AJgoal

Obviously, things can change between now and tomorrow, but that looks like a mess to me.

Bill's like all the bad parts of Flyers Twitter and Facebook personified - just one ongoing bad hot take. Kelly just seems to get run over by him and Steph. I like Craig from Flyperbole when he comes on, and actually like that podcast from BSH, even if it is rambling and nonsensical 4/5 of the time.

It's cap space. They needed to drop money (they're currently ~$240k under) and the waiver deadline was yesterday. So they demoted Myers and Farabee because they needed space and they were waiver-exempt. They have 20 healthy skaters, though Pitlick might be ready for Friday. I realize there were injuries. But that's why the value that Fletcher gave up at every turn this summer was important. Now, instead of icing an optimized roster, they have to skate down a forward in the first game of the season. They can't carry an extra guy in case someone hurts themselves in warmups. They went from having one of the best cap situations in the league to being trapped into a suboptimal roster on opening night in one offseason.

Opening roster for tomorrow night: Giroux Couturier Konecny Voracek Hayes Lindblom van Riemsdyk Laughton Raffl Bunnaman Twarinsky Provorov Gostisbehere Sanheim Niskanen Braun Hagg Morin Hart Elliott That's right, 11F/7D on opening night because we ran out of cap space.

Someone was advocating trading for Ho-Sang during the offseason. I wouldn't cry if the Flyers wanted to put in a claim. He has one year left on his ELC at less than 900k. I get the questions about his work ethic and smarts, but a calculated risk to see if a waiver claim wakes him up really doesn't hurt the team. And if he wakes up? It's almost the definition of no risk, high reward.

This is what's made sense to me all offseason, too. Jets need defensemen, even moreso now with Buff likely not returning. The Flyers don't have the cap space to take back significant salary. And after their top-end talent, there's not much that Winnipeg has that really makes sense for the Flyers to send salary back in order to acquire - not that the Jets are going to want to move those guys anyway. So moving Hagg, who's cheap, young, and has played in the NHL, makes sense - assuming Winnipeg values Hagg.

"It didn't make sense to play hime as tehe 4th center" Yeah, but you had a 3C spot open.

Thanks. But I was hoping to watch on my TV. Can't stream on my work laptop.

Annoying. I get local blackouts, but when it's not being broadcast locally, WHO AM I HURTING?

Well, that explains why he was able to practice, shoot, etc. I wonder if they'll try Botox.

No, it isn't. Because it gives the coaching staff an opportunity to dress him.

I mean, fine. As long as they leave him there.

No.

Possible, I guess. Vigneault did say something along the lines of "when this thing leaves him," which could be indicative of an illness, or just him putting the wrong English on what he wanted to say.

I'm wondering if he's sick and not injured. None of the things going on make any sense if he has an injury significant enough to keep him out of practice. He was skating hard and shooting. He played golf right before camp. None of these things add up.

I'm assuming that everyone else did as well, or he would have mentioned it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not really wanting to argue NAK vs. Twarinsky today, I'm more concerned over the thought process that has Stewart over NAK. However, I'll expand a bit on NAK vs. Twarinski. NAK is a hybrid between what I "want" in a 4th liner and the NHL idea of a 4th liner. Good at moving the puck, good at getting the puck. Good motor, has some physicality. He just seems to lack some of the finish at the NHL level, but he also hasn't seen a ton of NHL time. And if you look back, Twarinski had a good camp last year, was one of the last cuts, and then had a middling AHL season. I worry that Twarinski is a guy who is able to up his game over a short period of time in the preseason and then doesn't do much after that. If NAK passes through waivers and that happens and they switch them out, no harm no foul, but if NAK is claimed and plays well, and Twarinski goes back to being JAG, it's not the end of the world, but it's not exactly good, either. My statement still stands.

That's what I'm afraid of. Considering he has been noticeably worse than anyone else when I've watched, it's disheartening to see him still there. They can't send Frost down while he's injured. I don't know. I've liked Twarinski, but I think overall NAK has been better when I've been able to watch. Always seems to be on the puck and manages to do something positive with it.

I can see them liking Twarinski more, though I don't agree with it. They're judging on a small sample size over the collective bodies of work of both. And from all accounts, NAK has looked excellent, so it seems they're overvaluing the two goals (a la Jon Sim?). On top of that, he's also competing with Stewart, who has been objectively terribad, and doesn't belong with the rest I doubt Myers is waived. His struggles last night aside, he's looked better than Hagg/Morin, and Fletcher had already penciled him in on the 3rd pair in the offseason. I'd guess they carry 8, or try to sneak one of the others through on the last day.

There better be a follow up soon noting that Stewart was released from his PTO. Rubtsov and Aube-Kubel are surprising.

I think that he'd be fine to learn in the NHL if a team was willing to run a 12 minute, skilled 4th line. He'd also be a fine choice for a 3W. But since he hasn't looked like a "no doubt" NHLer, I'd guess he's sent down. @brelic If I'm not mistaken, they can take a couple extra guys with them to Europe, since it's a much more difficult trip. They just can't be rostered.

Frost out 5-7 days with a groin strain. Might make it tough for him to make the team at this point. He's looked good, but hasn't torn it up.