Salary Cap Going Up

[Cobiemonster]

Fully agree.

I use to watch ESPN quite a bit, now I only watch when there's a sporting event on. I never ever watch ESPNEWS or Sportscenter anymore.

The NHL playoffs are far and away better than any other sport. And it seems like the 2010 Olympics really brought a new wave of fans to the league.

Agreed I only watch ESPN for sporting events, all that other crap rots people's brains

The NHL playoffs are amazing - even the casual fans or people who aren't as interested will watch - it's incredible

 

[flyersfan4706]

I'm not sure how active I really want us on July 1st. Re-sign Mason and Downie, get a backup (Emery will work is he isn't asking for too much), and let Kimmo walk.

There are actually quite a few goalscoring wingers set for UFA, but I really dont want to go long term with any vet right now. The Flyers are in a bit of a strange transition phase, and more longterm contracts on declining vets will hurt. If we sign any of Gaborik, Vanek, Cammalleri, or Michalek it better be short term.

Then there are Girardi and Phaneuf. First of all, I expect Girardi's contract to be pretty ugly. He is a very solid shutdown guy, but I imagine he fetches $6+ for a a few years. Admittedly, I am not much of a Phaneuf fan, but he is the one guy I can live with us going hard after. Say what you want about his IQ, but he does have the full package. He can be a shutdown D, kill people with hits, and has a bomb of a shot. He may not be a #1 D, but he is the closest we'll get until maybe on of Ghost, Morin, or Hagg possibly become one.

 

[Cobiemonster]

I'm not sure how active I really want us on July 1st. Re-sign Mason and Downie, get a backup (Emery will work is he isn't asking for too much), and let Kimmo walk.

There are actually quite a few goalscoring wingers set for UFA, but I really dont want to go long term with any vet right now. The Flyers are in a bit of a strange transition phase, and more longterm contracts on declining vets will hurt. If we sign any of Gaborik, Vanek, Cammalleri, or Michalek it better be short term.

Then there are Girardi and Phaneuf. First of all, I expect Girardi's contract to be pretty ugly. He is a very solid shutdown guy, but I imagine he fetches $6+ for a a few years. Admittedly, I am not much of a Phaneuf fan, but he is the one guy I can live with us going hard after. Say what you want about his IQ, but he does have the full package. He can be a shutdown D, kill people with hits, and has a bomb of a shot. He may not be a #1 D, but he is the closest we'll get until maybe on of Ghost, Morin, or Hagg possibly become one.

Flyers are going to need a lot of help at this rate - especially after getting their asses pummeled by the Blackhawks tonight

 

[awaz]

i dont even know what i want them to do at this point..

 

[Cobiemonster]

i dont even know what i want them to do at this point..

The defense absolutely reeks - they need to completely rebuild it - let Kimmo retire and dump Mesz and do the same thing with Luke Schenn - I hate this defense with a passion - they bring nothing spectacular and they are flat out slow and too old

 

[awaz]

The defense absolutely reeks - they need to completely rebuild it - let Kimmo retire and dump Mesz and do the same thing with Luke Schenn - I hate this defense with a passion - they bring nothing spectacular and they are flat out slow and too old

again, statistically it doesn't. it certainly looks bad often enough, but i'm just not ok with taking from the offense to try and rebuild the defense at this point. the flyers 5 on 5 offense is embarassing. and i refuse to believe adding a 20-25 minute puck mover makes that big of a difference. sure if you add erik karlsson or duncan keith, it might make a big difference, but that's just no going to happen.

 

[awaz]

and i dont think kulikov makes that big of a difference either.. he's got potential, but he hasn't shown me anything special so i don't want to give up much for him

 

[Cobiemonster]

again, statistically it doesn't. it certainly looks bad often enough, but i'm just not ok with taking from the offense to try and rebuild the defense at this point. the flyers 5 on 5 offense is embarassing. and i refuse to believe adding a 20-25 minute puck mover makes that big of a difference. sure if you add erik karlsson or duncan keith, it might make a big difference, but that's just no going to happen.

You can't win with a defense like this, it's not like the Flyers are scoring anyway, so why not improve the defense? You can't improve the offense by trading the defense so at least improve the defense by moving guys that aren't getting it done - people need to stop thinking these guys at forward are good enough because they aren't - people overrated guys like Jake Voracek and Scott Hartnell is no good anymore - the Flyers better at least rebuild the defense or they're going to continue to be awful for a long time

Everyone is worried about the offense yet the defense is giving up seven goals and you don't want to take away from an offense that isn't even doing it's part? Can't win with a defense like this, and anyone who thinks they can, come back to me when you finally figure out otherwise

Adding a 20-25 minute puck mover will make a big difference because that will bump one of the led foots off this defense, 20-25 minute puck moving defensemen change the game and they do a lot of things - they are able to skate the puck out of the zone and they make it easier on the forwards - none of these defensemen make it easier on the forwards because they can't move the puck out of their own zone

Anybody but Couts and G should be available on offense - I would trade any one of those guys to get a 20-25 minute defenseman to make this team better - you win with good defense and good goaltending - offense comes from good goaltending and good defense

 

[Cobiemonster]

and i dont think kulikov makes that big of a difference either.. he's got potential, but he hasn't shown me anything special so i don't want to give up much for him

What have the guys up front done either? I bet there's people around the league that think the same way about guys like Jake Voracek, who haven't shown anything special either - Kulikov would be the best defenseman on this Flyers team - you realize the shit that's around him in Florida? You can't judge him based on what they got in Florida and the fact they have continually mis-managed him

 

[awaz]

What have the guys up front done either? I bet there's people around the league that think the same way about guys like Jake Voracek, who haven't shown anything special either - Kulikov would be the best defenseman on this Flyers team - you realize the shit that's around him in Florida? You can't judge him based on what they got in Florida and the fact they have continually mis-managed him

do you really believe that?

