BobbyClarkeFan16

Here's the thing with the additions of Johansson and Connolly - Connolly is a 20 goal/40 point player and does most of his scoring at even strength, while playing roughly 14 minutes per night. Johansson is having a rough year due to injury, but for his career, he's also a 40 point scorer at just over 16 minutes a night with minimal special teams time. Those kinds of players are invaluable, especially if they know coming in that they aren't getting special teams time. More important, they aren't going to break the bank. On top of it, Connolly fills a need on the third line and that means Konecny doesn't get bounced to the third line. Connolly knows his role and plays it well. As for Johansson, he fills a need while waiting for Frost. Give Frost the Giroux treatment and it's not going to kill him. As for Farabee, the left side is absolutely stacked and he's not bouncing JVR, Giroux or Lindblom. So, that means the fourth line and that means wasting his talent. Let him go to the AHL and let him and Frost develop chemistry and tear it up down there. Having them play in every situation and play upwards of 20 minutes a night is the best way to bring them along. As for Voracek, I'm guessing that there would be numerous teams interested. However, that's a lot of production to lose. In terms of Panarin, I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think he signs in Philadelphia. I think he and Bobrovsky are going to be a package deal and it won't surprise me if they both sign in Florida with the Panthers. Warm weather, strong Russian community, and there were rumblings at the trade deadline that that was where they were headed. Too much smoke there. I really think that Fletcher tries to get a defenseman the caliber of Pietrangelo, but I won't be surprised if he ends up signing a guy like Tyler Myers.

I don't think there are as many holes as it's perceived to be. I think because of the system that's used (or lack of), things look worse than what they really are. The top six and line four is perfectly fine. The third line needs work. So, the lines of Giroux - Couturier - Konecny, Lindblom - Patrick - Voracek and Raffl - Laughton - Hartman all work well together. There's zero need to change that. As for the third line, there's JVR and that's it. A right winger and a center must be found. The easiest thing is to use Frost and sign a winger, but I'd rather Frost go to Lehigh Valley where he and Farabee can work together. As for the right winger, I'd try to sign a guy like Brett Connolly to fill that spot. In terms of a center, Marcus Johansson would be a good fit for the third line. Neither guy would also cost a ton and could be easily moved once Frost and others are ready to come onboard. Defense shouldn't be a problem to fix either. Buy out MacDonald right off the bat. He offers nothing. The Flyers are then left with Provorov, Sanheim, Meyers, and Gostisbehere as the top four. Then you've got the following defenders left: Morin, Hagg, and Gudas. Personally, I'd look at packaging Gudas, a prospect like Rubtsov and the Flyers first for Alex Pietrangelo from St. Louis. You can then move Hagg for a pick or prospects and your defense is now: Provorov - Pietrangelo Sanheim - Meyers Morin - Gostisbehere Plus, it means that Friedman gets the call up and is the number 7 guy. Goaltending should be a relatively easy fix too. Let Neuvirth, Elliott and Talbot all walk. Bring in Curtis McElhinney to be the back up to Hart. Finally, bring in Quenneville to be the coach. That should be the blueprint for Fletcher this off-season.

Looking forward to full seasons of Rubtsov, Farabee and Laberge. I'm really rooting for Laberge and hoping he can stay healthy and put together a very good season. The embarrassment of riches is really beginning to show. I'm almost thinking that Farabee - Rubtsov - Laberge could possibly be a line that starts together in Lehigh Valley. You could then put together another line of Ratcliffe - Frost - Allison. I'm so looking forward to next season.

I think that's going to be a tough order of business. I'm not sure who that player is. I'd love to see the pick be used to acquire a guy like Brock Boeser or Kyle Connor. I'm wondering if maybe Fletcher tries to acquire the rights to Kaprizov. Maybe we end up seeing a future line of Farabee - Frost - Kaprizov as a unit. It would certainly make for interesting.

I'm not sure the Flyers need any more defenders, especially if Hogberg and Bernhardt come over and Kalynuk leaves college. Add in Friedman, Willcox, Brennan, De Haas, etc....and the Flyers have enough defenders. And just think, after next year, it's possible that Ginning, St. Ivany, and Wylie will more than likely be onboard.

I like Suzuki. He's faster than his older brother Nick and plays on a bad team in Barrie and is putting up real solid numbers. He's a Frost-like player and you can never have enough talent like that. Suzuki is also 6'0, 170 pounds, so there's still some growth to him. If he tops out at 6'1, 6'2 and 190 pounds, perfect. Especially when you factor in the speed.

