GDT: #27: FLYERS at Sabres, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, 1:00 p.m. ET

[Embiid]

If Fletcher moves anyone before seeing how they do with an actual coach then we can go ahead and fire him for being an idiot. Save us the years of wasted time.

Make your move Fletch..

 

[Danko]

Ya know what may be a good idea...im just throwing shit out here....Lindblom with Patrick.

 

[deadhead]

Varone our hero

Well, maybe he is.

I think the player with the most to lose if Varone shows well is Weal, since he instantly becomes superfluous if Varone can be a mediocre 3C. And probably traded for a 3rd rd pick or packaged in a deal.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Come January, the s++t will probably hit the fan at some point.

The shit needed to hit the fan long ago. This was a team that was expected to take the next step and become a consistent playoff threat. They've taken a huge step backwards.

The coach has failed to adjust his crap system. He's got much better personnel available to him than he did in year one and it's the SAME garbage we all watch.

Hak can't be defended anymore. His 15 minutes are up.

 

[hatcher]

The **** needed to hit the fan long ago. This was a team that was expected to take the next step and become a consistent playoff threat. They've taken a huge step backwards.

The coach has failed to adjust his crap system. He's got much better personnel available to him than he did in year one and it's the SAME garbage we all watch.

Hak can't be defended anymore. His 15 minutes are up.

Hak will go and so will players.

 

[deadhead]

Too many people living in fantasy land, oh Fletcher will just fire Hakstol, promote Gordon and everything will be hunky dory.
He'll keep the same players and try to hire Q in the offseason.

Uh, Fletcher came in with a mandate to shake things up, that goes a lot deeper than just firing the coach.
He has zero loyalty to players who performed well in the 2010-11 playoffs, to him that's ancient history.
He will have zero confidence in players who didn't perform in the last two playoffs, since he saw that movie in Minnesota.

So grab your popcorn, January looks to be very interesting.

 

[Magua]

Too many people living in fantasy land, oh Fletcher will just fire Hakstol, promote Gordon and everything will be hunky dory.
He'll keep the same players and try to hire Q in the offseason.

Uh, Fletcher came in with a mandate to shake things up, that goes a lot deeper than just firing the coach.
He has zero loyalty to players who performed well in the 2010-11 playoffs, to him that's ancient history.
He will have zero confidence in players who didn't perform in the last two playoffs, since he saw that movie in Minnesota.

So grab your popcorn, January looks to be very interesting.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Please like my coach.

 

[hatcher]

B

Too many people living in fantasy land, oh Fletcher will just fire Hakstol, promote Gordon and everything will be hunky dory.
He'll keep the same players and try to hire Q in the offseason.

Uh, Fletcher came in with a mandate to shake things up, that goes a lot deeper than just firing the coach.
He has zero loyalty to players who performed well in the 2010-11 playoffs, to him that's ancient history.
He will have zero confidence in players who didn't perform in the last two playoffs, since he saw that movie in Minnesota.

So grab your popcorn, January looks to be very interesting.

bout time.

 

[deadhead]

You people don't read tea leaves very well:

1) Fletcher comes out and references his Reddy trade, and pretty much says he learned his lesson and top prospects and draft picks are off the table unless some is offering a quality (i.e. top 6/top 4 with a cost effective contract and under 30) player in return.

2) Fletcher has said he wants to evaluate the team before making moves, so nothing should happen before January. And late January, they get a week off, perfect time to assimilate new players.

3) Fletcher is under pressure to make moves, if you're not trading top prospects/picks, what are you trading?

 

[CapnZin]

If Varone was called up, Fletcher is in complete control.
Varone is a look-see, Fletcher trying to gauge different players and whether they can fill in if he makes some trades.
And maybe a reward for good citizenship, but Fletcher wouldn't be expected to owe anything to Varone.

My suspicion is a month or so of an extended tryouts, players who Fletcher knows he's gonna keep may see some minutes reduced temporarily, players he wants to look at more closely or showcase may get a few more minutes.

Come January, the s++t will probably hit the fan at some point.

