Clearing the Flyers Logjam on Defense
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TheKingPin
Registered User
Seems like grossmann is as good as gone. Schenn would appear as the next candidate. Possibly Gudas although I haven't seen him play much. Resign MDZ. Get ghost and hagg up here at some point. Macd will be the last piece to be moved once the term is less.
If we draft provorov he likely starts in the AHL but I could see him up to the NHL at some point.
If we draft provorov he likely starts in the AHL but I could see him up to the NHL at some point.
LegionOfDoom91
Registered User
It's either NHL or back to juniors for Provorov. He's not eligible to play in the AHL next year or the year after.
I also doubt we see much of Hagg next year. He's likely another year away from playing full time.
TheKingPin
Registered User
I guess he will be going to juniors then. Does he get the 8 game limit still?
I see hagg as the most mature of the D. I think his disinterest/consistency issues could be better handled after at least a taste of the NHL. As you see with all of the teams adept at handling prospects its never a start with the team stay with the team thing. It's up and down for a year or two. That seems like the best strategy with the young D. Thinking ghost and hagg are the most eligible for that.
LegionOfDoom91
Registered User
It's 9 games & yeah he's still eligible for that.
I don't see it, I think the most mature thing is the biggest myth on this board & in the media in regards to Hagg. Hagg still needs work in the minors. I'd be surprised if we see much of him next year. Terry Murray even said he's likely another year away at the end of this year.
People just assume that because Hagg is built like a tank and played against men here and in Sweden he's ready. He's least ready out of the big 4.
TheKingPin
Registered User
Yea not saying hagg should make it just that a taste would be good for his development mentally. He should get some games in the NHL this year just for that. If he rises to the occasion you keep him.
Tripod
I hate this team
I honestly think that he is on our team by the deadline, leading us to deal Streit like we did Coburn with an extra year on their deal.
TheKingPin
Registered User
No rush for any of them but these high end D around the league tend to get tastes of the NHL before they are starters as opposed to being thrown in as starters from the beginning of a season staying. Maybe appleyard has some stats for this.
FLYguy3911
Sanheim Lover
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Let Hagg show he's too good for the AHL first. He's not close to being at that level yet. Maybe this time next year it will be different but he's got a ways to go and the competition for a call-up will be a little stiffer this year so there will be no bones tossed.
GhostIsBae
Ghost Whisperer
- Jul 18, 2014
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I don't get the hate on Hagg. I like his kind of play. He is calm and smooth. Has a non-chalant way about him on the ice, but that doesn't make him lazy or inconsistant or disinterested.
Out of all our defenseman, I want to see him come up next and get a shot. Gostisbehere and him together would go well. I would like to see Alt come up too.
Out of all our defenseman, I want to see him come up next and get a shot. Gostisbehere and him together would go well. I would like to see Alt come up too.
LegionOfDoom91
Registered User
It's not hate it's reality. He's got ways to go in his development & a tougher to depth chart to climb next year making his chances to get a call up rather hard next year.
renberg
Registered User
The kid came over over a year ago to learn how to play on the smaller NA rinks. Last season he did fairly well with it. It is a big adjustment to play the game differently than he had all of his life up to that point. Also he's young and living half the way around the world. That is another huge adjustment. Like you, I like his serenity on the ice. I'd rather have that than a player that panics or over reacts out there. I don't see him as a #1 defender in the NHL but nothing wrong him with being a solid second pairing player.
HighOFFHockey
Co-Founder of The Flyers Nitty Gritty
Wasn't a GREAT article and didn't tell me anything I didn't know. Not bad though, fun to talk about hockey.
Curufinwe
Registered User
- Feb 28, 2013
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Last summer the common narrative in the media was that Hagg was the most NHL ready D prospect. Then we got to preseason and he got two games playing around 16 minutes while Morin got five at around 20 minutes.
GKJ
Global Moderator
- Feb 27, 2002
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There shouldn't be a rush on Ghost either. He missed an entire season of development.
It isn't rushing anyone (Hagg, Morin, Sanheim, Ghost, #7 pick this year) if they are actually ready to play. The only way it would be a bad thing is if Hakstol/Hextall put a guy out there on a nightly basis who is not ready. That is rushing someone. But if they can play NHL minutes, it isn't rushing them. I sincerely doubt, especially given the excess of defensemen under contract ATM, that the coaches and management are going to force anyone to play if they are not ready.
