mojo1917

this how I feel too. I don't know that league average goaltending makes them more than a tough first round match up. sigh.

Who has not improved under Tortorella? I think Morgan Frost is on that list, maybe Joel Farabee, though I think if he had better centers he would have more ticks on the score sheet. On defense I can't think of anyone, maybe Zamula, I can't tell if he's a box or or a boat, but he's not giving top of the lineup skill. Players who have gotten better in the last 2 years. Foerster, Brink, York, Sanhiem, Ristolainen, Cates (appears to be over his injury), Konecny, Seeler. It seems to me like Coach Caveman is actually getting the most from a lot of these guys. I am not a fan of how he's handled Couturier but the coach has a vision of how he wants his centerman to play and that vision includes foot speed, so... not Sean's strong suit. Honestly, I can't get too lathered up about the job Tortorella has done, I think he's been decent. The goaltending will be the key to finishing in the bottom 10 or making the playoffs. I still don't know what we're looking at with Ersson, Fedotov is meh and Kolosov needs to see AHL shots, he has shown talent and skill but lacks maturity. I'm not a fan of how Kolosov has been handled. I see the talent. I don't think he's so awesome he can't learn some north American rink angles and game strategies while facing "not the best players in the world" he's ranked 3rd last of all the goalies in the league. He should be relegated.

I wonder if that series went differently, what would have changed? Would there have been the trades to win ? Would Richards and Pronger have fought at a practice? Your vision of seeing Claude Giroux feeding pucks to Jeff Carter for 4 years would have yielded what? I wonder what would have happened had that group won. I also wonder what we would be looking at if Hextall had picked Heiskenan with #2. So many things to go right or wrong or just differently.

Flyers Goaltending: It's terrible. I think I might understand the issue with Ersson. When he thinks his body isn't right, he blows. This happened when he was in the A also. If he's feeling tip-top all systems go, he is perfectly fine., however in 82 games guys are going to get nicked up and when he's nicked he is not good, borderline not NHL caliber. The .640 vs Pgh was Keystone cops laughably bad. I like him, that said, I guess his "development track" needs to include playing well when he's not 100% healthy.

.640 save % is lottery worthy. Ersson is choking this job away. I sports hate that Pens team a lot. Ersson Peterson’ed that start HARD.

The team needed the stop and he didn't make it. I'm sure he would like another crack at that one. The xG on breakaways is under 3. and the best penalty shoot-out guys are 40%. It's not automatic. I know Kane is an all-time great. Ersson needed to stop it and he didn't. The Flyers lost because of it.

I thought Ersson was bad last night. I know Patrick Kane can still wire it, but that was a stop the team needed and Ers got beat on the AHL side. He hasn't looked good excluding the game vs the Jackets since he was injured. I think I would move to a 60/40 split with Kolosov until Sam show's he can handle the work. the Flyers weren't great last night, but then neither were the Wings, there were 2 goals I'm sure the goalie would like back, the goal off the faceoff was- terrible. Ersson has historically been a bit of a slow starter, and he has been injured a lot since coming to North America. I think @OccamsRazor called him a great value Michael Neiwierth or funny words to that effect. I see why he said it.

That group couldn't get past Broduer. That group was among the best teams in the league. Also, there is a perception on my part when I read some posts from some guys...mostly @flyercanuck where it seems like it's been 50 years of sucking, because there were no scf victories. That's not accurate. Same with the Richards' teams, they had the misfortune of being in the same conference as the Pens with peak powers Sidney Crosby. That Flyers team was good. People discount them, I don't know why. Was the way the era ended ? I don't know, I'm not wondering why people think that way either. Most people thought that team was good and should have been better. YMDV

