PhilsFanDrew

I wouldn't trade Read because the likely compensation in the way of player/picks won't be commensurate to what Read brings to the team. Remember, Read is 26 and was an undrafted free agent signing so his value isn't likely as high as we think it is as far as pieces coming back in a trade. Schenn, Couterier, and Laughton would likely fetch better in a trade, not that I advocate trading them all or even one of them.

@brelic@ruxpin

You mean with Timonen, Hartnell, Talbot, Briere, etc that their was a lack of off the ice influence and vet leadership? I find that argument flimsy at best and even if were to buy in completely he's still not worth a cap hit of $4.55 million.

I get people being unsettled about losing Carle but why Jagr? Do you think if he is playing this year that Voracek has a breakout year? I don't. Who would you rather have that standout season. A young, budding talent who hasn't reached their prime or an aged vet who is on the twilight of his career? Jagr broke down by the end of last season. He wasn't nearly as effective coming down the stretch and in the playoffs as he was in the beginning of the season.

The GF/GA doesn't completely tell the story. They may be statistically top 3 in GF but when you factor in the fact that they have played more games and a couple games where they scored 6+ goals (Panthers, Isles, Pens) its not as if the goals have come consistently. In 12 games this year they have scored 2 or less goals. It also helps that their PP has crept into the top 10 after a very disappointing start. In the beginning of the season the goals were lacking and the goalie was good and the D was adequate. Recently the offense has opened up and the goaltending has been inconsistent and the D continues to have bad breakdowns. If the Flyers can start getting off to better starts and playing 60 minutes and get the goaltending, defense, and offense playing consistently they will make the playoffs.

It gives the rest of the team insight into the knowledge and experience of what it takes to get to the Finals.

Yes, Quick was the key to the victory - which is why he won the Conn Smythe. But the team still needed to score goals and win games.

Sorry, but sorry is just a bad way to start a sentence.

I personally don't buy into the whole experience factor with younger/inexperienced players praising the vets for their vast wisdom. I think its nothing more than complementary "player speak". Its just about giving media types a sound byte to run with and fans glom onto it as if its some meaningful revelation.

The Flyers got better, younger and cheaper with those deals, but they also lost the experience which Crater and Richards had. I don't doubt for a moment that their playoff experience helped LA immensely last year.

The Moves were moves for the future that were sold as moves for the now. I don't want to see them give up the promising future in front of us for a quick fix to be "good enough to compete for the Stanley Cup" today.

I don't know how their "playoff experience" helps a guy like Quick steal games. Sorry you can have their experience all you want but with anything less than Quick they don't win the cup period.

The fact of the matter is that, Richards & Carter are better suited to being role / support players in the NHL than #1/2 team leaders. You look at the production in paper (let alone the cap hits), its a total no brainer. Jake, Simmer, B Schenn, Coots, all under 23, too...

Not to mention you likely don't get the most out of Giroux last year and going forward if Richards and Carter are still here as both of them together would retain the role as franchise players. Especially after their no trade and enormous cap hit would have went into effect.

This will be an interesting game. I actually think we will learn a lot more about this team from this game than we did last night against Pitt. They always get up for the Pens especially at Consol so I don't want to put too much stock in that game as turning the corner from the rough start. To me turning the corner would be a nice 4-2, 5-3 win tonight at home and keeping the momentum going. If they suffer an emotional let down tonight then they are right back to square one again.

the old what if ?

i cannot find fault with the flyers from moving on from Emery after the degenerative bone diagnosis.

I just can't , i'm happy for him that he's back to playing hockey at the highest level but his case is the exception, how would he hold up being the man ?

a platoon of him and Bobdrovsky ? maybe but like Matt Carle water under the bridge. in Emery's case he beat long odds good for him.

that's a tough one for me to be angry over.

