The Hayes line has been fine. They are getting chances and also driving play. The goals and points will come. If it ain't broke, it don't need to be fixed.
- MBFlyerfan

I get it...it’s early. But that goes both ways. If we lose and they don’t score...we can talk again. It will be interesting to see which way the coaches take it. The JVR switch up made me think they might want to change it up, we’ll see.

Do they practice today? Lines?

A team that is not "fast" throughout the lineup can play fast according to style of play as you alluded to. Good positioning, puck support, pressure in all 3 zones, quick puck movements leads to a team playing fast. Nobody can slate as fast as the puck moves.
- MJL

Exactly. Plus we can't confuse the terms. I think of QUICK guys as guys that are pretty much full blown top end speed in maybe two strides. Usually these are smaller lighter guys. McDavid is a freak of nature. I think of guys like Johnny Hockey, DeBrincat, Kane etc. But that doesn't mean the bigger guys aren't fast end to end. Morin covers a lot of ground. Meyers has great come from behind closing speed. Coots can get up and move after 3 or 4 strides. Big guys have long legs. It's deceptive.

I get it...it’s early. But that goes both ways. If we lose and they don’t score...we can talk again. It will be interesting to see which way the coaches take it. The JVR switch up made me think they might want to change it up, we’ll see.

Do they practice today? Lines?
- NC Flyers Fan

It is early and although I understand not wanting to break up the Couturier line, they have to work to find the best balance through the entire team. I don't think they've found that balance yet. The Hayes line has to be better. Giroux and Voracek have to be better. If it eventually takes switching Couturier and Hayes, so be it.

I agree, in the Boston game I'd say Frost created the most scoring chances on the team easily. I also thought Twarynski brought the most energy and consistent game night in and night out and deserved that roster spot. Once Patrick gets back and we call up one of Farabee/Frost, move Twarynski to the fourth line or out, this team could be scary.
- ClaudeFather

Twarynski Laughton Raffl would be a beautiful L4.

Yeah, I'm way more concerned about our third and fourth line than I am the top 2.
- FlyersGrace

Hopefully that becomes a little clearer when Patrick is ready and Farabee comes up for good.

Talk to me again around game 15.

It is early and although I understand not wanting to break up the Couturier line, they have to work to find the best balance through the entire team. I don't think they've found that balance yet. The Hayes line has to be better. Giroux and Voracek have to be better. If it eventually takes switching Couturier and Hayes, so be it.
- MJL

Thats what it will take. Thats what it always takes. Coots gets the other guys going. Its unbelievable how well he does that. I think flipping TK and Jake might pop things loose. Jake likes to lug the puck and so does Hayes. Jake looks a little lost and frustrated. Jake should play with Coots or Patrick when he returns.

Flyers aren't really a fast team. Sound positioning and puck possession with QUICK passes are AVs system. Flyers have decent speed but are now bigger then they have been. I think this bodes well for the long season and playoffs. First line,
G Hayes Jake. @2 big guys and a small G
Linblom Coots TK 2 big guys and TK
JVR Patrick Farrabee 2 big guys and Farabee
Raffl Laughton Conner/Pitlick a 4th lines ALL over 6 feet and 200 lbs and can skate.
This team is HARD to play against. The pieces are coming together. We have good player in pretty much all slots. We have really good players waiting in the wings in LHV. We have good players in college. We have good player in Jr's. We have good players in Europe. Our top 2 goalie prospect are in the ECHL because there isn't room in the AHL tight now. We have Hart for a full season. We have AV and 2 new assistants. I like where we are and I like the future. This will be a fun season😁
- jaws1955

This is important to me. Too many times over the past few years, teams have come to Philadelphia with a smile on their face, ready to feast. I want every opposition player to hate coming here. And I'm not talking about the Philly flu or being overly physical. I'm talking about just being a frustrating pain in the ass to play against where you have to earn every inch.

No team can bring it every night, even the top teams. But if this team can play like they have, more or less, over the first 3 games, we'll all be looking forward to early April instead of late June.

