BobbyClarkeFan16

3 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

Didn't see that what happened?

He got injured at the wjc and it's been confirmed that he's done for the year.

43 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

 

So, not to say that he won't work out and be an NHL player, but I would definitely put aside though of him being at the top end of the RW depth chart... My experience with watching young players says that pretty much everyone who is in the AHL past 21 has some issues and may spend time meandering. He turned 21 yesterday, so this is a very important season for him. Last year, the offensive production just wasn't there. This year has been an improvement, but the best AHLers in his age group are scoring a lot more, and he wouldn't be getting the PP minutes in Philly that he gets in the American League.

 

He has two-way ability. I think he's tracking more in line to be a below-average NHL 3RW, above-average 4RW.

 

My opinion, anyway, and I would love be wrong about that.

 

 

Tuomaala's career was saved by playing in the Metsis league in Finland last year. It got his game back on track.

As for the Phantoms, I'm not worried about Tuomaala's production there. Just watching the games and it's clear that Laperriere has no clue what to do with those guys. The coaching is poor, the team is undisciplined and you can see how disorganized they are. This is one area where Briere should have addressed things, but didn't. I

6 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

If Aron Kiviharju is there with the 2nd 1st rounder that would be a nice pick!

 

Just go BPA and they can't go wrong.

Yep. Your first round picks should always be BPA. Any round after that is drafting for need. 

I think Kiviharju is going to go a lot higher than most people think. He's going to be back in February, so he'll still have from February to May to get games in. Honestly, that's enough time to recover his draft ranking and get back in the top 10. Don't forget that Brian Burke took Morgan Rielly 5th overall and he had his ACL tear and surgery and only played 18 games his draft year. 

Didn't they also say that Adam Jiricek was done for the year as well? Seems that the injury big has bitten some of the top prospects this year.

Just now, RonJeremy said:

Oh, ok. Center ,defense and LW are the biggest needs.

I don't know if defense is a big need any more. I think the best thing this club can do now is sit back, evaluate the current roster and pipeline, see what moves can be made at the deadline and then reassess when the season is over. I'm still not sure if this is a playoff club and now that some guys are starting to come back to earth, we'll get a better sense of who stays and who needs to go.

...and don't forget that Tuomaala is sitting in Lehigh Valley

17 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

Problem is he's a right winger, the last thing we need. Center, defense  and left wing are the top needs. There are a couple of big centers and lots of defense in this draft. 

He can play both sides

5 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

True, but very few players are as soft and lazy as Baby Hughie, aka JVR. Wingers are easy to get, but big power wingers are not that easy these days. We definitely shored up the defense, but I still wish we could trade up to get Sam Dickinson in this year's draft or that 6ft 7 monster dman.  We also need a center. All we have is a fading Coots and a underachieving Frost.

 .

Liam Greentree. There's the power forward the Flyers are looking for.

7 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:

I hear you. You are right, as is, the trade looks decent. I get the fact the Flyers traded a prospect for a player. But as I said earlier, something in Drysdale's game is just not right. In his first full season (2021-2022), he was a -26 player. I watched him, and his game, frankly, scares me. Smooth skater, good in transition, has a decent shot form the point, but has a propensity for making dumb plays, coughs up puck too much, doesn't come back.... I see some of Ivan Provorov in him - good, solid d-man, but nothing too special. I wonder if the Flyers could've negotiated getting maybe an additional (4th?) round pick... But I also realize defensemen take longer to develop, and I wonder if the Ducks rushed him to the NHL too soon as he was the only d-man from his draft class who played in 2020-2021. After all, you can't expect everybody to be Drew Doughty or Cale Makar. 

Everything that you're describing is a coaching issue. And when you consider that Drysdale was coaches by Dallas Eakins, well, enough said there. 

I'll see what Shaw does with him before coming to a conclusion. If Shaw can turn Ristolainen into a serviceable defenseman, he should be able to help Drysdale hit.

25 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

 

and that is the most disappointing thing about this whole situation .... 

 

The Flyers desperately need some high end talent and now it is imperative to get Michkov out of mother Russia.

Drysdale is high end talent. This is a great move. As for the rebuilds, it's still going to continue. Seeler, Walker, Atkinson, Laughton and Tippett are still on the club and a minimum three of those guys are going to be gone. This move doesn't change that. The deck was reshuffled. 

9 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

I'm fine with that and those are the injuries that happen.

 

They're also Nolan Patrick's injuries.

Patrick also had a bad melon. If your brain is injured, that's a tough one to get over, especially when multiple concussions have caused chronic migraine issues.

10 hours ago, RonJeremy said:

I love Konecny, but in the days of the cap and the rebuild,he's the one who should go. I also worry about his long term durability considering he's not very big and strong but plays a physical game. Sooner or later that catches up to you.

I'm with you on that. I love TK, but at the same time, when this team is really ready to contend (and right now, I think we're seeing a typical second season out of a Torts team), he might not be the same player he is. If the Flyers sell high and if they can get players like Rutger McGroarty and Ville Heinola, them go for it. TK could hit 40 - 45 goals this year. Giving up the two players listed for two more years of TK should be a no brainer for Winnipeg.

I love the trade and Drysdale is a difference maker on the defense. The Flyers now have Drysdale and Bonk on the right side and York and Andrae on the left. Guess what. That's a potentially elite top four group. I get that Drysdale has had injuries, but the shoulder injury was a fluke and the core injury happens. I'm not worried about that at all. Instead, the Flyers are getting an incredibly intelligent offensive defenseman who can skate like the wind and has an incredible transition game. 

