Bill Meltzer: Wrap: Flyers Blanked in Nashville, 4-0

Move Simmonds for whatever possible value you can get, float Voracek out there and take the best offer available. If someone is willing to take on that JVR contract (doubtful) then ship him out too. If there is any value available for Raffl, Weal, Gudas, or Neuvirth then send them packing as well. Ride out the contracts of Amac and Weise considering they have little to zero value on the trade market. Let Carter Hart get the majority of starts for the Phantoms and continue to refine his game while Elliot and Stolarz/Lyon take the reigns on the big club.

Call up whatever warm bodies that can fill roles and ride out the rest of this failed season while our top prospects develop in the AHL and Juniors/College. None of the coaches jobs should be safe. Pray for some lottery luck and good scouting then continue building through the draft.

I would literally cry if Giroux was traded but if someone blows you away with an offer then pull the trigger and go full rebuild.

Hope that Patrick, Konecny, Lindblom, Provorov, Ghost, Sanheim, Myers, Vorobyev, NAK can step up and become long term productive players at the NHL level in their individual roles.

Jake is going to be tricky to move. May have to retain some salary. I think it would look similar to a kessel deal.

Sweeping changes need to be made. Not everything being traded should be for futures. Jvr can stay. We can afford to have one plodding winger with good hands in and around the net. Just keep him

Send lehtera to Lehigh valley. I-78 is a major trafficking route also

15th in the conference and 28th in the league on merit; 12 points out of the playoffs with a game in hand on the No. 8 team, but nine of the teams in front of them have demonstrably better goaltending

This season's a wrap, on the second day of January. Not even the official halfway point of the season

All involved -- from players to coaches to management -- should be embarrassed

Jake is going to be tricky to move. May have to retain some salary. I think it would look similar to a kessel deal.

Sweeping changes need to be made. Not everything being traded should be for futures. Jvr can stay. We can afford to have one plodding winger with good hands in and around the net. Just keep him

Send lehtera to Lehigh valley. I-78 is a major trafficking route also
- Just5

I think -- repeat, think -- you can do a Voracek deal in the offseason without retaining more than $1 million. He still is a good player and has value, but as you noted, it will feel more like a Kessel deal because he is proving to be a player like Kessel: Productive, but not someone to build around. Can win with him but the fit has to be right

15th in the conference and 28th in the league on merit; 12 points out of the playoffs with a game in hand on the No. 8 team, but nine of the teams in front of them have demonstrably better goaltending

This season's a wrap, on the second day of January. Not even the official halfway point of the season

All involved -- from players to coaches to management -- should be embarrassed
- AllInForFlyers

Hello darkness, my old friend
when will this season (frank)ing end?

Yeah, it just flat out sucks.

edit: The only guy who shouldn't being feeling shame is Fletcher, he had nothing to do with putting this sh!t show together. OTOH, the guy has some serious work to do over the next 8 months if there is to be any chance of turning this mess around in 19-20

Jake is going to be tricky to move. May have to retain some salary. I think it would look similar to a kessel deal.

Sweeping changes need to be made. Not everything being traded should be for futures. Jvr can stay. We can afford to have one plodding winger with good hands in and around the net. Just keep him

Send lehtera to Lehigh valley. I-78 is a major trafficking route also
- Just5

I'm not sure that I want Lehtera around the kids in LHV. Can they just send him home as long as they pay his full salary and carry his cap hit? If so, that's what I would do and they can just bring up a guy like Leier to be a spare forward.

Hello darkness, my old friend
when will this season (frank)ing end?

Yeah, it just flat out sucks.

edit: The only guy who shouldn't being feeling shame is Fletcher, he had nothing to do with putting this sh!t show together. OTOH, the guy has some serious work to do over the next 8 months if there is to be any chance of turning this mess around in 19-20
- BiggE

That's the horrible part -- I think they can turn this around, and I think Patrick and some of the other young players will rebound, but what if they don't?

It starts to look a lot more dire if Patrick isn't a 45-55 point center by next season and Frost isn't ready -- then you're praying for Hart and the lottery pick or more young players to come save you, and the next thing you know, 19-20 is off the (frank)ing rails

That's the horrible part -- I think they can turn this around, and I think Patrick and some of the other young players will rebound, but what if they don't?

It starts to look a lot more dire if Patrick isn't a 45-55 point center by next season and Frost isn't ready -- then you're praying for Hart and the lottery pick or more young players to come save you, and the next thing you know, 19-20 is off the (frank)ing rails
- AllInForFlyers

This summer is huge. Between their goaltending issues and lack of depth (which will only get more exposed once Simmonds and perhaps Raffl are dealt for picks during the next 6 weeks), I don't see this team having the capability to go on a run at any point this season. I think they finish ahead of Ottawa and Detroit in the East and Chicago, LA and Arizona in the West so they will be looking at a pick either in the top 3 (if they get some luck) or in the 6-8 range with 9 being a very slim possibility and the worse case scenario.