I totally agree. The Flyers can't dwell on Emery. They had to move on because the risk of not moving on was greater than any potential reward that he would have returned to top form. He played well for the Flyers before his condition took him out but he wasn't lighting it up enough to provide management any justification to try to salvage him. Remember the Flyers took a gamble signing him in the first place. He came with the reputation of being a head case and a potential locker room divider. I'm sure Ray is playing well with Chicago but lets be honest. You can put any slightly above average goalie on that team and they would likely be equally successful.

The way I look at it is that Giroux is the franchise right now. Even if he didn't wear the "C" it is his team. Young players being named Captain is common in the NHL (See Crosby, Ovechkin, Toews, Landeskog, etc). Could the pressure of the captaincy be getting to him? Sure its definitely possible. I think another reason he got off to the slow start this season is the instability in his lines. Hartnell goes down with injury then they put Simmonds on his line and he gets hurt. Then he was playing with McGinn who is a nice player but really has no business on the top line with Giroux. I am glad to see Lavy put Voracek on his line with Read. I think sometimes Claude naturally wants to be a playmaker and passes up shot opportunities to make the extra pass. With Voracek who is strictly a passer he knows he will be asked to shoot more on that line. Voracek and Read can also skate wide with speed which should open up the middle for G. We'll see how it shakes out hopefully the game today is the spark he needs to ramp up his offensive production.

^{I'm going to be optimistic and say 4-2 Flyers (4th a late EN goal by Talbot). I think Giroux gets out of his slump and has a 3 pt night (1G, 2A) and Bryz continues to play well.}

right? i mean.. simmonds is a great player, but we need schenn to become a top player. otherwise, this deal is not looking great. how much time do we give him? at this moment... i kinda wish we had carter and richards back. i know... blasphemy!

Is Mike Richards really a top player? I mean he is a great player to have don't get me wrong I loved Richie but he's at best a borderline all star. Plus without moving Richards and Carter, Giroux likely doesn't blossom into the player he has become. I still think we made out pretty good on the deal right now because essentially the Richards and Carter trade netted us Schenn, Simmonds, Voracek, and Couturier. Would you rather have Richards and Carter over those four?

agree doom. while i hate subbans Punk Factor. he is that puck moving D man this team needs. id think about moving anyone not named giroux or coutrier. gotta give to get

I agree we need a puck moving D man but at what cost? Some here seem to think we are deep offensively. With Hartnell out for how long, the loss of JVR and Jagr this offseason this team isn't exactly deep with forwards anymore. Sure trading someone like Schenn our Couturier for Subban would solve the puck moving defenseman problem but it would also widen the lack of depth at forward. I understand you have to trade talent to get talent but to be honest there really isn't a surplus of talent at one particular position on this team that would allow us to make a deal where we don't lose a whole lot to pick up what we need.

@aziz

Another good thing about Carle was he was never hurt. The last two seasons he didn't miss a game. I know people love the physical guys that bang bodies but that takes its toll on your own body and many times the physical D men find themselves in and out of a lineup.

@flyercanuck

He's definitely noticable out there and not in a bad way. He's a hard worker and doesn't look out of place out there. I still think he goes back to juniors. The impression I got was that he would play for a week (5 games) and then get sent down and Danny B would be near ready to go by then. Once Danny B comes back there really isn't a spot in the lineup for him.

Not having Jagr is gonna hurt more than people realize......but 4.5 / 2yrs...just a tad too much......

I agree from a leadership standpoint but not so much from a production standpoint. A compressed schedule isn't going to favor someone who was already starting to breakdown 1/2 way through a standard season.

i was. no jagr and briere.

I dunno how many PP goals did they have? I seem to remember G, Hartsy, and Simmer tallying more than either of those 2 on the PP.

@caluso

The Rangers bangers? Really? Gaborik? Richards? Nash? Callahan maybe but they struggled for offense last year. Without Lundquist they are a very mediocre team.

