Mezz Out Indefintiely - Achillies

[murraycraven]

I guess our goaltending isn't the Achilles heel this year.

Well said!!

[AJgoal]

I thought that the D was workable, but prone to injury and there were obvious concerns.

There truthfully aren't a whole lot of teams that can afford serious injury to a Top Three and not have it impact their game.

And this is another area where having a $5M cap problem (for the next five seasons) doesn't help, either. They don't have a whole heluvalot of room in the off season cap, and LTIR doesn't kick in until the season starts (and has additional restrictions after that - It's not "you get all the space" automaticaly).

I still don't understand why Walker and Shelley haven't been waived, but that may have to come now...

Not for nothing, but the team has over 7 million in off-season cap space available. That's a decent amount. But I hope they don't panic and trade to fill this hole, or sign a middling UFA to a bloated contract. Let the youngsters play. See what we have, and then look towards next offseason to address issues.

And Shelley and Walker can't be waived until the season starts.

[Spinorama]

Dear Lord, what happened? Just woke up late to find this news

I wish I've only been up an hour to this point. I've been up so long I'm ready to go back to bed.

[radoran]

Not for nothing, but the team has over 7 million in off-season cap space available. That's a decent amount. But I hope they don't panic and trade to fill this hole, or sign a middling UFA to a bloated contract. Let the youngsters play. See what we have, and then look towards next offseason to address issues.

And Shelley and Walker can't be waived until the season starts.

Yeah, I was working on the cap space question since I posted this and it is a little better than I originally thought - and haven't gotten an answer before on the "when can you waive a guy?" question. And they can't buy them out, either.

Walker won't matter because he's in the AHL, but they're going to keep going with Shelley apparently...

I think they stand pat as well. If they go UFA, I don't expect them to sign a UFA for more than a one year deal, given the situation...

[murraycraven]

ANDYS... where art thou?! I need your eternal optimism right about now after this news!

[AJgoal]

Yeah, I was working on the cap space question since I posted this and it is a little better than I originally thought - and haven't gotten an answer before on the "when can you waive a guy?" question. And they can't buy them out, either.

Walker won't matter because he's in the AHL, but they're going to keep going with Shelley apparently...

I think they stand pat as well. If they go UFA, I don't expect them to sign a UFA for more than a one year deal, given the situation...

And people wonder why I started this thread:

This may just end up being a suck-it-up and deal with it type of year. I'd be ok with that more than I'd be ok with them tearing it down and starting over, because that's what it would take to replace Meszaros and Pronger now.

[Spinorama]

this is brutal news. I still can't believe it was 2 seasons ago that he was the Flyers best defenseman. Last year gets hurt and now this? how much longer do we have him? I mean, Achilles is real tough to come back from. I have no frame of reference of course but when you look at athletes in other sports come back from it, it looks rough... I can only imagine what it is like to skate on that kind of recovery much less walk or run. I supposed the boot could help that but again, I can only speculate. Has there been another NHLer of recent times having gone through this? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Bummer too because I really liked Mez's game 2 years ago and thought it was a real shame he had to have back surgery. Such a strong checker and of course, even though he came back for the playoffs, there was no way to assume he'd return to that physical game, I know I wouldn't right away. Now you have to assume he'd play a very zone friendly game loaded with stick checking....

another problem is though he may return to hockey, at this point I'd much rather trade him, especially since he is signed through next season. Won't even command a bag of frozen pucks at this point, not for $4mil at least.

Sorry Mez, you were liked

[AJgoal]

I'm not a doctor, but I do believe that a torn achilles is less brutal an injury than a ruptured one. Not that either is good, and I don't expect Meszaros back either way this season, but I believe it's the case.

[hf101]

I'm not a doctor, but I do believe that a torn achilles is less brutal an injury than a ruptured one. Not that either is good, and I don't expect Meszaros back either way this season, but I believe it's the case.

I think the injury is similar to that of Travis Zajac. He was out Aug 17 and returned to play late March.

[radoran]

And people wonder why I started this thread: http://www.hockeyfor...-cap-situation/

I had a similar one in the pre-July 1 world :-)

[mojo1917]

looks to me like some of our young guys will get some valuable NHL experience, if Mez can come back and be an effective player, our blue line will be stronger because guys like MAB , Gus and Manning are getting real life NHL minutes against top forwards. there's no hiding on the bottom pair anymore...so we'll know whether to fish or cut bait with these guys by the end of this year. i think they'll rise to the occasion.

[jammer2]

@mojo1917 Like I always say, injuries are an opportunity to see what you have in the cupboard. It's really a great thing for the org to get a quick accurate fix on how MAB, Manning and Gus fit into the long term scheme of things. It is a rare opportunity to get your ducks in a row and proceed accordingly. Having said that, we *still* need a UFA d-man, to cover the worst case scenario of more injuries, having a few kids is ok, not perfect, but ok...having half or more of your d made up of them is obviously a recipe for disaster. Rosy or Carlo will be signed within days, if not hours, they can't afford to sit and wait now...the pick'ins are slim as it is.

