2016 Lineups ...

[HighOFFHockey]

Schenn --Giroux-- Simmonds
Laughton --Couturier-- Voracek
Raffl --Cousins-- Weise
Lyubimov --Gordon-- Read

Del Zotto -- Gudas
Provorov -- Gostisbehere
Macdonald -- Schultz


Streit, Manning, VandeVelde, Bellemare will be facing AHL/WAIVERS/TRADE/SCRATCHED

I'm gonna try and not be a dick here, but if you really believe Bellemare, who has just been chosen to be the 4th line center on team Europe for the World cup is going to get beaten out by a young kid who hasn't played a game in the NHL yet, you're kidding yourself. I like some of your thought process, but I think your targeting the wrong players here.

I think it's good that you have Ghost and Provorov together, but it's too early for that. I suspect that Ghost will remain in the top 2/top 4 and Provorov will start on the 3rd pairing.

Its hard to really define any of these lines before camp. This is the first season in some time where I am truly excited to see who wins what spot. There are so many mini-stories for each line or player.

Can Read bounce back?
Can Laughton make the jump?
Is Provorov ready?, Is Konecny ready?
Will Streit be on this team?
Will Sanheim surprise people?
Will Morin Surprise people?
Will Bardreau win a spot out of camp?
Who is Lyubimov to this team?

There are just far too many questions at this point to be able to make a solid projection. Even anyone who says Konecny and Provorov won't make the team because of Hextall, etc, etc..They really have no clue, they're speculating and I believe most likely scared to be proven wrong at a later date. It's hard to make bold predictions.

At the end of the day, if they are ready, they are ready and their game on the ice will speak for itself. When ghost came in and started making a consistent impact, he made the team.

I think All of the names below have a chance to make the team. If anything, their ability to be sent to the AHL hurts their case. Why? because then they are with the big club and can be called upon whenever they want. If they send Provorov to juniors and he's dominating and the team needs him, well then they're screwed. I'm not saying they're going to make the team, but I'm saying there is definitely a good chance and that until we see them play in camp/preseason we should be open to all possibilities.

I also think Hextall is fine sending down any NHL defensman to the AHL. The guys without a guaranteed spot (aside from McDonald) don't have large contracts and dropping them down to the minors wouldn't be a big cap issue. Everything is manageable, you just have to make sure the young player is here to stay and not here to make a little noise.

 

[Magua]

I'm gonna try and not be a dick here, but if you really believe Bellemare, who has just been chosen to be the 4th line center on team Europe for the World cup is going to get beaten out by a young kid who hasn't played a game in the NHL yet, you're kidding yourself

Not saying you're not right, and PEB probably has a good chance of being 4RW (he can kiss goodbye to center, as he should) where he will see more success probably, but PEB is a 31 year old late import player who is probably in his last year with the team. He isn't anything irreplaceable. He was also chosen over many other better players for Team Europe. He has done well at international competitions, but I'm going to surmise that to be inclusive to this hodge podge team, they tried to fit in as many nationalities as possible plus he's probably their 12/13. Meanwhile guys like Eller and Raffl and Ehlers are not on the team.

 

[HighOFFHockey]

Not saying you're not right, and PEB probably has a good chance of being 4RW (he can kiss goodbye to center, as he should) where he will see more success probably, but PEB is a 31 year old late import player who is probably in his last year with the team. He isn't anything irreplaceable. He was also chosen over many other better players for Team Europe. He has done well at international competitions, but I'm going to surmise that to be inclusive to this hodge podge team, they tried to fit in as many nationalities as possible. I mean Christian Ehrhoff is on the team too.

It's hard for me to disagree with that to a degree and I do believe the validity of this tournament is going down by the day. However, my stance on Bellemare is the same. He's not the best Faceoff guy, but he's a prototypical 4th line player for a championship squad. Has excellent defensive instincts, a good motor, can be physical, can win some faceoffs, and has some untapped offensive instincts. I just can't see him not being on any team's top 12. Frankly, I think without him the "untouchables" 4th line from last year would of been a disaster.

 

[KrazyKat]

as much as this won't happen due to $ spent. I think Weise is a perfect fit on our 4th line.


Schenn--Giroux--Simmonds
Laughton--Couturier--Voracek
Raffl--Cousins--Konecny
Bellemare--Gordon--Weise


**notes**

Don't see why we would change our 1st line. Schenn/G/Simmer was a solid line and play very physical too.


Laughton will be given a chance to breakout. He's got a great shot, smart defensively (although he's still adjusting) and has lots of speed. With Couturier and Voracek, that would be a great 2nd line.

Cousins and Konecny are both small, but arnt afraid to agitate other players and go in the dirty areas. Both are highly skilled and would gain great chemistry. Raffl would bring speed and hard checking to the line as well.

Gordon, face off king with 2 high end 4th liners. Would shut other teams down and also have a little threat in them.

 

[Rebels57]

as much as this won't happen due to $ spent. I think Weise is a perfect fit on our 4th line.