At the end of the day, I just don't think we have a strong team. That will be the frustrating part. There are a lot of young, inexperienced guys up front, and the loss of both Jagr and Carle is much bigger than what the Flyers will have you believe.

Giroux is a superstar in his own right, but I am all but convinced that this season will be weaker for him (PPG wise). Playing and training with, and learning from Jagr was a huge thing for Giroux and all the forwards. And you can't replace that with Brayden Schenn, at least not this year. Jags and G had strong chemistry, and that will be sorely missed.

The defense, from what I've seen so far, is not great. They get beat a lot, and we are giving up a ton of shots. 40 shots against from Buffalo? Ouch.

The only bright spot, at least that I've seen, has been goaltending. Who would've thunk it? Also, Laughton should stay with the big boys if he keeps playing like this.

So, I think we're in for a 'disappointing' year as far as Flyers fans are concerned. We're young, and that's ok. As long as I see heart and hard work, I don't care where they finish.

I tend to agree with much of what you said. It sucks to lose Jags but that was way too much money. Some say the shortened season will help Jagr but I completely disagree. Jagr couldn't even make it through 1/2 of last season without breaking down a bit. Now he will be in a situation of playing back to backs, 3 games in 4 days regularly. Not good for an aging body. I do agree his leadership, work ethic and presence will be missed though. I agree more about losing Carle. It's not so much losing Carle himself but the skill set he brought to the lineup. I would have been ok letting him go as long as he was replaced by someone who has a similar ability to move the puck and get involved offensively. I thought they addressed enough size and physicality with Grossmann. Getting Luke Schenn was just going overboard IMO. I hope Luke pans out but as of right now I see him as a stubborn player who refuses to adjust his game to the NHL level. Still getting beat wide and finding himself out of position and its not because of lack of physical ability. Its between the ears. I hope I am wrong but I can see them taking a step backwards this year. Hopefully Homer doesn't panic and blow it up again. I like this team they are just missing a couple pieces and some seasoning.

One goal they took away could be argued. The other one - the rules are the rules. But even with that possibly being the case, refs will make mistakes. They are not out to get the Flyers. The same stuff happens in other games.

I thought Bryz had a decent game yesterday. Today, he was mediocre. In fact the game this afternoon was what Bryz is all about: he did not play terribly, but he didn't do enough to help the team win. That's where he made his mark. He just does not make incredible saves and hardly ever wins games by himself.

The defense looks immobile and ineffective. I don't know how anyone can even argue that. But frankly, I am not upset because this is exactly what was expected before the season even started. I expected the Flyers to struggle exactly in these two departments: defense and net. So far that's exactly what's happening.

I don't know about you but I was not expecting a 1 for 9 start to the PP.

Agree with others about not going after Ryan. Maybe bring in Doan and resign Voracek and call it a summer. Can always add a D-man at the deadline. I still think this team could make some noise in the playoffs. Sucks not to get Weber because he would have easily made them preseason contenders.

@hf101

I think this whole developing prospects in the minors is a bit overrated. The Hershey Bears had a great AHL team for awhile and their players moved up to Washington and haven't won squat. I think if you actually look back at the quality of players the Flyers draft in the 1st round and the undrafted free agent signings that turned into NHL players they have actually done quite well for themselves. The biggest gripe I have about their drafting is the inability to draft and develop a franchise goalie. Thats really the only thing that has held them back.

@mojo1917

I'd try to re-up Voracek for a 2 year deal for $7,250,000. He would still be young enough at 25/26 to cash in on a big money contract if his numbers would eventually warrant it. I also wouldn't be surprised mid season to see Giroux sign for a 10+ years big money contract. They did the same thing with Richards when he still had one more year left on a current contract.

Probably because they have time. There's no rush to get him under contract because they can match anything anyone else offers. While if they have interest in UFAs, they need to move now. It's not something I would be terribly worried about.

Exactly. If no one is jumping out there to sign him to an offer sheet the Flyers can use that as leverage to sign him for less money.