Clarke2Leach

Good luck with that. I think he really benefits from a defense-first system and mobile, puck-moving defensemen which makes him so very wrong for the current version of the Flyers.

I certainly won't ignore the question. I like Bryz as a person, even though I've never met him. Having said that, I don't like him as our starter and didn't like it when we signed him and sent Bobrovskly off on his merry way. I like Bryz because I think he truly gets the ridiculousness of professional sports. Even though I'm a long-time, hard-core fan of the Flyers, it's still just Bread & Circuses to me. There's way more important things in life to worry about than pro sports, even though it can completely captivate me for 3 hour stretches at a time. Now as an employee, Bryz should care more than me about the Flyers - and I'm sure he does - but, last I checked, he wasn't stomping on baby chicks or closing experimental lakes in Northern Ontario. I also find him quite funny. But I also want him not to be a Flyer anymore.

If he signs at a reasonable 2 million per, I'm all for it. You can't go ALL young - just ask the Oilers.

I can't believe nobody's done this on this thread already, so here it is. 2011 Draft (pick-name-2012 pts- 2013 pts) 1. Nugent Hopkins 52 23 2. Landeskog 52 15 3. Huberdeau QMJHL 27 4. Larsson 18 5 5. Strome OHL OHL 6. Zibanejad 1 20 7. Scheifle 1 0 8. Couturier 27 14 9. Hamilton OHL 15 10. Brodin SWE 10 11. Siemens WHL WHL 12. Murphy OHL 0 13. Baertschi 3 5 14. Oleksiak OHL 2 15. Miller OHL 4 Anyone see a pattern here? Every player in the top 15 who played a significant amount of games (Hopkins, Landeskog, Coots) has seen their production go way down this year. The others didn't even (or hardly) get their feet wet in the NHL in year 1. The sophomore slump is real - as previously pointed out. If Couturier's ceiling is what we saw against Pittsburgh in the playoffs last year, I'd take that any day of the week. Sure, he has to get up to that level, but he's already proven he can at least be that good and he doesn't even turn 21 until this December. Give the kid a break. There is nothing wrong with his trajectory at this point.

I actually like Bryz, but he needs to be bought out. The contract length is so utterly stupid and the unfolding of events has doomed this to failure so even one more year of Bryz is a waste of time and money. To begin with, he wasn't nearly prepared to play in a real hockey city and especially Philly. The weight of fan, media and (especially) the owner's expectations is something he clearly cannot bear. Going into his second season, he now has the new pressure of the amnesty option on top of all that. While he hasn't been as bad, he still doesn't justify the contract as has been pointed out so so many times already. So, if we keep him for another year, he's still going to have the amnesty hanging over his head and although he says he doesn't care, I think it truly is "I care, but I can't control the outcome". Well, of course he can - within reason. He could stop 1 more goal every 2 games to get his save % up to .920 (that's about all it equates to - it's a really harsh statistic). To me, he's proven that he can't do it for this team. Some of it is his fault, some of it is the system, some of it is the guys playing in front of him. He's going to be rich anyway and so will Snider. Just get it over with.

Not really. They were talking on HNIC during the Leafs/Habs game about Gallagher being drafted 147th. 122 players drafted in front of him have yet to step on the ice in the NHL.

If I'm not mistaken, Carter tied for the league lead in playoff goals. I've always said he's better than what people give him credit for. He's a Jean Beliveau type and that's not everyone's cup of tea.

1. Mark Howe 2. Moose Dupont 3. Brad Marsh 4. Tom Bladon 5. Brad McCrimmon

But Vanek gets all his in October and November.

No disagreement there.

I think the holes in the pro roster are being a bit over-stated. We have a good, young group of forwards and a serviceable (when healthy) group of dmen. I won't argue that the goaltending and the organizational depth scares the crap out of me, but as much as I would love to have Jones, Mackinnon or Drouin, I'm not so sure the Flyers have the type of roster that 'deserves' that kind of pick. When I look at what Ottawa, Toronto and the Jets (before their recent slide) are doing, I see teams doing more with less. That's on the coach, if you ask me.

A player who carries the puck more will turn the puck over more - that's just odds - so Coburn will turn the puck over more than Lauridsen. Glad to hear Lauridsen is filling in well, but I'm no where near ready to give up on Coburn. I think he's being asked to do more than he can comfortably accomplish. I agree with the OP that some players being out (looking at you Danny) has been good for the team. If Erat got Forsberg, I wonder what a healthy Briere would have brought?

As much as I hate the NMC's, I think injuries have really screwed us. Nah, I hate the NMC's AND the injuries screwed us. Someone would have given us something for Briere.

The Jets are short on D right now with Enstrom and Redmond out. Can't see anything imminent unless the Jets want Bruno Gervais and the rights to Lilja back. Big Buff is actually a pretty impressive player and quicker than you think. He's also quite unpredictable. Put him with a really responsible blueline partner and he can make things happen.

Claude Noel of the Jets has a philosophy where he doesn't enumerate his lines (ie 1st line, 2nd line) and despite the fact I really like the guy, I think it's a foolish strategy. Players don't have that carrot to play for - "I want to be a first line player". I like what Carlye is doing in Toronto whereas if you work the hardest, you get the most ice time. The Leafs apparently have 16+ million in salary not even starting right now and it's working well for them so far. I think you reserve the #1 centre spot for Giroux (because the guy is playing his heart out from what I've seen) and you let everyone compete for the privilege of playing with him. Schenn should not be playing any lower than 2nd line with his effort and production. Just my 2 cents (rounded down to nothing, for my Canadian compatriots).

Not saying Read is the next Martin St. Louis, but their trajectories so far haven't been so different. Actually, Read has had a better start and at a younger age. I'd still rather keep Voracek, though. Undrafted players can't seem to get any respect.

To answer the question directly, a "fair" trade is Giroux for Weber. Weber is that good. Good thing we don't have to play fair.

http://iphone.tsn.ca/tsnpodcasts/Bousquet.mp3 Weber's agent sure makes it sound like Weber wants to go to Philly.

For the record - big fan of boobies here.

I agree with your points, it just didn't come out that way. My point (probably your's too) is that those intangibles can be had in much cheaper packages.

Those intangiblies already exist with Talbot. I don't want Doan at that money. Heck, we could get the same player in Brendan Morrow in one year for 2 or 3 million. They're both hard hitting mid-level scorers on the downside of their careers and Morrow is 2 years younger.

Yeah, but Carter was NOT a bad pick then and certainly not now given hindsight. That's the way the draft goes. You just never know. Parise hasn't exactly been the model of health and consistency either. 12: NYR - Hugh Jessiman 13: LA - Dustin Brown 14: CHI - Brent Seabrook 15: NYI - Robert Nilsson 16: SJ - Steve Bernier 17: NJ - Zach Parise 18: WSH - Eric Fehr 19: ANA - Ryan Getzlaf 20: MIN - Brent Burns 21: BOS - Mark Stuart 22: EDM - M.A. Pouliot

Sabres did very well in the 1st round, but I'm very positively biased about Girgensons.

Considering the Kings top 3 left wingers were Dustin Brown (who's an absolute gamer), Dustin Penner and rookie Dwight King, it tells me that there is no burning need to go out and spend 7.8 million on Nash (and I really like Nash) for 6 years. I'd either saving my pennies for Weber or make some minor depth acquisitions and get the current roster slotted into the right places.

The "wuss" on the left was finally healthy for a playoff run and ended up tied for 1st in playoff goal scoring. Just saying.