Schenn--Giroux--Simmonds
Laughton--Couturier--Voracek
Raffl--Cousins--Konecny
Bellemare--Gordon--Weise


**notes**

Don't see why we would change our 1st line. Schenn/G/Simmer was a solid line and play very physical too.


Laughton will be given a chance to breakout. He's got a great shot, smart defensively (although he's still adjusting) and has lots of speed. With Couturier and Voracek, that would be a great 2nd line.

Cousins and Konecny are both small, but arnt afraid to agitate other players and go in the dirty areas. Both are highly skilled and would gain great chemistry. Raffl would bring speed and hard checking to the line as well.

Gordon, face off king with 2 high end 4th liners. Would shut other teams down and also have a little threat in them.

Lmao you have posted 3 lineups on the last 2 pages alone.

 

[flyersfan018]

Lmao you have posted 3 lineups on the last 2 pages alone.

Shhhhh this is his thread.

 

[bauer]

Lmao you have posted 3 lineups on the last 2 pages alone.

literally 99% of his comments are just lineup suggestions.

 

[kelmitchell]

literally 99% of his comments are just lineup suggestions.

No its 50/50 on lineups and trades

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Have the Flyers released the training camp roster yet.

I was wondering what some of the training camp lines would look like without Giroux, Voracek, Couturier, Bellemare, Gostisbehere, Streit and Neuvirth due to those players participating in the World Cup of Hockey tournament.

 

[Curufinwe]

Just the Rookie camp rosters so far

http://www.csnphilly.com/philadelphia-flyers/flyers-announce-rookie-training-camp-roster-dates

 

[tade]

I am surprised that we haven't seen any PTO so far, with 8 players attending World Cup.

 

[deadhead]

There really is now justifying how it could work because it is so extremely far-fetched to even think Hakstol would do something like that to start the season.

It is also doesn't serve the team to pair up two guys that move the puck as well as they do, rather than spreading them out.

Problem is MDZ-Gudas was our best pairing last year, so you'd be reluctant to break them up.
While Provorov - Ghost would match two puck movers, Provorov is the more responsible defenseman and would complement Ghost.
A bigger question is what do you do with Morin and Sanheim when they're ready if both are playing LD in Allentown?
Myers is an easier fit but he's two years away.

 

[bennysflyers16]

Nice to see Konecny taking pre season serious, 2 games, 6 pts, 2 1st stars, damn I hope he and Provy both make it.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Problem is MDZ-Gudas was our best pairing last year, so you'd be reluctant to break them up.
While Provorov - Ghost would match two puck movers, Provorov is the more responsible defenseman and would complement Ghost.
A bigger question is what do you do with Morin and Sanheim when they're ready if both are playing LD in Allentown?
Myers is an easier fit but he's two years away.

If Provorov makes the Flyers roster out of training camp he'd be better off being paired with a veteran defensemen like Mark Streit. Gostisbehere is going to have enough pressure on him in his sophomore season, so having a 2nd year defensemen and a rookie defensemen together isn't a good idea for the Flyers.

Morin could crack the Flyers line up later in the season if the Flyers can trade away Nick Schultz or Mark Streit at the trade deadline or send MacDonald down to the AHL.

Flyers defense line up I'd like to see start the season.
LD Del Zotto-RD Gudas
LD MacDonald/Schultz-RD Gostisbehere
LD Provorov-RD Streit
Extra's: LD Manning

If Flyers can't trade away Schultz, then the Flyers would have to send Andrew MacDonald to Lehigh Valley AHL to start the season again, and Schultz would slot into MacDonald's spot paired along side Ghost.
The Flyers don't usually carry 8 defensemen on the roster at one time, so that's why I'm saying either MacDonald goes to the AHL or Schultz gets traded away, to have the Flyers roster at 7 defensemen.

What the Phantoms Defense could look like to start the season.
LD Morin RD Brennan
LD MacDonald/Sanheim RD Sanheim/Alt
LD Hagg RD O'Neill
Extra's: RD Alt RD Willcox

If MacDonald is send down to start the season with the Phantoms, I'd have LD MacDonald paired with Sanheim on RD and Alt would be a healthy scratch. If not then LD Sanheim would be paired with RD Alt.

Reading Royals Defensemen
RD Pettersson
RD Lamarche* < under contract with Lehigh Valley AHL

 

[Rebels57]

Problem is MDZ-Gudas was our best pairing last year, so you'd be reluctant to break them up.
While Provorov - Ghost would match two puck movers, Provorov is the more responsible defenseman and would complement Ghost.
A bigger question is what do you do with Morin and Sanheim when they're ready if both are playing LD in Allentown?
Myers is an easier fit but he's two years away.

If Provorov, Morin and Sanheim all prove to be top 4 defensemen that will be a good problem to have.

 

[Alex91]

I'm hoping Ron took a trip to go and watch the Sarnia games.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Not saying you're not right, and PEB probably has a good chance of being 4RW (he can kiss goodbye to center, as he should) where he will see more success probably, but PEB is a 31 year old late import player who is probably in his last year with the team. He isn't anything irreplaceable. He was also chosen over many other better players for Team Europe. He has done well at international competitions, but I'm going to surmise that to be inclusive to this hodge podge team, they tried to fit in as many nationalities as possible plus he's probably their 12/13. Meanwhile guys like Eller and Raffl and Ehlers are not on the team.

