mojo1917

So let me ask this, if we cant get a guy like Webber, then who can we get , who do you guys think can help our team? I dont think there is any denying we need at least one more defensively sound blue liner. Are there any good young dmen that might be available for a good young forward?

I believe Barrett Jackman out in St Louis is a free agent this year, he could be had maybe for coburn money, he's pretty mobile and has a nasty streak that everyone in town seems to miss, he'd be a good guy to pair with Carle or (if he resigns here) Metzaros and would give us a young mobile and physical top 4 guys, with timmonen in the mix for another year and a Guss/MAB. Jackman comes with leadership qualities too. probably won't happen, but imo i think he'd be a good flyer.

i wonder if this means JvR will be back in the lineup soon... ?

Too much talent and drive with #35 to give up on yet... He is such a good athlete and takes stopping the puck personally.

The guy hit "the wall " last year played 30 more games than ever in his life, on a different sized sheet , on a weird moon-man speaking continent without his beloved Olga.

We seriously crapped the bed signing any goalie let alone Bryzgalov for more than 3 years...

Sometimes you're the winshield , sometimes you should have a beer.

Long season at some point we'll win one of these.

I share your frustration though.

@canoli

If the weak link is goalie then why not adjust our style to support him? Is Lavi just hoping we'll win every game 7-6 ?

Not for nothing I like the uptempo style

Babcock has a point ",get the puck and keep it "works pretty well when you have skilled players like we do.

Bottom line is bryzgalov needs to nut up and stop the puck.

Hal Gill

ick... too old, too slow, okay snarl factor but not enough + to offer a roster player in exchange.

@SoCalFlyfan

well if all he has to rely on is his work ethic and skill , we'll still have a fine player

i don't think simmons' knee knocked the magic out of our french canadian leperachaun though

...since his concussion. Does anyone think maybe he'll ever be the same player he was before the concussion ?

no we should dump his ass.... he sucks now, and has turned yellow to boot

i mean cripes sakes it's been a month, he should be scoring 4 a night....

competitors compete...G is a competitor he will be fine, he will find a way to counter the attention he receives now that he's an art ross candidate and a leader on a good team.

i haven't noticed anything different from his play other than he has less time to create because other teams are looking for 28 in orange.

@Hexy27

Well Pronger was a lot older than suter and carle when he signed what every one considered his last NHL contract

From Meltzer's Musings....

I corresponded yesterday with a longtime NHL pro scout about Nashville's Ryan Suter. His take on the All-Star defenseman is that while Suter would be an asset on any team in the league, Suter is not a franchise player like Shea Weber.

Thus, if it comes down to keeping one player or the other for the long haul, it would be Weber he'd hand a blank check to and work the team's cap management around both him and Pekka Rinne.

As for Suter's pronouncement that he wanted to wait until after the season to talk contract and focus only on hockey, the scout gave a very blunt assessment.

"That means he's as good as gone this summer," the scout wrote. "When a player really wants to stay and just focus on hockey, he has his agent negotiate an extension before he hits the free agent market. But this is a business. He's going to make a lot of money, and get paid like a franchise player."

I asked the scout if he would consider Suter an upgrade on Matt Carle if the latter were to depart Philadelphia via free agency this summer.

"Yes, Suter is better but Carle's pretty good, too. I think he's stepped up without Pronger this year," he said. "He's another guy who is line for a big payday."

food for thought from a Meltzer trusted scout.

Almost what most of us are thinking here, at least the threads i've been reading.

Let's hope Homer doesn't empty the cupboards on suter, maybe we can make a run at weber the next year, when the cap gets some relief from timmonen's deal expiring.

He's definitely looked better in the last two games. That's progress but still a ways to go,like Rad said. The loss to Winnipeg was frustrating. But, for the most part, he held up pretty well. We have a back to back this weekend.....and the Rangers twice in a week. Now would be a good time for him to hit his stride.

Agreed , we need to post a couple of W's on the Rangers. They can't be thinking we're gonna be their bitch down the stretch

i cannot believe how slow bryz looks going side to side. tuesday night highlighed that several times...

it's like he has Carter disease and doesn't read the play ... at all.

@FlyersMKD

are you high ?

none of the above.

