I would like to hear suggestions on what to do with the defense

[RonJeremy]

There are lots of arguments/discussions about the defense and what to do about it. So i would like to hear some suggestions.

My thought is Carle will smell the big $$ out there and test the FA market, even though he likes Philly and wants to stay, it will be tough for him to turn down millions of extra dollars that can be made over the course of a new contract.

We also have to face the reality that Pronger is done, and Timmo is getting up there, and has one year left after this season.

So I assume we will have Coburn, Mez, and Bourdon as definites for next year then we have to decide what to do with Timmo. Do we keep him, or do we try to trade him at this years deadline, where teams generally overpay, and try and get a top young player and pick for him.

If Carle is going to walk, do we also trade him at the deadline and try and get a good young player/pick, or do we hold on to him, get knocked out in the first round and get nothing for him?

I dont think Gus is ready for full time duty, unless he was paired with Pronger, but since Pronger isnt coming back.......Of course if these guys are traded,we have all but written of the season.

I think that going into next year we will need 2 possibly 3 dmen depending on what happens with Carle and Timmo. If we trade our veterans like Timmo and Carle , then we will need to get one defensively sound veteran and a couple of solid young guys with defensive skill.

We could compile a few first rounder/ young players in dealing these guys, free up big $ ,and then using those assets, we can sign a guy like Suter and Bryan Allen, and then trade for another young dman, or move up in the draft and land an imapct dman.

The real scary part is we can find oursleves without timm and Carle over the next 2 years and have absolutely nothing to show for it, and still we will be faced with a lack of qualitty dmen in outr system

Any other thoughts or suggestions ?

[SoCalFlyfan]

No one has any suggestions. They'll just tell you tha Lavi won a Stanley Cup with Carolina and That we just really miss Chris Pronger right now.

-My suggestion is to play a 2-1-2 style and use our speed to score on the transition instead of an ineffective dump and chase that gets everyone out of position. But that may be asking too much, because Lavi apparently only has one system up his sleeve.

[activestick]

There are lots of arguments/discussions about the defense and what to do about it. So i would like to hear some suggestions.

My thought is Carle will smell the big $$ out there and test the FA market, even though he likes Philly and wants to stay, it will be tough for him to turn down millions of extra dollars that can be made over the course of a new contract.

We also have to face the reality that Pronger is done, and Timmo is getting up there, and has one year left after this season.

So I assume we will have Coburn, Mez, and Bourdon as definites for next year then we have to decide what to do with Timmo. Do we keep him, or do we try to trade him at this years deadline, where teams generally overpay, and try and get a top young player and pick for him.

If Carle is going to walk, do we also trade him at the deadline and try and get a good young player/pick, or do we hold on to him, get knocked out in the first round and get nothing for him?

I dont think Gus is ready for full time duty, unless he was paired with Pronger, but since Pronger isnt coming back.......Of course if these guys are traded,we have all but written of the season.

I think that going into next year we will need 2 possibly 3 dmen depending on what happens with Carle and Timmo. If we trade our veterans like Timmo and Carle , then we will need to get one defensively sound veteran and a couple of solid young guys with defensive skill.

We could compile a few first rounder/ young players in dealing these guys, free up big $ ,and then using those assets, we can sign a guy like Suter and Bryan Allen, and then trade for another young dman, or move up in the draft and land an imapct dman.

The real scary part is we can find oursleves without timm and Carle over the next 2 years and have absolutely nothing to show for it, and still we will be faced with a lack of qualitty dmen in outr system

Any other thoughts or suggestions ?

As much as I hate to say it, I've writtem Pronger off. I think his career is over. Damn shame, he is the glue to the team.

I would like to see Carle stay, but only at an affordable rate. If it gets too rich, let him walk. On the other hand, he may be traded at the deadline in a package for another D'Man possibly?

I think Kimmo will play out his contract and retire at the end of next season. I have no problem at all with him doing that. He's a great player.

Sign Suter in the off-season to fill in Carle's spot, assuming he's gone.

[mojo1917]

@RonJeremy

you raise good points and questions here, I would try to resign Carle at Coburn + half a million money, if he wants more then I don't think we should sign him. which creates a big problem filling his minutes at a similar quality if he walks... i don't know i would have tried to sign him during the season , i think we're fuqed.

I am fine with Kimmo Timmonen playing out his contract here if that's what he wants, when it is over we can take that money and apply it towards another top 3 defenseman.

