Less everything. He's like the non-alcoholic version of Ryan Parent.
- Tomahawk

Exactly who I thought of as well

As the head coach, Tort's job is to win games and Torts will continue to play Luchanko as long as Torts feels gives his team the best chance to win. Its up to Briere to take the inputs from Torts, weigh other factors, and decide what is best for Luchanko's development. All I am saying is there is a chance Breire decides that Luchanko playing good minutes in all situations in the NHL is better for his development than going back to a bad Guelph team. The Flyers needs at center will be one of those factors unfortunately.
- jd250

this should not even come into the equation frankly. It is not about this year - you passed on a potential #1 dman and took a swing w a kid that appears to have upside. If Torts is fixated on this kid and puts his coaching record ahead of development we have bigger issues.

The kid has played well but its not like he is lighting it up. He has been fine but he still needs work.

Less offensive Ghost?
- mickel25

it certainly appears that way at the moment. Still young but with his penchant for taking massive hits every other game and his on-ice IQ I am not encouraged. He is lost on the defensive side of the puck.

I want to be wrong and hope he improves drastically.

Ok, maybe terrible is the wrong word. I think average is a bit lenient. The Flyers are a below average team in faceoffs in general. The above comments were not meant to be a slight against Frost specifically. Right now the Flyers are 28th in the league at 45% FOW. Last season they were slightly better at 19th in the league, but still under 50%. You don't have to be the top team in the league, last year Pittsburgh was 1st and the Devils were 3rd, but to contend a team needs to be about 50% FOW.
- jd250

if Frost can stay average, you can live with it, he brings other stuff to the table. Ryan P and Coots needs to be lights out, someone that can take that a big draw.

Nobody played that sequence well.

Ersson deserved a bit of help there.
- Tomahawk

TS getting tripped started whole sequence and MM was near the net and that play. That's what left TK alone to try to defend from behind with CM on a breakaway. Perhaps MM could have tried to get back to LD to keep him from the rebound but even that was a very low priority. I didn't really mind MM on that one because the save was made on CM but the rebound was just left sitting there. It's a more difficult call than at first glance.

Thinking that defending McDavid and Draisaitl together is nothing more than a simple backdoor coverage is very unintelligent. They play at such a high speed that to an uninformed eye like yours it may look like the Flyers were puck watching, but in reality they were just overwhelmed. Its going to happen when you play them a few times a game, you just have to hope it doesn't happen too often or you hope your goalie can bail you out, and Ersson did on several occasions.
- jd250

the back hand pass by LD to McD, and then the pull up, yea puck watching, but high skill play.

Less everything. He's like the non-alcoholic version of Ryan Parent.
- Tomahawk

Sadly, not a bad comp as it stands right now

TS getting tripped started whole sequence and MM was near the net and that play. That's what left TK alone to try to defend from behind with CM on a breakaway. Perhaps MM could have tried to get back to LD to keep him from the rebound but even that was a very low priority. I didn't really mind MM on that one because the save was made on CM but the rebound was just left sitting there. It's a more difficult call than at first glance.
- Letterkenney

TK gets credit for getting back but he saw Sanheim wipe out and hit the board hard at the other end, he had to know that it was gonna be 2v3 for awhile. A player with more defensive awareness wouldn't have chased McDavid behind the net there leaving two Oilers out front with a rookie who has a love for flying the zone early.

Not arguing it wasn't a fundamental breakdown, but wht you fail to understand is McDavid and Draisait will cause those breakdowns to occur simple by the pure speed they play the game at and the chemistry they have with each other. And l'm not blaming Sanheim. I'm just saying I am sick and tired of seeing him out there in the 3 on 3 OT. He is not the offensive defenseman some believe him to be. I am tired of watching him skate and create chances only to not finish. I'm already sick of Tippet for the same reason. I would rather see Drysdale out there to start. Like I have said, in OT the object is to score, not defend. I put TK, Michkov and Drysdale out there against McDavid and Draisaitl and try to get those two guys to defend.
- jd250

Even after I explain it to you, you still can't grasp it. The breakdown on the Edmonton game tying goal was not about speed. The play that you criticized Sanheim for, he was taking the puck to the net to try and score. Now here you are saying the object in OT is trying to score. LOL, can't make it up. Sanheim belongs on the ice in OT.