I hate the boston fan base worse than i hate the new york fan base. and i hate the pens with the fire of a million burning suns.

i do respect the rangers though, fonzi has coached them up pretty well and they are a tough team to play against they have some guys on that team that i'd like to see in orange and black. but man they can all drive the team bus off a cliff before i'll cheer for them to win anything but the 1st pick in a weak draft.

I don't want him because Jammer says he sucks

It is that simple

@doom88

You know one of our guys could have scored in the shoot out ...Bryz made two very good saves prior and got caught going to the well one too often by playing the open 5 hole thing.

Having a hard time finding fault with his play in that game.

Mono kid , 28, jagr. Those guys should have potted one right?

I've savaged the poor bastard here before, so it's not like I'm the "Joe Bryz "apologist around here

@Bakanekimiwa

that just happened recently didn't it ? last couple of weeks... well okay no beauchamin

@DaGreatGazoo

i wrote about maybe acquiring subban if we struck out on weber.

i don't know a lot about him, i have not heard that he's a douche in the room, but that doesn't mean he isn't, just that we don't get much mtl press here in central pa. personally i don't think i'd want him because since i mentioned it, i've watched him a few times and he's good for one or two bad plays a game, about half the time he can fix a bad pinch with his speed, but when he bones it up in his zone he really bomes it up, slow no look passes into the slot from the corner type stuff.

Barrett Jackman will be a free agent this year, i know he's had his bell rung and has been out with a concussion. but he's a tough guy and is pretty mobile , francois beauchamin will also be a free agent this summer he's a physical player too, so maybe we give Carle a small raise and sign one of those guys if we can't figure a way to lure one of the big fish and fit that guy under the cap.

then we'd look like:

timmonen- coburn

metzaros-Jackman

Carle- bordon/ gustaffson

that's solid

@orangecrush

i thought that luke schenn was trending toward a career depth player... jammer says he's not "getting" it...?

@jkearse123

too funny, yes just once would be nice.

too bad the chairman can't seem to get past 1976...

I know Robert Earl is specail in these parts, but man it's almost 40 years ago, Claude is his own guy; kind of bothers me that everytime someone shows a competitive nature and has some skill they're compared to 16,,, how bout let the new "hope' find their own place ?

REC's shoes are mighty tough to fill so quit trying...

my hope is 28's number hangs in the rafters in philly and his name engraved on the cup 3 times then everyone after gets compared to him...

@terp

yeah, i was happy to see we wouldn't be wasting assets on that guy too.

@orange_crush

looking at the canes roster from the cup winning team, i don't know i really see any standouts beyond wesley, commodore and hedican... and i never think of those guys when i think rugged and mobile... i mean wesley's been a good to great player pretty much his whole career, but the rest of those guys wouldn't get picked out of a line up for fast or tough

I actually thought the game was pretty entertaining..

i thought the same with the skills competition, it was fun. kane tried to make the breakaway thing fun, good for him... i had no problem with any of it.

Unless he agrees to sign before the trade, nothing. I don't want a rental, not this year.

this, however, if he were "signable" i think JvR, Ben Holmstrom, and a pick. here's the thing about Nashville they're thin up front, so we'd give them a top 5 forward (on their team) right now with the potential to be a solid 70 pt player for a long time. he's big, fast, lot's of talent. Holmstrom gives them a depth forward with some speed, and they'll take the pick and draft another stud d-man or goalie with it...

the other thing to consider is people will be wiling to pay suter a lot of money because he's a total package and part of why Weber can be WEBER. we might not have the cap room to fit a 6+ million a year player where as other contenders may.

it's nice to consider having a young anchor for the defense though.

@Bakanekimiwa

Once you get in the tournament all kinds of screwy things can happen. Guys get hurt, other guys get hot, President's trophy winners flame out. I don't think the Pens have the horses to kick their game up a notch come playoff time. especially if 87 is still out. There's something wrong with that locker room in Washington those guys should be better, the Bruins are one or two knicked up guys from being beatable, as are the Rangers, so we can temper expectations with saying "I don't expect a cup this year" but the 92-93 montreal canadiens say anything can happen if the right guys get hot at the right time.

@vonginous

totally. i'm having the mako shark sandwich pomme frittes and a white house short bread cookie dipped in the tax payers chocolate.