Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Projected Line Combinations; Phantoms and Titans

Happy Friday!! A week and a day til the puck drops!!!

I'd prefer that Fedetenko and Talbot switch lines, but we'll see.

I'd prefer that Fedetenko and Talbot switch lines, but we'll see.
- MJL

You beat me to it.......from what I saw from Fedetenko in the playoffs last year, Talbot is younger, faster, and may have more to offer offensively.

What's the general sense like in Flyersville? On paper, other than Giroux, Hartnell, Timonen, I'm not overly impressed with the roster and that kinda shocked me when I read this blog. What are the expectations?

And yes, I know the Habs suck.........

Bill, any chance they move Briere to the wing for B Schenn at Center? It would make sense at least from an injury standpoint. Give Briere's wrist a break from some faceoffs at least early on.

What's the general sense like in Flyersville? On paper, other than Giroux, Hartnell, Timonen, I'm not overly impressed with the roster and that kinda shocked me when I read this blog. What are the expectations?

And yes, I know the Habs suck.........
- muffin_man

The defense could be a concern, the goaltending doesn't inspire confidence, the forwards are the strength of the team. The Flyers will make the playoffs but will be around 6th-7th seed. What is your take on the habs?

What's the general sense like in Flyersville? On paper, other than Giroux, Hartnell, Timonen, I'm not overly impressed with the roster and that kinda shocked me when I read this blog. What are the expectations?

And yes, I know the Habs suck.........
- muffin_man

High upside on the top 3 lines. Question marks elsewhere. Flyers status quo.

What's the general sense like in Flyersville? On paper, other than Giroux, Hartnell, Timonen, I'm not overly impressed with the roster and that kinda shocked me when I read this blog. What are the expectations?

And yes, I know the Habs suck.........
- muffin_man

Up front, the Flyers should be fine. That is assuming that Briere is OK, Schenn and Couturier continue their development, Read plays like he did as a rookie and Simmonds builds upon or maintains his career-best season pace of last year. If most of that happens, it's a good group of forwards.

The D is barely adequate even if everyone is healthy. The Coburn-Grossmann pairing was tremendous down the stretch last year and did a great job at even strength against the Malkin line in Games 1-3 and 6 of the playoffs last year. But the Flyers really need another good mobile puck-moving D man and another power play type of D. There is no replacing Chris Pronger and when you add in the need to replace Pronger AND Matt Carle AND to work around Andrej Meszaros' torn Achilles tendon AND hope Timonen holds up after back surgery last summer.... well, it's a lot to ask.

With Bryzgalov, who knows what the Flyers will get? If they get the guy who was NHL player of the month in March after setting a franchise shutout streak record, they're fine. If they get "lost in the woods" Bryz, they're not.

Up front, the Flyers should be fine. That is assuming that Briere is OK, Schenn and Couturier continue their development, Read plays like he did as a rookie and Simmonds builds upon or maintains his career-best season pace of last year. If most of that happens, it's a good group of forwards.

The D is barely adequate even if everyone is healthy. The Coburn-Grossmann pairing was tremendous down the stretch last year and did a great job at even strength against the Malkin line in Games 1-3 and 6 of the playoffs last year. But the Flyers really need another good mobile puck-moving D man and another power play type of D. There is no replacing Chris Pronger and when you add in the need to replace Pronger AND Matt Carle AND to work around Andrej Meszaros' torn Achilles tendon AND hope Timonen holds up after back surgery last summer.... well, it's a lot to ask.

With Bryzgalov, who knows what the Flyers will get? If they get the guy who was NHL player of the month in March after setting a franchise shutout streak record, they're fine. If they get "lost in the woods" Bryz, they're not.
- bmeltzer

Just imagine if they hadn't traded JVR for Luke Schenn. They likely would have made another move, but no guarantee you're getting someone close to Schenn's pedigree/potential.

I'd prefer that Fedetenko and Talbot switch lines, but we'll see.
- MJL

I completely agree. I think Coots and Read's offensive game takes a step back with Rusty and I'm not ready to go with two scoring lines and a checking line yet. I don't think we get enough goals from top two.