As for Gauthier, well, he didn't want to be here, whatever the reasons might be. The fact he wouldn't even take calls from the Flyers or meet with the brass? That's a punk ass move. That's cowardice.

The only thing about this that sucks is that the Flyers are going to have to draft another power forward, but the good news is that guys like Liam Greentree and Tij Iginla should be available when the Flyers go to draft. 

I hope Cutter enjoys losing in Anaheim.

23 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

I know it makes you throw up a little in your mouth to type this.

But I agree, I think the whole defensive corps has improved under Fonzie and Shaw.

Also, Zamula on the point on the power play has that first unit looking the best it has. I know that's a low, low bar but, he's pretty good in that role. 

All he needs is to cut down on getting dogwalked one-on-one and he could be a good middle pairing option.

Also, not having to cater to Provorov with minutes has been helpful. He plateaued and needed to hear a new voice if he was going to become "the Man".

The 3 voices he had here couldn't get through. 

 

I'm fine with giving accolades where deserved. Tortorella and Shaw have done a wonderful with the young defenders. Hell, even Ristolainen looks serviceable. They've done a remarkable job. 

Cam York. He'll get there and it looks like he's being developed properly.

28 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

Samu is looking great but you dont replace a big power winger who can crash the net with a tiny little guy. We have enough small guys. I'm all for him joining the team eventually, but I see no point in trading Tippett. Tippett 30 goals is worth more than the late first round pick you are gonna get. If he is part of a package to land a great young defensemen,then yes.

Size isn't the be all/end all with regards to the forwards. Samu plays in all the dirty areas and is always in the middle of things. The fascination with size baffles me because we've seen over the Fletcher years that he's tried adding size and it blew up on him. You put the best players in the lineup, period, regardless of size. 

1 hour ago, flyercanuck said:

 

Russia is currently banned from pretty much everything sports-wise. Unless it's with Belarus, North Korea or China, which pretty much says it all. 

Boy the IIHF is really showing Russian hockey a thing or two. Conveniently blame hockey players who have no say in global politics.

They'll work out a deal. The NHL would be foolish to not try to get the best players on the world to come over and Russia would be foolish to not accept American money and also knowing that these are going to come back home with millions of American dollars in their pockets. This is 100% about money.

25 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

Even if Gauthier doesn't cut it at center, we are weak on LW anyway,  so a big power LW is just fine by me. I really wouldn't mind a big losing streak so we can get a good pick and land a top dman. You have to think that when we trade Seeler and Walker at the deadline that should ensure a bunch of losses and gives  Attard and Ginning some playing time. I think Andrae should stay down  for more experience and a playoff run with the Phantoms.

Agree 100% with Andrae. He and Tuomaala should get the full season Lehigh Valley treatment. Just leave them be and let them play and figure things out. Once they do, you've got a beautiful problem in which two players are kicking in the for wanting to play on the big club.

1 hour ago, RonJeremy said:

We need defense and center, if Gauthier can actually play center that's a big help, we can have Coots, Gauthier and Frost as our top 3,but eventually we will need a young #1 center to replace Coots. 

 

This draft is especially deep in defense, since we have two first round picks hopefully we can pick a center and dman. If there is a real top notch dman that we like, I would even try and trade up.

I don't think Gauthier will be a center at the NHL level. Just watching him play center the NCAA and comparing him to other centers, he has so much work to do to even be mediocre. He can finish, he can skate, and he has size. But you can tell that he struggles with defensive assignments and doesn't utilize his teammates as well as he should. I'm not crapping on him though because he can easily be an elite left winger that can run the point on the power play. 

As for defense, you're correct in that this year is a really deep year for defensemen. I'd love to see them draft another right handed defenseman and the guy who's falling right now who would be a REAL good fit is Henry Mews from the Ottawa 67s. And it's funny to read scouts take on him because he's an offensive guy who doesn't always jump into the offense because he looks after the defensive side of things first, yet he's still averaging close to a point per game and he plays a heavy amount of minutes because coaches trust him so much. Sounds like the perfect defenseman to have here.

I'm know I'm getting ahead of myself, but the Flyers need to draft an actual center this year. The wing spots are incredibly secure for the next several years, but it's time to find a center. 

Cutter is going to be a fantastic goal scoring winger. He's not a center by any stretch of the imagination. 

3 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

Emil said me too.

 

 

He and Bonk are going to make a great pair. Add in Sanheim and York and Grans with another first round pick and the defense is set.

Samu Tuomaala with a goal and assist in a 4-3 lists to Laval. That's now 22 points in 25 games and he's leading the team in scoring as a 20 year old. I'm going to give credit where credit is due - Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr may have hit a grand slam with Tuomaala. He's going to be REAL good. 

5 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I didn't expect Walker to be as good as he's been. I thought he would have a bounce back year since he's about a year out from knee surgery. I didn't expect him to play as much or as well as he has.

Ideally the Flyers will be a couple of 8 points out of a playoff spot at the trade deadline for any Walker deal to happen. 

If they keep playing as they've been, right now they're 2nd in the Metro, I can't see where dealing one of the team's better players is a good thing for the rebuild. Unless the plan is to trade every player that skated for the team this season. (It's not).

Depends what the offers are for Walker. He's played well, but it seems Briere really wants to build a sound and solid foundation and I'm not sure if Walker fits the bill. 

I had also read online that Vancouver has started to sniff around and that there have been scouts at Flyers games watching Walker.

If the offer is something like Aatu Raty and a draft pick, Briere should be all over that.