GratefulFlyers

Staal I agree his legs are gone. If he’s already where the play is, he’s still effective, makes (mostly) good plays. But getting to and from his assignments is a problem. Johnson played fine from what I saw. He made a good block early, laid out to break up a great scoring chance. I don’t remember noticing him besides that play though. That’s generally a good thing when you’re at the rink but I don’t trust it watching on TV. Did I miss some mistakes, bad plays he made tonight?

lol sorry i swear I thought of that…still couldn’t quite square the circle somehow. All apologies…

Yes and no. The Flyers are plainly nowhere near as loaded talent-wise as the Bs, the Rags etc. But I do wonder how they would’ve fared against TB, the Leaves and tonight with the D they used all season (minus Walker of course). I’m not questioning the talent disparity I’m only wondering how much impact losing Seeler, Drysdale and even Ristolainen is having.

Some of those old burners won’t swallow sawbucks try with a couple Benjamins it’ll work. Yes I know. What I don’t know is why you’re telling me…?

Yep. And they blew an opportunity to widen the gap on the Isles, who suddenly can’t win games either. If Seeler was in it probably never gets to 5-2. He is missed for more than just blocking shots it’s his whole attitude. The Flyers are adjusting to his absence but it’s taking too long, points are slipping away.

Interesting take…not sure how true it is but interesting nevertheless. Me I suspect it was much more about shoring up a depleted D and EJ was the only body who fit the need. edit: but your point about his effectiveness being beside the point I think that’s exactly right. maybe I start to see what you mean. Is it that anything less than bringing in a veteran would’ve been seen as waving the white flag?

Such a shame … a couple shifts early in the 3rd ….all 5 Flyers standing around, waving their sticks at nothing…almost like they were deliberately opening the lanes for the Bruins’ shooters… and then Sandstrom. He wasn’t terrible far from it. But that 6th goal he’s got to catch. His team battles their asses off gets within 1 plenty of time left to tie…and it goes right past him. edit: to be fair to Sandstrom that 6th goal was practically point blank. Skating in alone with a head of steam Heinen really got off a good rip. A tough save but a good goalie usually makes it, especially at that point when you’re right back in the game.

Fair enough the stats are the stats, or projections whatever. Good that he’s in the O&B for just a handful of games. I would put more faith in that graph if Johnson had never been a real good player. But he was and for 18 games I expect he can hold his own, like he did tonight. Finally I’d add that there is no one in Lehigh knocking on the door for a callup. If there was I wouldn’t like the deal one bit. But a 4th for an experienced 2-way D-man, with all the injuries the Flyers have on the back end is a good move.

Flyers thisclose to a great comeback…2 goals in a 1:08 I think it was, 5-4…and then Sandstrom can’t come up with the big save…6-4. Whoa what ?? 6-5! Holyshit this team is just unreal they Never Quit.

I was hoping Couturier was getting his 2nd wind ... seems he's playing well away from the puck from what I can see on TV - but when was the last time he scored a goal? Feb 10th vs Seattle, before that Jan 6th vs Calgary. 2 goals in 2024 (and 11 assists). I never expected he'd lead the team in points this year but 1 goal/month...

I wonder why. IIRC UFA veteran D-men were pretty scarce at the TD. Johnson has been knocked his whole career, which goes with the territory of an overall 1st sometimes. But some of the fanbase in Denver never warmed up to him. He may not be the greatest defender but he’s not useless either like some 2-way D-men can be. If he plays ~12mins, steady, calm, no glaring mistakes maybe delivers a big hit once in awhile imho he’ll be well worth the 4R.

I guess starting Sandstrom makes sense. Ersson looks like he can use some rest maybe not physically but mentally. I keep forgetting Ersson’s a rookie. An older rookie but still, his first season as an NHL goalie. From a backup to “1B” then suddenly he’s #1 with the entire season, the PO push hanging on him. Be a good night for Sandstrom to stand on his head…they say there’s a first time for everything!

for 20-odd games. With all the injuries on D and not a lot to choose from in Lehigh Briere had to get some veteran help, a UFA who wouldn’t break the bank. He brought Johnson in strictly for the PO push. What is so god-awful about that? It’s only natural after the year they had the entire organization is psyched to make the POs. That’s what comes of overachieving; the expectations keep getting higher. Johnson may help, he may not. Ginning and Attard paired together would not. And now the Flyers have that all-important overall 1st on the roster…

And my point all along is that Jones and Briere already know they're not close. Proof? They keep saying exactly that ... over and over and over again. And let's recall they were saying this while the Flyers were beating Dallas, Winnipeg, Florida... before the TD. "we're in this for the long haul" "we're trying to build a Cup champion, a team that can compete at the highest level for years" "Florida is a good example of the type of team we're trying to build" "we're not mortgaging the future for a PO run this year." Since the beginning Jones and Briere have repeated statements like these ad nauseam. The holes are obvious; they don't need to lose games to see them. Everyone knows they overachieved this year, that Tortorella got the most anyone could possibly get out of them. It's not a spoiler alert to anyone connected to the team that they need more talented players to get where they want to go.

man you really are a glass-half-empty kind of a guy aren't you? Just kidding but you know sitting 15th is a recent change. Most of the year they were 6th overall. By the end of this stretch of March games they may be out of the PO picture entirely. But that's fine. Mediocre is fine ... for now. For this year even next year don't you think? The question is where they're heading. And that we can't know until a few more drafts, a few more TDs have passed. We're early in the rebuild.

