Agreed -- I thought 94-96 points, and I do kinda think they make it
- AllInForFlyers

Going in my guess was 92-96

We do have Lindblom, Allison, and now Ratcliffe. We can't say confidently they will bring anything close to Simmonds as they haven't played a minute in the NHL, but they are big bodied wingers with scoring touches. Ratcliffe intrigues me. He's freaking huge.
- arichardson22

Don't forget Bunnaman. He's right there with Allison and Ratcliffe in my opinion and will likely be in the AHL sooner.

Trade Simmonds for Brayden Schenn and a 2nd

i don't know why we're discussing trading simmonds.

what a good start to the season. Last night's game started a little shaky, but man did they finish it strong. Really everyone on the ice looked good. It's been a long time since they have been able to roll 4 lines they way they can now. I admit I've not been a fan of Laughton's and had really written him off as a player that might not be able to make an impact in the NHL. As of right now I was very wrong, very impressed with his game this season. Looks like that extra time in the AHL really has paid off and he has found his NHL game.

Hope this entertaining hockey continues.

i don't know why we're discussing trading simmonds.
- hammarby31

its the proverbial raincloud over our proverbial heads

at what age and circumstance, can a player retire and the CAP hit not count
- wcorvette

As long as it wasn't signed with the first year of the deal being with him over 35, if he RETIRES his cap hit never counts. But who retires with money on the table?

If it's an over 35 contract, contract counts in full against the cap (even if he is bought out) unless the player is on injured reserve (there is a $100,000 relief for players sent to the minors after the first year of their over 35 contract, but that's peanuts). This is how Pronger's hit doesn't count for the Flyers. He is on injured reserve, getting all his money, but with no cap hit. At the same time, he's collecting a paycheck from the NHL for his Dept of Player Safety role. If he had retired, the full cap hit would have been on the Flyers' books.

Have we experienced a long rough ride? we've done that without celebrating a Cup. The Kings won it twice. If keeping Simmonds means building a legitimate Cup contender and a risk of the contract being an issue later, I'm all in. You keep trading top players for youth, you never get there. At some point you have to go for the big payoff.
- MJL

This is too rational. I think they trade the whole team, after the start they've had their value will never be higher. The rough ride hasn't been long enough.

Wayne Simmonds is a Flyer, and I will be forever sad if/when he goes. The dude was BORN to play in this city. All this future talk is making me

Wow, this team is looking sensational. I am thrilled to death with how well our team is playing. Lots of pleasant surprises and so looking forward to the game in Vancouver in December. There will be a lot of us Flyers fans in town for that one. I just hope Sanheim can get in the regular lineup with Manning or Amac in the press. Actually in the near future Morin and Sanheim fulltime replacing the other two. Go Flyers!

its the proverbial raincloud over our proverbial heads
- YuenglingJagr

i don't get it. i hope he's never traded. i miss guys finishing their careers with only 1 or 2 teams.

It's very early, but here's who has impressed me, who's been solid, and who could either do better or be replaced in the lineup

Impressed:
The 1st line
Nolan Patrick
Filppula, especially on the pp
Simmonds, Weal and Konecny
Laughton & Leier
Provorov
The Ghost/Hagg pairing
Neuvirth
The increased player movement on the pp

Been ok:
AMac
Gudas, picked it up a bit the last few games but still could be better
Weise
Raffl
Sanheim, need to see more of him
Elliott
Hakstol, has them playing well but needs to get Sanheim back in and loses points for that asinine challenge

Needs to sit
Manning, he was flat out the worst player on the ice for the Flyers last night. I don't care that they've won, he had very little to do with it and Neuvirth bailed his ass out a couple times last night. Sanheim needs to replace him in the lineup pronto. I'd also consider, once they've had some more practice time, moving Gudas up to the top pair with Provorov and dropping AMac down to the 3rd pair with Sanheim.

i don't get it. i hope he's never traded. i miss guys finishing their careers with only 1 or 2 teams.
- hammarby31

Absolutely. I don't know him personally, but I feel like Simmonds doesn't want to play for any other team, even if the money isn't perfect. Maybe when contract talks come up, money won't be the number one thing on his mind. Just seems like the dude KNOWS he belongs in Orange and Black.

Did someone earlier try to make the point that Hak doesn't get criticized?

Because if they did apparently the past 2 years of Flyersbuzz never took place.

