vis

One theory, or perhaps more than theory, was that Hextall refused to make a trade for a more established player (Nylander) in exchange for a younger player, which upper management wanted him to do. That may have been the coup de grâce for Hextall. Point is, I'm doubtful Hextall would have done a 180 and started shopping young players. I mean, even the guy who everyone thought would do that (Fletcher) hasn't. Given where this team ended up this year, what different do you think Hextall would have done if he were still GM this offseason? Not signed Hayes or any other big UFA? Probably wouldn't have traded Gudas, I suppose. Can't imagine he wouldn't have bought out MacDonald. Do you think Hakstol would still be here? Weise?

Hayes. Well, he was smart to trade for Hayes' rights if that's who he wanted. It put him in the best position to land a player to fill a need via UFA. Now, the contract he gave him... Btw, I don't care about creativity or outside the box thinking (how did that work out for Hextall/Hakstol?). I care about being effective. Let's see how this season and beyond plays out. I'd say the Blues went pretty old school last offseason. Worked out pretty well for them. How do you know this? And do you think that Fletcher doesn't?

I don't think spending to the cap is a measure of success, but can be viewed as an indicator of whether assets aren't being left to waste in the pursuit of icing a legitimate contender. Of course, if you're going to spend it, you better do so wisely. I wanted them to target Michael Grabner to help with a woeful PK. Tyler Bozak would have been a decent addition as a 3C. Don't love the term Bozak got, though.

Yeah, I definitely think it irked Scott. I remember thinking there were some signings they could have made (maybe I'm wrong) that wouldn't have jeopardized the re-signing of the RFAs. And plus, no one likely expected at the time to need to sign a 2C in the future, on the basis that Patrick would ascend to that role. I don't know if I am fully on-board with the "wait to see who's available next year" approach. A lot could happen and you may lose out on players you may have had an opportunity to sign (I'm not saying that had been the case; just speaking generally). It works in some circumstances, like when a team is truly rebuilding and gutting its roster, but not sure about the Flyers'.

Didn't they go into the season with a ton of cap room? I think that irked the upper management folks.

What do you think Hextall would have done with that cap space? What did he do last summer with the cap space he had then? Niskanen and Braun don't bother me from a hockey perspective. They needed better veteran leadership than they had with MacDonald and Gudas and I think both bring that. Do I like the price for them? Not really. But I don't see how some folks can make an argument that Fletcher didn't improve the defense for this season. Yeah, some would argue Gudas is a better player, but Gudas was probably gone after his contract was up after this season any way and I'll take a Niskanen/Braun combo over MacDonal/Gudas. Flyers would have had to get someone to fill the veteran leadership void anyway. But in the end, I think the value of Niskanen/Braun will be the influence they have on the younger d-men in terms of mentorship and setting examples. Unfortunately, there is no metric for that.

Were they really in on Stone? Again, he went to another place that has a decidedly better "lifestyle" than the Flyers. And to a team that was one year removed from a Cup final appearance. Can't blame him really.

Was that him or Chris Neil? Was at that game. Tremendous.

And I didn't mean you at all. I think your criticisms of Fletcher have been fair (and we agree on some) and I don't think come from a place of Hextall fanboi-ism. I tend to agree. I think Scott and Hextall didn't have a good relationship and Scott made his move. Yeah, I'm a little bit concerned as well. But, I think Trouba and Panarin both had every intent in going to the Rangers. Look, if lifestyle is what is primarily driving decision making, I'm not sure I want that player on my team anyway. Yeah, agree there needs to be some critical thinking internally.

Same. I think to the extent he's getting any harsh criticism (and I don't mean "any criticism" - he deserves some), it is coming from Hextall disciples. In that regard, I"m pretty sure Boomer was a big, big Hextall fan and his approach.

I'd pick someone from a time when I wish the Flyers had a legit enforcer. So while Probert would have been fun to watch as a Flyers, we had Dave Brown (and others) who was a legend in his own right. So, I'd probably say Brian McGrattan or Derek Boogard. May also have wanted someone like Stu Grimson and/or Rob Ray when Lindros was here. I know they had the Dan line at one point, but I would have loved a killer like Grimson. Always loved Rob Ray as well for a smaller guy.