I don't think Drysdale has been bad. On Michkov's 2nd goal, he was extremely good keeping the puck in the zone at the blueline. I just want to see Drysdale play at least 60 games and not be stuck with Johnson as a partner (Johnson needs to stay in the pressbox). I believe we are seeing the Torts hazing of earning playing time, just like York at the start of last season.
Hopefully there will be progression. Last night, the inability to get the puck out of the defensive zone was a team wide problem last night.
- Trox88

Gotta let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, not for Drysdale apparently. Kid just needs to play. He will get better. He has rarely ever played significant stretches of games. Only 2 of his season played actually count in the sense that he played less than 25 games in 2 seasons (24 and 8). If he didnt have the 81 game season under his belt hed be considered a rookie last season.

Let’s be realistic re Couts. Best case, he’s a 3rd line center at this point. More realistically, he’s a 4th line center who can kill penalties. Worst case, he’s well on his way to spending the 2nd half of his extension on LTIR.

Again, this is why you don’t re-sign guys pushing 30 to 8 year deals unless they are elite superstars. These deals rarely age well.

TS getting tripped started whole sequence and MM was near the net and that play. That's what left TK alone to try to defend from behind with CM on a breakaway. Perhaps MM could have tried to get back to LD to keep him from the rebound but even that was a very low priority. I didn't really mind MM on that one because the save was made on CM but the rebound was just left sitting there. It's a more difficult call than at first glance.
- Letterkenney

Tripped or not after Sanheim went hard to the net and missed the shot the Oilers would have gained possession and McDavid would’ve been off to the races anyway. It looked like the Flyers, on the ice, felt the same way that I did when the Oilers gained possession; it’s over.

Gotta let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, not for Drysdale apparently. Kid just needs to play. He will get better. He has rarely ever played significant stretches of games. Only 2 of his season played actually count in the sense that he played less than 25 games in 2 seasons (24 and 8). If he didnt have the 81 game season under his belt hed be considered a rookie last season.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

says who? you hope he gets better.

https://x.com/rwesthead/s...rmation.2969548%2Fpage-64

Gotta let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, not for Drysdale apparently. Kid just needs to play. He will get better. He has rarely ever played significant stretches of games. Only 2 of his season played actually count in the sense that he played less than 25 games in 2 seasons (24 and 8). If he didnt have the 81 game season under his belt hed be considered a rookie last season.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

We hope he will get better. If he keeps putting himself in a position to get laid out every other game it is going to be tough for him to remain in the lineup.

I don't think Drysdale has been bad. On Michkov's 2nd goal, he was extremely good keeping the puck in the zone at the blueline. I just want to see Drysdale play at least 60 games and not be stuck with Johnson as a partner (Johnson needs to stay in the pressbox). I believe we are seeing the Torts hazing of earning playing time, just like York at the start of last season.
Hopefully there will be progression. Last night, the inability to get the puck out of the defensive zone was a team wide problem last night.
- Trox88

The first two games of the season, Drysdale was brutally bad.

TK gets credit for getting back but he saw Sanheim wipe out and hit the board hard at the other end, he had to know that it was gonna be 2v3 for awhile. A player with more defensive awareness wouldn't have chased McDavid behind the net there leaving two Oilers out front with a rookie who has a love for flying the zone early.
- Tomahawk

That's correct. The right approach on that sequence is containment to the outside and protect the middle of the ice. Neither player back did that.

