Cap Realities and Mediocrity in the Face

[wbon22]

SO, in three games the Flyers go from mediocre to looking bad to...eek.

Will the real Slim Shady please learn to play defense/goal/some form of organized hockey?

And the worst thing.....there is no money under the cap, even with the injuries to Pronger and Shenn. Shenn HAD to go on LTIR to fit Rinaldo and Gussy.

We can all jump up and down and point at this player, this shift, that bad pass, Lavy screwing with the lines, or messing with the goalies....but it comes down to two things.

1. The contract structure on the team does not work in a salary cap era. It has not for years. Too often players have been overpayed for being good soldiers or good role players and the team was left with holes that can't be filled because of the cap.

2. The players have to show up and play. That means on both ends of the ice. That means defense by Carle and Metz and Coburn. That means everyone playing with the same kind of jump as Read and Harry Z showed. Scotty Bowman could be the coach and if the players aren't going to play the team will loose. If the players stop competing ....well, it gets ugly.

 

[flyersfan4706]

I can only hope we trade Pronger.

 

[raptorlife4]

Everyone take a deep breath

 

[awaz]

Woo the sky is falling the sky is falling! A 5-4 record in October and we're doomed!

 

[wbon22]

I am not saying the sky is falling....I am saying that the teams' player contract structure is such that they cannot respond to needs as the crop up, and that if the players don't compete we will see a lot of ugly games.

What I hope, and believe is possible, is that they do wake up and hear the zamboni and we see a lot more games like the first 5 of the season.

 

[ProppRules]

Although I never would have predicted this weird of a a streaky start, I thought we would be .500 after 15 games. So many new, young players and a tough system to learn. TO say that our cap mgmt is bad isnt wrong, but not really the problem right now. THey have a great cast of players. Young, old, scorers, checkers, agitators, defensive-minded, etc... THere is no reason this group shouldn't be better moving forward. THe only real glaring overpayment in an area on the ice is the 20 goal scoring agitator. SImmonds and Hartnell are too similar to be taking up 6 million in cap space. Otherwise, there are too many too young, and too highly touted (which means highly paid for youth) to expect them to be undefeated right now.
The last few games have been inexcusable, but I don't think it is the cap issues that are the problem right now.

 

[awaz]

There are some bad contracts no doubt. But like propp said, record wise this is about where I expected them to be right now. Too many new faces to expect the team to look like they did through the first 5 all season

 

[flyersfan4706]

I can only hope we trade Pronger.

I am not saying this because of the last 5 games by the way.

 

[wbon22]

they competed .... they won.

 

[wbon22]

Latest contract problem, which really could be a good thing in the long term, is that there is no room to bring Shenn back. The reason it could be a good thing is that it allows him to play back to the form he was showing before the injury at the AHL level.

The Bartulis not getting recalled over Marshal (who gets paid more) ..... wondering if this is more to do with a health issue/level of play or if he would have to clear waivers.

 

[raptorlife4]

Might be a deal coming then. Shenn is ready and will be on this team

 

[FlyerFinFan]

Get rid of Nodl he's a wasted roster spot always hurt. I'm comfortable with Harry Z being the swing man. They can move Shelley too if they want. Actually any of the guys who are recall waivers like Walker may as well try to move them if possible.....anything to get Schenn up here when he's ready.

 

[banditshcky11]

Gustaffson and Lilja on ltir should cover Schenn. If not send Zolnerchyk down, he is a good high energy player but he isn't that vital to our team now. Lavy needs to take a long look at his roster though and figure out who is going to play what position and with who. Then he needs to STOP FUCKING WITH THE LINES EVERY OTHER SHIFT!!!

 

[flyersfan4706]

I would like to trade Carle. I hope we dont resign him, so might as well get something out of him.

 

[ProppRules]

Send down Z and Nodl and they have plenty of room for Schenn. No crappy mgmt needed. THe other chip the Flyers may want to look at is trading Bob while he is hot. Heis a 1.8mil cap hit, is our backup come playoffs no matter how we look at it, and could bring back something in return.

 

[awaz]

Send down Z and Nodl and they have plenty of room for Schenn. No crappy mgmt needed. THe other chip the Flyers may want to look at is trading Bob while he is hot. Heis a 1.8mil cap hit, is our backup come playoffs no matter how we look at it, and could bring back something in return.

Problem with moving Bob is someone has to be the backup. Leighton is the only one even close to being able to fill that role and he only saves us 300k. Only way they trade Bob is if it's with carle (or someone) for a young stud dman (like suter, but the preds have negative need for a goalie, they already have 2 better than bob)

 

[ProppRules]

If you move Bob, that team will probably have a backup. And he would make less than Bob.

 

[flyersfan4706]

What scares me about moving Bob is that the default backup is Leighton, possibly Bacashihua.

No.

 

[awaz]

If you move Bob, that team will probably have a backup. And he would make less than Bob.

i would rather not water down the return on bob with a backup goalie involved.. its another player and another salary that will weaken what we could get for him.. i dont think they should trade him until next offseason, if at all.. plus if bryz continues to be night and day different from game to game (fingers crossed he figures it out, and soon), i want a very capable backup

 

[ProppRules]

That makes sense Awaz. I am not advocating trading Bob at all, just pointing out that it is an option. And one that would get a good return.