Remember Last Offseason?

[AndyS]

Remember when we all feared the lack of offense with Carter & Richards gone?

What ended up happening? The Flyers scored MORE goals.

Why? Giroux (and others) were enabled to step up & do more.

I fully expect the maturation process to continue with a number of players on this team. Schenn, Cooter, Simmonds, Read can all be expected to play better. And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

If we could add some size (Doan and/or Ryan) without trading the young players, that would help. We'll see.

I think the Flyers will be fine.

AND I fully expect them to make a run at trading for Shea Weber (probably during the season).

[Lindbergh31]

Remember when we all feared the lack of offense with Carter & Richards gone?

What ended up happening? The Flyers scored MORE goals.

Why? Giroux (and others) were enabled to step up & do more.

I fully expect the maturation process to continue with a number of players on this team. Schenn, Cooter, Simmonds, Read can all be expected to play better. And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

If we could add some size (Doan and/or Ryan) without trading the young players, that would help. We'll see.

I think the Flyers will be fine.

AND I fully expect them to make a run at trading for Shea Weber (probably during the season).

Unfortunately teams like Detroit amongest others will be looking to sign Weber also. You're right last year every expert was saying the Flyers would have a hard time scoring because of the trades of Richards and Carter but Philly did ok. Here's a look of the lineup for next year as I see it:

Hartnell-Giroux-Voracek

Schenn-Briere-Simmonds

?-Couturier-Read

Rinaldo-Talbot-Wellwood/Sestito

Timonen-Coburn

Meszaros-Grossmann

Bourdon-Schenn

Now here is a list of potential defensemen that the Flyers could sign one of them at a reasonable price, here is also a list of forwards that they could sign to fill a 3rd or 4th line winger.

Defensemen:

Carlo Colaiacovo

Chris Campoli

Matt Gilroy

Michal Rozsival

Scott Hannan

Jim Vandermeer

Forwards:

Jim Halpren

Ruslan Fedotenko

Shane Doan

Jason Arnott

Kyle Wellwood

Brendan Morrison

Goalies:

Dan Ellis

Alex Auld

Slim pickens for this year's crop but these guys would probably come cheap, Holmgren would have a cap space at the deadline to make trades. Now we all know that Snider and Holmgren aren't patient people so it wouldn't surprise me if Couturier is part of a package traded to get Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash. We as Flyers fans can only hope Holmgren doesn't have a knee jerk reaction to the fallout of the Parise and Suter singings.

[Phillygrump]

And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

Me either. I think he had his breakout season last year and there is room to grow.

[AndyS]

Unfortunately teams like Detroit amongest others will be looking to sign Weber also. You're right last year every expert was saying the Flyers would have a hard time scoring because of the trades of Richards and Carter but Philly did ok. Here's a look of the lineup for next year as I see it:

Hartnell-Giroux-Voracek

Schenn-Briere-Simmonds

?-Couturier-Read

Rinaldo-Talbot-Wellwood/Sestito

Timonen-Coburn

Meszaros-Grossmann

Bourdon-Schenn

Now here is a list of potential defensemen that the Flyers could sign one of them at a reasonable price, here is also a list of forwards that they could sign to fill a 3rd or 4th line winger.

Defensemen:

Carlo Colaiacovo

Chris Campoli

Matt Gilroy

Michal Rozsival

Scott Hannan

Jim Vandermeer

Forwards:

Jim Halpren

Ruslan Fedotenko

Shane Doan

Jason Arnott

Kyle Wellwood

Brendan Morrison

Goalies:

Dan Ellis

Alex Auld

Slim pickens for this year's crop but these guys would probably come cheap, Holmgren would have a cap space at the deadline to make trades. Now we all know that Snider and Holmgren aren't patient people so it wouldn't surprise me if Couturier is part of a package traded to get Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash. We as Flyers fans can only hope Holmgren doesn't have a knee jerk reaction to the fallout of the Parise and Suter singings.

I would be glad to over-pay a little for Shane Doan. He'd be a terrific fit.

I like our D right now. Unless Weber becomes available, I'd stand pat.

[doom88]

Arnott could be interesting. Otherwise, move Rinaldo to 3rd and let him show he has some skill too. That would allow Lavy to roll four lines.