Sure they can. One scoring line isn’t a winning formula (not that the 3rd line is doing bad, they are holding their own). It’s early and they need to find chemistry that works for the team as a whole. Even counting the preseason, most guys, if any, haven’t played this year with the same line more than 3 games. I don’t think they are set yet.
- NC Flyers Fan

The good news is that one scoring line is L2. And they're not just scoring, they're dominating.

You know G and JvR will start cashing in. Jake and Hayes too, probably.

Not worried.

If you really want something to get worked up about, we can talk about how shaky L4 has looked, and how Laughton has been mostly irrelevant offensively.

The good news is that one scoring line is L2. And they're not just scoring, they're dominating.

You know G and JvR will start cashing in. Jake and Hayes too, probably.

Not worried.

If you really want something to get worked up about, we can talk about how shaky L4 has looked, and how Laughton has been mostly irrelevant offensively.
- Tomahawk

You talked about scoring chances before in our Frost discussion. The Flyers have had more scoring chances with Laughton on the ice than with Voracek on the ice. Offensively the biggest issue the Flyers have right now is not Laughton or the 3rd line, its the Hayes/Giroux/Voracek combo not producing.

This is important to me. Too many times over the past few years, teams have come to Philadelphia with a smile on their face, ready to feast. I want every opposition player to hate coming here. And I'm not talking about the Philly flu or being overly physical. I'm talking about just being a frustrating pain in the ass to play against where you have to earn every inch.

No team can bring it every night, even the top teams. But if this team can play like they have, more or less, over the first 3 games, we'll all be looking forward to early April instead of late June.
- jmatchett383

This has my up vote.

You talked about scoring chances before in our Frost discussion. The Flyers have had more scoring chances with Laughton on the ice than with Voracek on the ice. Offensively the biggest issue the Flyers have right now is not Laughton or the 3rd line, its the Hayes/Giroux/Voracek combo not producing.
- MJL

Jake been on the ice for 20 ES scoring chances, Laughton 13.

And out of that 13, I'm pretty sure Twarynski has generated about half of them.

(And yeah, Jake is not playing well by his standards)

This is important to me. Too many times over the past few years, teams have come to Philadelphia with a smile on their face, ready to feast. I want every opposition player to hate coming here. And I'm not talking about the Philly flu or being overly physical. I'm talking about just being a frustrating pain in the ass to play against where you have to earn every inch.

No team can bring it every night, even the top teams. But if this team can play like they have, more or less, over the first 3 games, we'll all be looking forward to early April instead of late June.
- jmatchett383

I'm liking this. They didn't have much zip Saturday. But they stifled the Canucks for the most part. The great thing is they have other big skilled guys cooking in the wings. I can see 2 to 3 years down the road where guys like JVR, Jake and perhaps Hayes and their big cap hits are moved to make room for the young guys on their ELC deals to move up. Schenn is moved. Did we want him for 8 more years at 6 plus mil per? Simmer is gone. Did we want to pay him 5 mil per year? I like the moves Fletch has made so far. I like Hayes so far. The fact that Fletcher knew Patrick was having issues made this signing that much more important.

Jake been on the ice for 20 ES scoring chances, Laughton 13.

And out of that 13, I'm pretty sure Twarynski has generated about half of them.

(And yeah, Jake is not playing well by his standards)
- Tomahawk

I think I may have been looking at the wrong column. Voracek has also been on the ice for 18 SCFA compared to 8 for Laughton. SCF% is 61.90% for Laughton to 52.63% for Voracek.

You talked about scoring chances before in our Frost discussion. The Flyers have had more scoring chances with Laughton on the ice than with Voracek on the ice. Offensively the biggest issue the Flyers have right now is not Laughton or the 3rd line, its the Hayes/Giroux/Voracek combo not producing.
- MJL

I can’t get worked up about the 4th line. I said before that the 3rd line is braking even, which isn’t bad since Patrick is injuried and they decided to let Farabee gain experience and confidence. That will work out later I hope which will then upgrade the 4th line significantly.

