2022-23 Flyers: How about just less suck?

[awaz]

Maybe!

 

[lasgop8]

Maybe!

This idea should've been done a few years ago im glad they are finally realizing it. What moves can they possibly make besides the obvious ones and try to trade Prov and DeAngelo for picks?

 

[awaz]

This idea should've been done a few years ago im glad they are finally realizing it. What moves can they possibly make besides the obvious ones and try to trade Prov and DeAngelo for picks?

Yup. At the very least if they had noticed this time last year we would've been in a good spot. Risto and Sanheim could've been moved for at least decent returns (and saved the future cap space). Plus the Giroux move. Could've opted against signing Deangelo. All of these would've hurt the 2022-23 team, but would've helped the rebuild in terms of assets, cap space, and also in draft position.

As for what they could do now? I think Prov is the big one. Friedman talked about this on his podcast that there was frustration on both sides and that a move might be the best thing for everyone. They should be able to get a pretty solid haul for Provorov. Good not great, but you can play him 28 minutes a night if you want to and get pretty reliable defense from him at least, even if the offensive side of his game never comes back. 2 more years after this one at 6.75 is a pretty attractive contract situation for him. Certainly worth a gamble for some teams. Top 4 dmen are the belles of the ball at the deadline.

I think Hayes makes a lot of sense to move. Maybe you can't move the full 7M, but he's producing close to a point per game. Eat some of the cap hit and at 4-5M for 3 more years after this one and Hayes looks pretty attractive too.

DeAngelo for picks makes sense too.

 

[lasgop8]

Yup. At the very least if they had noticed this time last year we would've been in a good spot. Risto and Sanheim could've been moved for at least decent returns (and saved the future cap space). Plus the Giroux move. Could've opted against signing Deangelo. All of these would've hurt the 2022-23 team, but would've helped the rebuild in terms of assets, cap space, and also in draft position.

As for what they could do now? I think Prov is the big one. Friedman talked about this on his podcast that there was frustration on both sides and that a move might be the best thing for everyone. They should be able to get a pretty solid haul for Provorov. Good not great, but you can play him 28 minutes a night if you want to and get pretty reliable defense from him at least, even if the offensive side of his game never comes back. 2 more years after this one at 6.75 is a pretty attractive contract situation for him. Certainly worth a gamble for some teams. Top 4 dmen are the belles of the ball at the deadline.

I think Hayes makes a lot of sense to move. Maybe you can't move the full 7M, but he's producing close to a point per game. Eat some of the cap hit and at 4-5M for 3 more years after this one and Hayes looks pretty attractive too.

DeAngelo for picks makes sense too.

I agree with all of this but even if we make all three trades which i totally agree are doable is that really considered a rebuild? These three moves were probably going to happen for cap reason anyway.

 

[lasgop8]

Purdue you guys only dropped to number 3 so that's not bad at all.

 

[awaz]

I agree with all of this but even if we make all three trades which i totally agree are doable is that really considered a rebuild? These three moves were probably going to happen for cap reason anyway.

I think any time a team makes collection of moves that trades proven NHL talent for more potential laden returns (draft picks, prospects, etc.) to be 'rebuilding'. I wouldn't call it a complete teardown, but as Mav has said a few times that can be dangerous and leave you stuck in the basement for years on end like the Coyotes and Sabres.

If you're looking to get more drastic, Hart/Couturier/TK would be the names to maybe consider. Hart and TK in particular would get a huge return. Neither is on a back-breaking contract, both are having solid or even great years given the circumstances, both are young. But how far down the hole do we want to go? I don't think the Flyers would get good value trying to trade Couturier right now. Not with his injury history/contract/age combination. I think you could get a decent return for him, but he's a risky asset right now and the return would reflect that.

I would maybe consider selling high on Konecny if someone goes nuts with an offer. Wingers are a little easier to find than C/D/G. He's been inconsistent in his career so far, there's a chance he's having his career year right now and if you're going in to a rebuild maybe it makes sense to sell on that high. BUT. If the Flyers are serious about this 'change the culture/figure out who's part of the future/hold players accountable' business that they've been touting all season; how can you trade TK? More than any other player he's bought in to this. He's checked every box and is performing at a high level. I think you're looking at him as a potential captain of this 'rebuilt foundation' more than you are looking to trade him. So for me, it would have to be one hell of a return to trade TK. And Hart, I wouldn't move. G has been too hard for the Flyers to find. Keep the one you have. If Ersson earns split time with him, great, you have 2 good goalies. Maybe when you get ready to compete, or someone gets desperate, you can move one of them for a haul. But I don't think that's a 'right now' move.