[Mad Dog]

Remember when we all feared the lack of offense with Carter & Richards gone?

What ended up happening? The Flyers scored MORE goals.

OK, but the last season scenario was different. While we traded Richards and Carter, we replaced them with other palyers, hoping that those players can compensate for the lost production. Plus, like you said, our own players, like Giroux and Hartnell, picked up the slack significantly.

This time around, we subtracted Jagr, JVR and Carle and replaced them with........ Luke Schenn. So far that's all that has happened. Now, I am sure Homer will bring at least one more forward. He has to. Doan, Fedotenko....... I am not sure who that will be, but I think there will be at least one more forward signed. What this will translate production-wise? Probably not very much. But I just don't think the situation is comparable to the last year at all.

[AndyS]

So you don't expect B.Schenn & Cooter to make progress? I do. Big time.

And I think our D just got better, not worse.

I am not a Carle hater, but I never thought he was all that good. He certainly isn't worth $5.5 million/season.

A full season from Grossmann and the addition of Schenn makes our defense a lot tougher. Our top 4 on D is solid.

[Bakanekimiwa]

Remember when we all feared the lack of offense with Carter & Richards gone?

What ended up happening? The Flyers scored MORE goals.

Why? Giroux (and others) were enabled to step up & do more.

I fully expect the maturation process to continue with a number of players on this team. Schenn, Cooter, Simmonds, Read can all be expected to play better. And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

If we could add some size (Doan and/or Ryan) without trading the young players, that would help. We'll see.

I think the Flyers will be fine.

AND I fully expect them to make a run at trading for Shea Weber (probably during the season).

if they don't add anyone else... resigning vorachuk is the only thing left. we have about $7.8m cap space after these latest signings, so we might actually carry some wiggle room into the season. subtract prongers salary once the season begins and we might have a nice padding if they wanna add take on another big salary or two.

you can bet that poile is going to have his hands full with trying to keep weber. the flyers will throw everything at weber if he hits UFA. poile would be smart to get *something* this time.

[doom88]

If the Flyers can afford it, maybe they should consider keeping Pronger on the roster (not LTIR). It'll certainly make the cap issues simpler.

[AndyS]

If the Flyers can afford it, maybe they should consider keeping Pronger on the roster (not LTIR). It'll certainly make the cap issues simpler.

How so?

[Lindbergh31]

if they don't add anyone else... resigning vorachuk is the only thing left. we have about $7.8m cap space after these latest signings, so we might actually carry some wiggle room into the season. subtract prongers salary once the season begins and we might have a nice padding if they wanna add take on another big salary or two.

you can bet that poile is going to have his hands full with trying to keep weber. the flyers will throw everything at weber if he hits UFA. poile would be smart to get *something* this time.

I was just listening to Elliot Freidmann from CBC Hockey Night in Canada and he brought up a good point, Poile has to sit down with Weber and his agent now and find out what Weber's plans are so another Suter situation doesn't take place with Nashville again. He said that the NHL has to be careful regarding these long-term contracts because players coming into their prime money making years like Weber will be asking for max dollars if the next CBA puts a limit of the number of years for contracts. If Weber has no intention of resigning with Nashville after this season then I can see Poile trading him to the highest bidder at the deadline. I think teams are signing all of these players to these long-term deals now because it provides a lower cap hit per year, they know the players will not fulfill the full term of the deal and Bettman is going to push hard to put a max limit on the years of deals to 5 or 7 years.

[mojo1917]

@lindebergh31

Snider and Holmgren aren't patient people so it wouldn't surprise me if Couturier is part of a package traded to get Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash.

i hope not, tell me what is the fascination with bobby ryan ? okay he's a local kid, and has scored 30 goals a couple of seasons, so what, i really think couterier is going to be a monster in the league, a perennial selke nominee. if we do that deal it's straight up, no package, that's crap.

same with schenn he's a natural center ,he's got a mean streak and nice touch around the net; he's going to be in the bobby ryan scoring category shortly and he's a natural center playing out of position because, as a good hockey player he can.

i know you're not advocating for this necessarily but a trade for bobby ryan that includes one of our young guys is a lateral move at best and probably a step backward in the future.

