a top pairing all around stud like Doughty playing 25 minutes a game, having average guys playing sheltered minutes against 3rd and 4th line players does matter.
- PLindbergh31

I didn't miss any point. On any team, regardless of the makeup of the defense, there is a role and a need for the stay at home physical defenseman.

That is why a team that does have a Drew Doughty, has a Matt Greene. And why a team like the Flyers, who don't have a player equal to Drew Doughty, has a Grossmann. That is what is being missed here.

Campbell-Coburn
Streit-Fayne
Timonen-Schenn
- mochoson

That's a tiny first line.
- Feanor

I have faith in the speed and skill of that line. All 3 players play bigger then there size.

I really think Matty Read would flourish with Giroux. I also think Jason Akeson should play in the top 6 if he's going to be on the team.

This is really not correct. There's nothing about MacDonald that is brutal. Is he capable of shutting down top lines with spotty support and team defense behind him? No he's not. Is he overmatched when being overextended in minutes played against top lines? Yes, that was the situation in NY with how they used him. What he is is a solid defender and all around defenseman, that upgrades the Flyers defense. Really wish the hyperbole could be dispensed with, just because a player isn't liked or a signing isn't liked. Same thing was said about Striet last year from the same sources.
- MJL

Agreed.