Howie58

Well, in Howie58 Fashion, here are the odds: https://www.oddsshark.com/nhl/stanley-cup-futures I guess Edmonton is favorite of the bookies as well. A repeat of the Panthers can't be ruled out either. It looks like they stop after 12 teams. We are in the bottom 20! If you read the article, it appears the Cup is generally won by an early-season favorite. I guess that 1969-style Mets World Series Stanley Cups are rare birds. The 2019 Blues are the very rare bird--one that made a lot of money for the few who put money on them. Best, Howie

This makes me wonder about the EM (can't spell or remember the dude's name...) signing? I thought he would be paired with Petersen. Now we have a fifth wheel. Can they bury someone in the ECHL? By the way, I think the EM signing probably lit a fire under Kolosov's ass...i.e., you aren't indispensable and nobody will trade for you unless you're stateside. This is a distraction. Let's hope Ersson and the Big Russian turn into a more than passable pair.

Mojo: You and I are in agreement. Kolosov has to play the game by our rules. If he doesn't uphold his end of the bargain, sayonara.

Well, on the goalie front, we add a PTO youngin if Mr. Kolosov flies the coop or whatever: https://sports.yahoo.com/philadelphia-flyers-sign-young-goalie-225649028.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall I'd say this is a signal to Kolosov that the franchise will not roll over from him. Either that, or someone sees a diamond in the rough.

Very sad! I gave up biking as exercise years ago because South Florida drivers have limited to no respect for bikers, even in designated lanes. This incident reminds me of how vulnerable bicyclists are. The drunkenness is insanity and sickening.

I stand a bit corrected. I might have said it better as an offensive guy. He is a very good overall player.

I like the guy. But he should have been traded for assets. He is good and works hard. But he is no game changer. He is a "Flyer" player, someone with grit but not so much talent. There's going to be roster dumping sooner than later. You add this to Coots and we have 16 million+ tied up with one player who is probably a 3C at this stage, and a right winger who's competent, but no real "superstar." Not good.

Greetings: I thought it would be worthwhile to put this forward for amusement or whatever. I don't see any big trades or FA acquisitions on the horizon. This is food-for-thought (dementia). Q.1: Can We Improve the Power Play? Some would argue it can't get worse. Seriously--it is hard to see us improve in standings with the PP we've had the last few years. Q.2: Which Sean Couturier Do We See? Paying 8 million for a player who scored 38 points and went -10 isn't a value proposition. He started well and got worse over time. Does the hernia fix help? Does a better supporting cast help? One way or the other, his performance and cap hit can't be ignored. Q.3: Whither Goaltending? Ersson and the Fedotov may be hot, cold, or indifferent. This will be interesting. And I am not sure if we have a fill-in on tap. Q.4: Will a Cam York-Jamie Drysdale First Pairing Live Up to Potential? On the upside, this could be a good pairing, if a bit undersized. Until Bonk or "other" join us, I don't see another first D pairing among the current crew. Q.5: Will We Have a Surprise Upside (50+ Plus) Scoring From a Young Gun, Including MM? I hope so. We need the scoring. Honorable Mention: Q.6: Do We See a "Big" Cap Clearing Trade? In essence, does one a usual suspect (Risto, Farabee, or Laughton) or even a re-signed Konecny go? It seems like the right thing to do if under-25 is the desired player age.

Bettman has taken heat for moving the game into "non-traditional" franchises. Failure to move out of the NE and Canada would have been lethal. Small media markets towns are a big problem. That's one of the reasons Quebec City didn't get an expansion team. And as I understand it, this is why the league has 50 percent of its teams in the playoffs. Being there can make the difference between a profitable and unprofitable season.

Thanks for posting. Our dependence on ticket sales has been noted for a long time. What might save hockey is that it has a much more affluent demographic than the other major sports. Playoff hockey TV has particularly high ratings among the college-educated. That said, this sport's not particularly "woke" (i.e., diverse) in terms of players or fans. I see this up close and personal in South Florida. Soccer matches, like last week's COPA gig, draw 65,000 fans. But until the last few years, the Panthers did poorly at the gate. I think that is more than performance. It's a comment on the "New America" and what it follows versus other.

I agree that the goaltending could be up, down, or sidewise. I wonder if the absence of a surprise factor will hurt. Nobody will see them as an easy two points, which was probably the case early this past year. Inter-division competition should ease. I don't think the Caps, Pitt, or even the Canes will be what they were in prior years. I'd say they'll be plus or minus 5-7 points from this year.

I almost feel like offering an apology to the board for posting this thread. The discord was unintended, but we needed some summer content other than draft/trade discussion, so forgive my trespass. My backyard Panthers offer some important clues on team development. Many of the pundits note that Ekblad and Barkov were drafted ages ago under Tallon. Bennett and Forsling were relative steals and blossomed with change of scenery. That tells me that drafting is an uncertain artform that may have a long gestation. It also says that a "good" GM can make a big difference. Hextall may not have done much to help the franchise, but he didn't hurt it the way Fletcher did. So far, I'd say that DB and Flahr have done a good job, if only because they have avoided boneheaded deals and have given us a workable pool of prospects, particularly in the first two rounds. Tony Voce's passing reminded me of something I posted here years ago. I always thought/hoped that the Calder Cup cohort would be a group for us to build on as a franchise. We know that wasn't the case. Putting a Cup win aside, I'd be happy with a cadre of players that gets us into the top eight or ten teams for a 3-5 year window. Whether or not we take the Cup (which I probably won't live to see), I want to see a strong team. And yes, I want to see a team that can move out of the cellar in OT and SO losses. From my vantage, that stat indicates just how poor a job we've done in developing the team since the 2004-05 stoppage. I am hoping--maybe against hope--that Briere and Flahr can deliver consistent above-average to elite (top 5-8) performance in a league with enormous parity and hard salary cap.

My take is that a full-on rebuild would mean Konecny, Laughton, and other would have been out the door by now in return for picks or assets. Perhaps my take is off.

Greetings: I thought this was an interesting assessment of the Flyers' approach to improvement. It reflects what some have argued here for some time--they aren't in an all-out dump mode, with Provorov being an exception. Keeping Konecny all but guarantees the retool model: https://thehockeywriters.com/how-philadelphia-flyers-can-retool-their-roster/ Giampietro is not telling us to despair. The model may work. But the Command Staff has to be careful about cap management and make sure they really are developing good players.

Signed to his ELC. Well, that was quick!