BobbyClarkeFan16

Laughton and Poehling are being used in those roles because they're the coach's pets. Let's be honest about that. Tortorella loves the try hard guys. In fairness, Poehling should be back as the 4th center and Laughton should be used exclusively on the left wing of Poehling on the fourth line. I'm all for an elite checking line. If that line can win critical faceoffs, score between 35 and 40 goals a year and play exclusively on the penalty kill, that would be ideal. In terms of a legit number one center, nobody is trading those and if they do, it's costing you a fortune in terms of picks, players and cap space. The Flyers are going to have to draft a center. The question is, will they have the patience to let them develop? So yeah, I think it's best to get the defense straightened out first because that elusive center is going to be incredibly hard to find, unless the Flyers decide to give Michkov the Giroux treatment and play him at center. Even then, I certainly wouldn't mind a Boisvert/Hage prospect in the pipeline.

Someone will pick them up. Columbus will eat salary in any deal, but they'll get picks back.

I like Zadorov. Was a big fan of him in London. I never understood why no NHL club wouldn't use him in an offensive role because he had the chops as well. Dude had a great outlet pass and a rocket of a shot from the point. If he wants 3 to 3.5 a year, I'd hope the Flyers would be all over it.

The horse would make an awesome tattoo!!!

Hanafin is going to be really expensive. I think we might be looking at the flyers targeting a guy like Brett Pesce instead. The Flyers desperately need to find a way out of the Ristolainen deal though. That's an albatross anchor deal.

Rocky Thompson was a terrible choice to bring in. He was terrible as the pp coach in San Jose (there is zero reason to be the worst power play in the league when you've got guys like Thornton, Couture, Meier, Burns, Karlsson, etc ....) and he's bringing the same garbage here. Playing players out of position on the power play is inexcusable. The best the Flyers can do is fire him or send him to Lehigh Valley to be the head coach there (Thompson was a great junior hockey coach and was a successful AHL coach). But he's gotta be removed because the power play has been horrid from day one he got here.

I'm not worried about Drysdale and the injuries. The injuries have all been flukes. It happens. The good news is that it isn't his head or knees. Yes, it's been his shoulders but the injuries that happened were on completely fluke plays. It could have happened to anyone. As mentioned, a full season here working with Shaw, they'll point out what Drysdale should and shouldn't do. I also think getting him someone on the left side who's a banger and a physical player will be ideal for him. Let him be a roamer with focus on the offensive side and his partner will focus on the defensive side. As for Columbus, it depends on who the next GM is. They're going to be terrible next year as well. I think it makes sense to give up the 2nd this year and keep next year's. I also think that they're probably going to move on from Gaudreau and Laine, so they'll have more picks coming back.

I'm looking at the season as a success, even if there isn't any playoffs. They weren't expected to be this good. Let's remember that. Did they overachieve? Absolutely. But there's legitimate talent here. A full season of Drysdale, another year of Couturier rebounding from back surgery, the huge step that York has taken, Foerster looking like the second coming of Mark Stone, Farabee back on track, Tippett being so close to 30 goals, Sanheim looking all world. That's a good haul for this year. Briere has a full plate this summer. He's got more salary and players to move out (Ristolainen should be his priority to move, Johansen has no value so he's gonna have to eat money), he's got to get more young players worked in (Tuomaala and Andrae), and hopefully more draft selections (would love to see Columbus give up their 2nd round pick this year).

Oh yeah. It was terrible. I'm going to be honest - I fully expect that they'll be found not guilty because of the poor job of the initial police investigation, but when the details come out about what happened, you can bet that they'll never play in the NHL again. They'll be black balled. And maybe it's just me, but Tortorella really seemed angered when the charges were announced. He cut all ties with Hart immediately and stopped referring to him by name. Coaches don't normally do that. That was a huge sign to me.

That doesn't hold water. If my ten year old knows that assaulting women is wrong, then a 20 year old should know. This isn't about a drunken sexual encounter. This is five guys who took turns on this girl and ejaculated and spit on her. Don't tell me they didn't know what they were doing was wrong. They knew.

I hate it. I hate having to say that kind of stuff. At the same time, Hart has no one to blame but himself for putting himself in that position to begin with. I have no sympathy for him at all. Even if he's find not guilty, the stench of this is going to follow him in that people will know what happened in that hotel room and he participated in pile on on a young woman. There's no defending that.

Lots of 18 year olds have good judgement. They know not to put themselves in that position. And they weren't 18 when the assault took place. They were 20. Big difference.

Hart has no value. Nobody will touch him even if he's find not guilty. Teams will look at him as a weak character guy and someone who can't make good decisions. He's going to have to go Russia or some place like that to rehabilitate his career.