As for other stuff, JvR and Braun are obvious rentals at the deadline. Take the highest bid and mvoe on. Brown leaves as a UFA in the summer. I think you see if you can get anything for Frost and MacEwen, but I wouldn't expect much. Ristolainen you obviously look to move, but I don't see how they get out of that one without adding picks/prospects to it which doesn't make sense if you're going to ride it out for a couple seasons. Just eat it until you're actually ready to compete again.

So then maybe you have TK, Farabee, Laughton, Deslauriers, Tippet, Cates, Allison, Couturier, Atkinson as your forward group to go forward with. Hopefully Brink, Foerster, and Gauthier play a part too. On D you have Sanheim, York, Risto, Seeler, Attard, Zamula, and Andrae to put something together. Hart and Ersson in net. I don't think that's a great team, but they should have at least 4 first round picks over the next 2 seasons (surely they get at least 1 from moving Provorov/JvR/Braun/Hayes). Provorov/Hayes clean up hopefully 10M+ on the cap and maybe they can use some of that space to take some bad contracts from teams in exchange for more picks/prospects. Without stretching those contracts out too far of course, so that they expire and free up space again when the team is ready to compete. Then I think you hope Couturier/Atkinson have good seasons next year and can maybe be moved in 2023 (unless of course that group above significantly over-performs expectations).

Have to hit on those draft picks though. That group still desperately needs high-end talent up front. But it also needs at least some quality on the back end. Might have the puck mover/offense part down with Sanheim/York/Andrae/Attard, but they're very thin in terms of defending.

 

[Maverick426h]

As good as the Flyers looked against the yotes, that is how overmatched they looked against the Leafs.

TK is the only legit top line player at this time (there are potential, but that doesn't count).
There is no real playmaker. There is no center who can win faceoffs. (remember the halcyon days of three and four centers winning over 50%).

They seem to have won enough to save Fletcher for now. Frankly, I may be alone, but I am getting tired of the Torts show. He is trying to coach a team from the early/mid 90's in 2023.

There is a decent foundation, but there are no Penthouse units. And there is no leadership off ice.

But, they did beat the yotes.

Correct, they beat the Coyotes. They also swept the entire California trip for the first time since I can't even find out when. Perhaps it's a first. I'm not saying plan the Cup parade, but I'm not going to diminish it either, especially considering the top guys we still have out injured.

You certainly have to take the bad with the good sometimes with young players and that's what happened last night against Toronto. Hart certainly had a rough game too, but he is still only 24.

 

[awaz]

Lol. Not trying to be a negative Nancy but Jonesy and the graphics team just communicating that Ersson is undefeated is a pretty funny quirk. Started and gave up 5 in the eventual 6-5 loss to the Canes but since Hart gave up the 6th he got the L. Poor Carter haha

 

[Maverick426h]

Lol. Not trying to be a negative Nancy but Jonesy and the graphics team just communicating that Ersson is undefeated is a pretty funny quirk. Started and gave up 5 in the eventual 6-5 loss to the Canes but since Hart gave up the 6th he got the L. Poor Carter haha

They are trying to spice things up in every possible way they can....Lol

Reminds me of that legendary quote from the movie "Christine."

"You can't polish a turd."

 

[awaz]

One of the very few games I watched in full last night. Ersson was fantastic. Pretty solid game all around I thought.

 

[lasgop8]

Lol. Not trying to be a negative Nancy but Jonesy and the graphics team just communicating that Ersson is undefeated is a pretty funny quirk. Started and gave up 5 in the eventual 6-5 loss to the Canes but since Hart gave up the 6th he got the L. Poor Carter haha

That is a terrible stat for Hart. However if you have watched Ersson in those 5 games he got better each game and looks like he could be a real star in this league. He has great positioning no wasted movement smooth as silk and great rebound control.

 

[lasgop8]

The bounce back to they way they played last night from the way they played against Toronto was like night and day. The only man to make that happen with this roster is Torts. He has these kids hustling for 60 minutes every night.

 

[Maverick426h]

One of the very few games I watched in full last night. Ersson was fantastic. Pretty solid game all around I thought.

I haven't been able to watch near as many games as I'd like, but I'm going to be watching from here on out. I finally realized I had to buy the stupid half season package, even though I'm already paying for ESPN+. Just got done watching the entire tape of this one. If there's one game to watch start to finish, this was certainly it.

