23 hours ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

I'd do it. To hell with it. This franchise has been built on ARGH SIIIIIIIIIZE and GRRRR FORECHECKING. And what has this franchise gotten for that? Not a damn thing. At this point, let's just overload on skill, speed and smoothness. And it's not as if these guys can't play defense or handle physicality. Marner is over of the best penalty killers in the game, Gaudreau got beat up in Calgary and had no problems with the physicality. The only one who is an unknown is Zegras and I'm sure he's the kind of guy that if he sees a teammate giving it their all, he follows suit. I'm all for overwhelming the opposition with skill that comes in waves because then you need to ask......who or what line do you shut down? Tortorella talked about how the team had to grind things out because they didn't have the skill. Well, they'd have the skill now in these deals, so let's see how he'd do with a lineup full of skill......

We haven't been built on size and forechecking since the Lindros Era. It's all about balance now, you need a blend of skill, speed, size and grit.  Without the balance,  you are one dimensional and are apt to ne bounced in the first round if you don't draw a favorable match up. Just look at Toronto every year. If it comes down to bigger skilled players like the Tkachuck brothers or Zegras types, the big guys always win. The playoffs are a different game and you are not winning with that moronic lineup that was proposed.

10 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

This is down right crazy...

 

before anyone says it not sure what happened to TK.

 

Predicting the Flyers’ 2024-25 Opening Night Lineup

 

 

https://brotherlypuck.com/2024/05/21/predicting-the-flyers-2024-25-opening-night-lineup-2/

 

Boy the natives will be restless...

 

 

Matvei Michkov – Trevor Zegras – Mitch Marner

Johnny Gaudreau – Morgan Frost – Tyson Foerster

Noah Cates – Sean Monahan – Owen Tippett

Olle Lycksell – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway

 

Cam York – Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale

Emil Andrae – Ronnie Attard

 

Samuel Ersson

Ivan Fedotov

 

 

Notable Losses

Cam Atkinson– Atkinson’s production has fallen off a cliff and he’ll turn 35 in the 2024 offseason. He’s got one year left on his contract at a $5.8 million cap hit, which translates to a $2.35 million buyout cap hit in 2024-25 and $1.75 million in 2025-26.

 

Sean Couturier– The newly named captain’s tenure comes to an end early after an offseason agent change and feud with head coach John Tortorella. They swap his 6 x $7.75 contract for Gaudreau’s 5 x $9.75 contract. Flyers take the higher cap hit but less term for a player that is significantly more dynamic than Couturier in their attempt to overhaul the offense.

 

Bobby Brink- Brink didn’t have the easiest time conforming to the Tortorella system, so he gets shipped out of town in one of the various high-profile trades the team makes this summer. Will they live to regret giving up on him? Probably, it’s the Flyers’ luck after all, but his replacement should be more than enough to make them forget all about him.

 

Scott Laughton– It sure seems like the Flyers screwed up not trading Laughton during the 2023 offseason or 2024 trade deadline, but after a year where he was basically useless from an on-ice perspective, his leadership skills won’t save him this time.

 

Cal Petersen– It costs the Flyers $3.85 million to bury Petersen’s contract in the AHL for the 2024-25 season. It would cost them just $1 million against the cap in 2024-25 to buy him out, with a $2 million cap hit in 2025-26. It means they can buy him out and sign a third string AHLer to tandem with (maybe) newcomer Alexei Kolosov next season for less than it’d cost to keep Petersen.

 

Nic Deslauriers– Deslauriers does have a 20-team no-trade list until June 30, 2024, but considering he’s the odd man out on the man roster and plays less than five minutes a night more often than not, it’s best to just move on from him and use his $1.75 million in a more appropriate way.

 

Rasmus Ristolainen– The trade rumors have been around Risto for the last few months. He’s been playing well under Tortorella, but it has also come with a much reduced role on the team. If Drysdale is their top righty, and one of Sanheim or York is taking second billing, there’s no need to be paying Ristolainen over $5 million to be tall on the third pair.

 

Egor Zamula– Zamula is an RFA who could very well re-sign with the team. Considering his role has been wildly inconsistent and his extension would be on the inexpensive side, whether he re-signs or not to fill the seventh defenseman spot doesn’t have much bearing on this exercise.

Notable Additions

Matvei Michkov– The 19-year-old forward gets out of his KHL contract sooner than expected and joins the Flyers, thus the need to go crazy during the offseason and bring in some much needed forward reinforcements to prevent him from floundering on this otherwise anemic squad.