Gotta let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, not for Drysdale apparently. Kid just needs to play. He will get better. He has rarely ever played significant stretches of games. Only 2 of his season played actually count in the sense that he played less than 25 games in 2 seasons (24 and 8). If he didnt have the 81 game season under his belt hed be considered a rookie last season.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

It's not about mistakes. It's about looking completely lost in the first two games. Like he doesn't belong in the league. Again, he has played enough NHL games to be better than that. He appeared to improve some last night.

Let’s be realistic re Couts. Best case, he’s a 3rd line center at this point. More realistically, he’s a 4th line center who can kill penalties. Worst case, he’s well on his way to spending the 2nd half of his extension on LTIR.

Again, this is why you don’t re-sign guys pushing 30 to 8 year deals unless they are elite superstars. These deals rarely age well.
- BiggE

I'm not there yet with Couturier.

Gotta let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, not for Drysdale apparently. Kid just needs to play. He will get better. He has rarely ever played significant stretches of games. Only 2 of his season played actually count in the sense that he played less than 25 games in 2 seasons (24 and 8). If he didnt have the 81 game season under his belt hed be considered a rookie last season.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

But he did and he isn't. Also, in those 150 games he was and is receiving significant minutes. It's not like he is EJ or Andrae playing sparingly or not at all, he was getting nearly 20 min a night. We're probably going to disagree on whether nearly 3000 minutes of ice time means something towards development. I think it means he's had quite the opportunity already to develop and show progress.

Andrae would kill for the benefit of the doubt that Drysdale get's from the coaches. If you are going to let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, for 99% of the players, Torts is the wrong coach.

But he did and he isn't. Also, in those 150 games he was and is receiving significant minutes. It's not like he is EJ or Andrae playing sparingly or not at all, he was getting nearly 20 min a night. We're probably going to disagree on whether nearly 3000 minutes of ice time means something towards development. I think it means he's had quite the opportunity already to develop and show progress.

Andrae would kill for the benefit of the doubt that Drysdale get's from the coaches. If you are going to let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, for 99% of the players, Torts is the wrong coach.
- Flyers_01

if Frost can stay average, you can live with it, he brings other stuff to the table. Ryan P and Coots needs to be lights out, someone that can take that a big draw.
- wcorvette

Yes!

Even after I explain it to you, you still can't grasp it. The breakdown on the Edmonton game tying goal was not about speed. The play that you criticized Sanheim for, he was taking the puck to the net to try and score. Now here you are saying the object in OT is trying to score. LOL, can't make it up. Sanheim belongs on the ice in OT.
- MJL

Just like always, Sanheim took the puck to the net and couldn't finish. That's my point. I want Drysdale out there in OT.

But he did and he isn't. Also, in those 150 games he was and is receiving significant minutes. It's not like he is EJ or Andrae playing sparingly or not at all, he was getting nearly 20 min a night. We're probably going to disagree on whether nearly 3000 minutes of ice time means something towards development. I think it means he's had quite the opportunity already to develop and show progress.

Andrae would kill for the benefit of the doubt that Drysdale get's from the coaches. If you are going to let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, for 99% of the players, Torts is the wrong coach.
- Flyers_01

The almost have to give him the benefit of the doubt. torts said he wanted jd in the trade, they traded the #5 oa pick for him. The flyers already look foolish for cg stating that he did not want to play here -- so really what choice do they have?

FWIW - I am in complete agreement with your statement at EA

But he did and he isn't. Also, in those 150 games he was and is receiving significant minutes. It's not like he is EJ or Andrae playing sparingly or not at all, he was getting nearly 20 min a night. We're probably going to disagree on whether nearly 3000 minutes of ice time means something towards development. I think it means he's had quite the opportunity already to develop and show progress.

Andrae would kill for the benefit of the doubt that Drysdale get's from the coaches. If you are going to let the kids make mistakes and learn from them, for 99% of the players, Torts is the wrong coach.
- Flyers_01

Difference is Drysdale high 1st round pick. Andrae mid 2nd round. 1st rounders always get more benefit of the doubt