Lehigh Valley is a great example of what happens when you don't have a succession plan in place. We're seeing the team fall through the cracks and the team is being exposed for how poorly they've done in terms of player development. This is why the Flyers really need to hire new coaching staffs in both Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley that has a focus on player development and system structure. I can't wait until they start cutting dead weight and begin to fix this mess.The players aren't the problem - the lack of structure and development is.

He's a right winger with a left shot, but can play the left side as well. As for his skating, he's no burner, but he's certainly no slouch either. His skating is deceptive. First step acceleration isn't the strongest, but he gets up to speed quickly. A little bit of leg work will be required, but the skating is easily corrected. I like that he's still 17, only turns 18 a few days before the draft and has some skill and snarl to his game. He's also a shooter, something the Flyers desperately need.

The left wing is going to be incredibly deep. Besides Ratcliffe, don't forget about Farabee either, who has 29 points in 32 games at Boston University. He's leading the team in scoring as a freshman and could possibly make the jump at the end of the season. Add in Lindblom and the Flyers are in great shape on the left side youth wise. The right side is a little more dicier. There's Wade Allison and NAK, but not much else after that. There's Jay O'Brien, but he's been a MAJOR disappointment at Providence College. I suppose that they'll move Tanner Laczynski to the wing, but something tells me the Flyers might just use him as a package in a trade. With the position that the Flyers are in with regards to the draft, Arthur Kaliyev from Hamilton of the OHL might just be the guy they should select. Not only is he a need, but he's also the best available talent in that slot. And don't forget that center is also loaded with Frost, Rubtsov and Patrick. Honestly, I've never seen forward depth like this before at the prospect pipeline.

I expect a career pattern similar to Mike Richards to start. I think he'll be a 30 to 35 point guy his first year, maybe a sight bump the second season and then explodes in his third year.

I think both Hogberg and Bernhardt will be coming over for 2019-2020. As well, there were whispers that Wyatt Kalynuk would be going pro after his season at Wisconsin. And yes, I think Friedman is ready for his shot. He might not get in this year, but I could see him being called up next season for a few games. I noticed that Laberge was missing from your list. I could see him being moved to the wing and playing alongside Laczynski and Sushko, Ratcliffe being bumped up to the top with Bunnaman and Allison and then Carey on the fourth line to replace Goulbourne, who'll probably be out of the organization completely. And don't forget that it's possible Farabee might be one and done in the NCAA and could possibly make the jump. There's a plethora of depth that this club hasn't seen since Holmgren was named GM after Clarke resigned. People can say what they want about Bobby, but he left an embarrassment of riches for Holmgren. Hopefully Fletcher doesn't piss away the depth that Hextall left him.

Something tells me that Vorobyov won't be in the Flyers organization past the trade deadline. I expect he'll be dealt for a draft pick, maybe a 4th so that the Flyers are picking in every round this year. As for Laberge and Laczynski, they'll be moved to the wing next season. Rubtsov won't get bumped because he's most effective there. As for Bunnaman, I think with his size, it only makes sense that the Flyers continue to develop him into a checking center in the Joel Otto mold, but with better skating. Frost should be given the Giroux treatment - send him to Lehigh Valley, let him play 30 - 35 games there and call him up mid-season. I get the Flyers are on a nice run right now, but this is still a DEEPLY flawed club. Team defense is atrocious and there are still players on the big club that have no business being there. It makes zero sense to have Frost center a line if he's going to be surrounded by scrubs and only get table scraps for ice time. What's going to be interesting is what's going to happen in Lehigh Valley next year with the influx of talent from junior. That's going to be a good dilemma to face.

I should have explained - 50 starts for Hart, 30 starts for Stolarz.

Frost and Farabee have also grown since their draft day as well. I was reading that Frost is 6'1, 190 pounds now and Farabee is 6'1, 180 pounds.

