Salary Cap Going Up

[JBM73]

Salary Cap to increase to around $71 mil next year.

Board of Governors: Salary cap, discipline and Phoenix outdoor game - Cross Checks Blog - ESPN

 

[awaz]

NHL Free Agents

and your list of free agents that will be making bank due to it!

 

[awaz]

looks like as of now the flyers will have 17 mil in space going in to the summer

UFA
Downie (2.75)
Hall (1)
Timonen (4)
Meszaros
Gil
Emery

RFA
Schenn (3)
Raffl
McGinn
Gustafsson
Bourdon
Mason (3.5)

in parenthesis what i think/hope we should resign some of those guys for (timo may retire)

 

[Retroram52]

Awaz, I'd sign Emery as well.

 

[awaz]

Awaz, I'd sign Emery as well.

depends on what he wants.. i like the tandem, but the way they've been playing (aside from teh last couple games) they'll both get a decent raise i think.. might have to use a cheaper option at backup

 

[Retroram52]

I hear you. I think that is the best one-two goalie tandem we have had at least in the last five years and signing both of them would be a real boost of continuity for this team.

 

[Cobiemonster]

looks like as of now the flyers will have 17 mil in space going in to the summer

UFA
Downie (2.75)
Hall (1)
Timonen (4)
Meszaros
Gil
Emery

RFA
Schenn (3)
Raffl
McGinn
Gustafsson
Bourdon
Mason (3.5)

in parenthesis what i think/hope we should resign some of those guys for (timo may retire)

The guys bolded in UFA are the only ones I'd re-sign - I wouldn't even attempt to re-sign Kimmo and Mesz - let them both go - you have Ghost coming real soon so you would have him, Mark Streit, Nicklas Grossmann and Braydon Coburn and then you figure out what you do with Luke Schenn, Erik Gustafsson and whoever else

I calculated and added up the salaries for 2014-15(cap hits) and I think they'll have a little more cap space, like in the 21.5 million range

I know some idiot GM's will try to sign some of those guys in FA to big contracts, but I wouldn't mind paying a huge sum for a player for one year if they're a place holder for any of the young guys - I would consider trading Brayden Schenn and Luke Schenn, if they could get a really good young d-man in return - and then maybe they could bring back Jaromir Jagr?

A lot of things could happen, but remember, Scott Laughton's going to be up for good next season, so that will push someone out of the top 12 mix - in a perfect world Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill would be out of the mix but I dunno if that happens

 

[EVille3]

Bring back Jagr? He'll be 42, turning 43 middle of next season. There has to be a major drop off coming. I don't wanna be the team holding the check when it happens. Remember, last year he had a productive playoff run (in terms of assists) but that was 1/2 a regular season. I don't think he can make through a whole season and playoffs. Remember how his play dropped in the playoffs 2 years ago?

 

[Cobiemonster]

Bring back Jagr? He'll be 42, turning 43 middle of next season. There has to be a major drop off coming. I don't wanna be the team holding the check when it happens. Remember, last year he had a productive playoff run (in terms of assists) but that was 1/2 a regular season. I don't think he can make through a whole season and playoffs. Remember how his play dropped in the playoffs 2 years ago?

I'm sure the Flyers would still love to have him right now with Claude Giroux - led foot Scott Hartnell hasn't done anything consistently either, you know?

 

[awaz]

lots of better options than jagr at this point.. i would steer clear of him.. definitely wouldn't move the schenn's to clear space for him, or any of the free agents to be, they're going to get way overpaid, pretty much all of them

and i still sign timonen if you can get him for 1 year at a decent rate.. he's still the flyers best dman and would be next year too barring a trade (i dont think there's anyone better on the FA market)

 

[Cobiemonster]

lots of better options than jagr at this point.. i would steer clear of him.. definitely wouldn't move the schenn's to clear space for him, or any of the free agents to be, they're going to get way overpaid, pretty much all of them

and i still sign timonen if you can get him for 1 year at a decent rate.. he's still the flyers best dman and would be next year too barring a trade (i dont think there's anyone better on the FA market)

No, the Flyers need to move on from Kimmo, I've seen enough this season to know he's not worth it anymore - he's no where near the player he used to be - like I said, if you can find a better defenseman in which you can give that guy a one year deal with a lot of money as a place holder, I'd rather do that

