BobbyClarkeFan16

I'd avoid him. I get that he went to rehab and he's not boozing anymore, but his skating is barely adequate and having him in the lineup means that a young player is stuck in Lehigh Valley because Ryan would basically be guaranteed a spot in the lineup. Big pass from me.

@OccamsRazor is right. Patrick has nothing. Offer him the QO and if he doesn't sign it, you still retain his rights. Right now he has nothing in terms of negotiating rights. He should be lucky that he's even receiving a QO and he needs to understand that he has no leverage and he should jump at the QO.

Hmmm.....if you could ever convince Virtanen to come into camp in shape, I think he could surprise. One of my high school friends is a big Canucks fan and from my time living in Vancouver, I still maintain contact with a number of people I worked with at Shaw Cablesystems and one of the guys is good friends with Virtanen. They both have mentioned that he reports to camp in less than stellar shape. On top of it, Jake would be like Old Towne crew 2.0. I don't see that flying over well. The good news is that if Wade Alison is over his knee issues, the Flyers have found a legitimate physical winger with good hands. I'd love he could become a Tocchet-type of forward, but I'd certainly be happy with a better skating Mike Knuble with a bit of a mean streak.

Biggest waste of skin this franchise has hired. I still don't understand why they wouldn't hire a young up and coming coach that can come into Lehigh Valley and work hand in hand with Vigneault in terms of development and what he wants from the young guys. It baffles me that this club still doesn't respect the AHL club and basically throws crap at a wall to see what sticks.

Sorry if I over-reacted. I didn't want to come across that way. I'm still of the belief that the rebuild isn't complete though, so that's why I kind of wanted to temper expectations and that a step back is a possibility and that there shouldn't be any surprise if there is.

We're close. Part of what really irks me about Frost and Farabee was that they should have stayed in the AHL for the year and they could have played on a line with Ratcliffe and build that chemistry. Instead, Farabee was all but rushed, Frost was dicked around and Ratcliffe was given table scraps by Scott Gordon because Gordon forgot that his first responsibility in Lehigh Valley was to develop talent. He tried to establish a winning record instead so he could have improved his chances at an NHL job. Anyways, I digress. I don't think we're far off at all. Konecny is a shooter, Lindblom is a shooter, Farabee is a shooter, Ratcliffe is a shooter, Alison is a shooter. They've got the shooters in the system. The other thing I would do - name Laughton as the captain. One of the few guys that showed up every game in the playoffs. He's exactly the type of player this club needs in terms of leadership. The quiet and show everything on the ice type captains simply don't work.

...and not just Provorov. The fact we also got Konecny that draft year was also huge. That to me was the start of the reset. Add in Sanheim next draft and the signings of Myers and Zamula and the defense core has been completely reshaped by Hextall. I had issues with the way he handled young players and his fierce devotion to Hakstol, but he knew how to draft. Hopefully Fletcher is a bit more balanced, but I still think the way they've handled the development of Frost speaks out that it's still more of the same old, same old.

I should mention one more problem - playing time seems to be dictated on how much a player makes. We saw it when Konecny would get table scraps for ice time, yet hacks like Lehtera got significantly more ice time than him simply because Lehtera made significantly more money than him. Fletcher has to give Vigneault the carte blanche he needs to move veterans into lesser roles, escalate younger players into more prominent roles and not worry about the fact that some guys have $8 million a year deals and they won't be happy about it. That might be enough though to get guys to waive NMCs and be open to being moved. But everything hinges on whether management will do that or if they will back the veterans. After this playoffs, I can't see Fletcher and company being open to giving the veterans another shot. I really have to think that they'll move forward with escalating the young guys.