 

Trevor Zegras- Zegras is 22 years old and has 155 points in 211 career games, with 35 of those points coming on the powerplay. He’s got two more seasons on his contract at a reasonable $5.7 million cap hit and the Flyers have more than enough draft and prospect capital to pull off a blockbuster trade with the Ducks.

 

Mitch Marner- Marner is the biggest addition the Flyers have made in nearly 15 years. The 27-year-old forward has 639 points in 576 games and 195 of those point have come on the powerplay. Are there some potential downsides, especially in a Tortorella system? Sure, but he also has the offensive upside we haven’t seen in a very long time and he’s exactly the caliber of forward that Michkov can blossom with.

 

Johnny Gaudreau- The Flyers trade the 6 x $7.75 million left on Couturier’s contract for the 5 x $9.75 remaining on his. He’s far more useful that Couturier and, with the goal being fixing the lack of scoring, powerplay, and giving Michkov as many weapons as possible, It could be worth the slightly higher cap hit. And he checks the pandering box the front office loves as the hometown hero that Briere can bring home after Chuck Fletcher fumbled a couple years ago.

 

Sean Monahan– This is a very wing-heavy offseason, and especially if the Flyers ditch both Laughton and Couturier, they need a body down the middle. The 29-year-old Monahan has had some health issues, but he did manage 26 goals and 59 points in 83 games between the Jets and Canadiens this season. He should be a defensively sound, relatively cheap, middle-six body with a slight scoring upside to hold down the fort for a few years.

 

Thoughts????

 

 

 

This person is delusional 

I want the Rangers to win,  so we get a higher draft position from the Florida pick.

4 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

He has that true potential to be the #1 they need IMHO.

 

Yak tops out at #3 at best IMHO.

Dickinson is also a teammate of Bonk and Barkley, so im sure our scouts have seen a lot of him. If we can trade up and get him and pair him with Bonk, we may finally have a legit top pair.

On 5/17/2024 at 7:46 AM, OccamsRazor said:

 

You can only trade up if you have a team wanting to do so.

 

But you can never call it like last year it shook the draft up when Montreal took Reinbacher and then the Yotes shocked many and passed on Michkov for Simashev.

 

And boom Flyers get Matvei.

The two dmen I like are Dickinson and Yakemchuck. We might be able to get Yakemchuck at 12 and with some luck Dickinson could be available if we trade up four or five spots. The question here is….Is Dickinson that much better than Yakemchuck that it’s worth trading up for? I know he is better defensively and is projected as a top pair guy, but Yakemchuck also has great skill. I know that there are a bunch of highly rated dmen ,but as in every draft , some are gonna be total flops and some are gonna be just decent. I just hope we get the right guy.

9 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Be that as it may, Dickenson is going  top 8. So unless you trade up, it's a pipe dream

Well that’s what I propose, let’s trade up . I would rather have one real good player than two Brian Laughtons. So is FLAs pick and our pick enough to move up four spots?

17 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

You don't play a Cal Petersen over him though.

 

Was no point brining him over if they weren't going to play him.

 

He played very well his 2nd regular season game and when the Phantoms got down 2 games and were facing elimination you must make a change if for nothing more than the message it sends the other prospects.

 

For all we know this may be his camp leaking something like this as a message to be sent to the Flyer brass.

 

 

That’s so typical of the Flyers management, just like playing that fossil Johnson over Attard and Ginning who both looked good. Stahl is another washed up pylon who should have never played.

3 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

I seen it mentioned on the news the CHL wants to replace the after game handshake with a hug now.

 

Mote news at 11...

A big hug. And a reach around. The pussification of society continues.

2 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Guess they have to make goalie a priority again. Flyers can't catch a break!

 

He’s been in. America for a month ,  who expects to be assimilated that fast, are they kidding or what.

20 minutes ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

He hasn't even turned 18 yet and he wouldn't be on the club for a minimum of two years. He's going to be fine if they select him. Remember, Peter Forsberg was 5'8, 160 pounds when he was drafted by the Flyers. These kids are going to grow. 

He’s not gonna grow,into the 6ft 2 ,220lb center we need unless he goes on a massive cycle of Roids and HGH.

11 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

I'm not "nuclear" about anything because nothing has actually happened yet.

