BobbyClarkeFan16

Relax. The young guys need to play. That is the reality. The cap is flat for the next three years, so that prevents the club from going free agent shopping. There are also multiple players who will need new deals over the next couple of years. For the most part, the Flyers are in decent shape. The biggest problem is there is nearly 24 million tied up into three veterans who are on the downside of their careers, but management thinks they can still win with these guys. On top of it, they can't exactly move them. They're stuck with them and it prevents any sort of progress. So might as well get as many kids into the lineup as possible, get them playing a lot and having them learn what Vigneault wants. Some might call it a step back. I call it resetting the bar and building things right. And sometimes that is a big step forward in the building process. Get the right pieces in place first and then supplement and build around that.

Just reconfirmation that Taylor Hall doesn't care about winning. He only cares about getting paid. Let him be someone else's problem going forward.

The same Taylor Hall who has had only two seasons of 80 or more points in his 10 year career? He's going to cost big dollars, demand an NMC, and we're going to lose a player trying to fit him in. Seriously, why is the rebuild being abandoned? The playoffs showed there are still legitimate holes in this club. Speeding up the rebuild to 'contend' always turns out bad. Take your lumps and continue building the proper way.

Nope. Raffl is shown the door. The only way Raffl is kept is if the Flyers can move van Useless. As it stands the top six would be : Giroux/Couturier/Konecny Van Useless/Hayes/Voracek That's pretty much the reality because no one will touch that contract of JVU. Might as well try to make an asset out of him. Hopefully someone can be duped in trading for the hot bag of garbage.

And your mindset of filling the bottom six with trash and pretend that just because they're veterans that they'll make a difference continually bites this club on the ass when the bottom six is continually exposed. Look at that bottom six. Lindblom has seasons under his belt. Laughton has a number of seasons under his belt. Bunnaman and NAK have been on the shuttle back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley. Farabee has had a full season so he understands what's expected of him. The only one who doesn't have the experience like the rest of them is Frost. Is it young? Yep. But it's talented and they can help spell the top six when the top six is out of sorts. The last thing this club needs is filling the bottom six with trash like the Nate Thompsons or Derek Grants or anyone of that ilk. The window for contention is opening in Philadelphia and it's time to use that window to work in the young talent. Letting them sit and watch or play in Lehigh Valley because a grizzled veteran is here is simply outdated thinking.

Fletcher isn't going dumpster diving via free agency. I'm worried though about reading reports that they're considering targeting Matthew Dumba via trade. I want no part of Dumba. Honestly, I'd rather the right side be Myers, Gostisbehere and Braun than bringing in someone else. As for the bottom six, go all young. Lindblom/Frost/Farabee and Laughton/Bunnaman/NAK. There's speed, offense, defense, and physicality. You're also getting much needed exposure to the pro game to ask the young guys and they're still going to play quite a bit. I see penalty killers and power play performers here. This could be an incredibly talented bottom six group and more important, cost controlled for the next few years, which will be critical with a flat cap for 3 seasons

Love what Fletcher has done so far. He's sitting tight. He can use that to his advantage, especially having that trade chip in Gostisbehere. Anyone who misses out on Pietrangelo or Shattenkirk can look in his direction. Hopefully the same can be done with van Useless.

Noticed that the Flyers have quietly added more size to the wings. That's three big wingers now in the pipeline - Ratcliffe, Alison and Foerster. Add in Lindblom and they've got some real good size on the wings. I thought Fletcher was gonna Chuck this up, but they played it safe. And let's be honest, the Flyers scouts are pretty much bang on with first round assessments of players. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this. They have certainly earned it.

Well, Lindblom was a worse skater than Foerster and his skating got corrected. Foerster will be fine.

...and Tyson Foerster it is. Flyers are building the team with size again it seems.