Well, the good news is that Hart is probably on the big club for good and Stolarz will more than likely be the back up. You're looking at 50/30 split between the two. As for Lyon, I'm all but certain he's moved to another organization to get a chance. That leaves Sandstrom, which means Felix and Kirill battle it out in Lehigh Valley. The AHL is the perfect place for those two to battle it out and hopefully when a new coaching staff is in place in Philadelphia, a new coaching staff will be in place in Lehigh Valley, especially a coaching staff that focuses on what the big club is doing and the system they play, while developing the young guys. If we thought things were messy now, just wait until Ersson arrives. Great problem to have.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/csn/flyers/Flyers_prospect_Joel_Farabee_following_in_the_footsteps_of_James_van_Riemsdyk_PHI-505198182.html Obviously this article doesn't delve deeper because if it did, the writer would have noted that Farabee actually attends a school with a noted hockey program that has developed several quality and bonafide NHL players. Boston University has a reputation. As for JVR, he went to UNH, which didn't have a great hockey program and he ended up developing bad habits from there. He was a first round pick that the school catered to and allowed him to get away with bad habits. Farabee will be a far superior player to JVR. Farabee's work ethic alone separates him from Van Useless.

After reading the scouting reports of all the top prospects, something tells me that if the Flyers fall out of the top 3 and end up with a pick at 4, 5 or 6, Matthew Boldy will be the player they select. It just seems like an organizational fit with him. Good size, great wheels, soft hands, plays a full 200 foot game and has incredible hockey IQ. He's Farabee, but with better size.

Great move. I get he's a bit long in the tooth, but he's going to be a great sounding board for Huffman and he'll be able to help put together a development plan for a lot of the players there. I also expect that there's going to be a handful of players that Murray will take under his wing and really help push them to the next level, specifically Rubtsov and Laberge after their season ending surgeries......

Rubstov also a scratch last night. I guess Gordon felt that he needed to continue to give ice time to guys like Conner, Carey, Varone, etc.....and sit the young talent he's supposed to help develop. Glad to see 'smart' decision making is working it's way down from the parent club to the farm team.......

I watched the Lehigh Valley/Springfield game tonight and Rubtsov is a real gem. I swear it's like watching the Russian version of Patrice Bergeron, except that Rubtsov is a much better skater. There's no wasted play out there, they just go out and perform and they make it look effortless. My hope is that Rubtsov stays the year. Don't call him up. Let him just play and soak in the atmosphere and then have him really push for a spot at next training camp. He's really going to be a great problem for the Flyers next season.

It teaches Hart how to deal with adversity. This is probably the best thing that will happen to him in his pro career. He'll watch some video, figure things out and readjust. I'm sure Dillabaugh will work with him and you can bet Hart is talking to his sports psychologist.

Wylie is a CHL player. He has to be signed by 2020 or he goes back into the draft.

Isaac Ratcliffe is an impressive physical specimen. That reach and soft hands is something you can't teach. Hextall got a steal there. Hopefully he gets a few preseason games in before being sent back for his final junior season.

This year was the exception to the rule though. Giroux was playing on a surgically repaired hip and he wasn't himself until nearly 8 months after the surgery. Let's also not forget that Giroux's even strength scoring was practically non-existent, a statistical anomoly if there ever was one. Giroux playing with a healthy hip is a completely different player. I think after the second half of the season, he was on pace for 70 points. I expect that Giroux will bounce back this up coming season and be a 80 point player. Voracek, on the other hand, is the guy that concerns me the most on this roster.

I'm not worried that Rasmussen is a statistical anomoloy. I think he rebounds next season and becomes a consistent point producer in all situations. I'm looking at the various draft publications and the guys that are available around when the Flyers pick and I see guys like Rasmussen, Jason Robertson (great size, but apparent skating issues), Nikita Popugayev (great skating and skill, but completely fell apart after being traded), Ryan Poehling (some can't decide if there's actual high end skill or not), Kristian Vesalainen (size and skating, but is there actual skill), Maxime Comtois (was a preseason potential number one pick, but has fallen hard), etc.... At this point, if you look at things from a real honest stand point, Rasmussen is the guy I take out of the bunch and it's not close. We know he can score goals. He can skate like the wind. He has a fantastic shot and works the power play really well. The other issue with Rasmussen's production this year is that he was consistently bounced between left wing and center. I don't care what anyone says - you can't be successful if you're chaning positions as often as you're changing underwear. We've seen it with Brayden Schenn when he was bounced from center to left wing to right wing then back to center, etc.....Leave Rasmussen in one place and he'll be OK. I know Hextall has said that he wants to incorporate more size and he started that last year with Bunnaman and Twarynski (can't forget Tanner Laczynski and his 6'1, 200 pound frame), so it won't surprise me if Rasmussen is on the radar. Part of me is really intrigued by this draft because it's really interesting to see what direction the Flyers will go. My hope is that they end up with one of Necas, Pettersson or Glass, but I won't be downtrodden if they select Rasmussen.