I mentioned the Schenn's because the opportunity to get a really good young d-man will give some other young players a chance to play wing - you have some younger guys that have a chance to play on the wing at some point plus if you have G, Vinny, Couts and Laughts next season, one of them is probably going to play the wing anyways

 

[awaz]

No, the Flyers need to move on from Kimmo, I've seen enough this season to know he's not worth it anymore - he's no where near the player he used to be - like I said, if you can find a better defenseman in which you can give that guy a one year deal with a lot of money as a place holder, I'd rather do that

I mentioned the Schenn's because the opportunity to get a really good young d-man will give some other young players a chance to play wing - you have some younger guys that have a chance to play on the wing at some point plus if you have G, Vinny, Couts and Laughts next season, one of them is probably going to play the wing anyways

my only point in regards to timonen is he's still the flyers best dman. you don't move on from him just to move on from him. if he's your best option you keep him. and barring a trade, i dont see a better option. and most trades for young dman cost 2 arms and a leg so i'd rather not. sign timonen for 1 more year if he wants to play. they have young players coming up, but hagg is probably 2+ years out and ghost said he's going to finish his college career so he's probably 2-3 years out too.

and i wouldnt trade Bschenn because you'd essentially be setting the flyers back to where they were 3 years ago. draft, develop them for 2-3 years, be disappointed in them, trade them to give 'the young guys a chance', watch them flourish somewhere else. how many times do we have to watch that happen to stop doing it? brayden schenn is 22 years old. he IS a young guy.

 

[raptorlife4]

Homer will find a over the hill D-man to spend the cash on, dont you worry

 

[Cobiemonster]

my only point in regards to timonen is he's still the flyers best dman. you don't move on from him just to move on from him. if he's your best option you keep him. and barring a trade, i dont see a better option. and most trades for young dman cost 2 arms and a leg so i'd rather not. sign timonen for 1 more year if he wants to play. they have young players coming up, but hagg is probably 2+ years out and ghost said he's going to finish his college career so he's probably 2-3 years out too.

and i wouldnt trade Bschenn because you'd essentially be setting the flyers back to where they were 3 years ago. draft, develop them for 2-3 years, be disappointed in them, trade them to give 'the young guys a chance', watch them flourish somewhere else. how many times do we have to watch that happen to stop doing it? brayden schenn is 22 years old. he IS a young guy.

Well at some point you have to do something - I don't want to hold onto Kimmo one year too late and then he really falls off, which isn't out of the question - I just feel like at this point, when it's time to move on it's time to move on - and Kimmo might decide to call it quits anyways, you see how much he gets banged up? He might not want to play anymore after this season, so the Flyers might be forced to do something

In Brayden Schenn's situation, it's not about being disappointed in his play, it's realizing that the Flyers have a bigger need, which is on defense - the Flyers have to hope that the young guys they drafted will be the future of this team - they need to develop them well

That's why I've wanted the Flyers to make a move for Dmitry Kulikov - I don't think this trade specifically would cost them an arm and a leg - you could possibly move Wayne Simmonds and a prospect to get Kulikov - would that sound better?

 

[awaz]

Well at some point you have to do something - I don't want to hold onto Kimmo one year too late and then he really falls off, which isn't out of the question - I just feel like at this point, when it's time to move on it's time to move on - and Kimmo might decide to call it quits anyways, you see how much he gets banged up? He might not want to play anymore after this season, so the Flyers might be forced to do something

In Brayden Schenn's situation, it's not about being disappointed in his play, it's realizing that the Flyers have a bigger need, which is on defense - the Flyers have to hope that the young guys they drafted will be the future of this team - they need to develop them well

That's why I've wanted the Flyers to make a move for Dmitry Kulikov - I don't think this trade specifically would cost them an arm and a leg - you could possibly move Wayne Simmonds and a prospect to get Kulikov - would that sound better?

is it? the flyers are 26th in the league in goals per game. 14th in GAA. i get the bad start, this offense is capable of more, etc... but we're what, 30 games in, and i dont know about you but i'm still skeptical of this team scoring more than a goal or two per game.

i do prefer the kulikov move. i think schenn can do everything simmonds can plus he actually has hands sometimes. granted he's not there yet, but i think he's capapble of that.

edit for more on the bad offense: only the pathetic sabres have scored fewer 5 on 5 goals.