Obviously if they win the 1st or even 2nd overall pick, they will be getting an impact player that should be able to step in and immediately contribute. If not, they will still be getting a top notch prospect. There will be a lot of changes between now and opening night 2019, that's a no brainer. The only locks, IMO, to be back are:

Coots and Patrick will be 2 of their centers
Giroux will either be a center or LW
Konecny and Lindblom will be 2 of their wingers
Laughton will be back, probably as a wing, but he could also be the 4C
Weise is still untradeable so he'll be back, hopefully as nothing more than a spare forward
Either one of Voracek/JVR will be back, there is no way they are moving both. I'd rather have Jake, but he may be the easier guy to deal. I think it's somewhat doubtful that both are back, but it's certainly a possibility

This leaves 7 or 8 forwards who are in the every day lineup along with one spare.

Provorov, Ghost, Sanheim and probably Gudas are locks to be back and in the every day lineup.
Hagg will most likely be back as well, but he will be competing with Morin and possibly Myers for playing time. AMac needs to go, even if they have to retain 50%

So that would leave 6 locks to at least be on the roster and one other, who is still waiver exempt, challenging for a spot

Finally in goal, one of Hart, Stolarz, or Lyon will be part of the tandem next season, the job is Hart's to lose. The other spot will need to be addressed in the offseason. By the start of next season, including rookies and acquisitions from outside the organization, there could be as many as 11 new faces on the roster.

Fletcher has a lot of work to do and a lot of important decisions to make.

For those of us (yours truly included) that admire, appreciate, respect, and laud everything that Giroux has done and sacrificed for this team, I truly believe now is the time to move him. The season is shot...no need to wait until the trade deadline. No one player on the Flyers current roster will fetch more assets than G. As much as we’d all like to shed ourselves of Jake, Simmonds, JVR, AMac, etc, the returns would be nominal, at best (though, it would serve to increase cap space).

Giroux deserves better. As Sting penned in one of his songs, “If you love somebody, set them free.”

It’s tough to even write about how bad this team is. I wish we were debating about Provy having a Norris trophy season or Elliot playing so well we were thinking of bringing him back next year. I wish we were laughing at those that said Coots breakout year was a mirage or that the new 5 year deal for Simmonds got was a no brainer. I wish we were talking about how Ghost resembled a young Erik Karlsson and despite his odd defensive gaff, leading the NHL in d points far exceeded any defensive mistakes he might make. I wish we were debating who should start the pp...Konecny and Patrick or Giroux and Vorecek.....but this, another lost year with the same lethargic producing core is what we are left to talk about....sad day in Flyer land.

I'm not sure that I want Lehtera around the kids in LHV. Can they just send him home as long as they pay his full salary and carry his cap hit? If so, that's what I would do and they can just bring up a guy like Leier to be a spare forward.
- BiggE

Mutually agree to terminate the contract and waive him.

For those of us (yours truly included) that admire, appreciate, respect, and laud everything that Giroux has done and sacrificed for this team, I truly believe now is the time to move him. The season is shot...no need to wait until the trade deadline. No one player on the Flyers current roster will fetch more assets than G. As much as we’d all like to shed ourselves of Jake, Simmonds, JVR, AMac, etc, the returns would be nominal, at best (though, it would serve to increase cap space).

Giroux deserves better. As Sting penned in one of his songs, “If you love somebody, set them free.”
- BroadSTmayhem

I'd leave it up to him. If he wants to go to a contender, I'd try to honor his wish.

However, I think he takes a lot of pride in both being the captain of the Flyers and in being the longest tenured pro athlete in Philly. I think he would probably like to play his entire career in Philly and if so, I'm not moving him. He's more than earned the right to be here when things start going well and I'm still hoping that in a few years he can captain this team to a Cup.

www

Mutually agree to terminate the contract and waive him.
- dragonoffrost

I'm not positive on this, but I think if they go with mutual termination, he doesn't get paid and I doubt he's willing to walk away from what will likely be the last decent paydays he ever sees.

I'd just waive him and let him know that there is no need to actually report to LHV. He will not be suspended for not showing up. This gets him off the NHL roster, and out of our lives.

www.thisteamblows.com
- youarewrong

Mutually agree to terminate the contract and waive him.
- dragonoffrost

He might need the $ to pay for his legal bills.

