Bill Meltzer: Gagne Retires, Hexy Talks Development, Camp Updates & More

Fantastic write up on Gagne. What a fabulous player. I wish him all the best in retirement.

Great tribute to a great player. I wish things had ended better for him in Philly but that doesn't take away from his legacy and how much the fans love/loved him. Really happy he won the cup in LA- he deserved it.

Hey Michael Raffl.....no pressure with wearing #12 for this franchise.

Great expose on Gagne Bill. One of my favorite Flyers of his era.

Anyone going to camp today? I might make the trek over to Voorhees.

(frank)ing love Gagne.

Imagine being him when he got that phone call telling him he was gonna be playing with Foppa

Congrats to Gagne on a good career. Happy to see that fences were mended between him and Holmgren, and hope he has a great life moving forward.

Gostisbehere feels like he is in better shape to stand up to the rigors of the pro season. Any fears that the speed-oriented player's skating might be adversely affected by the ACL tear were put to rest when he performed about the same in his skating tests in camp this year as he did a year ago.
- bmeltzer

That is fantastic news. His speed and skating are two of his best assets and I was legitimately worried that there might be some loss there.

If Hextall wanted the rookies to play a game maybe he could have called his old buddy Garth Snow in Brooklyn and offered to pay the bus fare for the Islanders prospects to come to Vorhees.

If Hextall wanted the rookies to play a game maybe he could have called his old buddy Garth Snow in Brooklyn and offered to pay the bus fare for the Islanders prospects to come to Vorhees.
- Feanor

He tried, but Snow wasn't able to reach the phone behind his leg pads.

Goal is to finish 28th and win the lottery.
- jmatchett383

Power to them if it works out for them!

#tankformatthews

... kidding.

Saying prov was the most impressive in 1 on 1 has he or any the day prospects stood a leg above the others? I understand it's a teaching camp but someone could be a quicker learner and have more sense and simply perform better.

#tankformatthews

... kidding.

Saying prov was the most impressive in 1 on 1 has he or any the day prospects stood a leg above the others? I understand it's a teaching camp but someone could be a quicker learner and have more sense and simply perform better.
- Tfaehner

I haven't been there, but all of the reports have said the Provorov was the "most NHL-ready" defenseman in this past year's draft, so I'm assuming that he's probably going to stand out above everyone else.

Thanks Bill. Early morning, eh? Salute to Gags, and his continued love for the team, and the fans. I don't really care for how he was treated after his second go around with the team, but it was great to hear that at least they recognized his father's passing. Maybe a front office job is in his future?
Great insight into the player development process. Much appreciated.
Good to hear about Ghost, and I can't wait to see how he does this season. It would be great to see some clips from the Phantoms in the Buzz; since I can only afford to purchase Center Ice, and not the AHL equivalent. Maybe I shouldn't push my luck with Bill, since he does really a lot for us already.

Goal is to finish 28th and win the lottery.
- jmatchett383

We'd go for 30th, but the Oilers are tough competition

We'd go for 30th, but the Oilers are tough competition
- funmaster18

We just don't have the tanking experience they do.

/farts
- johndewar

If Hextall wanted the rookies to play a game maybe he could have called his old buddy Garth Snow in Brooklyn and offered to pay the bus fare for the Islanders prospects to come to Vorhees.
- Feanor

Hipster Islanders are tool busy trying to bring back Cooperalls, but only ironically.

We'd go for 30th, but the Oilers are tough competition
- funmaster18

Pretty funny I skimmed my first season in the new NHL 16 and the Oilers still had the #1 overall pick for the 2016 draft

I haven't been there, but all of the reports have said the Provorov was the "most NHL-ready" defenseman in this past year's draft, so I'm assuming that he's probably going to stand out above everyone else.
- jmatchett383

Of the draft class but Morin has arguably gotten better and was last year's final cut. Gost played in the nhl last year. So for me if provorov is a head above both them that's very impressive and would be a hard sell for me to send him back to juniors

Of the draft class but Morin has arguably gotten better and was last year's final cut. Gost played in the nhl last year. So for me if provorov is a head above both them that's very impressive and would be a hard sell for me to send him back to juniors
- Tfaehner

If Provorov were 20 or older, he'd probably make the Flyers roster. The fact that 1) he's still eligible to develop in the WHL and 2) his ELC can slide for 2 more years makes it likely that he's sent back, unless he REALLY impresses at full camp. Morin and Ghost have much better shots at the NHL roster since they are officially pros and are further along in their development cycles. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily better right now.

Pretty funny I skimmed my first season in the new NHL 16 and the Oilers still had the #1 overall pick for the 2016 draft
- arichardson22

it's (frank)ing fixed

If Provorov were 20 or older, he'd probably make the Flyers roster. The fact that 1) he's still eligible to develop in the WHL and 2) his ELC can slide for 2 more years makes it likely that he's sent back, unless he REALLY impresses at full camp. Morin and Ghost have much better shots at the NHL roster since they are officially pros and are further along in their development cycles. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily better right now.
- jmatchett383

My thoughts exactly. I'm fine with one or more of the kids making the roster on D, but if, and only if, they CLEARLY stand out as one of our top 4. Same pretty much with Laughton. If he outright wins a spot in the top 9, keep him up. If not, send him down.

If Provorov were 20 or older, he'd probably make the Flyers roster. The fact that 1) he's still eligible to develop in the WHL and 2) his ELC can slide for 2 more years makes it likely that he's sent back, unless he REALLY impresses at full camp. Morin and Ghost have much better shots at the NHL roster since they are officially pros and are further along in their development cycles. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily better right now.
- jmatchett383

Provy is interesting to me. You're probably right that he's going back to the WHL, but if he dominates there again against that talent, what else can he learn? He probably needs to be pushed against pros at the AHL level, which is not an option..(of note, I hate that rule).

Are you guys going to actually make the playoffs with McDavid or is another lottery win in your future?

Also, Hextall isn't fat! He's still a rake..haha

Joking aside, if the Oil make no strides this year, it's time to start trading some of those 25 first rounders to change the mix..
- Hextall271

If it wasn't for the draft lottery, I would have forgotten that Edmonton was still in the league years ago.