The Flyers need to quit worrying about what other clubs do. I find that the management of the team are big trend chasers that kills them. They tried the big and brawn like Anaheim, they've tried speed and skill, they've tried deep down the middle, they've tried having superior depth but mediocre goaltending. Nothing they've done works when they try to mirror other clubs or concern themselves with how other teams are built. The thing is, the fix is so easy, but they refuse to do it. The fix should be : 1) identify what kind of game you want the team to play -> do you want to be an aggressive skating team built around defense, puck pressure and high scoring chances or do you want to be a methodical, tight checking club that forces opponents into mistakes and capitalizes on them. Right now, I watch this club and it's kind of an identity crisis because I really believe they have no idea how they want the club to play. That needs to stop. 2) Once it's been identified how they want to play, do they have the personnel to fit the system. If they have the personnel, then implement the system and don't deviate from it. The one thing that sets Tampa Bays, the New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins, etc....apart is that they play their system and they don't deviate from it. That's what makes them so successful. You're going to take some lumps every now and again. As long as you've got full buy in and everyone is committed to the system, it will work and eventually, it will be second nature to players. The biggest issue I find with the Flyers is that when they get behind, everyone from coaching to players panic and they scrap the entire game plan. Good teams don't do that. They readjust, but they don't scrap. 3) If you're going to go young, make your commitment to your younger players and put them in pivotal roles that you're going to expect them to play in. Don't shelter the kids. That's the biggest disservice they can do. Play them in all situations. There's times when things are going to get tough and these younger players are going to struggle. Let them learn to deal with adversity and let them play through it. When they learn from the tough times, they'll become better players. They aren't there to accommodate the veterans. The veterans are there to accommodate them. That's the thinking the club needs to have. 4) Take your lumps - don't speed up the rebuild. The moment you speed up a rebuild, things have a tendency to break. Take a look at all those teams I mentioned and when they rebuild, they do it the right way. They don't cut corners or take short cuts. The Girouxs, Voraceks, JVRs have had their chance. Their window was short and that was due to the incompetence of Holmgren trying for the quick fix. Hextall got the **** end of the stick trying to fix the salary cap hell and lack of prospects and pipeline that Holmgren created. The older players can now compliment the young guys and its time for AV and company to embrace them and move forward by putting them into more prominent roles. By the time the younger guys reach their mid 20s, there's no reason to believe that this club can't be a juggernaut. But everyone needs to be patient and I don't know if ownership can do that.

I think Sam can be effective third pair defender. The knee injuries though could be problematic to overcome. If he overcomes them, you've got a physical and intimidating presence along the blue line that could really give other teams fits. It's too bad that the Hextall/Haktard regime had no idea how to use him. If they did, he could have been a beauty of a shutdown d.

It's not supposed to be awe inspiring. It's the reality that we're going to face. A flat cap for the next three years is going to really limit the club as to what they can do. Honestly, I think the team overachieved a bit this year and I expect a bit of a fall back to reality when the 2020 - 2021 season rolls around. In fairness though, if Sanheim takes a huge leap in year 3 (which is very possible as it seems most players take that big leap) and if Myers continues his trajectory, AV can afford to play the top 4 around 44 to 45 minutes a night and there's no need to worry with the bottom pairing getting 15 to 16 minutes a night. Now, I know that some may think otherwise, but if Linus Hogberg comes into camp and if he has a REALLY good camp (and it's very possible as he played very well in the SEL), then the battle for the third pair could make for interesting, especially if he outplays Hoggwart/Hoggstink/Hoggsucks/you get the picture. Right now, the Flyers are probably going to stick with Niskanen and the beauty is that if he struggles and if Myers takes off, you can always go with a Provy - Myers pairing and then have Niskanen drop back to play alongside Sanheim.