 

I think reaching to the 20th ranked NA skater with your 12th pick in a rebuilding environment would be "a mistake" but I've been wrong before.

 

Not as often as the Flyers, but it has happened.

 

 

So, Morgan Frost II.

 

If we took a guy like that with the FLA pick,maybe. Pure stupidity with the 12th pick. We are in no position to gamble. 

18 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/jett-luchanko-2024-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/ 

 

 

Every draft, there are always a handful of players that surprise and makes their way into the first round. Last year, it was Easton Cowan. This year, Guelph Storm centre Jett Luchanko definitely could find himself as a first round pick as a result of his work ethic and tenacity. 

 

Luchanko led the Storm in scoring in his sophomore season, finishing with 74 points (top 30 in league scoring) in 68 games, a 1.09 point per game rate. While it may not seem like high-end production considering he had 14 points all of last season. Without Matthew Poitras, he was able to answer the call and take a massive step forward and prove that he can keep up and excel against tough competition. To have that responsibility, production and a smart two-way game at 17 years old is impressive.  

Luchanko’s main attributes are his work ethic and his smarts, which is evident in the recent OHL coach’s poll where he was voted in the top three as the smartest and hardest working player from the Western Conference. Even his on-ice testing before CHL Top Prospects game shows the skill that he has, scoring very well. He possesses great smarts, a high-end drive and motor every time he’s on the ice. He shows no fear and is always displaying a willingness to constantly battle in the tough areas. He needs to add more strength to his game, but that tenacity in addition to his speed always makes him a thorn in the side of the opposition to break up plays and force a turnover. 

Offensively, Luchanko is a very silky-smooth playmaker, driving the play every time and displaying great hands in tight spaces and high traffic areas. He has great speed and agility and has a very strong first few steps in order to create separation quickly to get out of high-pressure situations. Even when in that spot, he’s very calm and shows no panic. 

 

Luchanko is a very deceptive puck distributor. When you think he’s going to shoot, he quickly looks off for a pass fooling both defenders and goaltenders. He easily draws players in to open things up and can connect with his teammates easily, be it with cross seams or making quick give-and-go plays. He plays at a fast pace and combined with his speed, edgework, puck skills and control, he’s hard to contain in transition or when attacking the offensive zone. If he wants to be a dual threat, he needs to work on his shot and make better decisions with his shot selection. Though, he does a great job to get in tight on goalies and finish off plays with his hands and skill.

Luchanko has a very strong defensive game when he doesn’t have the puck. That same aggressive and tenacious mindset with the puck allows him to close gaps quickly and be engaged with his stick to make a timely lift and break up plays. He’s always in motion, scanning and anticipating where the puck is going to be to put himself in a great spot to engage in battle and regain possession. He provides great puck support for his teammates and is always in position to help out in a play.

Compared to other players in the OHL, Luchanko is definitely flying under the radar. The upside he has is undeniable as a lot of the quality teams look for is there. 

NHL Draft Projection
Ideally, Luchanko is a lock to be a second-round pick in this year’s draft. While he may not have first-round production, he definitely has the skillset and smarts in order to be one. Which is why if there’s a team that has him high on their list, there should be no hesitation to select him as a late first-round selection as he’s a reliable player with great skill to his game. 

 

Quotables
“There’s enough skill to make him worth the first-round bet, but the combination of raw athletic ability, high motor, solid skating and defensive acumen makes Luchanko an easy-to-project player.” – Hadi Kalakeche, Dobber Prospects 

 

“Luchanko’s got the speed, the tenacity, the skill, and the IQ to be a top six center at the NHL level. He’s also a committed two-way player and has kept up the strong off puck play that he exhibited last year, despite being counted upon to be an offensive play driver.” – Brock Otten, McKeen’s/ OHL Prospects

 

Strengths 
High motor and energy
Work ethic and competitive
Great skating speed and strong edgework
Strong two-way vision
Playmaking awareness

Under Construction- Improvements to Make
Improve shot selection and power
Build on strong offensive production
Add more strength

NHL Potential
Luchanko’s ceiling could project him as a highly skilled, two-way centreman with top-six potential. Even if he’s a middle-six player, he’s one that you can rely on in any situation and his speed could be an asset on the penalty-kill to try and generate some offense as well. There’s a lot that still needs to happen for him to get to that point, but the skill and awareness is already evident in his game that can get him there quicker. His development path and skillset feel very similar to that of Poitras as they both play with speed and are both skilled passers.

