SCFlyguy

The rest of elmatus' post is absolutely on the money, but this in particular. Those who want immediate changes better get ready for 3-4 years of terrible to bad hockey.

But do tell: this team, that looks and plays a lot like all the teams for the last 8 years, is all the fault of AV, who has been here 18 months. Ridiculous. You want my solution: shoot every ex-Flyer in the organization in the back of the head and dump their bodies in a mass grave. Is that clear enough for you?

Look what the Rangers did when their AV-led teams finally got old and stopped making the playoffs: they sent a letter to the fans saying, in essence, "we are rebuilding, its going to take a while, and we're not making the playoffs any time soon." They then traded/released/did not resign almost all of their older veterans and started drafting like fiends. They are the youngest team in the league right now and are just as good as the "tanking" Flyers. And their coach is not impressive, at all.

Tanking would look like trading everyone over 26 with a modicum of value for future assets, taking 5 years straight of no playoffs, and drafting in the top 5 for several years so you hope to hit a home run or two. That's no guarantee (look at Buffalo), but that's what tanking means - not keeping all your big names, putting butts in the seats and taking fans money, and telling them there is a chance.

WTF are you talking about? One reason the Flyers are in the situation they are in is because they have never "tanked", i.e. stripped it all down, focussed on acquiring assets and draft capital, and not worried about winning. I'll quote a wise man: The time to strip it down was: After the disaster of 06-07: We should have spent several years sucking and stockpiling more young talent, but instead we went for the quick turnaround with big trades and free agent signings. It actually almost worked, except it didn't. After the Carter/Richards trade: the idea that the resources that came back in those trades would be able to step in and compete on the same timeline as Jagr, Timonen, etc. was insane. After Hextall came in: the idea that all of Hextall's picks and prospects were going to be ready on the same timeline as Giroux, Voracek, Simmons etc. was insane. The Flyers are always half-pregnant and haven't stripped it down since 1967. Even Hestall wanted to "remain competitive" to make Snyder and his Comcast bosses happy even though Hextall (and all of us) knew the team had no shot. With all do respect, thinking that the team tanked, built some juggernaut of young talent, and AV is holding them back, is really, really dumb. They're not that good.

You should read some more.

Again, those are all good players (Provorov very good), but none of them looked like locks to be all-stars year in and year out. Konecny turned 23 last year and is 24 now. Sanheim/Myers looked like they could be a good pairing, but got exposed against the Islanders. One good season followed by one bad season is what separates good players from great players. If all you have are good players (as opposed to great, HOF level), you need a lot of them (like the Kings did) to have a shot at winning . And I think the Kings top players were much better than the Flyers top players are, even viewing the latter in the most favorable light. And I don't see the current crop or pipeline having a single great player. YMMV.

I'm not so sure any more. I was in full support of what Hextall was trying to do, but none of these guys, even before the recent downturn, had perennial all-star written on them. None of them is or was going to be a Top 20 NHL player. It appears the scouting department needs work.

In other words, this team is going to be bad/mediocre for years to come unless they draft a star or two.

(Past)Time to trade Giroux and Voracek for whatever you can get even if it is just cap relief. You will probably have to retain salary in V's case. The hard decision is whether you also trade Couturier. I think the answer is yes and he has been my favorite player for years. No one over 25 is going to be good anymore by the time the team could be good again. I would also institute a rule that if you played for the Flyers you can't ever have any role with the team ever again.

Awesome, now we can trade him for Dubois.

Special player who it appears no other team wants.

C'mon, Rux, I know Ghost plays like Andy Delmore 2.0, but he was drafted (3rd, 2012, iirc).

If Ghost is claimed, the claiming team picks up the rest of his contract. If Ghost is not claimed and is sent to the AHL, the Flyers save about $1M on his cap hit (but pay him his full salary).

Teams claiming him pick up the entire contract.

In what universe was Ghost going to fetch a 2nd round pick?

When they have 11th round draft picks, then there will be a pick worthy of Ghost.

Or maybe an ill-advised pinch at the blueline - he was a master at both.

RIP Ghost, heaven needed someone to be muscled from in front of their net.

3) He's no good.

Since you beat me to it, my post in this thread.

This one goes out to the highly knowledgable hockey folks arguing this guy was going to bring back a high-end prospect or be the centerpiece of a trade for Dubois.

Flyers being buyers would be insane, so I assume Fletch is all in.

Sam Morin is going to be out of the league as soon as next year. Flyers fans better hold their plushies and remember those fights that never were. I will hold on to my memories of seeing Barzal blow by Morin live at the Nassau Coliseum causing Morin to turn, trip over his own giraffe legs, and waive ineffectively with his laughably large stick, as Barzal went 5 hole on Hart.

Good thing we held on to Ghost so he could recapture his form from 7000 years ago when he had a 1 or 2 fluky seasons with absurdly high shooting percentages that were obviously unsustainable. He has near zero value, but whatever it is (half empty gatorade, whatever), we should take it.