Out of 199 defensemen in the NHL, Hagg rated 199th. He is awful and it's too bad because when he played in Sweden, he looked like a legitimate top four defenseman and 2nd PP guy. He had great upside. He then goes to Philadelphia and it's like he forgot everything he was taught. I know that during his first year, there were rumours of home sickness and that he was ready to go back overseas, but he gutted it out. It's too bad that every coach he's ever had in North America coached the skill and usefulness right out of him. The Flyers spent $1.6 million too much on him. Hopefully he's just exposure material for Seattle and they bite on him. As for Ghost, I'm sad at what's become of him. His knee injuries and how Haktard and company tried to fundamentally change his game pretty much broke him. I had high hopes that Yeo would get him back on track because Yeo has a good track record working with defensemen, but it just became an instance that a change of scenery will do Ghost good. I'm convinced that he ends up in either Detroit or Minnesota, depending on what happens with both Torey Krug and Matt Dumba. As for Philadelphia, I'm guessing that means we're going to see our defense look like: Provorov - Niskanen Sanheim - Myers Hoggwart - Friedman UFA

The only problem then is the expansion draft. The three defensemen works more than likely be Provorov, Sanheim and Myers. And if people think that because of the contract, the purple in Seattle wouldn't select Pietrangelo, I'm saying think again. The owners have some DEEP pockets, so an $8.5 million and above deal won't frighten them off. I say keep on the path, try to rid the team of bloated contracts and continue working younger players into the lineup.

One can only hope they can move Van Useless....

In terms of moving Ghost, the issue will be whether his knees are 100%. So, 2018 - 2019 offseason he was recuperating from knee surgery only to have another surgery in 2019 - 2020. Clearly there's a problem with his knees that he simply needs time off to heal and heal fully. A healthy Gostisbehere is a difference maker and I think the coaching staff realizes that. Everyone knows what he's capable of. He's not being handled by Therien either as Yeo looks after the defense. Yeo also has a good track record working with defensemen, so I'm not worried about that. Everything with Ghost seems to be health and head. One solid year of health and just letting the play come to him will be all what he needs. Let's not forget that Hakstol and company tried to fundamentally change the type of defensemen he was and they broke him. It's going to take time to fix him.

The problem in Ottawa is that Eugene Melnyk is a cheap ass son of a bitch that wants to keep the budget as low as possible. He'll only deal for players with big cap hits, but low salary pay outs. He's all but directed Pierre Dorion to move out salary as much as possible, with the exception of Thomas Chabot. Just watch what happens when Tkachuk comes up for contract renewal. He'll ask for 8 and Dorion will low ball him at 4 or 5 and then move him for trash pieces.

Hindsight is 20/20, unfortunately. Scouts were raving about Morin going into the draft and the trajectory that he was on. I remember that year and I really wanted Josh Morrisey to be the pick. I thought the Flyers needed a legitimate puck moving power play defenseman and he fit the bill. When they took Sam though, I understood why. How could you not be intrigued by a 6'7, 200+ pound defenseman that can play with snarl and could skate like there's no tomorrow. He was also a decent puck carrier and had a bomb of a shot from the point. I'll agree that the Pronger comparisons much. Sam compared more favourably to Zdeno Chara, especially when it came to their growth in the game. I still think Sam can be a player and a good one at that. The knee injuries were flukes. When you see how he was injured, it was bull - **** luck. I think having this year of not worrying about the big club and playing in the AHL to get himself back into game shape will be good for him.

He didn't fail in Tampa Bay. He produced. Look at hockeydb.com and you'll see that he produced his first full season in Tampa Bay. As for Montreal, it's been a **** show. Claude Julien has tried turning him into something he isn't. Julien thought he could turn him into Brad Marchand. News flash - not everyone is a physical player. Doesn't make them soft in any shape or form. It was like Justin Williams when he was here. Hitchcock GROSSLY misused him. It wasn't until he got to Carolina that they let him grow into the player he could be. That's what it is with Drouin. The talent is there. It's never been an issue of that. Some guys just aren't a good fit in certain environments. As for Mike Richards, yeah, no thanks. I want to ensure that my captain or leader isn't an oxycontin junkie or prone to fits when other players would challenge his leadership.

John LeClair was also called a floater. We all know how he turned out. Drouin is just in a bad situation.

