BobbyClarkeFan16

It's the Russian version of "The Shift."

The KHL is also a notoriously tough league in terms of developing young players. Thoreson went there as a 26 year old and they gave him all the ice time in the world. Kirill Kaprizov was there until he was 23 and he didn't have a point per game season until his final year there. Context and usage are everything. Michkov is going to be ok.

I don't think the players, coaching staff or management want a full on tank. And I kind of get it. If you create an environment of losing, then the players become accustomed to it. Now, if the Flyers are out of the playoff race by December/January, then yes, embrace a tank. Move players, add draft picks and prospects and take on some extra salary to make the returns that much greater. Personally, I think they'll be out of the race by mid November, but you can always be competitive, even when losing. I think that's what they're going to try to establish this year.

I've always been a fan of his. Just a silky smooth defensive defenseman that is smart with the puck and can get it out of the zone with relative ease. He's not a physical guy and that seems to be a problem with teams, which I don't understand. Why the brawn over brains thinking is still endorsed is beyond me.

I think the best news about Couturier is that he's 100% healthy, not just his back. He had a chance to heal knee, ankle and shoulder injuries. The Flyers might end up having to do maintenance days with him and give him time off every now and again to ensure his health is good, similar to what they do in basketball.

I'm hoping Peterson refuses to report and becomes a free agent.

I also see that Jacob Bernard-Docker was waived in Ottawa today. There's another first rounder I'd love to see Philadelphia take a chance on. Smart, right handed defenseman that was stuck in numbers issue in Ottawa.

Wisdom - Desnoyers - Gendron If Puckhead can't put that together as a line, then he should be **** canned. Enough messing around. Let these guys play and build chemistry together.

I think we're all going to have to live with Couturier not going anywhere. Too many people like him. The only way he gets moved is if he wants out. Atkinson should garner a pick of he's healthy and scoring goals. If that's the case, the Flyers might be best served waiting until the deadline to move him.

Michkov's got superstar written all over him. He's so good and he's making Rotenberg look like a fool. Now watch next season when Rotenberg tries to make him look bad again and Rotenberg mysteriously "disappears" from the KHL. It's too bad though that Michkov won't get to play in the WJC. Kid did nothing wrong other than his nationality and he and his cohorts who would be on the team are being made to pay for it. I hate the IIHF some times......

Kaprizov 2.0. I'm good with that!!!!

Lyksell flubbed at least three sure fire goals and that knocked the wind out of Frost. I still don't understand why they removed Foerster from the line when they were all playing well.

I'll own up to it. I fully plan on the club being bad for a few years. All what I care about is if there's effort and if they're continually getting better. Last night was a good example of just how much of a mess Briere has on his hands getting this straightened out. Good luck to him because there's going to be A LOT of long nights.

I thought it was great because it exposed just how disorganized this club is with regards to building a team. They don't have enough goal scorers, offensively gifted players and the defense is a mess and it's not going to get better anytime soon, especially with Brad Shaw as the coach. There were a few positives though. Couturier playing was good to see. He can still win draws and once he gets his game legs back, he'll be a force again. Frost also played well and quite honestly, should have had three or four points if he had a legit finisher on his wings. The defense scares the absolute hell out of me and Brad Shaw gives me legit nightmares that he doesn't know how to develop defensemen. Part of me wishes a guy like John Stevens would have been brought back because he knows player development. That is his strength. Cal Peterson is done. He'll never play another game at the NHL level again. Either bury him in the minors or buy him out.

I'm going to be 50 in February and I've decided I'm going to do 15 more years at work and then retire. I work at a nuclear power plant (didn't start there until 41) and I hope to maximize my retirement benefits, especially because my wife and I plan to relocate to Playa Del Carmen or Puerto Morales for six months of the year. I'm done with snow.

Build the pipeline and oversaturate it with as many good prospects as possible.

Sandstrom is terrible. He's barely an AHL goalie. Preferably, I'd love to see Sandstrom and Peterson in Lehigh Valley and Ersson in Philadelphia. However, if Peterson can get off to a hot start, hopefully they can move him with salary retention and get a draft pick out of the deal.

I'm fine with the forwards. If anything, I think some of the forwards are underrated. The defense should be better and the goaltending will be interesting.

Incredible how this organization has constantly **** the bed with regards to players and coaches. I'm hopeful that Briere and Jones get this mess straightened out.

I totally forgot about the Rangers. They have a superb coach in Hartford with Kris Knoblauch. He should have been the guy in Lehigh Valley and not Scotty Gordon. My only hope is that Laperriere tanks the Phantoms and Briere and Tortorella decide it's time to move on. Bring in a good coach from major junior that has a track record of winning and development.

You all need to see the conditions on the Detroit first. It's Detroit who chooses whether Ottawa gets the Detroit pick or Boston's pick.

I'm hopeful that we see familiar pairs put together. I'm hopeful we'll witness some serious thinking outside the box. Everything is on the table.

If Michkov is a point pretty game player or more at the end of the year, I can see him and his immediate family being smuggled out of Russia and coming over to North America.

As it should be. This franchise for the longest of time has had a large number of players that had an attitude of complacency and entitlement that it's good to see a coach come in and say "not gonna happen - you need to earn your spot." It's kind of refreshing.

Tampa Bay and Nashville have the best development programs, but Buffalo is closing in. Tampa Bay just has incredible luck with forwards who are able to jump in and contribute. Nashville has defenseman development down to a fine art. Buffalo understands that young players need to play, they're going to make mistakes and they're going to learn. If not, that's when coaching comes in. All three understand that before you assign roles, you develop the skill first and the skill determines what role a player is assigned. Unfortunately, puckhead in Lehigh Valley only understands checking and has no interest in skill development. He needs to be replaced in the worst kind of way.