Habs lock up Brendan Gallagher, 6 years $3.75mm AAV

Vinny had 5+ minutes of ice time today. Umberger and Vinny had two of the lowest TOI the last two games before today, where Umberger's went up while Vinny's went way down.

Really, Berube is screwed either way with this roster. There's dead weight, there's AHL guys giving effort and not being rewarded on the scoresheet, and then there's players who were pretty good last year but have caught the suck virus.
- feelingkettle

He's supposed mix that all together and make that work. If not, he's not effective.

Soft
- PhillySportsGuy

Voracek, Giroux, Del Zotto, and Streit are the only players actually pushing the play on this team. Recently, the line of Raffl/Laughton/Simmonds has been doing some of it, but the Couturier line and the fourth line are just killing penalties at even strength.
- ManCity

Del Zotto and Streit haven't been very good lately.

Habs lock up Brendan Gallagher, 6 years $3.75mm AAV
- Jsaquella

Great deal. Awesome player, motor never stops and cheap as hell. Steal.

I'm not saying he has a good roster. I'm agreeing that the roster is bad. The players on it have not played very well. Guys who did well last season have been bad. No argument there at all.

The trouble is, it's not a sudden thing. Lecavalier and Umberger have been bad all year, for the most part. It took 20 games for them to see reduced roles, and in Umberger's case it lasted one game.

Luke Schenn had a rough go after returning from injury was responsible for a few goals against. He gets benched. Grossmann, Coburn struggle almost as badly, continue to play if they can skate. I was stunned that MacDonald was scratched. Huge props to Chief if it was his call and not an injury or illness. I want to see more of that.

Don't cut Vinny's minutes, scratch him. Don't reduce Umberger's minutes for a game, and then crank them back up 24 hours later. I'm not expecting Berube to turn this team into the 1976 Habs. But they should be more than a team in the hunt for McDavid and Eichel
- Jsaquella

What a coach is going to do during a game, is see what players are playing better, and skating harder. And ice time is going to reflect that. Especially on a team that is playing like the Flyers are, it's not going to be static. If a player gets more ice time in one game versus another, it's because the coach feels the player has played better, or worse in that particular game. And in most games lately, Berube doesn't have a lot to choose from. So on a team that is currently dysfunctional, expecting ice time to follow a pattern, is foolish. Can even look at a team like LA, and see how their forwards ice time fluctuate from game to game.

Hextall
- tangent_man[October] - "Chief, I know they're off to a bad start, but you gotta play Lecavalier and Umberger until they snap out of it. We need to be able to trade them."

Hextall [last week] - "It's a lost cause. Do what you gotta do."

I can only hope that this was the directive, and that Berube isn't so dense that it took a quarter of a season to start reducing their ice time.

Around a 20 game benchmark is what teams management and coaches normally give to come to firm conclusions. I don't think it's an accident that at this point of the season, around the quarter pole, is when changes are made. Such as benching players, waiving and demoting players, etc.

Habs lock up Brendan Gallagher, 6 years $3.75mm AAV
- Jsaquella

Good deal

Seems likely to me. I have to imagine a coach would want to give guys like Vinny and Umberger a chance to get going before pulling the trigger on the benchings, scratchings, and ice times going down.

I don't think it's going to matter who's coaching the team this season if this kind of play is going to be the norm.
- feelingkettle

Great deal. Awesome player, motor never stops and cheap as hell. Steal.
- flyer_nutter

Little guy that will tear your eye out to score a goal.

He's supposed mix that all together and make that work. If not, he's not effective.

- MJL

Have to jump in just for a bit of fun before I head out after 6 days straight. I don't think anyone is saying Craig is solely responsible for this team's current status as a failure but he has made some questionable decisions. Namely with taking forever to cut the time of the dead-weight, and some questionable decisions when it has come to the young players. Having his favourites, and so on.

At the end of the day, no coach will be able to polish this turd, but Berube isn't absent from criticism and hasn't really made too many believers, well me anyway, that he is the right guy down the line. So be it.

The issue is the boys that built this trash fire, the constants among all the player turnover, and the switch from Hitchcock to Stevens, to Laviolette and now to Berube. That's where the core blame should lie.

