Elliotte Friedman on the Flyers

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http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockey/opinion/2013/10/30-thoughts-playoff-chase-begins-early-in-nhl.html

 

9. The word on Philadlephia Flyers forward Claude Giroux -- three points in eight games -- is he is trying to do way too much. You can see him forcing plays that aren't there, especially as the losses and injuries mount. One thing teams look for in their best players is, do they raise their game when things are going badly? He's trying yet not succeeding.

 

10. The first occupant of head coach Craig Berube's doghouse was Andrej Meszaros, who the Flyers have tried to trade. You can certainly understand why they would try to move him. But could he be more useful to them as an expiring contract? The Flyers are at $56 million US for next year, with both cap-relief buyouts already used. Letting him walk and opening a $4-million hole would help, although not for this season.

 

11. A few tweeters asked, "Now that it's public Chris Pronger won't play again, will the Flyers be able to use his contract as cap relief until it expires?" The answer is yes because he suffered a hockey-related injury. The NHL would only have issues if he was healthy enough to return, only to have the team refuse to re-instate him. It would be great to see him play, but the future Hall of Famer seems at peace. Philadelphia will get $5 million US of long-term injury relief through 2016-17.