Up front, the Flyers should be fine. That is assuming that Briere is OK, Schenn and Couturier continue their development, Read plays like he did as a rookie and Simmonds builds upon or maintains his career-best season pace of last year. If most of that happens, it's a good group of forwards.

The D is barely adequate even if everyone is healthy. The Coburn-Grossmann pairing was tremendous down the stretch last year and did a great job at even strength against the Malkin line in Games 1-3 and 6 of the playoffs last year. But the Flyers really need another good mobile puck-moving D man and another power play type of D. There is no replacing Chris Pronger and when you add in the need to replace Pronger AND Matt Carle AND to work around Andrej Meszaros' torn Achilles tendon AND hope Timonen holds up after back surgery last summer.... well, it's a lot to ask.

With Bryzgalov, who knows what the Flyers will get? If they get the guy who was NHL player of the month in March after setting a franchise shutout streak record, they're fine. If they get "lost in the woods" Bryz, they're not.
- bmeltzer

Up front, the Flyers should be fine. That is assuming that Briere is OK, Schenn and Couturier continue their development, Read plays like he did as a rookie and Simmonds builds upon or maintains his career-best season pace of last year. If most of that happens, it's a good group of forwards.

The D is barely adequate even if everyone is healthy. The Coburn-Grossmann pairing was tremendous down the stretch last year and did a great job at even strength against the Malkin line in Games 1-3 and 6 of the playoffs last year. But the Flyers really need another good mobile puck-moving D man and another power play type of D. There is no replacing Chris Pronger and when you add in the need to replace Pronger AND Matt Carle AND to work around Andrej Meszaros' torn Achilles tendon AND hope Timonen holds up after back surgery last summer.... well, it's a lot to ask.

With Bryzgalov, who knows what the Flyers will get? If they get the guy who was NHL player of the month in March after setting a franchise shutout streak record, they're fine. If they get "lost in the woods" Bryz, they're not.
- bmeltzer

A somewhat healthy Mezsaros, and Briere coupled with some solid, consistent goaltending from Bryzgalov and this is a legit playoff contender, things go the other way with injuries and poor goaltending and this is a team that probably misses the playoffs. So many variables, especially in a short season.

The fact the question has to be asked which Bryz do the Flyers get indicates it is a poor signing. When you sign a guy to that type of contract, you better know damn well what you are getting.
I'm keeping an open mind this year with him. I could care less about all the off the ice stuff that the media blows out of proportion, everything else besides him stopping the puck should mean nothing to anyone.

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Projected Line Combinations; Phantoms and Titans
- bmeltzer

Your line ideas are similar to mine. I wish that Ben Holmstrom hadn't wrecked his knee. He'd be a solid fit at 4th line center, freeing Talbot for wing and allowing the Flyers to ignore the impulse to rush Laughton.

After a few exchanges with CHL/OHL guys, I'm really onboard with the keep Laughton in Oshawa camp.

The overall sense I get from the roster is one of solidity, not "spectacularity". The top 9 is at least solid, more likely pretty strong. Each of the top three lines has at least one guy capable of scoring 20 goals and another capable offensive player.

The top four is also solid. The concern is obviously depth, because that top four is going to be asked to do a lot of heavy lifting, at least until Meszaros is ready to play and even then he's unlikely to be at 100%.

Still the Flyers should have some wiggle room cap wise to add defensive help if need be, and hopefully will get some good news on Erik Gustafsson. I'm not crazy about the defense, but it's not as bad as some paint it.

Do we have any open roster spots at the moment or are we just that close to the Danny Syvret experience?

Do we have any open roster spots at the moment or are we just that close to the Danny Syvret experience?
- hereticpride

There's a handful of open spots. Syvret could end up in the mix, considering his small cap hit and being signed for two more years

Also, let's not forget they might be in on-ugh-Kurtis Foster

http://www.delcotimes.com...0ef9bc073b41302670243.txt

High upside on the top 3 lines. Question marks elsewhere. Flyers status quo.
- hereticpride

See I dont even see the high end forwards. Lots of potential in Read and Couts but simmonds, and jake are still young while briere and fedotenko are declining.

