2013-14 Lines

[JBM73]

From hockeybuzz, so...

"Update: Flyers working hard to make a deal. Hall and a D-man could be on the move...Flyers may eat some salary."

From Bill Meltzer:

"Rumors swirled yesterday of a possible trade sending sixth defenseman Andrej Meszaros to Colorado in exchange for versatile forward John Mitchell.

Frankly, the Meszaros-for-Mitchell trade sounds almost too good to be true from a Flyers standpoint. While the Avalanche are said to be looking for a veteran NHL defenseman and Meszaros is a good player when healthy and on his game, a swap of the two players would check all of the remaining items off the Flyers' to-do list before the start of the season.

Mitchell would be a nice on-paper fit for the Flyers' need for a third-line winger and the 28-year-old's contract ($1.1 million cap hit, unrestricted free agent after the 2013-14 season) is also attractive. He is a natural center but versatile enough to play any forward position; Mitchell played mostly on the wing last season. He is a grinding forward with some size and, while far from an elite scorer or a speedster, can pop double-digit goals if he plays with sufficiently talented linemates. On paper, his game would be a good fit with Sean Couturier and Matt Read.

Secondly, Meszaros-for-Mitchell swap would save the Flyers $2.9 million on salary cap (deduct Meszaros $4 million and add Mitchell's $1.1 million). That would give the Flyers a little bit of breathing room -- and bankable space -- below the salary cap ceiling, without having to rely on a long-term injury reserve allowance for Chris Pronger (and Marc-Andre Bourdon).

Lastly, the Flyers have five starting blueline spots sewn up between Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Mark Streit, Luke Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann. They would like to move the soon-to-be 28-year-old Slovakian veteran to another team in order to open the final starting spot for Erik Gustafsson, while also increasing their salary cap flexibility. Doing so would also allow the team to sign Gill as their seventh defenseman.

If the Flyers are able to trade Meszaros and add a third-line player, Rosehill would once again become the team's 13th forward.

We'll see what happens, though. Trading Meszaros without either eating some of his cap hit or including an additional asset and getting an NHL roster player in return still sounds to me like a bit of wishful thinking.

Other NHL teams know full well of Meszaros' recent injury history, unrestricted free agent status after the season and $4 million cap hit. Despite some past NHL success, including a Barry Ashbee Trophy winning season in 2010-11, he's a bit tough to trade unless Colorado or another team is convinced that he's a) poised for a strong season in his contract-drive year, and b) is past his various medical issues (wrist, back, Achilles tendon, and rotator cuff surgeries in less than two years) and no more likely than the average NHL defenseman to sustain a major injury.

The Flyers CAN get cap-ceiling compliant without trading Meszaros or anyone else. However, creating some cap space rather than making an on-paper move and then relying on LTIR money simply to start the season would be preferable."

 

[lasgop8]

After seeing Vinny, Hartnell and Simmer play together and dominate i hope they leave that line together and move someone from the second line up to hartnells spot on the first line

 

[raptorlife4]

Mitchell for Mez would be great

 

[sanfrand]

A bag of pucks for Mez would be great!

 

[4thstreet]

Hall put on waivers today,and cleared.

 

[Maverick426h]

After seeing Vinny, Hartnell and Simmer play together and dominate i hope they leave that line together and move someone from the second line up to hartnells spot on the first line

G could play with Voracek and ME and still average a point per game, so I'm not too worried there. I think Read could definitely get comfy on that top line. Might turn him into a 30 goal scorer.

 

[JBM73]

From Bill Meltzer on the state of the D. He's spot on:

"Does the talent level on the Flyers' blueline match the amount of money being spent on it? Probably not, although I have much greater concern about whether the mix of players is right than I about whether any are individually competent enough to deserve starting spots in the NHL.

On a one-by-one basis, the Flyers do not lack for decent NHL defensemen, but is there collectively the right mix of mobility and muscle, puck movement and strength down low in the defensive zone, and of positional savvy and physicality? Based on what was displayed in the preseason, I'd have to say the answer is still no.

In particular, I still question whether this is the right group to manage and move the puck in Peter Laviolette's system, especially in light of the average-at-best defensive traits of much of the top half of the team's forward corps. There is still questionable cohesion between the forwards and defensemen, and the addition of Streit and the start of a new regular season aren't going to be magical elixirs on their own.

