Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Snoozer of a Loss, Briere, Quick Hits

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Snoozer of a Loss, Briere, Quick Hits
- bmeltzer

wow, who saw this coming?

it's over Johnny....

I appreciate all of your work, Bill. It certainly is a disgrace that team doesn't give effort playing out the rest of the season. However, that is exactly what happened yesterday, and I thought to a lesser degree against Ottawa.

In my opinion, the team has tuned Lava out. I don't see the effort getting much better, which I'm not thrilled about, but I think will be a reality. If the goaltenders put in strong games, then I think the team can win (however, the exact thing happened the last two nights).

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Snoozer of a Loss, Briere, Quick Hits
- bmeltzer

Thank you for pointing out the horrible defensive play of many of the Flyers forwards. I have been arguing for months that while the D has certainly struggled at times and Bryz is no Bernie Parent, without a commitment to solid D and backchecking by the forwards good team defense is impossible.

Bill,
Lets talk about what they do from here. A top 5-ish draft pick is a given. What about the UFA market this summer. Do we buyout Bryz and go after a Nabokov and let Mason and Nabokov compete? In buying out Briere do we have room for a decent UFA to help with scoring like a Dustin Penner or a Ryane Clowe? Who do you think would be a good fit UFA for our needs? Mark Streit is getting a little long in the tooth. We still need to sure up the D corps assuming what we have comes back healthy. And I'm not certain Mezaros will be.

One forward who was truly awful yesterday was Hartnell. I would love to see him take a seat in the pressbox for a few games and McGinn given a chance to play in his spot. Assuming Briere stays in the lineup, I would go with the following lines from here on out.

Couturier-Giroux-Voracek
Gagne-Briere-Simmonds
McGinn-Schenn-Read
Fedotenko/Hartnell-Hall-Knuble/Fedotenko

It would be nice to see what Couturier can do with some top end talent on his line and if you are going to play Briere, you may as well let him play center so he can best audition for his next team.

Bill,
Lets talk about what they do from here. A top 5-ish draft pick is a given. What about the UFA market this summer. Do we buyout Bryz and go after a Nabokov and let Mason and Nabokov compete? In buying out Briere do we have room for a decent UFA to help with scoring like a Dustin Penner or a Ryane Clowe? Who do you think would be a good fit UFA for our needs? Mark Streit is getting a little long in the tooth. We still need to sure up the D corps assuming what we have comes back healthy. And I'm not certain Mezaros will be.
- section32

Nabokov is under contract next year and I, and hopefully Holmgren, want no part of Penner.
Streit would be a nice fit, as long as the price isn't too ridiculous.

Nabokov is under contract next year and I, and hopefully Holmgren, want no part of Penner.
Streit would be a nice fit, as long as the price isn't too ridiculous.
- BiggE

Did they extend Navikov recently? Cap Geek shows him as a UFA for next year.

wow, who saw this coming?

it's over Johnny....
- watsonnostaw

While I didn't think they would be THIS bad, I did think they were going have to struggle just to make the playoffs this year.
When you lose Jagr and JVR up front, and your only replacement is Fedotenko, your offense is going to suffer, especially when both Briere and Hartnell were injured at the start of the year. Also while L. Schenn has had a very good season, he is not a replacement for Pronger and lord knows Gervais/Foster is not a replacement for Carle. Add all that to a high-maintenance and good but not great goalie, a coach too stubborn to adjust his system to better fit the available talent and no backup goalie and you have a recipe for disaster!

Did they extend Navikov recently? Cap Geek shows him as a UFA for next year.
- section32

I thought I read somewhere that they did just a couple weeks ago. Bill can you please advise?

Some may consider that good news, because each successive Flyers loss improves their chances at winning the top pick in the NHL Draft lottery. Personally, I consider it a disgrace for a team to barely make an effort to play out the string rather than being professionals who fight the good fight. -Bill Meltzer

Amen to that Bill. Draft picks are nice but no one has a crystal ball that tells them how these players will turn out. Furthermore the Flyers have drafted very well without a top 10 pick over the years... just sickening.

