isaiah520

RT @Sportsnet: As per @SportsnetSpec, #Oilers and #Flyers believed to be working on trade involving Wayne Simmonds. http://ow.ly/qE3zb …

Right. don't just throw him away for some "nice" plyr. he should only go if we can make a real move of substance for a plyr we can grow w/. particularly on D.

i don't think it is about whether Couts is a disappointment and needs to be moved as much as, despite not scoring, he's one of the few forwards that has played well and he has a movable contract. he also still has growth potential so he becomes a potential piece to move to acquire a dman - the black hole on this team. not saying i agree w/ this rationale, but i do think that if he was moved as part of a deal for a significant add on D, we could justify it to some degree knowing we have laughton in tow. it would take more than Couts to get it done though, that's for sure. maybe we should have just drafted hamilton.

i think it depends on how desperate the team is to get a dman. can't see him being moved for a forward, though i could see b schenn being moved for a young winger w/ size and speed...sound familiar?

"The subject of trade rumors last season, Couturier was once considered among the Flyers' untouchable players. That's no longer the case; as The Ottawa Sun recently reported, GM Paul Holmgren is willing to discuss anyone on his roster. Couturier hasn't blossomed into the skilled two-way center he was projected to become, and the Flyers' ongoing offensive woes only highlight his struggles. Given the well-known impatience of the Flyers' front office, don't be surprised if Couturier is shopped in a package deal for an established scorer or top-two defenseman." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1838286-the-10-nhl-players-most-likely-to-be-traded-in-2013-14-season

@DaGreatGazoo you might get a kick out of this i posted on a forum the day of the JVR trade: "Just heard- HORRID! Pwr fwds often take as long as dmen to develop. Jvr has shown dynamic flashes in his game and he was moved for a guy w/ a clear ceiling- think Matt Greene w/ better outlet pass ability. Not the offensive puck moving force we needed and the jvr asset is gone. ... And it's not like we haven't had time to think about this either. As a 1 for 1 swap, If jvr is reasonably healthy, it's a slam dunk win for TOR." "can't believe we couldn't get more for JVR. it's like the JVR asset was burning a hole in homer's pocket and he had to get rid of it fast. what started out as a good weekend for the team, has ended under somewhat of a cloud, imo. for me, they still need a puck moving dman and now a 20 goal scoring pwr forward. " yeah, i was pi$$ed that day, but i'll tell you this- if i posted all of my prognostications at any given moment, i' prob be freakin' embarrassed at least half the time. it's easier to just say, 'damn! was i wrong, lol' let there be no doubt- i've had to say so too many times for me to remember (y)

@ruxpin can't say i agree w/ all of the particulars you've pointed out, but i certainly concur on the overall tenor of your post. i'm mostly upset at the GM for creating this frankenstein team of mismatched parts and at the players for being so weak-kneed when the going gets tough.

the thing about the trade was that pwr forwards usually have a development curve similar to dmen, so i'm not surprised about JVR's success. that and the fact that JVR was a much more dynamic plyr w/ a higher ceiling. he earned the contract they signed him to by taking over during moments of the plyoff series vs BOS and then he struggled thru some injuries. it's not like they acquired a plyr in schenn who was coming off peak performances. he was struggling to get mins in TOR and trade rumors were rampant that entire season. he was at best projected to be a stay at home guy who made a better than avg outlet pass, but he had zero O upside so he had a clear ceiling....a very poor value trade, which i hated then...even more now. then they let go of carle and nothing made any sense. can't gamble w/ losing puck movers.

@DaGreatGazoo have to agree about carle. he was also an effective shot blocker whose corsi #'s were usually impressive (not that I'm any kind of expert there, but, just saying). I'd say that the worm turned on Homer's tenure for good w/ the JVR trade and letting carle go. he'd finally traded 1 scorer too many and lost our best puck mover so he could go to the craps table for weber. we really haven't been the same team since.

i'm a newbie here so this is my last post today - aren't you lucky - ;-) both nic and luke add the nasty for whatever their worts are. i'm most concerned about puck movement and overall mobility which is the hallmark of the best d corps these days...think CHI and PHO. a d that can whip that puck out of the zone would be my priority. it seems as if getting the stay-at--home guy who adds a physical element is easier to acquire...certainly has been easier for us, while the puck movers in their prime have eluded us for the most part. of course guys like pronger and weber could/can do it all...not meant to be i guess.

interesting. i asked bill meltzer about gogo for schenn on twitter, a little before noon today. i figured, 2 young dmen who are in the dog house and 2 teams that had needs for diff types of plyrs. i know that gogo stinks in his own end, but he might be ok for a 3rd pairing puck mover and PP guy. bill likes trevor dailey much better, but i bet DAL does too. so 5 hrs later, we read about schenn maybe on the block...hated that luke was all we got back for JVR, but it's a shame that he can't at least be a steady eddie on the 2nd pair. guess, we'll see.

In retrospect, i wish they had lost enuf for us to get Jones, but when it's game day, i can't bring myself to root against them. Homer started out great, but once he traded for pronger, they kept trying to make moves to close the gap, so they could take advantage of his best yrs. after that we had the goalie fiasco (including leighton, lavi's nutty musical goalie approach, the bryzaster and finally the bob trade), carter/richie and what i consider the coup de grace, JVR/carle/luke fiasco and weber wager. as a result of most of these moves not working out and the usual cap inflexibility, the team and it's fans are left w/ this clusterfrack. there are def some bright spots, esp up front and maybe w/ mason, but on D they are screwed. not only that, the mix of plyrs among the skaters is funky as well...a bit of a frankenstein monster. needless to say, i look forward to a change at GM...but i don't wish for Ed to take a dirt nap.