BobbyClarkeFan16

Frost is going to have a monster year. 32 points in 45 games in the second half of the year, 28 points alone even strength. Not only that, but he won over Tortorella and Frost also said that every year after is going to be a big year for him. That's what good players say. He also wants to be a difference maker. He also has a big fan in Briere as well. He's gonna explode this year. I'm hopeful that we'll see Tortorella put together a line of Farabee - Frost - Foerster and let them do their thing. Frost with a shooter like Foerster or Tippett should mean big numbers.

Hart will end up in done place that doesn't give a **** about hockey. He's done in Philadelphia.

I think they're going to surprise a lot of people. I don't think they'll be as bad as people think they'll be. Fact is, Frost, Tippett and Cates will also be a year older. Farabee will actually have had time to train. Foerster showed he belongs and can play on this league. Konecny thrived under Tortorella. And even though he's been gone for two years, we're going to have a healthy Couturier back in the lineup and even if he only produces at a 40 - 50 point clip, just his presence alone is going to be big. Add in a healthy Brink and Atkinson and that's a decent top nine and that doesn't include Laughton (who will be great on a line with Poehling and Hathaway on the fourth). The forward group will carry this club. What scares me is the defense. We're hoping that York takes his game to the next level. We're hoping Sanheim bounces back and we're hoping that Zamula can be an impact defender. The fact that Seeler and Stinktolainen are still in the lineup is awful. The defense is going to be the Achilles heel of this club. And the only thing that will improve that is letting them play and learn.

It always stuck me as odd as to why they wouldn't use a guy like Hogberg with Sanheim. Hogberg was a smart defensive defenseman and he would have allowed Sanheim to do his thing. Schmuck was an arsehole that didn't know hockey.

Let's also not forget the multitude of coaches that tried to coach all the skill out of Sanheim. Let's begin with Dave Hakstol and his mantra that defenseman should NEVER lead rushes. That was Sanheim's bread and butter. Hakstol also didn't want him to handle the puck, but dump it off in a corner where a forward could chase it. The when that jackass was fired, they brought in Scott Gordon, who had no structure and just let Sanheim play pond hockey, yet Sanheim was incredible responsible. Which brings us to Vigneault, who them decided that Sanheim needed to be more physical, but use his skating ability to get the puck up to the blueline, but then had to drop back immediately into defensive coverage. Then along comes Yeo and he actually seemed like he was making serious progress with Sanheim, only for Brad Shaw to come along and screw everything up. So five coaches in six seasons, all different systems, all using him differently. Funny how no one else mentions that. This franchise is an absolute development killer. Look at how they ruined Provorov. Look at how they disposed of Gostisbehere. Look at what they did with Hagg. And to see some on here call Sanheim soft or Soyheim. **** them. Sanheim isn't the problem. Never has been. The problem has ALWAYS been development and usage.

Forsberg might have been the last player this franchise drafted that had the talent that Michkov has. It's too bad that by the time he got back to Philadelphia, his feet were ruined.

I suppose the Flyers could ultimately decide to 'loan' Fedotov to CSKA if things are too crowded. I'm sure they're waiting for Hockey Canada report to come out before deciding on anything though.

The IIHF just ruled that Fedotov has a valid contact with the Flyers. This is going to make things REALLY interesting when he shows up at camp.

I'm more than willing to concede that the defense isn't stellar and that Hayes was someone not to build around. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with saying that Hart simply hasn't delivered. He has had one good season in his career. One. Once again, not asking for an all world performance, but pedestrian would be acceptable.