As for Briere, I also agree wiith your sentiments not only because of his contributions on and off the ice, but the organization has an obligation to ice the best team possible. So if Briere is healthy he plays, despite my own personal gripes with his play I know he's better offensively than anyone they call up from the phantoms.

Good to see the signings with the non-NHL players, looks like the organization is working hard on developing Defensemen and goaltenders or at least stocking the prospect shelf.

Lava has to go. It has seemed almost all season that he had lost the team. So who makes sense as the coach for next year. They need a new coach, some d-men and a new attitude. Maybe having no Lava will fix the attitude. This team to me has seemed uninterested almost all year.

That was pathetic. But their lottery chances may not be! Get ready to bend over Monday as Montreal will be ticked about their game yesterday. Top 3 pick is in our future let's hope the listless stay in the lineup!

I thought I read somewhere that they did just a couple weeks ago. Bill can you please advise?
- BiggE

Sorry, my bad. The article says the Islanders are working on an extension for Nabokov.

That was pathetic. But their lottery chances may not be! Get ready to bend over Monday as Montreal will be ticked about their game yesterday. Top 3 pick is in our future let's hope the listless stay in the lineup!
- Just5

I'm with you, I would be shocked if the Flyers pick up even one point in their back to backs with Montreal/Rangers

One forward who was truly awful yesterday was Hartnell. I would love to see him take a seat in the pressbox for a few games and McGinn given a chance to play in his spot. Assuming Briere stays in the lineup, I would go with the following lines from here on out.

Couturier-Giroux-Voracek
Gagne-Briere-Simmonds
McGinn-Schenn-Read
Fedotenko/Hartnell-Hall-Knuble/Fedotenko

It would be nice to see what Couturier can do with some top end talent on his line and if you are going to play Briere, you may as well let him play center so he can best audition for his next team.
- BiggE

I remember summer of 2011 many wanted hartnell gone. "he falls too much, he sucks blah blah blah." But I remembered all the positives, he's very durable especially for a guy who goes to the dirty areas of the ice, is good for 20+ goals a season, goes toe to toe with agitators/enforcers who take runs at teammates and well he had a heckuva 2010 playoffs. My opinion despite this piss poor season from him hasn't changed. I think it's fair to write this off and bring him back another season and if it don't get going again for him, I'm sure he'd be open to a trade. I mean he did just have a broken foot and the Flyers are notorious for rushing players back from injury.

I remember summer of 2011 many wanted hartnell gone. "he falls too much, he sucks blah blah blah." But I remembered all the positives, he's very durable especially for a guy who goes to the dirty areas of the ice, is good for 20+ goals a season, goes toe to toe with agitators/enforcers who take runs at teammates and well he had a heckuva 2010 playoffs. My opinion despite this piss poor season from him hasn't changed. I think it's fair to write this off and bring him back another season and if it don't get going again for him, I'm sure he'd be open to a trade. I mean he did just have a broken foot and the Flyers are notorious for rushing players back from injury.
- JoeRussomanno

I'm not for trading Hartnell.

I remember summer of 2011 many wanted hartnell gone. "he falls too much, he sucks blah blah blah." But I remembered all the positives, he's very durable especially for a guy who goes to the dirty areas of the ice, is good for 20+ goals a season, goes toe to toe with agitators/enforcers who take runs at teammates and well he had a heckuva 2010 playoffs. My opinion despite this piss poor season from him hasn't changed. I think it's fair to write this off and bring him back another season and if it don't get going again for him, I'm sure he'd be open to a trade. I mean he did just have a broken foot and the Flyers are notorious for rushing players back from injury.
- JoeRussomanno

I don't necessarily think they should trade Hartnell, I just think that for whatever reason he is just playing terribly right now and I wouldn't mind seeing him scratched for a game and then moved to the 4th line once he returns. You can always move him back up if McGinn struggles or if he merits it.