[touche22]

Remember when we all feared the lack of offense with Carter & Richards gone?

What ended up happening? The Flyers scored MORE goals.

Why? Giroux (and others) were enabled to step up & do more.

I fully expect the maturation process to continue with a number of players on this team. Schenn, Cooter, Simmonds, Read can all be expected to play better. And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

If we could add some size (Doan and/or Ryan) without trading the young players, that would help. We'll see.

I think the Flyers will be fine.

AND I fully expect them to make a run at trading for Shea Weber (probably during the season).

Thank you!

I'm not sure why there needs to be a huge overhaul. The nucleus is under 26 with a smattering of vets. I would love to get Doan, however, Ryan comes at the expense of some of our youth for sure. There is nothing wrong with being under the cap. No reason to spend it for spending sake. Build a nice cushion and take a run at Weber.

[bryanc]

I fully expect the maturation process to continue with a number of players on this team. Schenn, Cooter, Simmonds, Read can all be expected to play better. And I don't think we have seen the best of Giroux yet.

Agreed. Still worried about the defense, of course.

But I think the 35 or so goals that JVR and Jagr provided will be made up by better/more ice time given to Read and Schenn. Let's say you get 5 more out of Read (going form 24-29) and maybe another 8-10 out of Schenn, who should be playing about 3-4 minutes more a night with better linemates, and perhaps another 5-6 out of Couturier... right there you're at 20 goals from the youngsters.

I expect the Flyers to wait into the season and see what they have. They know they have a couple of big contracts coming off the books at the end of the season which puts them in a GREAT position to be an in-season buyer for a team that decides it is going nowhere or wants to offload a big contract of a player that they do not think they will resign.

If I am not mistaken, we're coming up on the RFA arbitration deadlines. It is not uncommon for teams to go to arbitration with a player and in their opinion the player gets awarded too much. They then sign him and trade him. I don't know the arbitration status, but Evander Kane, TJ Oshie, Viktor Tikhonov, Tyler Ennis, are a few of the decent names that are RFA. Evander Kane always seems to be a Flyers killer and would add speed to a team that already looks like an Andretti racing team. Tj Oshie always seems to score big goals. The Flyers are well equipped to make a trade and award one of these players a big contract if is current team isn't interested, although I would think Oshie and Kane will be kept, you never know.

[bryanc]

if they don't add anyone else... resigning vorachuk is the only thing left. we have about $7.8m cap space after these latest signings,

They should actually have more, because Pronger will be on LITR, so that gives them an additional $5 mil a year. I forget when they are able to spend that money though, because the CBA has a bunch of clauses on it.

[doom88]

Evander "anti Cooke missile" Kane would be a fantastic addition, but I wouldn't count on it.

[AndyS]

Agreed. Still worried about the defense, of course.

Kimmo, Coburn, Grossmann, Meszaros, Schenn & some combo of Bourdon/Gus/Gervais doesn't sound pretty good to you?

That sounds pretty darn solid to me.

Heck, it sounds like a way more physical defense than we had last season.

[The Quigster]

This defense without Pronger is a big step down. Homer needs to develop a gauntlett type defense figuring out what genes Rinaldo activates and give some to Coburn and Grossmann it would really be interesting.

[Mad Dog]

Kimmo, Coburn, Grossmann, Meszaros, Schenn & some combo of Bourdon/Gus/Gervais doesn't sound pretty good to you?

There are some major question marks with that group.

Timonen has some serious mileage under those legs.

Meszaros is coming back after a long absense and a very serious injury/surgery. We don't know what shape he will be in, especially in the beginning of the season.

There is no pure puck moving, rushing d-man on this roster who will consitently skate the puck out of the zone and effectively jump onto a play. Timo used to be that type of a d-man, but he just doesn't have legs or speed anymore.

Schenn.... I honestly have no idea what to expec tout of him. Again, when you find yourslef in a doghouse with two different coaches, somehting is just not right with you.

Gervais - shouold not make the team. If he does, we are in a pretty bad shape.

Bourdon/Gus. Just about the only real positive out of losing Carle and not signing Suter. If nothing else, these two guys will get an ample opportunity to grow.

There is plenty of reason to be concerned with this team and this defense in particular.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Mad Dog