I'm hopeful that Fedotov makes an impact when he comes over. The flyers desperately need a goalie to step up. Ever since Ersson was named starter, in his 21 games, he's gone 9-8-4 with a .880 save percentage. I know I harp a lot about Ersson, but this was his chance to really grab the reins and run with the number one role and he dropped the ball. And I don't need to hear "he's a rookie" type stuff. He's going to be 25 in five months. He's played in 102 professional games and counting on North America. He's played professionally in Sweden. He's not a rookie anymore. Hopefully Fedotov can push Ersson to get to the next level. Hopefully Ersson pushes Fedotov. Steel sharpens steel.

The Score did mention that he is on his way over to North America. The more goaltenders available, the better.

He'll replace Clarke and Holmgren as a senior advisor. You can already see the finger prints of what Briere is doing. As for the rebuild/winning games/losing games/blaming players and coaches conundrum, I look at it like this. There's more than enough talent on this roster to be competitive. And I speak for myself here, but that's what I want to see - a competitive team. What aggravates me is that this is also supposed to be a development year. And while some players are doing well in the development curve, some aren't. And those who aren't, are being 'graded' to those who are. You can't do that. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. But that's not being addressed. Instead, they're all being developed in the same manner and when guys don't hit, that's when things go sidewards. On top of that, some guys are getting a pass. I've been vocal about how poor Ersson has been. Mr .898 is getting a pass because "Carter Hart". No, that nonsense needs to end. Sam Ersson is a professional hockey player. Is it too much to ask him to make a save every now and then? And it's just not here that his play was like that. It was also the same in Lehigh Valley. He needs to decide whether he wants to be mediocre or good. And right now, because everyone on the team loves Sam, they aren't pushing him. Yet, a guy like Brink or Lyksell (I know, different positions) are reamed out when they miss an assignment defensively. It's about playing favourites and it's garbage coaching. I've said I could care less if they make or miss the playoffs. Doesn't matter to me. But I want to see consistency across the board from players and coaching and that still isn't happening. That's my biggest gripe right now.

Sam Ersson is not a number one goalie. He needs to go back into a backup role next year.

I like the idea of Kolosov coming over, even if he's getting acclimated to life in North America. That's a win. A HUGE win. Look, I get that everyone is excited about the Flyers being in the playoff hunt. It wasn't expected. And that's the thing - it wasn't expected. So, even if the club doesn't make the playoffs, at the very least, there's a lot to look forward to next year. Don't forget that there are still cap issues that need to be addressed and bodies that will need to be moved out. There's lots of work left to do in terms of the rebuild. Continue working on the cap and getting that under control. Move on from players that don't fit into the Flyers timeline of contention. Continue working young players into the lineup. I'd love to see the defense even younger, but the Flyers are probably stuck with Ristolainen and we all know that Tortorella LOVES the try-hard-do-nothing Nick Seeler, so the defense might remain the same. But yeah, I'm keeping Kolosov away from the Flyers. Let him dominate the AHL. He'll be ready to compete for the big club in 2025. By then, there should be more salary cleared and more young players coming to the club.

And yet another reason why Ian Laperriere should be **** canned...

I haven't heard anything about Kaplan, so I'm guessing he'll probably be back in school. As for Barkey, he's played both left wing and center this year. Honestly, he's going to be one of those versatile forwards who can probably play all positions and not look out of place. My hope is that when he gets to Philadelphia, he plays where ever he's needed. I don't see a lot of left wingers available where the Flyers pick, so hopefully if they do draft one, it's Chernyshov from Russia. I'm also interested in Matvei Gridin from Muskegon of the USHL. He's going to Michigan in the fall, but there's some good size and goal scoring there. I get he's a right winger with a left shot, but it shouldn't be hard to transition him to the left wing.

Devin Kaplan might end up being one of those players that's a better pro than he was a college player. I love the Carter Sotheran pick more and more. Hopefully he gets an expanded offensive role next year in junior and then after that the Flyers don't do the typical Flyers thing and pigeon hole him into a role and not expand on his skill set.

I don't care if they make or don't make the playoffs. If they didn't make the playoffs, it's a higher first round pick that can be used to acquire or draft a young center. If they make the playoffs, it's going to be an eye opener for some of these younger players. Either way, I look at it as a win/win for the franchise.

Not adding a second viable goalie will be the nail in the coffin for this club. I don't think they'll play Ersson 10 games in a row and Washington is red hot. Once again, not the end of the world if the team doesn't make the playoffs, but this will be something that will have to be addressed in the offseason.

Sanheim with goal number 9 and point number 40 on the season. Does he hit 50 this year?

Was going to say the exact same thing. This falls 100% on Tortorella for not managing Couturier's ice time. Tortorella played him hard from the get go in order to try to 'win' and secure a playoff spot. The house of cards is beginning to fall apart. Tortorella needs to own this one. I'm wondering if Couturier asks to be moved after the season is over.......