radoran

How's 48 years? 48 years patient enough for you?

Need to make the poll check boxes. Keeping Konexny, Old Forester, Tuomala, and Tippett. I got a new hat.

The 90s were the last gasp of old school hockey before the spectre of head injury took Scott Stevens' hits out of the game.

The issue for many is turning a page. There's a whole group with the stink of the past 5-7 years on them that didn't flee to Ottawa. I think fans are ready to see the players under 25 and not worry whether the Couturiers and Atilkinsons can get them over the hump.

2016 was a terrible draft. Look at all the players around the 22nd pick and Tage Thompson has JUST emerged seven years later and 20 other teams "missed." The chances that Thompson's career arc matches any time in Philadelphia are slim. The problem is picking 22nd having not actually achieved very much of anything to get there. If you're relying on hitting on a 20+ star player the Flyers had that and tried to build a franchise around him. A superstar is a different thing. "Missing" on Rubustov means little in the grand scheme of things.

The linchpin of the Lindros trade! Talk about one of the worst first overall picks...

Mike Millbury wants everyone to know that he's still available to run a hockey organization.

As if they are sitting on a bunch of assets they would want to part with and other teams want. The actions will definitely do the talking.

They have basically said "don't expect playoffs next season" and if that changes then all bets are off. I do not expect Danny to make a big splash deal. I think they kick the tires on Matthews, but they will likely be outbid and I don't think he would agree to an extension to come to Philadelphia under those circumstances anyway. If they do this Caulfield thing in either of the scenarios outlined ($9M offer sheet, Hart/Gauthier to MTL), I may just walk away entirely.

I think the topic of hiring Danny and the Jonseys has been pretty well settled. Consensus on what they're going to do is another thing entirely...

With speculation including sending Hart and Gauthier to Montreal for Cole Caulfield. Or offer sheeting Cole Caulfield. Or some nonsense regarding Cole Caulfield. Let's take a moment and figure out how they fit a $9M offer sheet into the $7.7M cap space they have available... Not to mention that it would be peak old school Flyer for an actual, legit, proven 1C to be available and to instead mortgage the team for a right winger.

Not to mention Senior Hockey Advisor Dean Lombardi who was the actual GM of that LA team. Exactly. We're going to give it a shot because honestly we don't have any choice but to give it a shot. The "former Flyers" aspect isn't "a good look". The change will come with action, not words.

TDA is a red herring, he's got one year left. Ristolainen is an issue, but a not unreasonable buyout candidate if a trade doesn't develop. Just suppose they can't actually move Hayes for three years. Are you saying they can't do anything until then? Suppose the "splash trade" involves Hayes, TDA, and/or Ristolainen? Even a Hayes buyout gives you pair of $4.7M cap hits and then three years of $1.6M. Not unbearable in a "rebuild." The team doesn't need a splash trade at this point, but they would be irresponsible to not keep an eye on everything that's available out there. And that doesn't involve sending their goalie and their top prospect to Montreal for a freaking winger.

This is, honestly, the dumbest analysis of a "rebuild." "Too early for talent"? smdh

This is one of the guys Holmgren blew up the team for, knowing that they had no intention of signing here. Good times. #halloffame

I don't think the Flyers are getting Matthews. I do think the conversation is worth having.

This is a fan base that spent 10+ years insisting Claude Giroux was a superstar and Auston Matthews is "overrated."

A "hot trade commodity" and a "tradeable piece" are two different things. He's much more attractive as a $2.5M player than he is as a $5.1M player. If he gets you a 4th that's better than nothing. And all that is weighed against the benefits of either buying him out or keeping him on the roster.

I'm getting Matthews+ or I'm keeping Hart. Tronno has seen what their current core can do and it's not enough.

This is it. If you can open a roster spot for a player you feel fits and save ~$2.5M while doing so, that's not a bad GM decision, that's prudent. The Bryzgalov buyout didn't hurt them at all - it was a compliance buyout outside the cap. A real buyout question is the Suter/Parise buyouts in Minny. Losing significant cap space for years is a real tough call. Obviously as I said you try to move Ristolainen and retain salary to obtain an asset. In the absence of that...

Yeah, I get the whole "points" thing. How many points wins you a Cup?

@pilldoc You're not wrong. But I do wonder if McDavid considers whether he would like, say, $10M over 5 years or a better shot at a Stanley Cup. Is walking away with $70M instead of $60M while possibly never breaking through to the Cup worth it? Wondering if players just might start to consider it. I think we've seen it a bit in other leagues.

Saving @flyercanuck the trouble

Here's a buyout after next season: Again, I think if they retain $2.5M for four years they could get something of value. Otherwise, the buyout option looks pretty viable.

What's Connor McDavid going to get? Asking as an American.