 

Risk- Reward Analysis

Risk- 2/5, Reward 3.5/5

 

Fantasy Hockey Potential

Offense- 6/10, Defense 7/10

 

Awards/ Achievements
Luchanko won a silver medal at the 2023 U17 World Hockey Challenge, playing for Canada Red

==========================================

 

I would be a bit concerened at his size.  No doubt he can add bulk as  he grows.  That would be a concern but nothing to go nuclear like the nitwits on Twitter/X or any  other social media site,

 

Last thing I want is a 160 lb center.

6 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Never heard of it. The consolidated list has him at 4th overall. The consolidated list pulls rankings from 20+ sources and prospect watchers/scouting departments to the average spots

Over the years I have found that as you get closer to the draft, writers like Dreger and Button usually have an accurate list of who the team's are picking. I would love to somehow get Dickinson and pair him with Bonk.

11 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Not once have I seen Dickenson outside the top 8 either.

Levshunov, Demidov and Silayev are all usually top 6 with Dickenson.

Buium and Parekh hovering between 6 and 10 on most lists.

Yakemchuk flies around between 6th and 12th most times.

 

Jiricek was more highly rated before his injury.

 

For off board forwards.

Sennecke's stock rising fast. No way Iginla gets past Calgary.

 

Website is called sportsgrid.com, shows Dickinsin at 12,not that any mock draft means a thing.

19 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Not calling you a liar really but i haven't seen one that has him outside the top 8.

 

Where did you see him falling to the Flyers.

 

Dickinson in my mind would be the perfect partner for Drysdale.

 

 

I googled NHL 2024 mock draft and found a lot of different ones but the one that shows Dickinson going to the Flyers is Sportsgrid.com. Of course we can’t really go by any of them, but Craig Button and Dreger are usually very close .

50 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

I don't think Yakemchuk needs to be moved up for. He should be there when we pick. 

 

The stupidest thing is, we shouldn't have to trade up, if they did a proper rebuild. Strip it down, get a couple of very high picks, then work on building up. My hope is that whom ever we pick, out of sheer luck, becomes one of the best players in the draft. It's not a great plan though.

I see hockey writers who rate Yakemchuck as a top 5, some mock drafts have us getting Dickinson others show Yakemchuck or Helinuis.  I just hope that one of the dmen fall to us and maybe we can get Michael Hage with our FLA pick. That way we get a potential top pair dman and a big center.

38 minutes ago, ctid said:

Interesting work done by the Athletic. Checklist for Stanley Cup contenders, based on previous teams over the years....geez we are far away.

 

Elite first-line center that’s among the very best players in the world.

• Elite first-line winger to support the elite center.

• Two other top-line wingers on each of the top two lines.

• Top-line center to play behind the elite center.

• Two more top-six forwards for depth in the middle six.

• Elite No. 1 defenseman.

• A second No. 1 defenseman to play behind him.

• A top-pairing defenseman to help anchor a strong second pair with the No. 2.

• Another top-pairing caliber defender to crush soft minutes on the third pair.

• A top-10 caliber starting goaltender

We should have that within ten years.

13 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

I'd prefer Celebrini.

 

Dickinson will more than likely be long gone by the 12th pick. Of course if he somehow slides you grab him. I just see zero reasons for that to happen. As for what you said about the rest of it, that's what you get when you pick towards the middle of the pack. And it's likely what we're going to get more of. We should get a good player. I doubt we get a star.

I would love to trade up, the FLA pick is gonna be around 30 ,so it’s practically a second round pick. If we move the 12th and the FLA  pick maybe we can move up a few spots to grab one of the defenseman I mentioned if they are still around for the 8th or 9th pick. I would rather have one real good player than two Scott Laughtons.

13 hours ago, ctid said:

 

Thanks for the Yakemchuck insight. I dont have a way to see these kids play besides short youtube clips, so I'm over reliant on what is written about them and take that as gospel.

 

Totally agree regarding Helenius, he has all the tools to be the kind of player that coaches and fans love. A good 2C, Selke candidate type player, no fuss player, with consistent point production of 50-60 range maybe?

 

If we managed to get that 11th and Yakemchcuk is available, then I dont see how they pass on the forward/defense combo, with the forward being one of Catton/Helenius/Iginla if available.

