I never said to take a bunch of 30 + guys. There were some pretty good prospects available. Jake Bean has more value than Geekie, Kale Clague > MacDermid, Kaapo Kahkonen > Soucy etc.

No deals. Better options on the table of all ages. Seattle could have assembled a competitive team with better trade chips in place. They even had a successful expansion blueprint left by Vegas. I'm calling it unsuccessful.
- dubc55

Geekie vs Bean... Francis drafted both players, he should know those kids better than anyone.

Clague vs MacDermid... don't wanna be picking too many of the same kind of player. Dunn and Cholowski already in the mix. Maybe they plan on targeting an offensive dman in UFA or trade. And remember how upset everybody was at Vegas for taking no-talent UFA Derek Engelland? Didn't he end up playing 20+ mins/night for them?

As for the goalie... Driedger was obviously a top priority for them. Then Vanecek was the best player they could have taken from the Caps. Ottawa basically had nobody else worth taking but the goalie. What would a 4th goalie accomplish? Is Kahkonnen really that great? Does he have any present trade value?

A lot more goes into it than just purely taking the most high ceiling player available.

I think Francis recognized teams trying to dump so and so with this cap or this many years left, and ultimately gave them a big middle finger saying Seattle holds all the cards right now. Francis simply called the bluff. He knows many teams have to shed salary, he knows there’s some players wanting out of their current team (Tarasenko), and he knows trades happen on draft day. He’s playing the long-con in hopes of a team (or two) coughing up the prized 1st round pick to ice a competitive team now while also collecting promising prospects for the next 3-5 years. He’s honestly playing this tremendously.

So assembling a winning team with playoff success, exposing your fans to playoff hockey, building a winning culture, bringing fans in and all that added revenue from deep playoff runs is nothing to emulate? Wow!

The expansion Vegas Golden Knights have accomplished more playoff success in 1 season than the Flyers have in the last decade.

Let that sink in for a minute.
- dubc55

Remember Florida? They went for a win-now strategy out of expansion too. They even made the Finals early on. How long did the packed houses of rat-tossing fans last? After they bottomed out the bandwagon emptied pretty quick. And they were bad for a very long time.

That Oleksiak contract tho.... damn... Larsson must be like WTF.

You say you disagree but yet your response actually agrees with me. I'll put it another way. Do you know why Francis didn't take any big deals off of teams? Because nobody would meet the asking price. Follow my posts. That's exactly what I've been saying. Francis can afford not to in his position. He still has the leverage of available cap space. Which is a high value currency in the league. At some point, some team will come to him. As Tomahawk said, why would he take on a team of older players with bloated contracts? They're okay as an expansion team with being a grind it out team that is hard to play against but lacks talent. They're an expansion team. They'll draft and develop that talent. Cap issues for teams are not going away for the next few years. It's a long game situation.
- MJL

Will be tough to see any big name guys want to go to that poop city with a poop hockey team tho. Might be a while until they are good after that abysmal draft

Remember Florida? They went for a win-now strategy out of expansion too. They even made the Finals early on. How long did the packed houses of rat-tossing fans last? After they bottomed out the bandwagon emptied pretty quick. And they were bad for a very long time.
- Tomahawk

That’s true of every Florida franchise.

Remember Florida? They went for a win-now strategy out of expansion too. They even made the Finals early on. How long did the packed houses of rat-tossing fans last? After they bottomed out the bandwagon emptied pretty quick. And they were bad for a very long time.
- Tomahawk

Well the weather in Seattle during hockey season is slightly below Florida standard

That Oleksiak contract tho.... damn... Larsson must be like WTF.
- Tomahawk

Larsson is stupid as far as I am concerned, he should have waited to FA opened and signed with the Flyers. He would have really helped this team and made more money also. This to me was the biggest blow against the Flyers yesterday.

So he cut off his nose to spite his face? Because no one would meet his price on any player with a decent contract he took none? Instead he took a team devoid of talent because no one would give him a 1st rounder to take their good players?

That’s the part I don’t agree with. He didn’t need to take all of the high priced players, but he left a ton of talent on the table. You’re going to tell me he couldn’t have taken a couple of large contracts and solidified his team? He still would have ended up with $20 mill in cap space.

Long summer.
- Flyers1218

I don't know any other way to put it. He's not done! This is not the 4th quarter. It's the 1st quarter. He could've taken any player he wanted on the list. He kept his leverage.

That Oleksiak contract tho.... damn... Larsson must be like WTF.

- Tomahawk

That cant be playing well...1RD signs for less than 2RD within 24 hours.