If the season were determined in the first 10 to 15 games, Hart is a championship caliber goalie. I don't deny that. Once you cross that 15 game threshold, watch what happens to him. He slowly begins to unravel. It usually starts by giving up a weak goal and then he'll be sharp and then he'll give up a weak goal, then he'll be sharp again and finally lets in a back breaker. And it gets worse. There's usually a good game or two thrown in there, but for the most part, from game 20 to game 60, you can count on Hart falling apart, then he suffers a mysterious injury, then he comes back, gets into the same funk, gets hurt again and then by the time the season is over, Hart steps up his game and looks all world. I'm not asking for Hart to be a perennial all world goaltender. I want some consistency, not a guessing game of which Hart we're going to get. IF Hart can maintain a .915 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA, I'll change my mind. That would put him 14th in the league in terms of goaltending stats. That's fair and not unreasonable to ask for.

The question that everyone wants to know...... Is Michkov a steak, fried chicken or baked ziti with Creme Fraiche (see the South Park episode) kind of guy?

Rizzo has the hands, but does he have the skating? That seems to be the major concern. I know he moves well North/South, but his lateral movement is lacking. Also, how many contracts are the Flyers at? Maybe this is the time to stop handing contracts out like candy and start leaving open contract spaces.

Laughton makes $3 million a year. For $3 million, your getting a 40 point scorer who can play all over your lineup. That's great value.

If Briere and company believe that they're five years away from being actively competitive (not just qualify for the playoffs, but compete for a Stanley Cup), then I think you have to move Hart, especially if there's a glut of goaltending in the pipeline. However, we're all forgetting the long standing Hockey Canada/NHL investigation with regards to the assault that took place in 2018. If Hart was one of those guys, his value immediately diminishes and he'll be suspended indefinitely. The Flyers are in a bit of a pickle. As for Fedotov, if the IIHF rules in favour of the Flyers, he goes to Lehigh Valley for 15 to 20 games to get rust off his game and adjust to North American rinks. By then, the Flyers should know whether they have a legitimate goaltender or if they have the second coming of Niko Hovinen.

Maybe Briere and the scouts saw enough in Gendron that he warranted a contract and not risk having him become an unrestricted free agent and sign elsewhere.

Every goaltender at one time or another has played behind ****** defensemen. Most of them responded to the challenge. The mental midget hasn't. If he battled even in the slightest, I'm giving him a pass. But he's been coddled everywhere he's been. At some point, Hart has to grow up, get tough, and develop some thick skin and show some semblance of being the all world goaltender he can be. If he fails this year, what excuse does he get?

The Flyers ruined every single one of their young defensemen. You can go back to Robert Hagg to see the progression of how they ruined defenders. A good two-way defender that they turned into a complete shut down defender with no puck handling skills (when he was one of the better defensemen in Sweden before arriving to the Flyers). You can then look at Gostisbehere, Provorov, and Sanheim as players they've messed up. The only two who missed the development flustercuck are Morin (who had destroyed his knee) and York (who Tortorella and Shaw actually handled properly). Hopefully Bonk and whoever they draft next year in the first round also start getting proper handling.

I'm definitely in the minority, but the Flyers need to move on from Hart. He's a mental nightmare. He doesn't deal with adversity and when things are going bad in a game, he doesn't battle, he gives up. He's easy to rattle and he's easy to knock off focus. I'm sorry, but Carter Hart has been given every excuse in the book to accommodate his mediocre play. He needs to step up this year. You know who he is? He's Jack Campbell 2.0. I'd rather lose with a battler like Samuel Ersson than continue to anoint Hart the chosen one when he continues to disappoint. At some point, we've got to stop blaming coaches (although Dillabaugh deserves a HUGE share of the blame) and start looking at the player.

Nothing wrong with stockpiling talent, regardless of who their parents are or where they work. As well, Gendron was ranked as high as 71st his draft year, so there's talent there. The fact that he was drafted so late has the potential to be a steal. He'll go back to Gatineau this year, probably score 50 to 60 goals and work on his upper body strength and solidifying his skating (which was also rated above average by various scouts). I'm looking forward to seeing what he does as a pro.