 

But regardless if we get the 11th or not. This draft, if we "ignore" everyone after the top 13 with our 12th pick, then the Flyers really only have to make a choice between 2  players. It seems like the top three has been cemented in Celebrini, Demidov and Levshunov. But everything thereafter is up in the air. So unless someone outside the top 13 ranked players gets taken, then the choice most likely will be between the two players out of this group that falls past 11. Parekh, Buium, Dickinson, Yakemchuck, Iginla, Helenius, Catton, Silyaev, Lindstrom, Eisermann. Personally I think its more likely its two out of these that will be available to us Helenius, Yakemchuck and Eisermann. Catton, I fear will be gone earlier. 

I’d prefer Dickinson and then Yakemchuck over any of the forwards who might be available when we pick. We lack a skilled  physical dman, Drysdale, York and Andrae are all small and Sanheim isn’t physical and then you have Attard and Risto and Seeler who are bottom pair guys. So we need a big skilled dman for the top pair. I,don’t want a small center ,we already have Frost, we need a big center like Lindstrom but he will be long gone and I certainly don’t want the 160 lb winger,we already have Farabee and Brink who are small wingers .Helenius is exactly like a typical Flyer, plain vanilla. Solid but no standout attributes, we have enough of those type of players. I think Dickinson or Yakemchuck would be more of an impact player for us than any of the other guys.

6 hours ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

Ricci was only a third line center because that was where the clubs used him. Ricci was ridiculously skilled, but none of the organizations he went to bothered developing his skill. All these organizations wasted him because he was a "two-way" player. That's why I hope the Flyers get away from drafting two way players and just draft offensively gifted players. It's too easy for a coach to put them in that role and never bother developing the rest of their game. That's what happened with Ricci.

Ricci wasn’t really a good skater and was kind of vanilla, I don’t think his skill level was better than any of the guys picked in the top five that year.

9 hours ago, AlaskaFlyerFan said:

A mentor?  Don’t you think Danny would’ve picked someone that has been in North America for a while to do that?  Zamula would be a better choice for that.  Plus, goalies are “different”.

Well he’s an older guy who ,hopefully isn’t a big party guy to turn Michkov into a boozer.

17 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I think this is a good comparison. 

If Michkov was a farm boy from the Scatch he's the consensus #2 pick behind Bedard last year.

 

I'm beginning to think part of the reason we overpaid for Fedetov is that Briere knew that Michkov was coming over and they wanted a mentor to help Michkov. 

5 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

If they would buy a pair and ship out guys like Konecny, Laughton and Sanheim and well that would help them slide closer to doing that.

 

And it would genuinely be best for the rebuild as well.

 

But i get it keeping TK for the Cup run when he could be 30-31 which isn't too old to help but why i want no more than a 5 year deal because by then you want to be paying him a little less when the deal expires.

 

You're not going to be going damn i wish we locked him longer at that rate by then end.

 

This draft will let us know if they can even find the players they will need to make a great team.

Konecny is gonna be looking for 8 million for 7-8 years, we are already stuck with a washed up Coots for 6 more years. I really hope they trade him. I don’t see them trading Sanheim who is  our best all around defenseman, but if they did that would ensure a total collapse to the bottom of the standings. Just look at how they dropped when they traded Walker. 

48 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

I think this is a good comparison. 

If Michkov was a farm boy from the Scatch he's the consensus #2 pick behind Bedard last year.

 

I remember the Flyers and other teams really liked Jags skill and size but were afraid of  problems getting him out of Eastern Europe, then the Soviet Union collapsed  and he came over pretty easily. The Flyers went the safe route with Ricci ,who was really just a third line center. Imagine if we had drafted Jagr and we drafted Forsberg the following year, if we kept them and didn’t trade for Lindros , what a great combo that would have been .
 

Maybe Michkov becomes like Jagr . If you remember that draft it was Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau, Peter Nedved, Mike Ricci and then Jagr. He was by far the best player, so even if he is almost as good as Bedard ,we are ahead of the game.

8 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Doesn't matter

 

after just looking over the last 20 Cup winners

 

you pretty much have to have a #1 or #2 overall on the roster to win a Cup.

 

Only teams that didn't was Blues but they had a #3 and #4 overall on them.

 

And the 2003 Devils but they had the 3rd and 5th overall picks on their team.

 

So yeah if they ain't winning a Cup who cares.

The only thing we can hope for is a guy like MICHKOV who was a # 7, plays like a #1 and then we have to suck again next season an be in the bottom five for a lottery pick.