Gagne to Lightning

[GagneFire12]

what? the defense was slightly upgraded? wow. we went from a middle of the road defense to a great defense. meszaros and odonnell are slightly better than parent and krejicek? meszaros and odonnell could be a second pairing on many teams. parent and krejicek can not even be a third pairing.

also, did you see our offense last year? gagne only had 20 goals so do not even say losing him was such a big hit. we only had 4 20 goal guys. we might double that this year. i think giroux, jvr, and leino improving will more than replace those goals. plus briere being a center helps. hartnell and zherdev should be 20 goal guys as well.

i have no clue how you can look at this team and say they are worse.

I didn't say they were worse, I just feel they did not really improve. OD was a good pickup, no doubt, but Meszaros? Did you watch him play while he was in Tampa? He was on par, if not worse, than Bartulis and Parent. Sure the potential is there, but it was there for Ryan Parent, too. If Mez doesn't drastically improve, then the third-pairing does not really improve. It's as simple as that. As big and physical as OD is, he's 36, and a 5th/6th d-man at best.

The forward core saw the addition of Nikolai Zherdev, and the loss of Simon Gagne. It's a move that could work out, and I really hope it does. But strictly speaking from afar, it's a downgrade; a significant downgrade. So Gagne only scored 20-goals last year. If he remains healthy, he could easily pot 35 this year. I don't see Zherdev producing at that rate. Could he score 20? Absolutely. But if you ask me to choose between a 20-goal scoring Zherdev, and a 20-goal scoring Gagne, I'm going to pick Gagne every time.

On paper, this team does not jump out as being better than the 2009 version. However, you brought up an important point. The growth of JVR and Giroux. If they progress as players THEN the Flyers will prove to be better. My argument was only, as of right now - on paper, they aren't.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Can playoff Giroux show up in the regular season? If so, we are going to be pretty darn good.

 

[ritari330]

Think TB is going to make the playoffs, 6th seed

 

[GagneFire12]

And now board noobies are going to think that I'm a 'Ning Dynasty fan...

 

[scottflyers88]

I didn't say they were worse, I just feel they did not really improve. OD was a good pickup, no doubt, but Meszaros? Did you watch him play while he was in Tampa? He was on par, if not worse, than Bartulis and Parent. Sure the potential is there, but it was there for Ryan Parent, too. If Mez doesn't drastically improve, then the third-pairing does not really improve. It's as simple as that. As big and physical as OD is, he's 36, and a 5th/6th d-man at best.

The forward core saw the addition of Nikolai Zherdev, and the loss of Simon Gagne. It's a move that could work out, and I really hope it does. But strictly speaking from afar, it's a downgrade; a significant downgrade. So Gagne only scored 20-goals last year. If he remains healthy, he could easily pot 35 this year. I don't see Zherdev producing at that rate. Could he score 20? Absolutely. But if you ask me to choose between a 20-goal scoring Zherdev, and a 20-goal scoring Gagne, I'm going to pick Gagne every time.

On paper, this team does not jump out as being better than the 2009 version. However, you brought up an important point. The growth of JVR and Giroux. If they progress as players THEN the Flyers will prove to be better. My argument was only, as of right now - on paper, they aren't.

i saw tampa bay having a weak defense and relying on meszaros a lot. of course his stats are not as good on a bad team. he will now be on the 3rd pair which should help him a lot.

and yes zherdev is not as good as gagne although like i said, gagne only scored 20 last year. also, you saw that i mentioned giroux and jvr and seemed to miss the fact that hartnell had a horrible year and should rebound. also, briere at center is much better and leino played like 10 games last year.

i look at it this way, we lost gagne and gained zherdev, leino (since he barely played), a better hartnell, a better briere, a better jvr, and a better giroux.

and if you think meszaros was slightly better than parent and krejicek you need to watch closer. not sure if you think parent and krejicek are better than they are or if you think meszaros is worse. krejicek did not even make it on the tampa bay roster last year.

 

[GagneFire12]

I watched a lot of Meszaros while he was in Tampa, I also watched him when he was in Ottawa. For the sake of the Flyers, I really hope they get the Ottawa version. He was not good in Tampa, and not just stats-wise.

And yes, Hartnell, Leino, JVR, Giroux, Briere, etc. may improve. But there are two-sides to that sword. What if they don't? What if Leighton digresses to the point of his AHL past? What if Zherdev is the lazy, locker room cancer that people are making him out to be?

I still like the outlook of this team, as I liked the makeup of the 2009 squad. I just can't say with certainty that they are better.

 

[scottflyers88]

i can say with certainty our defense is better. meszaros is way better than parent and krejicek.

i do see what you are saying though, i just think this team is improved. they went through a lot last year.

 

[GagneFire12]

i can say with certainty our defense is better. meszaros is way better than parent and krejicek.

i do see what you are saying though, i just think this team is improved. they went through a lot last year.

They did, and they are going to be a lot more battle-tested in times of adversity. I'm sure the guys know that losing Gags was strictly a business decision, but that has to be a hard pill to swallow. It will be tough to see Gagne in another jersey, but such is the way of the salary cap era game.

The Flyers will be a great team next year. And there is still time for them to upgrade other positions. Who knows what will happen.

 

[scottflyers88]

yea. i will try to get tickets to a lightning game.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I think the Flyers will be fine offensively. I predict Leino will put up similar numbers as Gagne would with the Flyers. He was an absolute STEAL.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Taking bets now.

What # will Gags pick in Tampa since 12 is taken? Or does Malone give up uno-dos?

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

my guess is he takes the worlds route and reverses 12

 

[IPostedWhat]

Taking bets now.

What # will Gags pick in Tampa since 12 is taken? Or does Malone give up uno-dos?

Better question is what will GagneFire12 do with his name now?

 

[TOX1]

The dominoes are falling.

Um....we're Philly, not Chicago bro, so it's a dominoe fell.

 

[TOX1]

Better question is what will GagneFire12 do with his name now?

I'm pretty sure the first thing he'll do after ravaging his blow up Miley doll is to cry himself to sleep then wake up a TB fan for life.

 

[IPostedWhat]

I'm pretty sure the first thing he'll do after ravaging his blow up Miley doll is to cry himself to sleep then wake up a TB fan for life.

So the only thing that will different about his daily routine will be that he's now a TB fan?

 

[TOX1]

So the only thing that will different about his daily routine will be that he's now a TB fan?

eh....minus the cigarette burns in her face....yeah, pretty much.

 

[TOX1]

After all.. It is her fault and all.

 

[IPostedWhat]

And it's my fault that I got post #.......

 

[IPostedWhat]

100!