Bogosian just can't stay healthy. If he could, he'd be alright in that bottom pairing role. Fact is the Flyers are going to need a right handed defenseman. Preferably, I'd hope that they'd elevate Myers to the right side of Provorov and then sign a guy like Shattenkirk to play on the right side of Sanheim. I get that Shattenkirk isn't a defensive stalwart, but I'm willing to bet he could teach Sanheim a thing or two about the offensive game.

Just watch, with Niskanen now retired, watch who they end up drafting. Dollars to donuts that they end up drafting Justin Barron now because well "right hand defenseman and size" ******** or something like that. I was willing to give Fletcher the benefit of the doubt, but with the re-signing of Hoggstink and Braun, clearly hasn't learned from his time in Minnesota that you can't fill your bottom spots with trash and expect that the trash is going to have a positive impact.

I don't want any part of Laine. He's Zherdev 2.0, but with a shot. If he won't play defense in Winnipeg, he won't play defense in Philadelphia. I'd love Kyle Conner, but that's a huge cost and I'm not comfortable at all if the team gives up one of the big three on the roster for him and I'm not sure Winnipeg would move him. Boeser is always hurt. Not only hurt, but back problems. I'm not sure if everyone is old enough, but back problems ruined John LeClair and back problems ruined Ryan Parent (who had the potential to be an elite defenseman, but his back was so bad that he could barely bend over to tie his skates at one point). I honestly don't want the Flyers to target any young forwards. They already have a problem working the young forward prospects they have into the lineup.

I'll differ on this one. The Flyers got killed by defensemen that could handle and move the puck well. The Islanders defense absolutely killed them on that. Not only could the defensemen handle the puck, but the forwards knew where to be when the puck was being moved. Even crease clearing was a team role. If the Flyers commit to the system, it can work. Here's another thing - Robert Hagg, the designated 'crease clearer' and 'shutdown' guy, was the 199th rated defenseman out of 199 full time defensemen in the NHL. The worst of the bunch. An elite shutdown guy shouldn't be the worst rated defenseman in the league, yet Hagg pulled it off. No, there's enough physicality in the defense lineup with Myers, Sanheim and Provorov (Provorov is a fantastic body checker who is smart about when to lower the boom and Sanheim and Myers are getting there). Add in another defenseman that can teach them how to use the body effectively and the Flyers are good. Just continue signing guys that can skate, handle the puck and move it like it's a puck and not a grenade and they're in good shape. As for Niskanen retiring, that's a big chunk of salary freed up. If they move Gostisbehere as well, that's just about $10 million in salary right there. I'd love to see them make a run a Pietrangelo, but I think he's got his heart set on going to Las Vegas. Anyways, there's money to play with now and teams will be calling.

The Flyers have enough two-way prospects and players. The need is for a legit offensive player and a finisher in particular. I'm not sure if Ridly Greig is that guy or if he's Laughton 2.0. Preferably, I'm hoping that either Perreault, Bourque, Khusnutdinov, Gunler or Lapierre are there when they pick. Swing for the fences at 23

I've always liked Shattenkirk. He was wasted in New York as he was expected to be a legitimate number 1 when he isn't. He's a solid mid pairing guy, so maybe the time is now to bump Myers up with Provorov, have Sanheim play along side Niskanen and then have Hoggwart and Friedman as a pair.

Pretty certain that Patrick's physician and the team's doctor have already said the migraines are a preexisting and genetic condition, not a result of concussions.

I don't think we'll see Alison this year. He was finally getting back on track after his knee injury and I think they'll take it easy with him. Laczynski though I could see making the club and a 4th line of Raffl/Bunnaman/Laczynski could work. This club has the potential to be really young and I agree that ownership would have to be comfortable with going that young because let's be honest, there will be a bit of a step back to get the younger players acclimated, but the pay off could be huge.

If you look back on my take of the draft, I never wanted Patrick. Not once. I wanted Glass from the get go. Not only was he nearly a year younger than Patrick, he did everything Patrick could do. I'm not sure if anyone else is aware of this, but Glass is also the same size, so size couldn't even be factored in. Truthfully, I thought Patrick was overrated.