And its not just Ghost either that they can move. Both JVR and Voracek don't have NMC clauses in their deal. So, if the Flyers can get out of the two deals with much needed cap space, they'll be ok. As for Nolan Patrick, no one is going to sign him to an offer sheet, especially if his future is unknown. It makes zero sense and if someone says 'they'll do it to screw with another team's cap situation', we all know that they'll be crucified for that. The Flyers are going to be younger this year. I think that's gong to be the reality we face. There's going to be no big name free agent signings. We'll probably see trades and we'll probably see some prospects head out in deals with players as well. That's going to be the way Chuckles will have to improve the team. Of note, I heard a rumour of one deal that would send JVR, Friedman and a draft pick to Montreal for Drouin and a draft pick. Not sure what to make of it, but it's clear that the rumours are starting.

Unfortunately, since Bill has become a writer for the Flyers, his journalistic integrity has taken a hit. He used to call things as they were previously, but now he's more prone to placate the organization.

Alexander Appleyard is one of the most intelligent and credible posters with regards to everything Flyers related. He also knows the European leagues inside out. He's an invaluable resource.

Frost isn't a question mark. The guy has the talent and the skill. The problem is that he was only playing 8 to 10 minutes a night instead of starting in Lehigh Valley where he could have been dominant and then ready for 2020-2021. That's on Fletcher. And please don't talk about 'size' being an issue. Brayden Point is 5'10, 165 pounds (2 inches smaller and 20 pounds lighter than Frost) and he doesn't seem to have a problem adjusting to the pro game. The problem is that the Flyers play a ****** trap system that doesn't utilize the talents of the players they have. Never have I seen an organization try to fit players into a system that doesn't work with the talent they have. It's borderline mental retardation.

I don't think moving JVR, Giroux and Voracek would be as difficult as some might think. Fact is, all three are 20+ goal scorers who would thrive in a secondary or tertiary role. I could see a team like Colorado being interested in Giroux and I think a guy like Tyson Jost with a prospect like Shane Bowers could easily be done. He and Mackinnon on the pp would be lethal. Voracek could bring in a good prospect and a 2nd. JVR might be the most difficult to move, but then again, he'd be a deadline type acquisition and could be exposed to the expansion draft afterwards. There's some value there for a club. The big issue would be selling it to ownership. This is a franchise that is hell bent on icing veterans regardless. Young players are made to sit or play in roles to support veterans. Management would have to sell ownership on the idea of going with a very young core. Personally, if Vigneault and Fletcher feel that Frost is ready for the big show and if Ratcliffe is ready to make the jump, that might be an easier sell.

Frost is going to be perfectly fine and can easily be another Barzal. Let's be honest about Lehigh Valley - Scott Gordon is a retard who has zero coaching acumen and NO business developing prospects. He's only there out of a misguided sense of loyalty to someone who took over the big club when Hakstol all but poisoned the locker room with horrendous coaching decisions and over usage and misuse of players. The fact that Frost did as well as he did with no viable instruction is nothing more than a minor miracle. It also speaks in volumes that Vigneault wanted him on the club and it was Fletcher that decided elsewise. The 2020-2021 season, Vigneault will have Frost for the full year. As for the 'third pairing' defensemen, that's ludicrous. Provorov is a number one in the league. Sanheim and Meyers have number one upside and are currently the second pairing. Zamula has top 4 upside. Same with York. Ronnie Attard might end up the sleeper of the group. And Friedman is ready so when Braun walks, he steps in. As for the rest of the forwards, Farabee will be a legit top six guy. He just turned 20 and plays a full 200 foot game. Patrick is a legitimate question mark, but if they can get the migraine issues addressed, he's good to go. O'Brien gets a do over with Boston University. And depending what the Flyers do at the draft, if they draft a guy like Mavrik Bourque or Brendan Brisson, that's another high end piece to add to the pipeline. So no, it isn't doom and gloom. There are very legitimate pieces in the system. Prospect development isn't linear either, so some guys might take longer than others. That's just the way it is.