 

[awaz]

furthermore.. (since i cant finish my thoughts in one post )

i actually think the flyers are significantly deeper on defense in the prospect pool than on offense. as far as true, bonafide, difference makers i think the flyers have 3 on defense (ghost, morin, hagg) and only one on offense (laughton).. obviously skewed a bit because coots and schenn are already in the NHL, but in terms of potential help on the way, there's more on defense than on offense IMO

 

[Cobiemonster]

is it? the flyers are 26th in the league in goals per game. 14th in GAA. i get the bad start, this offense is capable of more, etc... but we're what, 30 games in, and i dont know about you but i'm still skeptical of this team scoring more than a goal or two per game.

i do prefer the kulikov move. i think schenn can do everything simmonds can plus he actually has hands sometimes. granted he's not there yet, but i think he's capapble of that.

edit for more on the bad offense: only the pathetic sabres have scored fewer 5 on 5 goals.

Offense would be better if they had a legitimate, young, smooth skating defenseman that can move the puck up the ice - none of these guys can do it consistently - Mark Streit has had a lot of mistakes lately and Kimmo is way too old, after that, nobody can move the puck up the ice - every really good team has a guy that can move the puck up the ice and help them have more offensive zone time - the forwards can't be the ones moving the puck up the ice all the time, it makes their job way more difficult

And your point about the Sabres proves my point even more because the Sabres have way less talent up front than the Flyers - so that tells me the issue is the lack of puck moving d-men for the Flyers - you can't rely on the forwards all the time, the defensemen have to help the forwards a lot more - need to be more athletic and mobile on the blueline - sometimes the best defense is a good offense and that's what makes guys like Erik Karlsson and P.K. Subban as good as they are on the blueline

 

[awaz]

Obviously just opinion vs opinion here, but I've seen plenty of garbage from the forwards that a puck moving man can't fix. He's not going to cure not being able to cross the offensive blue line, he won't get Jake to go to the net and actually shoot from there. He can't put Hartnell in position. He can't get Giroux to actually go all out more than once a game. The only forward line that can sustain any offensive pressure so far this year has been couturier's line. Sure another puck mover will help, but I don't think that cures the flyers offensive woes. I thought playing better would be the cure, but my hope in that is faltering.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Obviously just opinion vs opinion here, but I've seen plenty of garbage from the forwards that a puck moving man can't fix. He's not going to cure not being able to cross the offensive blue line, he won't get Jake to go to the net and actually shoot from there. He can't put Hartnell in position. He can't get Giroux to actually go all out more than once a game. The only forward line that can sustain any offensive pressure so far this year has been couturier's line. Sure another puck mover will help, but I don't think that cures the flyers offensive woes. I thought playing better would be the cure, but my hope in that is faltering.

No doubt, the forwards have to be better and can be better, but maybe the forwards are forced to do more because the defense doesn't do enough - who knows but this team has to better as a whole and if it means they have to make a tweak here and there and bring in somebody else to help, that's what they'll need to do

 

[JBM73]

Seems to me the Flyers offensive problems are primarily two-fold:

1) The lack of a puck mover on defense. I'm not talking about an offensive powerhouse, just someone who can get the puck out of the defensive zone and onto the sticks of the forwards in a manner that puts them in good position to then enter the offensive zone, often by first skating it out of the d-zone themselves. As an example, the acquisition of Johnny Oduya in 2012 did wonders for the rebuilt Blackhawks D. He's a guy who has never even had 30 points in a season, and has occasional defensive lapses, but he excels in the areas I mentioned. Sadly, think Matt Carle. Streit is a mediocre skater and was never the answer to that problem.

2) Poor face-off winning percentage in key offensive situations. Sure, Adam Hall has gotten his proverbial stick out of his a$$ on faceoffs, but he's a defensive guy. You use him for that in defensive situations. Their offensive face-off guys are doing poorly. Giroux is only at 50% after winning 54% last year. Couturier has dropped below 50% after a hot start. LeCavalier (yeah, I know he's hurt) was supposed to be a 50% plus guy. He's at 45%. Schenn was supposed to be strong on faceoffs coming out of Juniors. He's at a paltry 39%. That's not going to cut it. You can't score if you don't have the puck. Winning face-offs in the offensive zone leads to additional quality scoring chances.

Just my 2 cents.