I may quitely ask Daniel Briere to waive his no trade clause and send him to a contender for their prized defensive possesion and a draft pick. he's a proven playoff performer and may net us some quality blue line youth and another draft pick that can be turned into someone else in a package.

i also try to find out chris pronger's status is he going to try to play? will he quit ? i talk him into quitting and go to the league and see if i can get some kind of cap relief due to his career ending injury. the team should not have to be penalized for such an unfortunate situation. that way there's not tip toeing around the LTIR and I can apply his cap money toward a top 2 defenseman in free agency,

because i'm looking to trade 48 i don't trade any of my young centermen, and only deal JvR if it is a godfather type deal, i like this core of players they're young, fast and enjoy playing together, i try to foster that and let them grow together into a championship team.

[Bakanekimiwa]

first of all.. the flyers will never give up on a season if they are remotely close to getting into the playoffs. so we will not be sellers, you can just about guarantee that. whether that's the smartest course to take or not... well, we'll see how that goes. i'm against making any acquisitions before the trade deadline unless something for a D man just makes too much sense. seeing as how the market for available D men is super thin, i just can't see how we wouldn't be overpaying. i'm against that.

i would like to see them stand pat for this season. i think it would be better to have a gauge on what carle is looking for in the off-season. if the feeling is that he would be impossible to sign reasonably, then i'd seriously consider offers for him. whether we could get a high pick or a young D man or something.. that would be a steal as i think we're going to lose him straight up july 1.

i think they have to operate as if pronger is done. obviously, the priority will be getting D upgrades this summer. we're pretty thin on defense as it is. we've only got timo, mes, coburn and gus locked down. and, oh yeah, lilja. that's dangerous. i'm sure they'll make a play for suter and/or weber(although i really don't see nashville letting him go). so suter is most likely, but i look at him as a minor upgrade to carle that would cost a lot more. that's why i think they should try to sign carle first. heck, if they can get carle reasonably and go after suter, that would be ideal.

other then that? well, they'd better use their 2 highest picks on D men in this summer's draft. i also wouldn't mind seeing them get a goaltender in one of the earlier rounds. who knows what our net will look like in the next few years.

if homer really wants to get creative... i think we could lose a forward before the deadline and maybe get a steal in return. that forward would be briere. it's tricky, obviously, since he has a NMC. but, players have been asked before and they will waive if they're going to say a detroit ... or a vancouver... or some other western team looking for O. in fact, LA would be very interested in another flyer, i'm sure. obviously they'd have to dump some heavy salary to be able to do that, so they'd have to get creative.

having said all of this.. my guess would be that they're in the process of working out a deal with the Bolts for Kubina and we'll likely overpay. this would not make me very happy.

[mojo1917]

@SoCalFlyfan

for me it comes down to dictating the terms of play or reacting to your opponent, I have always liked doing the first as compared to the second.

that is not to say the flyers couldn't stand to be more disciplined in their own zone, but that can be taught, I hated the tap-in backdoor goals too, but I don't think the Flyers need to adopt a completely new playing style 3/4 of the way through a season . i think that is asking for lots more defeats while people try to figure out where they should be going now since they're not attacking anymore. the coach doesn't have the counter punch mindset. i want a cadillac cts-v, but the guy i saw on the road today that has one isn't giving it to me, just like Lavy isn't going to quit aggresive puck pursuit and control for you.

rather than looking at the defense tactically; why not think strategically the way the OP seems to have intended his question ?

[SoCalFlyfan]

@mojo1917

-I firmly believe our problem is tactical, not personnel related. We will just have to agree to disagree on that one. Watching the game though, that 2nd goal was a direct result of what I am talking about...guys pinching and then giving up an odd man rush with no one in position. Not to mention no one was in position on the first goal. That is coaching.

[JackStraw]

The 2nd was on the defense? A high school goalie could have stopped that shot. That was awful, all on Bryz.

[mojo1917]

@SoCalFlyfan

fair enough. i can abide

[SoCalFlyfan]

The 2nd was on the defense? A high school goalie could have stopped that shot. That was awful, all on Bryz.

Absolutely it was a bad goal, but that was a direct result of guys trying to force the issue on offense and getting burned. So it's ok to keep giving up odd man rushes ? That's the type of goal the Flyers need to score on the transition. Instead we're still playing river hockey.

[JackStraw]

Absolutely it was a bad goal, but that was a direct result of guys trying to force the issue on offense and getting burned. So it's ok to keep giving up odd man rushes ? That's the type of goal the Flyers need to score on the transition. Instead we're still playing river hockey.

That was a pretty routine play. You see something like that in pretty much every game that's played in the NHL. No way a goal should be scored from that point on the ice. None.

[RonJeremy]

@mojo1917 I was hoping Briere for PK Subban

[HagFlyFan 16]

I think if they ask Briere if he'd like to be moved to a contender, he replys "I want to win as a Flyer". And if they do ask and he does say yes, what does that do to Couts? Why take the chance?