I'm confident we've seen the best of Simmonds, too. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be re-signed.
Players of Simmonds' ilk age really well and have long careers. He's going to play until his mid-30s minimum. Meanwhile we'll have the 2020 version of Dale Weise or Jori Lehtera (or Taylor Leier) on the 4th line.
We've had a significant problem with depth since 2011, letting good players go for no reason isn't going to fix that.
Examples?
Are you suggesting Simmonds might be a 4th line player during his next contract?
With the speed of today's game in order to keep up you need to be able to make plays with the puck- quick decisions, short passes, etc. Even if you lose a step or two, you can be an effective player if you can pass the puck. That is not Simmonds' strong suit. That's where he struggles. We are already seeing a decline in his play. I don't want to be on the train when he's approaching his late 30s. He's part of the reason the Flyers have a depth problem. The Flyers won't
have to dress the likes of Lehtera, Weise, and Leier on the 4th line. Who knows what the head boss has in mind, but he'll have plenty of (good) options. I'm sure of that.
The Flyers have the deepest prospect pool in the league. Part of the reason you collect all of those picks is so that you aren't forced to sign veterans entering the decline phase of their careers. Hextall talks about competing for the next 10 years. Voracek and Konecny are RW 1 and 2 for the next 6 years or so. Behind those guys you have Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Aube-Kubel, Marody, Vecchione. Those are just the natural right shot guys. Giroux could end up moving over to the right side later in his career if need be. They have 2 more first rounders this year and who knows what in the future or what they could recoup in a Simmonds trade. They'll have depth with or without Simmonds in the fold.
Bellows is a goal-scoring winger that we could have had in our system and ready to go next year. When Simmonds goes we'll have Konecny, Giroux and who?
He's a perimeter player that scores goals from the perimeter against kids his age. His game didn't translate to the college game and I doubt very much he makes an impact in the NHL next year.
I know it's a Flyers fan thing to worry about not having goal scorers and a "sniper" but if you collect enough good, smart players that can drive play, you're going to score goals just by volume of chances.
You don't think Travis Hamonic is a reliable 2nd pairing defenseman? I'll give you that he didn't paly his best hockes this year in Calgary but he would still upgrade the D on the right side until Myers is ready to take over.
He's reliable by Hakstol's standards, but he's not very good. He's overrated. He's just got name recognition. Gudas is better and I don't want another "reliable" vet that is going to block a guy like Myers from establishing himself in the NHL.
