radoran

Yeah, and Ellis is lower than his cap hit for the last two years of the deal. Just higher than it for the next two seasons. It's quite likely that Ellis ends his career as a Yote. Just not sure that happens sooner than later...

I honestly don't think they intended to fire Chuck in season. Makes no sense to let him screw up the trade deadline and then replace him. I think the season ticket holder rebellion and booing really shook the organization*. You don't see things like that. That was some thing in the face that couldn't be ignored. So DB has "interim" because they really had no plan - again - for how they were going to handle the transition. They didn't expect to fire Hextall. They didn't expect to fire Vigneault. They didn't expect to fire Fletcher. Is it any wonder they are where they are?

Arizona needs cap hit. They want guys who are cheaper than their hit. Atkinson only gets them a $600K savings. Also, too, Atkinson has a 10-team NTC list...

Ellis has four points in five games as a Flyer. That projects out to 65 points!

You didn't recognize the Ryan Ellis recovery progression? Well, the bad news is that his actual salary is only $600K less than his cap hit... What's the market for a 35-year-old with a mystery ailment and two years of term at $5.875M?

How many "interim" guys make "major changes" to an organization? From where I sit, if he's going to make "major changes" he's going to need to be "GM" first.

He's day-to-day, week-to-week, hoping to play by the end of the season, expected to be ready for training camp.

TK is already the player Sharp turned into production-wise. I kinda see a little Marchand in him. Maybe more than a little. Foolish to move him. He's honestly the only guy over 25 I would keep around. He's under contract for two more seasons so there's no need to move him now. If they can change the course of the franchise by moving him? Do it.

Can't wait for Dave Scott Night to recall all the great parts of the Dave Scott Era. Definitely a playoff team. Hall of Fame.

Can you imagine working yourself up about whether your team has a 6.5% or 7.5% chance of the first pick? Much less writing the head coach about it? Now, imagine you're the head coach READING that stuff..

Also, too, "a plan" that results in years of losing for a one in four chance to draft a generational player is a fool's plan.

And that's true, but that's true regardless of the draft. Failing to deal JVR wasn't a failure to move up in this specific draft, failing to deal an expiring UFA 20-goal scorer for anything was an abject failure for any GM in any year, any time. Honestly, aside from that, I don't know what else folks would want on this roster that the Flyers would be willing to sell off for draft capital. I'd sell anyone over the age of 25, except probably Konecny. The whole "nobody wanted anything to do with the dreck of a roster I assembled" might not have been the masterstroke Chuck thought it was when it happened...

I was living there for the start of it as they were tearing it all down and there was a sizeable segment that was in favor. They've been in the wilderness a long time, but seem to be emerging with some solid young talent. I don't think many thought the trip was worth it. Contrast that against 10 years of "definitely a playoff team" with not a whole heckuva lot more to show for it... Of course, players like Bedard don't some around all that often, but it's terribly difficult to plan to be the worst at the right time to get your one in four chance of drafting the player. Even the worst four teams only have a six in ten shot at Bedard (or whoever at #1). The NHL has made "tanking" less and less attractive over the years.

The Pittsburgh Penguins say "Hello" * There's a qualitative difference between deliberately being a terrible hockey team - a la the past 10+ years of the Buffalo Sabres - and playing for draft position. You can obviously never tell a professional athlete not to compete or try to win the game. That's the entire point of the process. "Tanking" is simply taking every step to remove as much talent as possible to make the very possibility of competing be at very least daunting. The Flyers didn't do that... intentionally... They didn't even manage to get rid of JVR... To your point, iIf the Flyers aren't going to be in the bottom four - and Chicago, San Jose, Columbus, and Anaheim are in a league of their own for that honor - then it doesn't statistically matter a ton if they are 7/8/9 as the difference is 1.5% in the first overall lottery. I don't think they are in much danger of creeping out of the #1 overall lottery entirely. That said, I'd rather compete with Montreal for position than get ahead of Arizona or Vancouver. I think that's where a lot of people are - and it's just a matter of a percentage point of probability one way or t'other. * virtually impossible to duplicate what they pulled off these days

one of us... one of us...

Yeah, in a post from two weeks ago...

Well, when you look at it that way... Now do where they run the developmental program in a competent manner! This could already would have being exciting!

I'd say there are younger, cheaper guys on the A/NHL roster with higher upside potential than Lemieux. Brink, Desnoyers, Wisdom, Tuomaalaa, Foerster off the top of the head. Essentially, you know what you have in Lemieux. I'd rather find out what we don't know about other players.

He's the kind of player the Ancien Regime would adore - pedigree, "toughness", and fairly nondescript as an actual "hockey" player at age 27. Hopefully Danny Briere says "thank for your service" and moves along.

And the Flyers were picking 14th where Clarke went 8th. The Flyers have four top ten and two top five picks since 2007. One top five was Patrick. The other was last year. Then Couturier and Provorov. They have striven for mediocrity and they have achieved it.

This is true. The Rangers have been so dominant that they've won *checks notes* one Stanley Cup since 1940. And they've been to a Final in this century.

Two of them are actually in the playoffs and the third is Arizona. Technically, his fifth organization as he was drafted by the Bolts. They traded him about a year after Yzerman was confident he'd "change and grow up." Spoiler alert...

You think it's easy to get into the Flyers' Hall of Fame?

more the latter As much as I appreciate being able to rattle off 1 1st, 3 2nds, 3rd, and a 4th to turn Hagg and Gotstobethere into Ristolainen and Deangelo, I wouldn't mind getting a 3rd back. That said, I do appreciate a good spite, it must be said.