If Couturier plays well this upcoming season (on pace for 55 - 60 points in a reduced role to start), I can see the Flyers asking him to waive his NMC/NTC and seeing what contenders will offer. The back and other ailments are 100%. The fact he wanted to play in the last 10 games was a testament to that. Good on Briere and Tortorella for telling Couturier there's nothing to play for at that time, but the new medical staff would have never cleared him if he wasn't 100%.

Here's the other thing with Tortorella and why he's perfect for the rebuild. It was him, not Schmuck or anyone else in the organization, that was calling for a full rebuild. Schmuck thought that this club could make the playoffs when they started the season on a shooting heater and getting all world goaltending. Tortorella was smart enough to see through the mirage. Same when they were 10 points out. Tortorella saw through things and continued to call things out. Tortorella might be the only person who has been absolutely, truthfully and brutally honest in his short time here. I expect that when he finishes this coaching contract, hell remain a part of the organization in some sort of player personnel role. And people can say what they want about the man, but he recognizes talent.

The issues I have with Tortorella are very minute. I love that he emphasizes team and that you don't play for yourself, you play for everyone on the bench. I love that. I also love that you know where you stand with Tortorella. There's no blurred lines there. Finally, I love that he understands he's the boss and things are done his way. Other coaches cater to the star players and allow them to do whatever and he'll have none of that. The fourth line players are just as important as the first line players and if the fourth liners play hard, you play hard, regardless of your status. That's how you set culture. The issues that I have with Tortorella is that he plays the guys so hard that when playoff time rolls around, they're spent. Every now and then, there's nothing wrong with letting up on the gas pedal. The other thing I'd love to see Tortorella do is let the guys every now and then play a bit of wide open hockey, especially when you've got a big lead. Hockey is supposed to be a game and games are supposed to be fun. Let the guys have fun every now and then. Hockey is a long season. Finally, the last thing that I don't like about Tortorella is his lack of tact at times. When he compared Frost to a toilet seat, he was completely out of line. He could have easily said that Frost is struggling like most players do and his play is erratic, but he intentionally compared him to a toilet seat for no other reason that to be a prick. Funny that Tortorella never mentioned that instead of playing Frost with good players, he'd play Frost with his like Deslauriers and MacEwan. It wasn't until he started playing Frost with other talented players that Frost began to pick up his play. Tortorella could use a lesson in humility and maybe admit that sometimes his ways backfire and don't work. However, I admit that he's the perfect coach for the rebuild. He can weed out guys who won't buy into things and he can get through to young players and they all play their best for him. That means something, especially when you need to rebuild and change the culture.

I'm cautiously optimistic. From what I read about the back revision surgery that Couturier had, it usually has to do with going in and correcting something that didn't properly heal the first time around. It's not a disc surgery or a fusion, so he should have full range of motion. And being off for two years, I'm certain Couturier had other aches and pains that needed to heal up. As well, he wanted to play and was ready to play at the end of the 2022-2023 season, so the new medical staff wouldn't have cleared him if he wasn't 100%. That's kind of how I'm looking at things. As well, with Cates and Frost in the lineup, Couturier won't be asked to carry the team, so there's a bit of ease of burden there. Will there be rust? Absolutely. But there's going to be certain things (on ice awareness, hockey IQ and fresh skating legs) that will more than make up for getting up to speed. We'll need to see, but once again, cautiously optimistic.

I'd love to find a way to get Steve Mason or Jeff Reese back into the organization. Honestly, I'd say Mason was the last good goalie this club had and he did nothing to deserve to be banished by Hextall and Hakstol. As for Reese, he was a good goaltending coach. The fact he managed to coach up Rob Zepp and get some good play out of him speaks volumes about his ability. He should have never been fired over Craig Berube. Never. Still angers me to this day.

Well, Hart is the incumbent, but moving him will all hinge on this Hockey Canada investigation. If it turns out Hart was a participant in the assault, he'll be blackballed and never play in the league again. What's really concerning is how eerily quiet everything has been. It's almost as if that report is going to go the way of the Beth Wilkinson investigation into the operation of the Washington Commanders.....