AJgoal

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

18 hours ago, King Knut said:

 

I know some of them were going through some things but they all seemed to get really pissy at the same time.  

 

Charlie got the full time press gig and quickly became less affable and opinionated, but was somehow proven wrong more often.  

 

Bill just seemed to go off the deep end (last season’s Flyers will do that to you I guess) and for some reason Steph and Kelly stopped giving him as much crap about it and putting him in his place when he did.  

 

I tried a few others and I think I like Philly is Flyer the best, but again the audio is inferior. 

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.

Just now, brelic said:

 

Please tell me you're kidding. Is it cap space, or did they prefer dressing Morin over Farabee? If so, that tells me AV does *not* trust the defense.

 

Either way, this wouldn't have happened if they were, you know, in North America. They would have released/traded/demoted someone, I'm guessing.

 

 

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. 

3 hours ago, brelic said:

 

A few things... 

 

I think there's a very good chance the Flyers *do* trade a defenseman. And Winnipeg makes a lot of sense because they are in need of NHL defensemen.

 

Unless it's for someone that significantly moves the needle (e.g. Laine or Connor), I don't think the Flyers would want a roster player in return.

 

So in that scenario, I'm guessing the defenseman we move is either Hagg or Morin for a draft pick or B prospect. Hagg will fetch more. 

 

I don't imagine the Flyers will make a major roster move this early, so this makes more sense to me.

 

 

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.

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Well not sure if you watched the first episode of behind the glass was being real about Stewie..."Chuck i know you're more familiar with him than me i didn't think he was very good tonight...."

 

So i think if anything he stays on his PTO....nothing more.

 

 

"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.

7 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

At the end of the day, it's better to have Stewart as 13/14 than NAK.

 

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

1 minute ago, brelic said:

 

Haha, I'm guessing they will keep him around without a contract - at least for Europe. Maybe he can get a prax in with his former team.

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

48 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

And just as i had been saying earlier about Stewart and Bill just repeated about him...

 

Also keep this in mind: Stewart can stay around on a PTO indefinitely, practice with the team but not play or count against cap until/unless signed. He understands it's his last shot at an NHL spot. (The Islanders did this most of last season with Dennis Seidenberg, and finally signed him for the prorated minimum late in the season). It'd be like having a 14th forward while only needing to carry 13 on the roster/cap.

No.

7 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

Mono?

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.

2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

They don't have to release him from his PTO they can keep him on it for the year till they need him.

 

He can travel with the team practice with them and he won't count towards the roster limit.

My statement still stands.

10 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

Something tells me Stewart will be the 12/13 forward.

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.

10 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

Frost is the biggest surprise to me. He's out 5-7 days, which means he definitely won't play tomorrow (and was supposed to) and probably not in Switzerland either. So what does that mean? Could be that Patrick is out longer than expected.

18 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

Really surprised by Frost not being sent down. He looks so slight to me. 

They can't send Frost down while he's injured.

10 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

@AJgoal I'd say that Twarynski has had more impact in the games he's played than NAK. The goals definitely help, but in general, he's just been much more noticeable during camp. 

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.

14 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

Yeah, Rubstov is surprising. NAK is a bit surprising, but he's competing for a wing spot against Twarynski, who they obviously liked more.

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 

14 minutes ago, brelic said:

 

 

 

So, we have 

 

G/C/TK

JVR/KH/V

Raffl/Laughton/Lindblom

 

Those are the guaranteed spots, IMO. 

 

Patrick is guaranteed too whenever he's healthy.

 

So, for now, three open spots (two long-term) left for these guys.. 

 

Frost (C/W)

Farabee (W)

Twarynski (W)

Bunnaman (C/W)

Pitlick (W)

Stewart (W)

 

Did I miss anyone?

 

Does that mean 4 of these guys (for spots #10,11,12,13) make the opening night roster? You gotta figure Pitlick is the closest to having a guaranteed spot among them?

 

Defense is still a mess. I wonder if they'd consider sending Myers down until they settle things since he's the only waiver exempt guy.

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.

1 hour ago, mojo1917 said:

@AJgoal

 

I didn't think he looked like an NHL player yet.

I did see a lot of skill with the puck and some really great awareness of the play. As his body develops,  what I saw from him will make him a really dynamic player.  I worried about him in the corners and thought he needed to be stronger on the puck; also, I didn't see breathtaking speed or quickness and I was expecting that. 

 

I think he'll benefit from playing in the A for sure, I think once his body matures, he'll be a hell of a nice player, he's got a lot of skill and smarts.

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.