I respect your opinion - you and others who feel the same way but I disagree I think they're both extremely valuable to the rebuild. The good news is the Flyers aren't married to either one. If Seeler continues to play well his contract is tradeable. If his play drops off a cliff there's ways to address that; not painless but not the end of the world either. Laughton is kind of a special case in that he's a well-known contributor to every aspect of the Flyers, on ice and off. But he's not known that way to other clubs. His value is high to the Flyers but not so much to other GMs. Trading him for a 2R is wasting him imho. btw if you can find it @mojo1917 wrote a good post about Laughton's value. I compressed it a bit here; he makes a strong case why a 2R for Laughton is not fair value to the Flyers.

By my count Briere's made 2 moves that Clarke/Holmgren would've made: extending Seeler and signing Johnson. If you try to count the moves Briere didn't make I think that's futile. Too many unknowns, especially what offers he got for X, Y or Z. I defend Briere not because I'm convinced he'll succeed. Obviously he's trying to thread a needle and it's risky (just like "tanking" for the draft is btw). But you seem convinced he'll fail. I can't agree with you there. I like a lot about the Flyers these days. But what I like doesn't blind me to the holes in the roster. I'm sure Jones and Briere aren't blind either. Soon enough we'll know for sure where the Flyers are heading: legitimate Cup contender or back to Mediocreville. To claim you already know is a mistake imho.

"the gauntlet" indeed. In Boston on Saturday night with Ersson struggling, the D corps mostly MIA and a PP that's still the worst in the league. Two of the Flyers last 3 were blowouts, embarrassments. Hopefully it isn't 3 of the last 4 after tonight...

I think they are doing it just not as thoroughly as you'd like. I'm talking about keeping TK and Hart. As far as the TD - the moves were minor - even extending Seeler - they barely move the needle on the rebuild. Sure they could've dumped Laughton for a 2R, Seeler too. I just don't think that would've made much difference, either to the PO push this year or to the longer term.

"Proof" that they kept Seeler and Laughton for more than this year's POs is the contract to Seeler. They might've been able to negotiate a 1-year deal for stupid money and both sides would've been happy with it. Or they didn't have to extend him at all, right? AFAIK nobody was threatening to "offer-sheet" him. And then there's all the talk (and the ice time) all year about those 2, how valuable they are to the team - this particular team that's trying to build a personality - with a lot of young guys. Laughton as far as I can tell they didn't "keep" so much as they didn't get an offer they felt was worth it. The proof of that is Briere's own words - he said exactly that.

after the letter went out they traded 5 veteran players and got back 3 players + prospects/picks. Nash Grabner and Holden were all UFAs, McD and Miller still had term. They got a real good return for them there's no doubt about that. They didn't trade Lundqvist (who would?). They got a good haul for the 5 they traded. Maybe that's "tanking" to you not to me.

They did but they didn’t “tank” in any meaningful way prior to the famous letter to the fans or even after. Well I guess you could call it a “tank” when they traded their captain McDonogh but that was after they got their 1 and 2 picks. Anyway, point taken, the Rangers are not a path the Flyers can follow or even try to follow. Not to mention they haven’t even won the Cup since picking 1/2 in successive years. But who knows maybe Bedard or McDavid will suddenly decide they want to live on Philly cheesesteaks…

Well sure….my opinion is simply that I like the direction. I say I love Seeler but I’m not in love with him or Laughton. And I’m not banking on Tortorella’s history so much as how I see him handling the squad this year (and last year). His Cup win was 20 years ago. I’m sure you see as well as anyone the difference in his demeanor these days. Still an a-hole when he wants to be….but at least now it comes off as a choice.

Right, so the question is what you’re willing to sacrifice to pick in the top 5. Blow it up and tear it down…you’re much more likely to snag a top 1-4 pick…but at what cost? It’s a long conversation and we all know where we stand pretty much. I believe (hope, pray) there’s another way besides the patented Tank Job, which produces champions … sometimes.

No way Drury trades him to the Flyers. I agree he’d be a great addition but the Flyers have good forwards on the roster and in the pipeline. Ask Chris about K’Andre instead!