I don't love everything Fletcher has done, but I don't think an "F" is reflective of his efforts. Frankly, I'm not sure that's even what "Boomer" is saying. But it seems that OP presented it that way. I think Boomer's grade is more of an indictment of the organization's handling of Hextall/Hakstol than it is anything that Fletcher has done. At first, I was bothered by this but understand that Quenneville to Florida was a foregone conclusion. I also suspect there was some outreach to Q's camp, but the Flyers rebuffed (perhaps during and after the season).

The main reason the Flyers got an "F" according to Boomer was because of how they handled Hextall. Boomer was a Hextall guy. Loved him. And he had a major issue with how the Hextall firing went down, citing that it appeared the Flyers had little plan in place for his firing or replacement. I don't disagree with that at all, but that's not a reflection on the GM, it's a reflection of Comcast. He also cited the fact that they should have fired Hakstol as well and made it awkward by not doing so. Again, I agree. But again, that's a reflection of Comcast. He says he's not sure what the Flyers are now and frets that Fletcher is going to tear down the prospect pool that Hextall built. But that hasn't happened yet, despite a lot of hand wringing from some fans. Yes, he fairly points out that the Hayes contract was an overpayment (that's on Fletcher and Co. for sure). He questions that Niskanen/Braun deals. However, if he knew more about the team's situation, he'd know this team was in dire need of leaders/vets on the backend. He also gave zero credit for hiring Vigneult. However, I thought his criticisms of the offseason moves were fair.

Ah, ****. Didn't realize they only have 12 forwards. That does kind of screw things up, doesn't it? If they trade Hagg, I'm still not sure that leaves them enough flexibility, unless Provorov and Konecny sign for a little less than what I was suggesting above.

Nah, there is a bottleneck with at least the Werenski deal, and possibly McAvoy deal, needing to get done first. Just seems like the Provorov deal is hostage to at least one of those deals needing to get done. Trouba getting done helps, I think. Hell, even Marner may be holding things up for the d-men.

He's also been a "name" for a while. I agree that it sounds like an overpayment as well. Agree. I think they can do both on longer term deals, but they will have to move a least a little bit of money to make TK work and have some flexibility under the cap. Capfriendly has them with $13.4m in cap space. Assuming Provorov gets $7.5-$8m max (more money for more term), that leaves $5-$6m for Konecny, which should be enough for a relatively longer team deal (i.e., more than 2 years; not sure if more than 5 years). But that leaves them with no flexibility this year. Even trading Hagg would help things.

So are we thinking the Trouba deal is the ceiling for what Provorov would get? I get that the dynamics are different, e.g., Trouba had leverage in that he was arbitration eligible and one year removed from UFA. Provorov doesn't have that leverage (and neither do Werenski or McAvoy). Honestly, but for last year, I think Provorov has better argument stats-wise than Trouba. Certainly Werenski has better stats. In any event, I'm not sure Trouba sets the market, per se, but his deal is a data point. Still need to see what Werenski and McAvoy do. I think Werenski and CBJ are probably arguing over term, with CBJ wanting a longer deal and Werenski wanting a shorter deal that brings him to UFA. McAvoy's deal probably gets a bridge, but the $$$ probably depends on what Werenski gets. Provorov probably slots somewhere between Werenski and McAvoy. I really think Provorov's deal is a hostage of the other two deals. All that said, I'd be comfortable giving Provorov Trouba's deal. The only issue is what does that leave for Konency and how much cap space will they have after signing him? Rather not see him get a bridge. I still think a d-man gets moved at some point, which could free up some cash, assuming they don't take back salary.

I long for the days of Jiri Dopita.

Seems like this is the likely outcome.

Is he a good player? He's a 28 yo guy who posted his career best goal total last year. He was fifth on his team with 31 points (team leader was Linus Omark with 49 points - who couldn't cut it in the NHL). I'm not worried about missing out on this guy. The Rangers can have him. Btw, anyone look at the Rags roster? It's not that good. Their centers are dreadful and they have no depth.

Totally with you. I want him to take care of his own house first. I'm not interested in a 28 year old Russian guy who reached his highest goal output last year, never crested 20PIMs in a season until last year and was a team-worst -15 last year. Hope Fletcher is in it solely to drive up the price on the Rangers. Rather see that 3RW go to a player hungry for it and in the organization.

Dave Portnoy is the douchebag that runs Barstool.

Stupid websense at work! Can't even see that OR posted a video. All I see is a bunch of whitespace in his post.

Ha!! Video is blocked at work. Can't see what you posted...

He was rating pizza slices at Tacconelli's with Bryce Harper and the guy from Barstool the other day. No lie. At least he was in Philly.