King Knut

As much as I hate to say it, because he is annoying AF with the refs and all his whining and complaining every game in the face of absurd BD, Torts is a decent coach. I agree with you on smoke and mirrors, but I thought it was enough smoke and mirrors to screw things up for the other teams fighting for a wild card (especially after Jones and Atkinson and Carolina's goalies went down). That said, they lost the goalie who gotten them into that position due to the car accident. He might be back before the end of the season. Then they lost Kreider while playing us for an indefinite amount of time. When you're smoke and mirrors, you lose 2 of the three mirrors the smoke dissipates I guess. The goalies are the key players on Carolina to which I was referring The Pens Caps series have been brutal on both teams in the past. If they can beat each other up for two weeks, I'm very happy with that. This is why I believe the Flyers are so zoned in on winning Home Ice. Not that they fear either team, because I don't think they do, but because they know it's simply to their advantage to not have to play both.

I don't know about the Islanders. I'd love it if they didn't make the dance somehow. I know they're getting a bit exposed now, but something about the bugs me. some teams aren't necessarily very good, but for whatever reason, they can match up well against what should be a much better team overall. I think Trotz is smart enough to know how to exploit the Flyers and take advantage of them... BRIEFLY. He knows how to play to disadvantages system wise and inertia wise I think. If the Flyers had played the Isles instead of the Canes last night, I'm fairly sure Trotz would have been better able to take advantage of their exhaustion and the limited roles of the top lines/pairings. I think that's just the kind of coach he is. I also think that in a 7 game series, AV and the Flyers overall depth and skill and skating take the Islanders... I kinda just don't want to have to spend that kind of energy in an early round if they don't have to. Then again, maybe it would better prepare them for a round 2 against the Penguins or Caps. As an aside, the other thing I'm noticing about this team (and which they're noticing about themselves) is that they are extremely well conditioned. I keep seeing (and having it confirmed in interviews after the game) that the other team just can't keep up towards the end of the game. That's definitely a new thing for these cats too!

Looking at the minutes last night, on the second half of a back to back against a playoff desperate team, the Flyers rolled 4 lines as evenly as they have all year and they still won 4-1. The Flyers also lead the league in Defensive scoring which is crazy considering Ghost isn't playing and wasn't playing well when he was. Their goal differential is now 3rd in the league ( of course 1 and 2 in the league are in the Atlantic so there's that). Having a 50 goal scorer would be nice, but I'd much rather have the situation we do now than sacrificing the full team playing and skating the way it is for the sake of one seriously elite scoring threat. Now JVR is out essentially until the playoffs, which isn't ideal. But this team has the depth to pull a Farabee out of the minors to slot in. They've already had to replace 2 top 6 players in Patrick and Lindblom and now thanks to Fletches depth moves, can pull on a fantastic rookie with 50 games of NHL experience to fill that third top 6 injury. Look at what's happened to the BJ's Rangers and Hurricanes due to injuries to a few key guys and what might happen to the Bolts with Stammer out for a long stretch. This organization has done a very impressive job of acquiring and developing the skill to play this way late in the season. Not that I want to lose ANY more guys! GOD FORBID

The other thing that I'll point out about this thread's premise (not to pile on and not that added scoring isn't nice) but the team that scares me the most in the Metro right now is the Islanders. Not only do they not have a big gun, but they have significantly fewer goals for than the flyers and a much worse differential than the Flyers. Trotz just has good instincts against the Flyers system. Or at least he did. The other thing I'll say about the Islanders is that the Flyers weren't where they are now the first two times they played. Their goal differential in the last two months (since the road trip from hell over Christmas) has been through the roof. That last game against the Islanders was some pretty pi$$ poor goaltending in the first if I recall correctly. Trotz has just had the Flyers number this year, but the last game looked like the Flyers started to take that number back. Let's hope so. We see them again real soon and it's quite possible we'll draw them in the PO's.

Dude looks his age when he plays the Flyers.

I feel like the one line thing has been the case. They haven't had much more than one line since 2013 and even then it was a bit sketchy. I think there's legs to this. There's the rub! All I'm saying is that I'm not exactly on board with this perspective that Jake and G and JVR aren't any good in the playoffs. We'll see what happens.

He's starting Elliott against the caps and likely for exactly this reason. Give Hart a few in a row including an away game against an easier team to help him shake his road head games. Give the more seasoned vet the big team. If they lose, at least it's not another away loss in Hart's head.

The thing about having a big weapon is that you can shut him down and if you shut him down, you cripple them. The Flyers are proving they have depth and that all of their lines are capable and three of them are dangerous.

Found it interesting for obvious reasons https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/15-percent-of-americans-have-migraine-disease-why-arent-there-better-treatment-options

Absolutely!