I hope you do well just so you dont get a good pick

With the uncertainty surrounding Mezsaros, and with Gustafsson, and MAB not options anytime soon, I would be very surprised if the Flyers didn't bring in a Campoli/R. Jones/K Foster before the start of the season. The blueline is extremely thin right now.

The defense could be a concern, the goaltending doesn't inspire confidence, the forwards are the strength of the team. The Flyers will make the playoffs but will be around 6th-7th seed. What is your take on the habs?
- killercam

Pacioretty - Desharnais - Cole (all 3 had career years. cant expect that)
Bourque - Plekanec - Gionta (sigh)
Moen - Gomez - Armstrong
Prust - Eller - White

What do you think my take is? Price may just do well enough on his own to ruin a lottery pick but thats it

See I dont even see the high end forwards. Lots of potential in Read and Couts but simmonds, and jake are still young while briere and fedotenko are declining.

I hope you do well just so you dont get a good pick
- muffin_man

Read and Simmonds are coming off 20+ goal seasons. Voracek is 23. Brayden Schenn is 22 and was at a PPG clip in the AHL on a team where he and Couturier were pretty much the entire offense(and as such the target of opposing coaches). He also scored 12 goals in just 54 games last year as a rookie.

The Flyers do need guys to avoid sophomore slumps, though.

See I dont even see the high end forwards. Lots of potential in Read and Couts but simmonds, and jake are still young while briere and fedotenko are declining.

I hope you do well just so you dont get a good pick
- muffin_man

Simmonds, Read, and Voracek combined for 70 goals last year. That's pretty damn good. And Voracek is going to be playing with Giroux this year.

With the uncertainty surrounding Mezsaros, and with Gustafsson, and MAB not options anytime soon, I would be very surprised if the Flyers didn't bring in a Campoli/R. Jones/K Foster before the start of the season. The blueline is extremely thin right now.
- PLindbergh31

I would be surprised if they weren't in on several guys. Rob Parent says they're in on Foster, but he's the least attractive to me. He's big, but not physical. Has a great shot, but can get exposed by fast skaters on the PP point, leading to PK scoring opportunities against. He's injury prone and slow.

AT least with Jones, you know the guy can be solid in limited play. Campoli seems to be very similar to Jones. Mark Eaton would be interesting, but he's as fragile as a wineglass in a earthquake.

Read and Simmonds are coming off 20+ goal seasons. Voracek is 23. Brayden Schenn is 22 and was at a PPG clip in the AHL on a team where he and Couturier were pretty much the entire offense(and as such the target of opposing coaches). He also scored 12 goals in just 54 games last year as a rookie.

The Flyers do need guys to avoid sophomore slumps, though.
- Jsaquella

I guess this and the career years are where i had my question marks...

anyway, was just curious

With the uncertainty surrounding Mezsaros, and with Gustafsson, and MAB not options anytime soon, I would be very surprised if the Flyers didn't bring in a Campoli/R. Jones/K Foster before the start of the season. The blueline is extremely thin right now.
- PLindbergh31

Campoli SUCKS

I would be surprised if they weren't in on several guys. Rob Parent says they're in on Foster, but he's the least attractive to me. He's big, but not physical. Has a great shot, but can get exposed by fast skaters on the PP point, leading to PK scoring opportunities against. He's injury prone and slow.

AT least with Jones, you know the guy can be solid in limited play. Campoli seems to be very similar to Jones. Mark Eaton would be interesting, but he's as fragile as a wineglass in a earthquake.
- Jsaquella

None of the guys out there are great shakes by any means, it's just the fact that you need another experienced body. Just say Meszaros is still 3-4 weeks away, you are going to have Gervais, and Lilja in there every night, with Brandon Manning likely the first call up. That scares the hell out of me.