With our B6 producing close to zilch over the past 5 games, the look for a GM (in-house) would be the reigning AHL MVP and the current highest point producer in the AHL.

I also think our D needs an in-house look. Our top contenders would be Myers or Friedman, both of whom have looked capable at handling NHL competition in a sheltered role.


I highly doubt it’s to see if he can fill a role for a trade. Why would we trade someone and fill the role with an AHL lifer? The goal is to make the playoffs. I think this is just to see if he can replace Lehtera/Weal or add a spark for production in the B6.

 

[deadhead]

Varone is up to see if he can fill a depth spot if Fletcher moves out a few forwards, he's 28, he's not going to be a top 6 player no matter how much he scored in the AHL (and he did improve over his player before his NHL cameo).

But if Varone can fill that role, then it's a lot easier to move bottom six guys in a deal.

Weal is as good or better than Riley Nash, who got overpaid. He does have trade value, so does Laughton and Raffl, even Weise (look at what 4th line forwards got in FA, now you can land Weise for the same cost for 1 1/2 years, not 3-4 years).

You don't know what opposing GMs will ask in a trade package (often mid round picks or additional players for depth purposes) so a new GM wants to review ALL his potential players, Varone has no trade value but a player he replaces might.

Fletcher would be trading in January for THIS season, next year he has Frost, the LHV guys now playing and anyone he picks up this summer.
So he may be looking at short-term patches that can keep the team competitive (and at least make Scott happy) without giving up serious assets.
Come summer, he may project Frost as the 3C, Allison/Laczynski as 3RW, Vorobyev as 4C, NAK as 4RW, etc.

 

[mize370]

call me crazy and some people wont agree but i would like to try for the first period. give varone a chance to succeed and maybe get coots to get jvr going?

G Varone TK
jvr cooots jake
oskar nolan simmer
raffl laughts who cares here

wanted nak up as well for the 4th line

provorov ghost
sanheim gudas
hagg myers

wanted myers up also

Stolie
dont matter

Weise scratched.
lehtera, weal Amc waived. shot killed demoted. traded doesnt matter as long as they are taken away from hacksnot.

jvr, G, Tk, Patrick, ghost for pp1

SANHEIM, simmer, coots, jake, Varone for pp2

yes i think i am crazy. may work. may not. if it doesnt for a period we can always triple shift hagg and gudas. the rest of the time hackfall can panic because his safe guys are nowhere near the bench.

only have 2 points to lose. Not like we havent failed in other attempts.

sitting back now awaiting all the hate i get for this lol

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

call me crazy and some people wont agree but i would like to try for the first period. give varone a chance to succeed and maybe get coots to get jvr going?

G Varone TK
jvr cooots jake
oskar nolan simmer
raffl laughts who cares here

wanted nak up as well for the 4th line

provorov ghost
sanheim gudas
hagg myers

wanted myers up also

Stolie
dont matter

Weise scratched.
lehtera, weal Amc waived. shot killed demoted. traded doesnt matter as long as they are taken away from hacksnot.

jvr, G, Tk, Patrick, ghost for pp1

SANHEIM, simmer, coots, jake, Varone for pp2

yes i think i am crazy. may work. may not. if it doesnt for a period we can always triple shift hagg and gudas. the rest of the time hackfall can panic because his safe guys are nowhere near the bench.

only have 2 points to lose. Not like we havent failed in other attempts.

sitting back now awaiting all the hate i get for this lol

No hate. Thinking outside the box is a good thing. The only problem is that Beet F.U.C.K.E.R. is the head coach, so you know he won't think of anything like that. He never deviates from the game plan, no matter how suck ass it is.

 

[Curufinwe]

KrazyKat hacked someone else's account.

 

[Adtar02]

Too many people living in fantasy land, oh Fletcher will just fire Hakstol, promote Gordon and everything will be hunky dory.
He'll keep the same players and try to hire Q in the offseason.