 

[Cobiemonster]

do you really believe that?

Absolutely - he's young and can move the puck and create offense - he's the only guy that has both of those attributes - the rest of the defensemen are too one sided and aren't really that great at the one side they're supposed to be good at - Kimmo is too old, Mark Streit has been bad, Braydon Coburn provides zero offense, Luke Schenn is bad, Nicklas Grossman is okay defensively but no offense either and Mesz is in another world for whatever reason

You're telling me you wouldn't want a guy like Kulikov, at a young enough age where you know with a change of scenery that he could blossom and surprise people for the Flyers? He's the type of guy they should be going after

 

[awaz]

Absolutely - he's young and can move the puck and create offense - he's the only guy that has both of those attributes - the rest of the defensemen are too one sided and aren't really that great at the one side they're supposed to be good at - Kimmo is too old, Mark Streit has been bad, Braydon Coburn provides zero offense, Luke Schenn is bad, Nicklas Grossman is okay defensively but no offense either and Mesz is in another world for whatever reason

You're telling me you wouldn't want a guy like Kulikov, at a young enough age where you know with a change of scenery that he could blossom and surprise people for the Flyers? He's the type of guy they should be going after

i'm not saying i wouldnt want him.. but he hasn't shown me anything to make me think he's any better than 3rd or 4th on the flyers. timonen being old doesnt make him bad. it means he has no future, but he's still a good player. streit sucks. LSchenn sucks. grossmann is more than ok defensively, he's a shutdown dman. he's useless offensively. but he's at least above average defensively. coburn is also good defensively, and can move the puck, but he's also not very good offensively.

from what i've seen from kulikov, i'd put timonen and coburn ahead of him. and i'd put him on par with grossmann, just the opposite type of player (mostly offense). the thing that would excite me is the potential for him to develop in to something special.

but the question is, where do you draw the line in terms of trade value? keep in mind he's a year older than brayden schenn, so there's a lot of hope that an underacheiving player plays to his potential again. so what do you give up for him? the panthers aren't going to give him up for any combination of hartnell or mesz, there's no upside to those guys. draft picks, maybe, but are you willing to pass on a 1st round pick for him? i only make that trade if i think kulikov has progressed on schedule, otherwise why not just take the 18 year old guy your hoping can develop instead of the 23 yr old you hope develops? so you go 2nd round pick, but florida isn't willing to part with that potential for just a 2nd round pick yet. so you have to sweeten the pot.. what/who do you add? a forward? can the flyers afford that?

 

[Cobiemonster]

i'm not saying i wouldnt want him.. but he hasn't shown me anything to make me think he's any better than 3rd or 4th on the flyers. timonen being old doesnt make him bad. it means he has no future, but he's still a good player. streit sucks. LSchenn sucks. grossmann is more than ok defensively, he's a shutdown dman. he's useless offensively. but he's at least above average defensively. coburn is also good defensively, and can move the puck, but he's also not very good offensively.

from what i've seen from kulikov, i'd put timonen and coburn ahead of him. and i'd put him on par with grossmann, just the opposite type of player (mostly offense). the thing that would excite me is the potential for him to develop in to something special.

but the question is, where do you draw the line in terms of trade value? keep in mind he's a year older than brayden schenn, so there's a lot of hope that an underacheiving player plays to his potential again. so what do you give up for him? the panthers aren't going to give him up for any combination of hartnell or mesz, there's no upside to those guys. draft picks, maybe, but are you willing to pass on a 1st round pick for him? i only make that trade if i think kulikov has progressed on schedule, otherwise why not just take the 18 year old guy your hoping can develop instead of the 23 yr old you hope develops? so you go 2nd round pick, but florida isn't willing to part with that potential for just a 2nd round pick yet. so you have to sweeten the pot.. what/who do you add? a forward? can the flyers afford that?

1) Well usually when you get old, your abilities suffer and it's clearly suffered with Kimmo - he's been on a downturn for two years now, he takes stupid penalties because he's slow and can't keep up with guys - that's not a good sign

2) That's why you trade for Kulikov because you know he has a chance to be way better than what they have - it's not about whether he's better than what they currently have RIGHT NOW, it's that he can be way better than what they have in the future

3) You could possibly move Wayne Simmonds and a pick or Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson or something like that to get Kulikov - I would take my chances any day with a deal like that - you shouldn't be thinking that certain guys are make it or break it on your team in terms of if you trade them, then you're really going to suffer - when you make trades, you have to give up certain guys you don't want to give up sometimes, and while you shouldn't be making trades like a drunker sailor as Homer has, sometimes you DO have to pull the trigger

 

[awaz]

You're confusing me Cobie haha. In one thread you're saying you shouldn't hope your team is going to be good, you should know. And then in this one you're advocating trading a top 6 forward for an unproven dman because you think (aka hope) he will develop

 

[lasgop8]

Mike Santorelli and the other free-agency bargains this season - CBSSports.com