That Oleksiak contract tho.... damn... Larsson must be like WTF.
- Tomahawk

Don't quite understand Larsson signing there. He could've gotten that deal with a quite a few teams.

Larsson is stupid as far as I am concerned, he should have waited to FA opened and signed with the Flyers. He would have really helped this team and made more money also. This to me was the biggest blow against the Flyers yesterday.
- jd250

Think about this. He's stupid because he didn't do what you wanted him to do? LOL.

Will be tough to see any big name guys want to go to that poop city with a poop hockey team tho. Might be a while until they are good after that abysmal draft
- Richieattack18

...no state income tax is a draw for players maximizing income value.

So he cut off his nose to spite his face? Because no one would meet his price on any player with a decent contract he took none? Instead he took a team devoid of talent because no one would give him a 1st rounder to take their good players?

That’s the part I don’t agree with. He didn’t need to take all of the high priced players, but he left a ton of talent on the table. You’re going to tell me he couldn’t have taken a couple of large contracts and solidified his team? He still would have ended up with $20 mill in cap space.

Long summer.
- Flyers1218

Like you said....long summer. If you think this is the team that seattle ices the first game of the season, you will be mistaken. Lots of time for stuff to happen.

Larsson is stupid as far as I am concerned, he should have waited to FA opened and signed with the Flyers. He would have really helped this team and made more money also. This to me was the biggest blow against the Flyers yesterday.
- jd250

Entry draft tomorrow night, and free agency begins July 28. We will have an idea of what the Flyers roster is going to look like by early August. If it's simply just adding Ellis to last years roster it's not going to fly.

Think about this. He's stupid because he didn't do what you wanted him to do? LOL.
- MJL

Exactly!

Entry draft tomorrow night, and free agency begins July 28. We will have an idea of what the Flyers roster is going to look like by early August. If it's simply just adding Ellis to last years roster it's not going to fly.
- PLindbergh31

I am confident Fletcher is making more changes, but I am also confident he is also not going to do something stupid. There are more changes to come, there has to be.

I am confident Fletcher is making more changes, but I am also confident he is also not going to do something stupid. There are more changes to come, there has to be.
- jd250

It's make or break time for him. He strikes out again this summer and the Flyers miss the playoffs again he's toast. We know the current mix of players doesn't work, so he has to do something.

It's make or break time for him. He strikes out again this summer and the Flyers miss the playoffs again he's toast. We know the current mix of players doesn't work, so he has to do something.
- PLindbergh31

Didn’t get rid of any salary in the ED. Does that mean they’re going to have to give up their first pick just to get someone to pickup one of their big contracts?

Didn’t get rid of any salary in the ED. Does that mean they’re going to have to give up their first pick just to get someone to pickup one of their big contracts?
- Dkos

He's going to have to get creative. Cap space is tight, and Seattle didn't help. Will most likely have to be trades.

Go 25-45-12 and see how many tickets get sold after the novelty of it wears off.
- Flyers1218

They have a huge waiting list...they are completely sold out. They will have no problem with the fans

It's make or break time for him. He strikes out again this summer and the Flyers miss the playoffs again he's toast. We know the current mix of players doesn't work, so he has to do something.
- PLindbergh31

Yes, I posted this weeks ago, that this is the most important off season of Fletcher's executive career IMO.

He's going to have to get creative. Cap space is tight, and Seattle didn't help. Will most likely have to be trades.
- PLindbergh31

Yes, that is all Fletcher can do is trades at this point. As I mentioned, someone from the Flyers org leaked to the media that they want to move on from Jake, so that tells me they must have a deal in place, otherwise that would be very unfair to Jake.

So he cut off his nose to spite his face? Because no one would meet his price on any player with a decent contract he took none? Instead he took a team devoid of talent because no one would give him a 1st rounder to take their good players?

That’s the part I don’t agree with. He didn’t need to take all of the high priced players, but he left a ton of talent on the table. You’re going to tell me he couldn’t have taken a couple of large contracts and solidified his team? He still would have ended up with $20 mill in cap space.

Long summer.
- Flyers1218

What he did was brilliant. He knows how desperate many teams are and Kraken are some teams only option. Look at Flyers if they want to unload JVR or JV there is no place to go other then Seattle. Not a team in the league taking on either contract. They will sign some UFA and get guys like JVR anyway with picks and assets added. A game of chicken that Francis will win.

Larsson is stupid as far as I am concerned, he should have waited to FA opened and signed with the Flyers. He would have really helped this team and made more money also. This to me was the biggest blow against the Flyers yesterday.
- jd250

Maybe he didnt want to come to Philly? Obviously he knew his options