Uh, Fletcher came in with a mandate to shake things up, that goes a lot deeper than just firing the coach.
He has zero loyalty to players who performed well in the 2010-11 playoffs, to him that's ancient history.
He will have zero confidence in players who didn't perform in the last two playoffs, since he saw that movie in Minnesota.

So grab your popcorn, January looks to be very interesting.

Not sure why you are obsessed with promoting Gordon. It’s like you are using a worse option to say hack needs to stay. Don’t think anyone other than you thinks that he would be brought up. Interim coaches are usually in the nhl already. At his point Wilson would be more likely than Gordon

 

[Adtar02]

You people don't read tea leaves very well:

1) Fletcher comes out and references his Reddy trade, and pretty much says he learned his lesson and top prospects and draft picks are off the table unless some is offering a quality (i.e. top 6/top 4 with a cost effective contract and under 30) player in return.

2) Fletcher has said he wants to evaluate the team before making moves, so nothing should happen before January. And late January, they get a week off, perfect time to assimilate new players.

3) Fletcher is under pressure to make moves, if you're not trading top prospects/picks, what are you trading?

Or a new coach.

 

[YEM]

call me crazy and some people wont agree but i would like to try for the first period. give varone a chance to succeed and maybe get coots to get jvr going?

G Varone TK
jvr cooots jake
oskar nolan simmer
raffl laughts who cares here

wanted nak up as well for the 4th line

provorov ghost
sanheim gudas
hagg myers

wanted myers up also

Stolie
dont matter

Weise scratched.
lehtera, weal Amc waived. shot killed demoted. traded doesnt matter as long as they are taken away from hacksnot.

jvr, G, Tk, Patrick, ghost for pp1

SANHEIM, simmer, coots, jake, Varone for pp2

yes i think i am crazy. may work. may not. if it doesnt for a period we can always triple shift hagg and gudas. the rest of the time hackfall can panic because his safe guys are nowhere near the bench.

only have 2 points to lose. Not like we havent failed in other attempts.

sitting back now awaiting all the hate i get for this lol

I love the idea
give Varone a real chance to succeed, rather than burying him on the 4th line w/ less than 10 minutes of ice time

 

[mize370]

I love the idea
give Varone a real chance to succeed, rather than burying him on the 4th line w/ less than 10 minutes of ice time

10? he would be lucky to get 4 under this coach. lol

 

[Here4ThaLids]

New poll up on just that matter

 

[Striiker]

call me crazy and some people wont agree but i would like to try for the first period. give varone a chance to succeed and maybe get coots to get jvr going?

G Varone TK
jvr cooots jake
oskar nolan simmer
raffl laughts who cares here

wanted nak up as well for the 4th line

provorov ghost
sanheim gudas
hagg myers

wanted myers up also

Stolie
dont matter

Weise scratched.
lehtera, weal Amc waived. shot killed demoted. traded doesnt matter as long as they are taken away from hacksnot.

jvr, G, Tk, Patrick, ghost for pp1

SANHEIM, simmer, coots, jake, Varone for pp2

yes i think i am crazy. may work. may not. if it doesnt for a period we can always triple shift hagg and gudas. the rest of the time hackfall can panic because his safe guys are nowhere near the bench.

only have 2 points to lose. Not like we havent failed in other attempts.

sitting back now awaiting all the hate i get for this lol

 

[Hiesenberg]

If the Flyers want to be a better team, they need their "good" players to be better.

Patrick
JVR
Voracek
Simmonds
Ghost
Provorov

They are all terrible. Adding Varone or NAK or Leier or whatever random generated player you want to think of.

This team will live and die by the top players being better.

 

[deadhead]

Wilson has never been a NHL head coach. Doubt he even wants the hassle at this point in his career.
Gordon and Knob are the only two in-house options, unless Holmgren wants to return to the bench.
Who outside the organization would want the interim coaching job?

 

[CapnZin]

No, most of those combos posted here don't work.
If you keep TK on the first line, there is no good 2nd and 3rd lines you can put together right now with this group of forwards.