I'd kinda prefer to put Laughton with the new guy and I simply wouldn't insert them both into the lineup for the first time together. That said, there are no easier games for a while so... I just really hope they plan to Bring back Farabee soon. Grant is a good thing at C to help spell Giroux and Coots on the PK and some tougher D zone starts. And I do agree that Farabee responds to a rest well and comes back strong as hell... but I want to see them take advantage of that and bring him back so we can see that strong play again.

Gotta win this one. The new guys stepping in has me worried, but I guess against the Sharks is as good a time as any. The Flyers have another rough stretch coming up. Home and Home against the Rangers who are making a huge push and are a mere 6 points out of the 8 spot. They have two fluke injuries due to a car accident including the goalie who's been so hot, so maybe that'll help but no matter what the Flyers can't sleep on them. Then it's the caps, canes, sabres, bruins and lightning. They get a slightly less elite team in the Wild, but it goes back to bat **** crazy for a while after that. If they hold their position, they're certainly not going to get flat or bored going into the playoffs.

Yeah and he's got a couple on the PP, but a guy who can put together a hat trick while playing on the Ducks this year? I'll take him for nothing on my roster. I'm not saying he's Ovechkin. I'm saying he ain't a nothing bottom 6er.

I think Hazy was always the guy. I feel like we came to that consensus here on the board last year sometime after he went to the Jets. We didn't even have the insight Fletcher did on Patty's problems. I wanted Stone, but the Knights and the deadline took care of that. Panarin would have been nice, but the 2C/3C to get Patty the minutes he needed to develop was the other thing I thought they needed maybe a little more and Hayes fit that bill to a T. I think most of us here would have cringed that the thought of Duchene or someone coming in instead. My only criticism of the Hayes deal was that Fletcher likely overpaid in dollars and term, but in the end, he got the guy many of us here were into. Fletch has been pretty open about his reliance on AV to tell him what they need on the ice and he's done well to stay focused and get those pieces.

It'll leave them stronger for the Even strength minutes and allow for more of those minutes to be against top lines. Adding these two also all but ensures that G will stay on the wing. G and Coots and Jake have been a force for driving play since being put together. This only makes them better.

I'll be honest. I'm not terribly concerned about losing Bunny. I think Farabee needs to be back throughout the remainder. He's important. But this guy is a good add for what ails the Flyers. He's an extremely strong Penalty killer and thus will spell Giroux and or Coots from their PK time leaving them more fresh for 5V5 (at which they are already monsters) and PP time. For him to have 14 goals with only 23%offensive zone starts is a bit remarkable. His Corsi's trash, but the Ducks are horrible and he's literally at 23% Ozone starts which makes it a bit challenging to get legit shot attempts. This is a good add. As long as he and Thompson don't bump NAK.

Toronto's not moving Marner. There's no reason. I could see Philly and TO making a deal in the off season, but certainly not at the deadline. They may both be above Wild Card spots right now, but that could change on a moment's notice and then they're in direct competition again. There's no way either one is helping out the other.

Also, our defense is pretty darn good. have the lowest Shots against per game and are top third of the league in goals against per game. What's more, it's only getting better as Myers, Sanheim and even Hagg improve before our eyes.

Montreal has absolutely no reason to want to give up Domi. Kapanen I could see more possibly in the off season.

It's a conditioning reassignment. AV even said they made a mistake in bringing him back when they did without giving him some games in LHV. They may still trade Ghost, but this has virtually nothing to do with it. I doubt Kreider ends up here, but I'd be thrilled to have him even as a rental. Do I give up Ghost for that rental? Probably not.

I try to refer to them as the BJ's as often as I can remember.

Yes and sometimes a coach says, "Don't go into the corners *** hole, you're a distributor and I need you ready to make a play when the puck comes out and besides, I need you ready to get your butt back if the other guys are the ones who come out with it."

You tell me we’re going to get a back on track Patrick soon and I’ll stop thinking about Nylander, as it is, he’s got some of the best metrics on that team. And has 26G/26A with third line minutes. Dump JVR and let the wings go the the corners. it’s not necessarily soft, it can be on purpose.

He's 23. And isn't that true of all the Maple Leafs these past three years?

Oh make no mistake, Keane is definitely a depth move. In the next year or two he could be a decent NHL D-man. People just seem to be acting like he's a scrub. He's decent. I don't now about Gautier. Ratcliffe is sorta having similar issues this year with the Phantoms (even though he's smaller than Gautier) but working through them. Tougher to win battles in the pros. Gautier may come out of it improved... or not. If I'm the Rangers, I wouldn't have made this trade though.