I guess we'll agree to disagree. Fact is, they're right up against the cap. They have players next year that need to be signed, namely Hart and Sanheim. The cap is going to be flat for three years. So, not only do they have that to worry about, but they've got to work young players into the lineup. So yeah, I'd hope that they move Voracek and JVR because that means there isn't $15 million tied up between two guys. On top of it, JVR is a lazy dog. The most useless waste of $7 million that Hextall ever spent. And honestly, where do you put JVR in the lineup when you've got Lindblom, Laughton and Farabee on the left side? You aren't bumping any of those three to play on the fourth line and you can't justify having a $7 million man on the 4th line either. Move him out and cut bait. See you Van Useless. As for Voracek, there are 8.225 million reasons why you move him as well. Fact is, they need to make room for the youth. Fact is, Bunnaman and Frost are playing in the center spots (Frost is 3, Bunnaman is 4). If JVR and Voracek are dealt, there's no real loss for the Flyers. Lindblom can easily replace JVRs production, We know Giroux can replace JVRs production. We know Konecny is ready to emerge and take on Voracek's production. If the Flyers make a deal for Virtanen, you're getting a guy who's going to be motivated and there's probably a 25 - 30 goal guy waiting right there. And you can't forget Patrick because something tells me they're probably going to play him on the wing going forward. I'll take that trade off it if means a better allocation of $15 million and yeah, I think as a club, the Flyers become younger, faster and that will make them better. Do they drop off from these deals? Maybe, but I'll take one step back if it means five steps forward. This is a club that has NEVER done a proper rebuild. Ever. I said they overachieved last season and it was painfully obvious to just watch how out of their league they were in the playoffs. Montreal couldn't score and the Islanders skated all around them. The Flyers simply can't continue this path of "well, we're going to retool and remain competitive" garbage that they've been selling people. If you're going to go young, then you have to be prepared to take some lumps. I'll take the trade off of working two young 21 - 22 year old players into the lineup at the expense of two over priced 30+ year old guys....every time.

Both deals would require a 3rd party to be involved. 'Zona is in cost cutting mode and Vancouver is close to the cap and they need to re-arrange money to get players signed (something tells me though Markstrom is going to walk and they're going to elevate Demko).

I want no part of Patrick Laine. Maurice and Vigneault coach similar styles. There's no way his lackadaisical attention to defense will cut it with Vigneault. The cost will be astronomical. No thanks. Honestly, I'll be content if they work more young players into the lineup and into full time roles. I'm looking specifically at Frost, Bunnaman and Friedman. As well, I want to see one of the high priced 30+ olds moved. I believe they'll keep Giroux because he's a good citizen. I think they'll send a message if they move Voracek and/or JVR. Depending on the return, it could make for interesting. For instance, there was talk of Virtanen on here. He's a high risk, but if he pans out, that could be a really high reward. There seems to be smoke with the Virtanen and showing up to training camp out of shape, but if this shocks him into changing his offseason habits, you could potentially get a 30 goal winger with some snarl. That also changes the balance on the team. The right side would end up providing a physical presence (if a deal for Virtanen is made, you're looking Konecny/Virtanen/NAK/UFA on there) the left side would provide finesse (Giroux/Lindblom/Farabee) and the center position has a very interesting balance of experience and upside (Couturier/Hayes/Frost). And if Patrick is healthy, which it seems he's there with regards to Fletcher's last comments, then you could really change the complexion of the fourth line. And don't forget Laughton isn't even on here. Who would have thought.....I'm actually warming up to the idea of Virtanen to Philadelphia.

Gordo is a retard and we should be lucky that the kids turned out as well as they did not because of him, but inspite of him.

I still hate the Patrick pick more and more. I really wish they drafted Cody Glass.