I thought last night was perhaps our best 60 minute team performance and effort of the entire season. I agree that Ersson was fantastic, but he didn't really even need to be. I say that only because the checking by our guys all over the ice was equally impressive. I think we would've still won the game with an average goalie in net, just likely not via shutout.

This is a very impressive win given Buffalo was the highest scoring team in the Nhl entering the night and we shut them out for the first time this season, also earning our first shutout, which is way overdue.

You can go up and down the roster with praise after this one. Konecny looks like an absolute superstar right now. He's riding an Nhl-high 9 game point streak during which he has 7 goals, 8 assists and 15 points. Hopefully this is just the new Travis Konecny and not necessarily just a hot streak. N. Cates looks like a younger, better version of Laughton right now, which is meant to be a big compliment. Farabee is filling out that top line nicely.

MacEwen netted another goal for the 4th line in this one by charging the net with authority early in the 1st, a period we completely dominated. Farabee would later snap one home later on a partial breakaway and Cates just a minute and a half later to make it 3-0. We amazingly held that same lead the rest of the way as Buffalo pushed hard throughout the 2nd period. Ersson was a big part of that, of course. Early in the 3rd, Laughton won an offensive faceoff to Hayes, who took the puck wide and passed it in front to Allison, who was able to tip it home on the second attempt. The rest of the way, we did a pretty solid job of preserving the shutout for Ersson.

I love this team right now when we can play like we did last night. I think we could've scored more than 4, but we were passing up a lot of prime shot attempts later in the game as Anderson seemed to be finding his way. Yeah, Buffalo is thought of as a bottom-feeding Nhl team, but like I said, they were leading the Nhl in scoring and had won 8 of their last 9 games entering this one (over some really good teams too).

That's an A+ quality win if I ever saw one.

 

[Maverick426h]

I have to say, the thought of having Hart and Ersson splitting time in net moving forward is very exciting. Despite the 5 goals he gave up to Carolina in his first game, Ersson is technically 4-0-0 with a .924 sv% and 2.30 gaa after last night.

Again, this is a team missing a perennial Selke candidate and 2 of our top 3 scorers from last season (Atkinson and Giroux). We're really starting to get a lot of help in those areas from guys like Laughton, Cates, Tippett, Frost, Farabee and now Allison. It's really a group effort, defensively and offensively.

So, we still reside near the bottom of the Metro, but I think this is the deepest division in all of the Nhl. Having won 5 of 6 and sitting at 39 points, we're somehow only 7 points shy of Shitsburgh for the last playoff spot. I'm not going crazy here, I'm just stating facts. For those of us who just want to tank, sorry, it's clearly not happening. We've formed a scrappy team of no-talent hacks that just won't fucking go away. It is what it is at this point...Lol

 

[Maverick426h]

I feel that with Torts as coach and given the identity of this franchise that is becoming more and more clear, you don't want any one player being paid north of $6-7 million per season unless they are without question a top line superstar or elite, top pairing defenseman. So, obviously you move JvR, Hayes and give serious thought to Provy/Couturier, depending on what the return is. Also, no more signing any free agents for $7+ million unless it is a Gaudreau or someone of equal or greater caliber.

If someone like Konecny keeps producing at this rate, he will be worth $7 million easily on his next deal and we'll be happy to pay him too.

Bottom line: We would rather develop a youngster at $1-3 million per or pay some home-grown talent that has earned a new paycheck than overpay a veteran in the offseason that isn't deserving of that kind of money. It's a true team effort and no one player should be making significantly more than anyone else unless it is clear that he's an absolute offensive stud (that can still hold his own defensively too of course) or a perennial Vezina candidate (like Vasilevskiy).

 

[Chris p Bacon]

I wish we had this in our team.

 

[Maverick426h]

I hope we're all voting Travis Konecny into the All-Star game. Nobody deserves it more than him right now.

2023 NHL All-Star Fan Vote™

 

[purdue81]

Purdue you guys only dropped to number 3 so that's not bad at all.

It wasn’t. Two wins after the loss helped a lot.

Sooner or later I’m going to watch a Flyers game all the way through. Have to see what all y’all are raving about. !

 

[purdue81]

I hope we're all voting Travis Konecny into the All-Star game. Nobody deserves it more than him right now.

2023 NHL All-Star Fan Vote™

Indeed !

 

[lasgop8]

I wish we had this in our team.

Do you think that will take JVR for McKinnon straight up?