Vanflyer

I don't think they were booing tocchet per se as much as they were booing their biggest rival the Pens.

I could not agree more. I was embarrassed to be a Flyers fan yesterday. I expect that from Eagles fans, but not from Flyers fans. I felt like I was watching a high school assembly in the gymnasium.

beggars can't be choosers.

Well, all things being equal, Lou Lamoreillo is a pretty bright guy, and he trumped what Homer tried to do. Just saying.

yeah, we need a warm body there. I get that. But we just lost 2m that we thought we had in the pocket. Press on VLC. Personally, I don't get the urgency of moving hartnell now- otther than pressing a youngling harder. I will eat crow if Umberger scores 20g and 17a.

Reminds me of a song......"digging in the dirt".

OR- I used to be Colflyer, NWFlyer, etc. I lived in both regions many years but grew up in Bucks County. I will always state I am a hockey fan first and foremost, at the NHL level- Flyers are my favorite, after that, I just love to watch good hockey. That said, I lived in Vancouver for awhile- both proper and over on the island. I feel blessed for that experience. Its an eclectic place to live and easy to figure out how things ebb and flow.

ok. So 1.5 and were are under the cap? What about contracts (ie. 50)?

at this juncture- beyond the first or 2nd pick, I think all the players need some peculating. The one I thought did / does not is Ritchie- just because of his size- but his skills are still raw to the pro game. No magic bullets for any team this year. I am enormously impressed with what Vancouver did in 36 hours. It has nothing to do with my moniker, but they were near the abyss and just pulled themselves out. We- the flyers need one more stay at home d-man or a big winger in any case.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=107113

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/nicolas-aube-kubel/

what are the cap ramifications? I mean if we can unload VLC and buy out umberger than we must be under. Bring Akeson to replace umberger and XXXXX my dog to replace vinny.

while his money is cheap, he is not going to last long on the 4th line out of camp. Mark my words. This guy is a gamer and much better than an "upshall".

I was watching TSN and yes I caught that and yes I agree with you that McDonaugh is very underrated- particularly those things you talk about that don't show up on the score sheet. Absolutely. Our stable of d is getting better. Still allot / if all projects / development, but at least there is allot of promise. I really liked what Hextall had to say after the draft when talking about Travis and the other young d guys that are in development. The jist of it was that the flyers already have a very young core of forwards that are going to be together for quite awhile. As these young dmen develop and are able to join the big club, hexall said he gets a "mental picture in his mind" and gets very excited about the team. What that means is that we are not there yet, but we also are not re-building, we are developing and taking the right way of doing things and adding quality young player after quality young player (hopefully) to the core that exists. The only thing is that that window can't be too long. There needs to be progress every year at all levels.

um, cough cough, sounds like somebody has a man crush already! Did you get his shoe / skate size??

Who cares. I don't want anything for him. We did give anything to get him, why expect anything back from him when everyone in the world knows that both parties want / need a divorce. Couldnt buffalo use a center? :-P Seriously, I am still hoping the Preds bite.

Yeah I get that, but one of the posters said that it was normal practice for agents to contact teams on their players behalf as it was part of the job. My mere point was it was the exception to the rule and certainly not normal practice. The VLC situation being exception to the rule. Hextall is focusing on landing Ritchie or Fleury.

Yeah, instead of it going to her hips.....it went to her....um never mind.

I thought she was a bit on the chunky side myself.