On the whole, the 4th line is just okay. Bunny is new and adapting. Raffl spelling at center isn’t ideal, but they can try Bunny back at center and see. Either way, I still believe the 4th line is way better than last season.

I'm liking this. They didn't have much zip Saturday. But they stifled the Canucks for the most part. The great thing is they have other big skilled guys cooking in the wings. I can see 2 to 3 years down the road where guys like JVR, Jake and perhaps Hayes and their big cap hits are moved to make room for the young guys on their ELC deals to move up. Schenn is moved. Did we want him for 8 more years at 6 plus mil per? Simmer is gone. Did we want to pay him 5 mil per year? I like the moves Fletch has made so far. I like Hayes so far. The fact that Fletcher knew Patrick was having issues made this signing that much more important.
- jaws1955

Moving players with large cap hits normally means there are going to be some negatives attached to it.

Not according to this.

http://naturalstattrick.c...ines=single&draftteam=ALL
- MJL

SCF = Scoring Chances For

The good news is that one scoring line is L2. And they're not just scoring, they're dominating.

You know G and JvR will start cashing in. Jake and Hayes too, probably.

Not worried.

If you really want something to get worked up about, we can talk about how shaky L4 has looked, and how Laughton has been mostly irrelevant offensively.
- Tomahawk

Is it really line two? It has the number one center on it. It has your number 1 and number 3 goal scorers from last year on it. Oskar had 17. Hayes had 19, Jake 20 and G 23.

SCF = Scoring Chances For
- Tomahawk

Edited my comment. Still shows that the top line is the biggest issue offensively on the team right now.

Is it really line two? It has the number one center on it. It has your number 1 and number 3 goal scorers on it. Oskar had 17. Hayes had 19, Jake 20 and G 23.
- jaws1955

It's debatable which line is which -- been a long time since we could say that.

Bunnaman is a center so why is raffl playing center? If they're not gonna let bunny man the middle they should bring up ruby

Is it really line two? It has the number one center on it. It has your number 1 and number 3 goal scorers from last year on it. Oskar had 17. Hayes had 19, Jake 20 and G 23.
- jaws1955

This crossed my mind. I call any line centered by Coots L1, but it’s not very important...I don’t want to offend (as I’m a G supporter myself) and pointing this out can bring out those 3C folks.

Edited my comment. Still shows that the top line is the biggest issue offensively on the team right now.
- MJL

G's line has been dominating in the shot share, generated near 30 scoring chances so far, but have scored 0 ES goals. It's not a matter of them playing poorly as a line as much as unsustainable bad luck. Posts, shanking shots, huge saves, etc. G should have 3-4 goals by himself.

Moving players with large cap hits normally means there are going to be some negatives attached to it.
- MJL

It's all relative. The team has to constantly evolve. I know trading Schenn had negatives. It affected the team the last two years. That and moving Simmer took 50 plus goals a year from the line up. The key for moving guys is doing it when there is demand, like Schenn as opposed to the Simmer trade. That being said, since I get MSG and have watched all the Devils games, I would rather have Pitick at 1 million per this year than Simmer at 5 mil. I love Simmer but it was time to move on.
At this point I am dying to see Farabee and Frost and I want them more than Schenn at 6 mil plus. FOR 8 FREAKING YEARS.

Bunnaman is a center so why is raffl playing center? If they're not gonna let bunny man the middle they should bring up ruby
- bulet13

I think Bunny is doing well considering. I imagine he will be tried at center again. He is a clear upgrade from last year’s options. He will improve with experience. Once again, 3 games in...

G's line has been dominating in the shot share, generated near 30 scoring chances so far, but have scored 0 ES goals. It's not a matter of them playing poorly as a line as much as unsustainable bad luck. Posts, shanking shots, huge saves, etc. G should have 3-4 goals by himself.
- Tomahawk

They're both the two top point players on the team. Scoring chances are not enough. Their also giving up the most chances against on the team. Why do you ignore that? I understand it's only 3 games but they have to be better and produce more. It's a fair criticism so far. Look at the zone starts? When looking at all the info, they're not really playing that well as a line.