As things stand now, what the Flyers have done since last year is subtract Gervais (and Kurtis Foster) from the starting mix by adding Streit and having a hopefully healthier Meszaros return for the start of the final year of his contract. On paper that's an upgrade, but in reality that depends on Meszaros returning to something resembling the form he displayed in 2010-11. From a depth standpoint, I think the Flyers are fairly well-girded to withstand injuries.

I don't think anyone would argue that the Flyers defense corps, one through seven (or eight), ranks among the best in the NHL despite its collective price tag. On the other hand, if the club as a whole would buy into and execute the concept of team defense with a semblance of consistency -- there is considerable room for improvement in back checking, gap control, puck support and breakouts -- goalies Ray Emery and Steve Mason might have a chance to improve the team's goals against average and save percentage."

 

[JBM73]

So, who does everyone think gets 1st crack at the 3rd line LW spot?

 

[flyersfan4706]

Talbot

 

[awaz]

So, who does everyone think gets 1st crack at the 3rd line LW spot?

Talbot

^this.. maybe/hopefully with read and couturier developing talbot can return to the goal scoring version of himself.. that was awesome.

 

[JBM73]

So a 4th line of Rinaldo/Rosehill - Laughton - Hall, with Hall perhaps taking some key faceoffs?

 

[flyersfan4706]

Yeah, I'd guess Rinaldo-Laughton-Hall. I don't know why the Flyers feel the need to rush Laughton

 

[Maverick426h]

From Bill Meltzer on the state of the D. He's spot on:

"Does the talent level on the Flyers' blueline match the amount of money being spent on it? Probably not, although I have much greater concern about whether the mix of players is right than I about whether any are individually competent enough to deserve starting spots in the NHL.

On a one-by-one basis, the Flyers do not lack for decent NHL defensemen, but is there collectively the right mix of mobility and muscle, puck movement and strength down low in the defensive zone, and of positional savvy and physicality? Based on what was displayed in the preseason, I'd have to say the answer is still no.

In particular, I still question whether this is the right group to manage and move the puck in Peter Laviolette's system, especially in light of the average-at-best defensive traits of much of the top half of the team's forward corps. There is still questionable cohesion between the forwards and defensemen, and the addition of Streit and the start of a new regular season aren't going to be magical elixirs on their own.

As things stand now, what the Flyers have done since last year is subtract Gervais (and Kurtis Foster) from the starting mix by adding Streit and having a hopefully healthier Meszaros return for the start of the final year of his contract. On paper that's an upgrade, but in reality that depends on Meszaros returning to something resembling the form he displayed in 2010-11. From a depth standpoint, I think the Flyers are fairly well-girded to withstand injuries.

I don't think anyone would argue that the Flyers defense corps, one through seven (or eight), ranks among the best in the NHL despite its collective price tag. On the other hand, if the club as a whole would buy into and execute the concept of team defense with a semblance of consistency -- there is considerable room for improvement in back checking, gap control, puck support and breakouts -- goalies Ray Emery and Steve Mason might have a chance to improve the team's goals against average and save percentage."

This is all true. There's no reason why our forwards can't play defense too. I know that guys like Couturier, Read and Talbot will, but it's going to take more than just them to be successful.

And we are statistically better with the subtractions alone, as Briere and Gervais had the two worst plus/minus stats on the team last season. This seems to hint at trying to improve our five on five play, which is exactly what we need to do.

 

[FlyerFinFan]

Yep its not all on the D it's the fwds and the system in general. Lavy needs to tone it down and fwds buy in.

I'm torn on Laughton I guess we have 9 games to find out. Start him out on 4th line let him earn 3rd line it's Talbots position to lose.

 

[Maverick426h]

Yep its not all on the D it's the fwds and the system in general. Lavy needs to tone it down and fwds buy in.

I'm torn on Laughton I guess we have 9 games to find out. Start him out on 4th line let him earn 3rd line it's Talbots position to lose.

It's tough. He's only 19, so he can't play with the Phantoms and he's likely not going to get much of anything out of another OHL season, but you can't hold onto him for more than nine games without his contract kicking in. Unless he is extremely impressive in nine games, I'd say you have to send him back. I know the kid wants to make the team badly, but we really don't need him yet. It's too early and you'd really like to delay that contract if at all possible, unless you're trying to extend him cheap asap before he's been able to do anything. But then, you don't know what he's capable of.