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Snoozer of a Loss, Briere, Quick Hits
- bmeltzer

Team defense has been this team's issue for awhile. A lot of the 5 on 5 scoring woes come from the poor discipline and lack of attention to the defensive side of the puck.

There's plenty of reasons and blame, and simply bringing in a defensive minded coach won't change things. That is why I was so adamant about making a change a month ago or more. The first step has to be instilling the discipline and accountability needed. Whether Laviolette has failed or whether the team has simply tuned him out, my goal in making a change was not to magically turn the season around as much as it was to set the framework they will need in going forward.

Disciplined play, attention to the defensive side of the game, puck support and possession. This is what successful teams are thriving on

Team defense has been this team's issue for awhile. A lot of the 5 on 5 scoring woes come from the poor discipline and lack of attention to the defensive side of the puck.

There's plenty of reasons and blame, and simply bringing in a defensive minded coach won't change things. That is why I was so adamant about making a change a month ago or more. The first step has to be instilling the discipline and accountability needed. Whether Laviolette has failed or whether the team has simply tuned him out, my goal in making a change was not to magically turn the season around as much as it was to set the framework they will need in going forward.

Disciplined play, attention to the defensive side of the game, puck support and possession. This is what successful teams are thriving on
- Jsaquella

since lavy has been the coach it seems like no lead is safe and the only time this team gets going significantly is when they are playing with a multigoal deficit. We've seen the corps retooled and a goalie carousel under lavy's watch. Keep changing parts all you want but the common denominator remains: Laviolette. It's time for a change or as you said, it was a while ago.

Team defense has been this team's issue for awhile. A lot of the 5 on 5 scoring woes come from the poor discipline and lack of attention to the defensive side of the puck.

There's plenty of reasons and blame, and simply bringing in a defensive minded coach won't change things. That is why I was so adamant about making a change a month ago or more. The first step has to be instilling the discipline and accountability needed. Whether Laviolette has failed or whether the team has simply tuned him out, my goal in making a change was not to magically turn the season around as much as it was to set the framework they will need in going forward.

Disciplined play, attention to the defensive side of the game, puck support and possession. This is what successful teams are thriving on
- Jsaquella

THIS!

Sorry, my bad. The article says the Islanders are working on an extension for Nabokov.
- BiggE

I wanted him instead of Bryz when they signed Bryz. Cheaper and clearly as good.

If they continue to play with the effort they showed last night, they could easily go 0-7-0 from here on in. That game was just brutal to watch and while there are only 2 weeks left in the season, I would have fired Laviolette immediately after this game, at this point they'd be doing him a favor.

Jsaq is absolutely right, Lavy should have been fired a month ago! They should have replaced him in the interim with Terry Murray and at least discipline would have been stressed and veterans held accountable. Oh well....

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Snoozer of a Loss, Briere, Quick Hits
- bmeltzer

Look forward to the draft blogs.

Look forward to the draft blogs.
- ob18

Me too, would also be interested in seeing who others rank as the top 10 prospects. For what its worth here is mine:

1. Seth Jones
2. Nathan MacKinnon
You could easily flip these 2, but from a Flyers perspective, Jones would be #1

3. Alexander Barkov
4. Jonathan Drouin
Yes I know Drouin is a human highlight reel and his skills are off the charts, but Barkov is the total package and I believe his game is complete enough to step in immediately. I also have seen multiple clips of Drouin flying thru the neutral zone with his head down, and at the NHL level that could lead to trouble.

5. Valery Nichushkin
I've only seen him play in the World Juniors, but he was dominant and appears to have as much pure talent as anyone in this draft

6. Sean Monahan
Kid could become the next Ron Francis, however he could also become the next Mike Ricci

7. Darnell Nurse
You got to admit, having Donovan McNabb's nephew play in Philly would be interesting to say the least.

8. Elias Lindholm
9. Rasmus Ristolainen
10. Max Domi
Lindholm has good, safe pick written all over him while Ristolainen according to all scouting reports I have seen looks like he will be a solid top 4, possible top 2 defenseman for a long time. Domi has been flying up all scouting lists and could be the sleeper of this draft.