[Howie58]

I am worried that Maz will never be the same; ough injury to recover from.

This is a real test of what Homer will do in terms of youth. I like Bourdon and would give him a chance. But I suspect we will see a trade. Yikes, even Lilja gains importance...that is scary.

And last but not least...pressure on goal. It was there to begin with. Now we have to worry if Whacko Bryz and Flaky Leighton will be even more "impaired?"

The other possibility here is a "Euro Import." I wonder if Homer gambles on someone our scouts like from the Finnish Elite League, Bundeslag,or wherever...shoot, even a Commie from KHL.

It is sad for Maz and the franchise.

Best,

Howie

[mojo1917]

What about Jay Bouwmeester ?

he's set to turn 30 maybe a return to a winning team gives him the jolt he needs to put his game together... finally. ?

did i see he's a free agent ? or was i halluncenating ?

[jammer2]

@mojo1917 I don't think he's a free agent, but 4-5 teams have been offering kinda "jokes" of trade offers for him. The kind of "we'll take the salary off your hands for a bag of pucks" type of offers. Calgary has not budged on this, they are being patient, but are requiring a respectable return...not outrageous, but respectable from what I have read. They are being patient, there is no rush at all to trade him, they don't need the cap space, so they will not panic and off him for nothing. They need offense real bad, I'd say Cousins and a 2nd might get it done if we wanted to go that route.

[ctid]

Thank god the JVR trade for Schenn was made. Imagine if homer didn't pull the trigger on that deal. We'd have Timo, Coburn, and Grossman as our top 3 with MAB,Gus, and Manning.

Man I'm really happy we have Schenn now.

[Mad Dog]

I'd sign Colaiacovo or Rozsival ASAP

Exactly what I would do...

This defense is going to be embarrassingly bad.

[Mad Dog]

I guess our goaltending isn't the Achilles heel this year.

The sad thing is... it still very well may be.

[AJgoal]

According to Pinacchio, this is the same type of injury that Williams had, and he came back in December. Zajac came back in December as well, but re-injured it, which is why he was out until March.

[OH1FlyersFan]

but it's almost inconcievable that we won't sustain atleast 1 more injury during the season,

Agree. Just a matter of who it is. And even if not injured, I doubt Timmonen makes it the entire season without some drop-off in play just due to sheer fatigue. So you almost have to put him on the list, injury or not. Who's our workhorse, the guy who goes all season staying healthy and playing well? Coburn? MAB? It'll be interesting to see who steps up.

[idahophilly]

I am worried that Maz will never be the same; ough injury to recover from.

This is a real test of what Homer will do in terms of youth. I like Bourdon and would give him a chance. But I suspect we will see a trade. Yikes, even Lilja gains importance...that is scary.

And last but not least...pressure on goal. It was there to begin with. Now we have to worry if Whacko Bryz and Flaky Leighton will be even more "impaired?"

The other possibility here is a "Euro Import." I wonder if Homer gambles on someone our scouts like from the Finnish Elite League, Bundeslag,or wherever...shoot, even a Commie from KHL.

It is sad for Maz and the franchise.

Best,

Howie

As always Howie, you think outside the box... I could see Homer pulling another one of these undrafted or KHL/Euro miracles or atleast a plug the hole kinda moves no one guessed. He (Homer) kinda has a MO for those kind of moves...

[jammer2]

Sitting there all quiet is a kid named Oliver, who nobody talks about much (as far as realistically playing for the big club this year), but alas, he's one spot on the depth chart closer. All these kids must be licking their chops. If there is a training camp, should be fun to see which one(s) step up large.

[Howie58]

Idaho:

I would bet Homer and his merry band of scouts are scouring the globe as we speak.

Take care. I may hoist one in honor of Andre tonight.

Best,

Howie

[ctid]

@jammer2

I personally would be ecstatic to see the big Dane (my fellow countryman) Oliver Lauridsen play for the Flyers. The guy is huge, physical, but no real pace, no puck handling skills and is not a good passer.

He is a pure 5-6 stay at home dman that punishes opponents, clears the porch and when he gets the puck he will either pass it to his d-partner or dump it in.

If he makes the jump to the NHL, he will make alot of mistakes, turnovers, out of position, etc. But, if used right, along a vet D-man who he can lean on and limit his icetime 10-14min on the third pairing. Then he could have a chance.

He needs time. But would like to see him play this season in the NHL to properly gauge him. I see him as a Sean O'Donnel type, maybe more physical.

[jammer2]

@ctid Things are certainly going in his favour right now. It was a long shot for him to make his NHL debut this year, now it's very close to being realistic, all depends on our injury situation. As soon as we get 2 defensive injuries, he will get a call, if for nothing else to sit in the press box with Lilja and Walker. Looking forward to seeing what he can do. I realize he's not gonna look like a pro handling the puck, it's his mobility that will make or break him.