I will say, and this is just for my own poops and giggles because I don't think your views are totally honest, and more so for "fun" and hits.. Perhaps your frustration toward the views some have toward this club, or its coaching in this case, would be lessened by simply not caring as much about what others think.

Rock on hooligans.

Have to jump in just for a bit of fun before I head out after 6 days straight. I don't think anyone is saying Craig is solely responsible for this team's current status as a failure but he has made some questionable decisions. Namely with taking forever to cut the time of the dead-weight, and some questionable decisions when it has come to the young players. Having his favourites, and so on.

At the end of the day, no coach will be able to polish this turd, but Berube isn't absent from criticism and hasn't really made too many believers, well me anyway, that he is the right guy down the line. So be it.

The issue is the boys that built this trash fire, the constants among all the player turnover, and the switch from Hitchcock to Stevens, to Laviolette and now to Berube. That's where the core blame should lie.

I will say, and this is just for my own poops and giggles because I don't think your views are totally honest, and more so for "fun" and hits.. Perhaps your frustration toward the views some have toward this club, or its coaching in this case, would be lessened by simply not caring as much about what others think.

Rock on hooligans.
- flyer_nutter

Amen. Enjoy your trip

Have to jump in just for a bit of fun before I head out after 6 days straight. I don't think anyone is saying Craig is solely responsible for this team's current status as a failure but he has made some questionable decisions. Namely with taking forever to cut the time of the dead-weight, and some questionable decisions when it has come to the young players. Having his favourites, and so on.

At the end of the day, no coach will be able to polish this turd, but Berube isn't absent from criticism and hasn't really made too many believers, well me anyway, that he is the right guy down the line. So be it.

The issue is the boys that built this trash fire, the constants among all the player turnover, and the switch from Hitchcock to Stevens, to Laviolette and now to Berube. That's where the core blame should lie.

I will say, and this is just for my own poops and giggles because I don't think your views are totally honest, and more so for "fun" and hits.. Perhaps your frustration toward the views some have toward this club, or its coaching in this case, would be lessened by simply not caring as much about what others think.

Rock on hooligans.
- flyer_nutter

I don't think anybody is ever going to agree with every decision a coach is going to make. I don't agree with scratching Bellemare. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to criticize the coach for every single move he makes, and criticize him because he hasn't made the moves that I think he should make. And that's what's being done by some sources. Every single move is criticized. There is no objectivity there.

The latter paragraph, is pure BS. And there is no frustration. It's just calling it like I see it. An objective viewpoint is both criticizing and praising. My viewpoint is incredibly honest. If anything, I should be less honest.

Habs lock up Brendan Gallagher, 6 years $3.75mm AAV
- Jsaquella

They could've had Komagod for cheaper.

OK...so, I'm not up on the CBA. What would it mean for the Flyers if they did release VLC or Umby?

OK...so, I'm not up on the CBA. What would it mean for the Flyers if they did release VLC or Umby?
- Dkos

Can't be done.

Soft
- PhillySportsGuy

Can't be done.
- MJL

Can't be buried in the minors for can relief either, right?

Or wayne simmonds? You are worse than homer. Why would you add offense? Your defensemen are god awful and the system you play doesn't do anything to help them out. You have plenty of very talented offensive players the problem is you can't get out of your own zone to generate offense because your defense stinks.
- mjh609

Outside of the top line, the forwards are a bigger problem than the defensemen right now.

Can't be done.
- MJL

did I use the wrong terminology? Bought out?

Can't be buried in the minors for can relief either, right?
- hereticpride

Umberger can, but the Flyers would only save 925K by doing so. Lecavalier has a full NMC.

did I use the wrong terminology? Bought out?
- Dkos

They can do that, but that can't happen until June.

Outside of the top line, the forwards are a bigger problem than the defensemen right now.
- bmeltzer

Agreed. It's not easy playing defense on this team right now.

did I use the wrong terminology? Bought out?
- Dkos

Buyouts are 2/3 of the total remaining cap hit divided by 2x the amount of years left. For VL it would cost 1.5m for 6 years and for Umberger it would cost 1.5m for 4 years

They can do that, but that can't happen until June.
- MJL

so, what's the point of all this talk about buying them out?