RonJeremy

If we had good goaltending and more experience on defense ,maybe it’s worth keeping Simmonds around, but with the stiffs we have in goal,there is no way we go far in the playoffs. We need lightning to strike in several areas to make a serious run. We need Stolarz, Hart or Neuvy to step up and take the starting job and give us consistent solid goaltending, Elliot is a stiff. We need Haag, Sanheim and Gudas to all step up their games big time or Meyers to come in and have a huge rookie season. Or else acquire a defenseman who can help cut down our goals against. We also need someone to step up a provide us with a real third line center. We also have to hope Coots continues to be an offensive force. If our defense and goaltending are the same as last year we have no chance.

Because JVR has a reasonable contract, I believe Simmonds will want around 7 million and for more than 5 years. I love Simmonds, and there are few power forwards left in the league, he can get us a great return. He is losing PP time to Patrick and will be on the third line, usually when someone is in a contract year, they put up their best numbers.He can be a huge trading chip at the deadline if he puts up good numbers, teams always overpay for a push to the Cup. If he has a bad year , then his value drops.If we get a great offer, you do it. If Simmonds wants to sign for a reasonable term and contract, then you think about it.

It's about 3 years before we are serious contenders, and we will have G and Voracek at 33 years old and with diminishing skills/production, still with big contracts and several years to go on their contracts. As good as Simmonds is , why would we want a third player in a similar situation, when he can be traded for a top young player plus a first round pick and these assets can be up and coming contributors just as we become contenders.

@OccamsRazor, do you think he will go for that , I'm thinking he would want a minimum of 6 years

If these two guys got 5 million, you have to figure Simmonds is gonna be looking for 7 million a year and at age 30 hes gonna be looking for more than 5 years for his last big paycheck. I just don't see the Flyers being able to sign him.

That is true but Panarin is the dynamic finisher the flyers have lacked for years.

Would it make sense to trade Simmonds and using a combination of those assets with existing assets we go after Panarin, provided we are able to sign him . We have G and Voracek, at 30 yrs old signed to big $ and long term deals, it's foolish to sign another older guy to another big contract. Simmonds value wont be going up playing third line with less PP time. We want to extend Provo and Konecny and if Sanheim and Meyers pan out, expect to pay lot more, plus we know Patrick will be getting a huge increase down the road..So trading Simmonds is the smartest thing to do for the long term success of this team. If we can't land Panarin, we just keep the assets we got for Simmonds and the rebuild is that much faster.

P.S. the constant trading for defenseman every year, is what depleted our draft picks in the first place . As well as trading Justin William's for Danny Markhov, and many lame trades just like it. Thank God Homer and Clarke are not the GM

Hexy has done a great job in drafting so far. Aside from the forwards, for the first time in history, the Flyers are stocked with quality young defenseman. When in god's name did we have two homegrown defenseman like Ghost and Provo? as well as highly skilled prospects like Meyers and Sanheim all at once...the answer is never. All of our best dmen were acquired in trades...Pronger, Desjardins, Howe ,McCrimmon, Dailey, etc. In the previous 45 years the only top quality defenseman we drafted were Jim Watson, Tom Bladon , Behn Wilson and Janne Niinima, that's about it.

We don’t need Karlsson, We have Karlsson lite in Ghost. If we were trading for any defenseman at all ,it should be for a defensive stalwart. We have Meyers and Sanheim as two additional offensive guys. We need to cut down on our goals against Karlsson is 28, had two major injuries , has a mental case for a girlfriend and will be looking for huge $$$ and a long term deal and the cost will be way too high.

At this point who do we believe is best suited for 3rd line center? If Frost was 15 lbs heavier, he would be the favorite. Weal is useless, he is like a third wheel. Vorobyev or Vecchione? or a longshot like Rubstov. Is Simmonds traded for a center, which is probably not a good idea due to our surplus of young centers.

When I saw the thread title I thought we had gotten rid of McDonald..

I assumed that Simmonds would have gone at the draft for a top prospect , a 2018 pick, plus....so maybe now Hextall waits until the trade deadline when teams tend to grossly overpay. I just wish we could have gotten Walhstrom, I'm so pissed the Isles got him, we were so close.

Hextall was willing to trade Simmonds for Hamilton, but Calgary wanted more. Would Simmonds , the 19th pick and Haag have been a fair trade ?

Pouliout would be an upgrade over Manning as a 6th or 7th guy, Yakopov would be an upgrade over Weal or Weise, which isn't saying much...