you're old like me, have you forgotten The Poulin teams, the Lindros and LeClair teams ? Those teams were a bounce here or there from beating dynastic juggernauts. The Flyer way has been fine until this century and even then, The Richards/Carter team was a top 8 team in the league for about 4 years. The larger point I'm apparently failing to make is like with Giroux, the team will only be so bad while Michkov is healthy and engaged. So time to start thinking about other avenues that can reach the goal. Which for me is different than yours. I want them to be among the best teams in the NHL over a window of time. If they are making long playoff runs and have a chance to win the tournament I can view that as a success. @radoran All indications when Michkov was drafted were he wasn't going to be available to play in North America unitl 2026. He's here early so the planning that had take place need adapted to fit the new reality. What does that look like? There was an asset gathering mindset that used the available cap space to secure draft capital. Some of those guys are coming off the books this year, but Mich's early arrival has made it tough for the Flyers to wheel and deal. So it looks like this year's team and treading water to see what some of these youngish guys can do. Some signs that are not great that I'm seeing are these young guys aren't stepping all the way up, the ol' saw blade of development is on the long stroke and guys that looked to be on the come last season are kinda scuffling around this season. When you mention the guys with the NMCs. I think they're fine. Konecny has been earning his contract, Sanhiem is exceeding his, he's now a surplus value player and if his play plateaus and he's just a #2 his cap hit is more than acceptable for a 25 minute a night player. I have a little concern about Tippett ever becoming more than what we've seen. He shows flashes that tantalize and then disappears for long stretches. His contract isn't "giving" value imo yet. The only terrible one is Couturier's and if his health can hold up and play as he has been playing his contract can be bought out in 3 years, hopefully by then he'll be slotted in as a 3C J Staal type. There are some deck chairs with NMCs or modified NMCs that are tradeable. I think we'll see some things happen after the season and around the draft for sure. I am hopeful that a hockeyman will overpay for a big righthanded physical defenseman for the playoffs, to start the ball rolling. The roster needs adjusted and the team needs centermen. I don't feel as though things are as bleak as I did when the team picked that Gauthier kid.

Whatever the question is, Shane Pinto isn't the answer. He's a deck chair. The Flyers have many of those, what they need is a better hull and more horsepower turning the blades. (just keeping with the nautical theme) The Flyers have a lot of wingers and are starting to have a decent set of defensemen who may generate interest or at least be decent add-ons to a big trade. I also think the arrival of Michkov has closed the window on the BITFU crowd. The sample size is small but he's proving to be too good for the team to outright suck while he's dressed. He needs a center to play with who isn't in his 30s. Luchanko made team Canada, he could be a guy to look at. Barkey didn't, I don't know why, he's a 1.29 ppg in his overage year, I know he's small but the kid is good at hockey and seems to get better after being told he's too small by hockey institutions. That Berglund kid just got promoted to the men's league in Sweden. Maybe there is some help on the way. As little regard as I have for Morgan Frost's game, I wouldn't trade him straight up for Shane Pinto. There is no way I would trade the Ol Foerster for him either. In the right deal I'd part with Tyson but one for one for Pinto...kick rocks.

have to find the cost savings somewhere.

I was expecting the Canes to fall off and the Predators to be "in the mix". Those two predictions are proving to be poor at best. Washington has been way better than I was expecting. The Rangers far, far worse and it's looking bleak there. Boston fired their coach, Chicago fired theirs. It's been a pretty wild season.

That's fair. The top of the draft didn't go as anyone predicted so, I wouldn't know how to prepare for how that shook out other than, keep an eye on guys the team likes and try to pick them. Also, I think some of that was because they couldn't get as far back as they wanted while simultaneously learning teams picking right around 13,14,15, who were also interested in Lucahnko. I didn't think it was a bad draft. We won't know for a couple of 4 or 5 years.

why? What did he do that wasn't good. They took like 10 centermen in the draft ( okay, well 3 ) in the first 4 picks and the defenseman they picked is ****** intriguing (Spencer Gil). They didn't like Buium for whatever reason and wanted to get one of the guys they targeted. They really like Luchanko, he's breathtakingly fast, and about it, I think he could be a guy who exceeds expectations. All the other centermen are a couple of years away, but they could be good. Now that the Berglund kid has skates the fit, he could be pre-cancer Oscar Lindblom who plays center. What's not to like there?

He was invited to team Canada tryouts for world juniors. Someone must think he’s doing enough for that.