PhilsFanDrew

I totally agree with Roenick that this team is still missing the upper echelon defensemen. I agree with Roenick that Mason is currently not an upper echelon goalie, however, I still think his game has upside and he can become elite. Although one could make the case that with a better defense in front of him Mason could have put up elite level stats last year. But to be fair and putting my bias aside I would say Mason is probably around the the top of the 2nd tier goalies as of right now.

@pilldoc " Now do you trade Schenn EVEN THOUGH you just gave him a big contract extension. It will make the Flyers look awefully bad if they decide to move Schenn." Not really. They signed Schenn for 2 yr/$5 mill. Thats not really a big contract extension and its not really a contract that signals long term commitment. Schenn had to know he signed a team friendly deal for the Flyers. It allows the Flyers to buy time and see if he pans out to be a player they want to invest in long term with big money and it is a friendly cap hit that if they decide to move him the contract is short and palatable for most potential trading partners.

I totally agree. In a perfect world the Flyers would have spent the money they signed on VLC to get a top line winger to play with G and Jake. Yeah its not ideal to ask you best player to change positions to accommodate an aging/declining center but to me its the most viable option and at least is worth trying early on. With that said if G gets off to a slow start and its not working they have to pull the plug early and go back to VLC on the 4th line and a PP specialist. Hopefully a team will be more desperate at the trade deadline and a deal can be made.

1) He's been great since coming to Philly minus a month stretch last year where he wasn't playing his best (neither was the team in front of him though). The sample size is slightly more than one season. Bryz had a larger sample size of relative success in ANA and PHX and he was ran out of town. There are no guarantees either way. This is a tough market on the goaltender and Mason appears to handle the media and the pressure quite well. 2) No Emery won't be capable of a long stretch. That would be more concerning if this team was really a contender. Right now they are still developing their youth and need to fix issues on defense. If Mason goes down this team as constructed isn't going anywhere anyway and missing the playoffs would mean a better draft pick. The "we have to make the playoffs at all cost" mentality is one of the major reasons the Flyers haven't won a cup since 75. 3)Zepp is nothing more than a backup for Stolarz in the AHL and Stolarz is not ready for the NHL.

I have to agree with Vanflyer here. At this point Carter is the better player and fits in with the Kings better than Richards. Richards lack of offensive production is not a one off. He has been declining ever since he got to LA. I know this will ruffle some feathers but Mike Richards has always been a little overrated. He's a very good player but he's not great. There is no particular skill set that he possesses that makes him great. I wouldn't say Carter is a great player either but if you are objectively looking at it based on recent performance you can't come to any other conclusion other than Carter is trending up and Richards is trending down. Going off stats from 3-5 years ago to make the case that Richards is a better player is a fools errand. Professional sports are a what have you done for me lately business.

They may not need another Center right now but where they are picking the likelihood is that player is years away from making the NHL anyway. Outside of Giroux are we sure Schenn, Couturier, Laughton, etc are going to still be Flyers 3-4 years from now? I would hope that if their pick is up and they have a Center and D-man who they graded out equally that they take the D-man but there is no sense taking an inferior player just because its a position of need. If drafting was the only way you could improve your team I would agree with taking the position of need but you can also make trades or sign free agents.

Well considering the Preds let go of Trotz, it looks like they are attempting to rebuild and move in a different direction. So while it is easy to say that the current makeup of the Preds doesn't suit Lavi's style I doubt 2-3 years from now that the roster will be that much similar. Also given the patience Trotz was shown I don't see Nashville giving Laviolette a short hook if change doesn't happen immediately. I don't see this hire to make them competitive in the immediate but as a move to introduce a long term strategy at changing the culture.

If Emery was 2-0 with only allowing 1-2 goals and maybe a shutout in one of the first 2 games I would give stronger consideration. The last thing the Flyers need at this point is a goalie controversy. Mason gets the start for me if he is 100%. Emery played well yesterday and the team got the W but I wouldn't annoint him a "hot hand".

Meth teeth. Grody

Boston: I will give you Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, and Rask. Lucic is borderline and if you consider him a star then so is Wayne Simmonds for the Flyers because they are both power forwards that have put up similar numbers. Erikkson has battled injuries but he's been a disappointment in Boston. A star prior to Boston but certainly not putting up star numbers. Blues: Steen is not a star. He's having a star year but this is the first year he's broke 30 goals. Last year he only had 8 goals in 40 games. Tampa: Teddy Pucell is definitely not a star. Val Filppula is borderline. Jake Voracek has put up similar numbers to Filppula this year so by your definition I guess that makes Voracek a star. Not to mention Jake is only 24 years old.

Good teams don't look back and blame one bad call for their demise. Are you going to go back and look at a blown call that the Flyers benefitted from this year and give those points back? Also in that Devils game the Flyers went something like 0 for 6 on the PP. They had opportunities, they didn't convert.

I think as long as the Flyers can continue to find diamond in the rough forwards a la Raffl and Read and pay them pennies on the dollar they can afford Lecavalier's salary because they are saving money elsewhere. Like you said the benefit with Lecavalier's offensive talent on the 4th line is that he won't draw the shut down forwards from the opposition which should give him some chances.

The Flyers have also been (knock on wood) healthy down the middle this season. In fact out of all the centers he has been the one that has missed the most time due to injury. Also interesting to note that I heard on the broadcast the other night that Mike Richards is currently centering the 4th line in LA. To me that should be very concerning. Lecavalier has 10 less points than Richards but in 14 less games played than Mike. Also interesting for as good as everyone claims Richards to be defensively he is a -5 on a team that is very defense oriented. I'm not suggesting VLC is earning or living up to his salary most nights, just simply pointing out it could be worse. While Mike Richards plays hard and does a lot of good little things when you make as much money as he does he needs to produce and it hasn't been there since he joined the Kings.

The real embarrassment was getting waxed 5-0 to Finland. I don't think its so much Canada being in the US's heads as much as it is Canada being a superior team. Canada much like 2010, got better as the tournament progressed. The US clearly regressed offensively after the Czech game and the wheels fell completely off in the bronze medal game. I admit after beating Russia my expectations of the US changed that they almost certainly should medal. But after looking at it in retrospect they played in the weakest group. Slovakia was terrible, Russia was a total fugaze (and the US barely won), and Slovenia is, well Slovenia. Then they play an anciet Czech team in the quarterfinals. They had the path of least resistence to the semis and they simply were not ready to play the stiffer competition. Disappointing given their start in the tournament but realistic if you are honest about what the US team is.

@jammer2 Actually per the phantoms website he is listed as a RW. You could also move Raffl up to the 3rd line and call up Vandevelde to play on the 4th line with Rinaldo and Hall. Bottom line I believe there are better options than Downie within the organization to play that 3rd line role on the wing.