For those of us (yours truly included) that admire, appreciate, respect, and laud everything that Giroux has done and sacrificed for this team, I truly believe now is the time to move him. The season is shot...no need to wait until the trade deadline. No one player on the Flyers current roster will fetch more assets than G. As much as we’d all like to shed ourselves of Jake, Simmonds, JVR, AMac, etc, the returns would be nominal, at best (though, it would serve to increase cap space).

Giroux deserves better. As Sting penned in one of his songs, “If you love somebody, set them free.”
- BroadSTmayhem

But he also said "if you want to keep something precious, Lock it up and throw away the key"

I'm not 100% on the trade G bandwagon but where is the guy who demands the first shift then goes out and makes a statement. The goal against Toronto was nice but that guy is only around for a few games and then goes into hiding.

Jake is going to be tricky to move. May have to retain some salary. I think it would look similar to a kessel deal.

Sweeping changes need to be made. Not everything being traded should be for futures. Jvr can stay. We can afford to have one plodding winger with good hands in and around the net. Just keep him

Send lehtera to Lehigh valley. I-78 is a major trafficking route also
- Just5

Jake doesnt have a NTC or NMC. He is a very productive player. I still think Jake should be used to get players that dont want to resign with their current club, either Panarin or Stone, maybe even Duchene. Just whatever deal it is make sure there is insurance incase they dont resign.

But he also said "if you want to keep something precious, Lock it up and throw away the key"

I'm not 100% on the trade G bandwagon but where is the guy who demands the first shift then goes out and makes a statement. The goal against Toronto was nice but that guy is only around for a few games and then goes into hiding.
- dragonoffrost

How much can one guy do? He pretty much carried the team to a playoff spot last year, but at least he had some help from Coots, Jake, Ghost and Provy. This season, all 4 of those guys, to at least some degree, have underperformed for part or all of the season. This isn't the NBA where one superstar can carry a team. G can't do this alone and you have to wonder if he's not just wearing down both physically and mentally at this point. It has to be incredibly frustrating for him right now.

That's the horrible part -- I think they can turn this around, and I think Patrick and some of the other young players will rebound, but what if they don't?

It starts to look a lot more dire if Patrick isn't a 45-55 point center by next season and Frost isn't ready -- then you're praying for Hart and the lottery pick or more young players to come save you, and the next thing you know, 19-20 is off the (frank)ing rails
- AllInForFlyers

I remember the good old days when the the only way the Flyers would have a shot at the top two picks was to do it the old fashioned way....trade for them. The odd year yes...but this is becoming all too familiar.

I'm not positive on this, but I think if they go with mutual termination, he doesn't get paid and I doubt he's willing to walk away from what will likely be the last decent paydays he ever sees.

I'd just waive him and let him know that there is no need to actually report to LHV. He will not be suspended for not showing up. This gets him off the NHL roster, and out of our lives.
- BiggE

Richards was mutually terminated and got paid...

https://www.forbes.com/si...ds-contract/#1dd1d4064ad3

Just picture for second....maybe two......how brutal this team would look without Giroux...I think it would make me physically ill to watch.

How much can one guy do? He pretty much carried the team to a playoff spot last year, but at least he had some help from Coots, Jake, Ghost and Provy. This season, all 4 of those guys, to at least some degree, have underperformed for part or all of the season. This isn't the NBA where one superstar can carry a team. G can't do this alone and you have to wonder if he's not just wearing down both physically and mentally at this point. It has to be incredibly frustrating for him right now.
- BiggE

I know he can't do it all but we haven't seen the fire to start a game from G in a while. I really think that is what this team needs at least for a few games. Then maybe you can start Simmer and he will try to spark something. Provy's hit last night should have lit a fire under them but ...in this years Flyers way they immediately got scored on.

As I said I am not firing G into the sun right now but if the opportunity arrives and the deal is just a "How can I turn it down?" you got to do it.

I know he can't do it all but we haven't seen the fire to start a game from G in a while. I really think that is what this team needs at least for a few games. Then maybe you can start Simmer and he will try to spark something. Provy's hit last night should have lit a fire under them but ...in this years Flyers way they immediately got scored on.

As I said I am not firing G into the sun right now but if the opportunity arrives and the deal is just a "How can I turn it down?" you got to do it.
- dragonoffrost

What I bolded, says it all. I don't think there is anything anyone can do to light a fire under these guys at this point. No big hit or first shift is going to make JVR hustle and or backcheck, nor will it make Jake a better defensive player or magically turn Simmonds back to the player he was 2 years ago. That 2012 team was in the playoffs and only 2 years removed from a trip to the finals. They still had proven playoff warriors like Timomen, Briere and Hartnell to answer the charge.

This team just doesn't have it, and there is nothing that Claude Giroux can singlehandedly do to fix it. This needs to be fixed at the GM level, an infusion of new blood is the only thing that can fix this team now.