If he landed Ritchie, I think it would be as close as a home run as you could get. I like read too, but you have to give to get and we would not be mortgaging the farm. Nick Ritchie THW Close-Up:Date of birth: 12/5/1996 Place of birth: Orangeville, ON, CAN Ht: 6’3″ Wt: 236 lbs Shoots: Left Position: RW/LW NHL Draft Eligibility: 2014 THW The Next Ones Rankings (January 2014): 10 Nick Ritchie (Terry Wilson / OHL Images) Other Rankings:THW War Room Rankings (April): 7 Future Considerations: 7 Craig Button: 15 CS Final Rankings for North American skaters: 7 *** The old saying around the NHL is: You can’t teach size. Nick Ritchie has plenty of it and isn’t afraid to use it. In fact, it’s one aspect of his game that makes him such a prized item in this year’s draft. Standing 6’3″, 236 lbs, Ritchie is one of the most dominating scorers juniors has to offer. The big-bodied winger for the Peterborough Petes has amazing quickness for his size and packs a punch with his wrist shot. The next great power forward in the making, Ritchie had a phenomenal OHL season scoring 39 goals and adding 136 penalty minutes. As I said before, he’s not one to shy away from physical play and oftentimes gets into the heads of players with his physical play. The one knock on his game might be his consistency. One night he can come out flying, scoring goals at a clip, setting up plays, and showcasing his offensive skills. Other nights he can lose his cool, spend a good amount of time in the box, and completely be off his game. Ritchie has a bit of a temper, which is something NHL scouts like to see, however he’ll need to handle his temper a bit better to be an effective NHL player. It shouldn’t be difficult to work on given proper coaching. The one part of Ritchie’s game I like most is his compete level and willingness to battle along the boards, play effectively in the corners, and the way he drives the net creating problems for defensemen and goaltenders. He’s going to be a big headache for 29 NHL teams when they have to do battle against him. Where Will He End Up In June:There’s a very good chance Nick Ritchie is a top 10 selection in late June. Pure power forwards with talent are difficult to come by which makes Ritchie a valuable asset. If he does drop out of the top 10, don’t bet on him falling past the first 15 selections. Scout’s Honor: “The former #2 pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection, Ritchie looks to have put some injury woes from a season ago behind him, which has him primed for a big year. The hulking winger will have NHL teams salivating with a 6-foot-2, 220 pound frame, and speed to burn. Despite his gargantuan size, Ritchie has the explosiveness to take most defenseman wide but also shows an ability to mix up his attack by cutting in and driving the net. Ritchie’s shot release is top notch and projects to grade out as a 30+ goal scorer at the next level. So what’s holding his game back? Ritchie can be a mixed bag as you never know what you’re going to get out of him on any given night. If the soon to be 18-year-old can find some consistency, it could help push him into the top three.” The Scouting Report “Nick Ritchie is a power forward prospect who finishes his checks, and plays a very straight line game, taking the puck right to the front of the net and not caring if he has to go through a defenceman to do it. He loves to stand in front of the net and has the quick, soft hands necessary to score on rebounds and deflections. Ritchie might have the best wrist shot in this draft class. It is tremendously powerful, and features a very good release. It can be in the back of the net before the goaltender even knows that he’s shot the puck. That wrist shot is already NHL ready. He is powerful in board battles, overpowering defencemen and winning pucks. While plenty of Draft Eligible prospectsneed to add muscle to their frames before going pro, Ritchie is already built like a truck. On top of that he’s still got room to get even bigger and stronger. He has a powerful skating stride, and excellent balance, but could stand to work on his speed as it is just average (for this draft class) right now. One thing that really helps though, is that he has a very quick first step and good acceleration. This really helps him to pounce on loose pucks in all three zones. While he might not win a 100 foot race to the puck against a quicker NHL player, he is going to win plenty of 10 foot races to loose pucks.” Ben Kerr - Last Word On Sports “Tough and quick, he is a good playmaker and scorer. Strong on the forecheck and in the battle areas. 200lber with great size, good on-ice vision soft mitts, quick release and natural goal scoring instincts. Working to be a stronger forechecker, and improve as a two-way player. Already displays skill and physical presence. Aggressive physical player with good agility and footwork. Punishing hitter. Emerging offensive player who is difficult to move off the puck. Uses his core strength and skating strides to cause problems defending. He was selected to the roster for the World Junior Under-18 Tournament in April, 2013.“

Which one do you tip on the way out??

Eklund has Vinny + 2nd to Florida for Scottie Upshall.

Lots of potatoes in Russia! ha (unfortunately allot of them get distilled). :-P

Out of curiosity, what is?

If thats the case, fine. I turn my focus to Ritchie (see my post to FC on that I think we could get a deal done with Toronto if Ritchie fell to #8, unlikely, but possible).