You won't admit that, b/c your fantasy is a new coach will "change" players who've demonstrated the same strengths and weaknesses for a decade (Voracek, JVR, Simmonds) or help other players transcend their talent limitations (Weal, Laughton, Raffl, Weise).

Fletcher is smart enough to know a new coach isn't going to make silk purses out of sows' ears.

You know that's not what I said about TK and the 4th line, but you lie as much as the POTUS.

Line 1)
Giroux - Couturier - TK

Why would you replace TK with Voracek? The only thing dismissing TK from a legitimate 1st line winger is poise with the puck. That deficiency is counteracted with Couts and Giroux. That’s why he shot out of a cannon.

Line 2)
JVR - Patrick - Simmonds

I would switch Simmer with Lindblom and hope he can play RW. The sad thing about this line is the system it plays in. All 3 of these players thrive in slot and net-front roles. Patrick has the skill to feed the slot and typically does so... we just always hear Jones say “no one was out front”. Plus, out of the top 3 lines the Patrick line has, by far, the most defensive zone starts with players like Patrick and Voracek. Awful coaching and system for this line.

Line 3)
Raffl - Varone/Laughton - Voracek

Voracek being demoted due a -7 at the time just shows how f***ing dumb Hakstol is. This line has great play drivers in Raffl and Voracek. This line doesn’t have a pure goal scorer. Plus, they all love the perimeter style of play besides Raffl. I assume Varone will fill into Haks system easily.
The way this line works best is if: Voracek, from the outside, feeds picks to Varone/Laughton in the slot or to the net where Raffl should be. Varone and Laughton have quick hands so their shots are best utilized in the slot.

Line 4)
Lindblom - Varone/Laughton - Weise

Well.. idk. Lindblom is the only real play driver on this line. Hard to do anything when your linemates is Weise down low.
Laughton really feeds off of other players so 2:30min of Lindblom at ES doesn’t do anyone any favors.

————————————————

NYI turnaround:

Last year, NYI gave up the most amount of shots along with the most GAA.

De Haan (one of their better T4) leaves and their D becomes an even bigger question mark. Tavares leaves and their offense becomes much less dynamic. Adding in FA Leo Komarov, Jan Kovar, and Val Filp just looks awful.

How do you turn that around?

Previously Capuano loved the high-risk offensive style. During previous years, Boychuck, Leddy, Hamonic, and De Haan could stop opposing lines from entering. An aging Boychuck, Hamonic out, along with De Haan being out makes for a horrible D structure.

Capuano couldn’t handle it even with De Haan and bad goaltending.

What had to change? The players? There was a change, but they got worse. The system? Exactly! But, who will change change it? Capuano certainly didn’t.

Trotz came in and restructured how the D worked along with adding in young guys who can fill bigger roles: Anthony Beauvillier, Ryan Pulock, Matthew Barzal, and Adam Pelech. They handled all the roles well. If they didn’t, Trotz handled them accordingly—> Pulock still on the same pair, but in a sheltered role.


I really think that Hakstols system is the biggest problem. Vets are in favor compared to the Rookies. Safe players who love the perimeter style system get rewarded. That’s a college hockey system, not a NHL system.

 

[deadhead]

Trotz didn't add Barzal, he was a top player for them last year, outscored JT. 17:46 last year, 18:03 this year.
Pulock played 18:24 as a 23 year old rookie last year, 22:55 this year.
Beauvillier played 14:32 as a 20 year old rookie last year, 14:19 this year.
Pelech played 19:16 as a 23 year old rookie, 17:33 this year.
Mayfield palyed 17: 51 last year at 25, 18:54 this year

So not only has Trotz add ZERO young players to the Islanders this year, he's playing one of them more, and one of them less, than last year.
So much for a "youth movement."

They brought in Lehner, and Greiss has bounced back, .918, .892, .913, .925 past four years.
Greiss has definitely been helped by a real defense, but this may be more about Weight (who was terrible) than Trotz.

Other changes, Strome for Eberle, McAdam for Martin, signing Sbisa, Filppula, Komarov, Kuhnhackl.
So basically they got a lot "heavier."