Bellemare is a Hextall and Hakstol favourite. I know Hextall said numerous times last year that Bellemare is the kind of guy who's will to do whatever it takes to win and is selfless in everything he does. He's got a great work ethic and doesn't complain about the role he's assigned.

I agree that he is replaceable, but in the eyes of the two guys who matter most, Bellemare will have a spot on this club. Hopefully with Lyubmov and Gordon onboard, this means the end of Vande Velde.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

Bellemare is a Hextall and Hakstol favourite. I know Hextall said numerous times last year that Bellemare is the kind of guy who's will to do whatever it takes to win and is selfless in everything he does. He's got a great work ethic and doesn't complain about the role he's assigned.

I agree that he is replaceable, but in the eyes of the two guys who matter most, Bellemare will have a spot on this club. Hopefully with Lyubmov and Gordon onboard, this means the end of Vande Velde.

your forgetting the UND free pass card..

i'd be very surprized if VdV is off the main roster this season (thou he def. should be)

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Bellemare is a Hextall and Hakstol favourite. I know Hextall said numerous times last year that Bellemare is the kind of guy who's will to do whatever it takes to win and is selfless in everything he does. He's got a great work ethic and doesn't complain about the role he's assigned.

I agree that he is replaceable, but in the eyes of the two guys who matter most, Bellemare will have a spot on this club. Hopefully with Lyubmov and Gordon onboard, this means the end of Vande Velde.

Not necessarily... Coach Hakstol favors VandeVelde because of the U of North Dakota connection that Hakstol and VandeVelde have. If a decision between VandeVelde or Lyubimov making the roster, Hakstol would pick VandeVelde over Lyubimov, even if Lyubimov out preformed VandeVelde throughout the whole training camp and Preseason.

That's also the reason why the Phantoms signed Corbin Knight, because Knight played for Hakstol at the U of North Dakota.

If Hakstol favors a player, or if there's a player from U of North Dakota on the Flyers roster that played under Hakstol there gonna have a roster spot with the Flyers as long as Hakstol is coaching the Flyers.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I seriously doubt Hextall made the moves he did this offseason based around the bottom six to default guys spots in the lineup this year.

VV's likely one of the more vulnerable players to lose his spot in the lineup given his age, contract, & play last year. He still could be on the final roster as a spare though as he does more so fit the profile for that than others.

The depth has changed this year compared to last year. There's more legitimate depth both in veterans & youth this year.

 

[deadhead]

Not necessarily... Coach Hakstol favors VandeVelde because of the U of North Dakota connection that Hakstol and VandeVelde have. If a decision between VandeVelde or Lyubimov making the roster, Hakstol would pick VandeVelde over Lyubimov, even if Lyubimov out preformed VandeVelde throughout the whole training camp and Preseason.

That's also the reason why the Phantoms signed Corbin Knight, because Knight played for Hakstol at the U of North Dakota.

If Hakstol favors a player, or if there's a player from U of North Dakota on the Flyers roster that played under Hakstol there gonna have a roster spot with the Flyers as long as Hakstol is coaching the Flyers.

Don't get carried away.
Last year Hakstol would probably have favored a former player because they know his system and what he expects.
This year that has less value because the team had a year to adjust to him and he doesn't need "coaches on the ice."

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

It's also important to note that last year you had Vinny & Umberger on the roster (the former eventually moved on) that really killed any chance of doing anything even if we had depth because of their NMC's.

Read - 2 years @ $3.625M
Weise - 4 years @ $2.35M
Gordon - 1 year @ $950K
Laughton - 1 year @ $863K
Cousins - 1 year @ $840K
Bellemare 1 year @ $712.5K
VandeVelde - 1 year @ $712.5K
Weal - 1 year @ $650K

None of those guys have any trade protection. So there's a lot more roster flexibility there than last year.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

we will see but id bet the farm VdV stays on the main roster.

even over better players.

 

[Magua]

I seriously doubt Hextall made the moves he did this offseason based around the bottom six to default guys spots in the lineup this year.

VV's likely one of the more vulnerable players to lose his spot in the lineup given his age, contract, & play last year. He still could be on the final roster as a spare though as he does more so fit the profile for that than others.

The depth has changed this year compared to last year. There's more legitimate depth both in veterans & youth this year.

This. Hextall didn't raid the bottom 6 bargain bin just for show. He saw an inherent weakness on the team that hampered them all season and wants to fix it. Training camp will be a war of attrition for those spots.

 

[Alchemy]

This. Hextall didn't raid the bottom 6 bargain bin just for show. He saw an inherent weakness on the team that hampered them all season and wants to fix it. Training camp will be a war of attrition for those spots.

This is how i see it as well. A guy like Goulbourne for instance could push VDV out the door. Lyubimov another. Gordon will be the 4th line center.