Absolutely. I don't know him personally, but I feel like Simmonds doesn't want to play for any other team, even if the money isn't perfect. Maybe when contract talks come up, money won't be the number one thing on his mind. Just seems like the dude KNOWS he belongs in Orange and Black.
- FloHaake

Yes and no. If it's a difference of a couple hundred grand over a few years, sure he might take less to stay. However if some GM is offering 7 years and 50+ million and Hextall is countering with 6 and 36; kiss him goodbye. If they plan on keeping him, it would be best to get a new deal done this summer.

i don't know why we're discussing trading simmonds.
- hammarby31

Because hockeybzzzzz

Trade Simmonds for Brayden Schenn and a 2nd
- Mordecai

Puljujärvi and Yamamoto please.

I would call Claude and Jake top players.

I expect Provy and Ghost to only continue to improve over the next couple of years and they are already pretty darn good.

Kony and Patrick project to be top line guys and i dont advocate trading either of them.

I never stated they should trade anyone over a certain age i was speaking specifically to one player.

I agree, at some point you do have to go all in but you do it in a way that both helps you short term as well as long term. What i mean by this is, i think the $ amount Simmonds is looking for will have a tremendous impact on whether it will make sense for the Flyers to sign him versus trade him.

The other thing that makes this fun to debate is, the stocked prospect pool the Flyers have. It is quite possible the Flyers are grooming the next Simmonds already.
- ggunky

I don't agree with the premise of trading Simmonds because of a worry about the contract being an issue down the road. I have no problem trading Simmonds or any player for that matter if it makes the team better. At some point you have to go all in. Every GM does. I expect Hextall to do the same at some point. I don't think they'll ever go the route that they did in the past and continually trade draft picks to try and win now, but I do think they'll take some risks contract wise at some point when the timing is right.

Don't forget Bunnaman. He's right there with Allison and Ratcliffe in my opinion and will likely be in the AHL sooner.
- Baxter27

I thought he was a center, but with the center depth he could be a candidate switched to wing.

I don't think Hakstol can't be criticized. It's the number 1 topic on these threads. Him getting credit for anything is much more rare.
- Baxter27

Trade Simmonds for Brayden Schenn and a 2nd
- Mordecai

Can we throw Jori into the deal too

It's very early, but here's who has impressed me, who's been solid, and who could either do better or be replaced in the lineup

Impressed:
The 1st line
Nolan Patrick
Filppula, especially on the pp
Simmonds, Weal and Konecny
Laughton & Leier
Provorov
The Ghost/Hagg pairing
Neuvirth
The increased player movement on the pp

Been ok:
AMac
Gudas, picked it up a bit the last few games but still could be better
Weise
Raffl
Sanheim, need to see more of him
Elliott
Hakstol, has them playing well but needs to get Sanheim back in and loses points for that asinine challenge

Needs to sit
Manning, he was flat out the worst player on the ice for the Flyers last night. I don't care that they've won, he had very little to do with it and Neuvirth bailed his ass out a couple times last night. Sanheim needs to replace him in the lineup pronto. I'd also consider, once they've had some more practice time, moving Gudas up to the top pair with Provorov and dropping AMac down to the 3rd pair with Sanheim.
- BiggE

MacDonald has been more than okay in my opinion and moving him off of the pairing with Provorov is not going to happen any time soon. They're doing too good of a job limiting the top players of the opposition offensively.

yes, to all of this.

i think we've all had cautious optimism waiting for the draft picks of the last 4 years to finally start filtering in to transform the team and we're starting to see that payoff. nobody could have predicted we'd land a nolan patrick which changes things a lot. many of us want to see a few more of the kids playing, myself included, particularly sanheim and morin, but we'll just have wait a little while longer.

i just look at this as a springboard year to really push them forward to where they're going to be in 2-3 years.

regarding G, i had no issue with where he plays, W or C...i honestly didn't give a (frank). or that Coots was moving up to center him. i'm all for experimenting in camp and preseason to find new things that might work. kudos to Hak for that. but this early success doesn't eliminate the criticisms of the coach and the captain from what's happened until now. i think that stuff is valid. i was shocked to discover he has 400 assists last night. had no idea it was that high. he's obviously been a good player for them for a long time, and hopefully this year's rebound trend continues and he stays healthy.
- hammarby31

Girioux doesnt get the credit he deserves. He led the league in points for over a 5 year span. No jinxed please, but the guy is a freaking iron man, he doesn't miss much time at all.

Can we throw Jori into the deal too
- arichardson22

No he's going to Montreal for Galchenyuk and a 1st

Did someone earlier try to make the point that Hak doesn't get criticized?

Because if they did apparently the past 2 years of Flyersbuzz never took place.
- opeth_pa

No, Yeungling Jagr incorrectly insinuated that posts have been made that Hakstol shouldn't be criticized.