At the same time, it is not a problem to think that Morin, Hagg, Ghost or even Sanheim might crack the lineup. People around here are obsessed with "patience" when it comes to young players, but at you have a first round selected in the top half of the draft in Morin, now going on three years after his draft year. It is not necessarily a problem if he isn't NHL-ready this year, but it also is not a problem to suggest he might be. Perhaps it may be a little premature to simply assume that Hagg and Ghost are not ready given their lack of first round selection, but Ghost looked like he could play in the NHL last year, and but for his injury, I think he would have been back up toward the end of the season.
I don't like the "he lost a year of development" crap flying around about him. He was in the NHL briefly last year, and again I think we all agree he likely would have been back at the end of the year. Getting injured doesn't all the sudden mean he isn't going to be able to play in the NHL for another year because he has to make up that time. He's a professional athlete. These guys don't simply forget how to play. I'm sure he is and has been involved in some form of training even with the injury, and once camp starts and he gets his legs back, he'll be back where he left off. Guys get hurt all the time. Some more serious than this injury, some less serious. Yes there are guys that don't recover, but there shouldn't be a blanket statement of Ghost not being NHL-ready just because he was injured last year. It absolutely could factor in, but it shouldn't be assumed that it will. Now, if he isn't fully healthy that is a different story, but so long as he is healthy I don't think there is a problem to say he's very much in the mix for a spot in the lineup.
At the same time, it is not a problem to think that Morin, Hagg, Ghost or even Sanheim might crack the lineup. People around here are obsessed with "patience" when it comes to young players, but at you have a first round selected in the top half of the draft in Morin, now going on three years after his draft year. It is not necessarily a problem if he isn't NHL-ready this year, but it also is not a problem to suggest he might be. Perhaps it may be a little premature to simply assume that Hagg and Ghost are not ready given their lack of first round selection, but Ghost looked like he could play in the NHL last year, and but for his injury, I think he would have been back up toward the end of the season.
I don't like the "he lost a year of development" crap flying around about him. He was in the NHL briefly last year, and again I think we all agree he likely would have been back at the end of the year. Getting injured doesn't all the sudden mean he isn't going to be able to play in the NHL for another year because he has to make up that time. He's a professional athlete. These guys don't simply forget how to play. I'm sure he is and has been involved in some form of training even with the injury, and once camp starts and he gets his legs back, he'll be back where he left off. Guys get hurt all the time. Some more serious than this injury, some less serious. Yes there are guys that don't recover, but there shouldn't be a blanket statement of Ghost not being NHL-ready just because he was injured last year. It absolutely could factor in, but it shouldn't be assumed that it will. Now, if he isn't fully healthy that is a different story, but so long as he is healthy I don't think there is a problem to say he's very much in the mix for a spot in the lineup.
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I agree that Morin, Ghost or Hagg have a chance to crack the lineup but Sanheim has 0 chance. They are going to be very cautious with a player of his potential. No matter how well he plays in preseason, he will be sent back to Juniors.
Gostisbehere did not look ready to defend in his own zone at the NHL level in his brief stint. He will need to go to the AHL and work on that. He looked great moving the puck and jumping into the play but they aren't going to allow a player that isn't ready to defend at the NHL level crack an already crowded blue line. I can see him making the team by seasons end though. If there are injuries or we sell at the deadline he will be on the team.
Disagree on Sanheim. While it is unlikely, I don't think they are sending him back to juniors without a doubt. If he comes in and plays well enough to earn a spot, he will get a spot. Again, I am not suggesting he will be handed a spot for which he is not ready, but what is the point of sending a guy back to juniors to play against. let's face it, children, if he shows he can play in the NHL? His biggest issue is going to be showing he is ready, and that is why I agree it is unlikely he makes the jump, but I don't think there is a blanket "Sanheim back to Juniors" mandate. Perhaps if he was NHL-ready but AHL eligible he would go there for a month or so, but if he can play in the NHL there's no sense in sending him to the WHL.
BobbyClarkeFan16
Registered User
He might get the Alex Pietrangelo treatment in that he'll get a 9 game trial and they'll probably send him back. Personally, I have no problems if they keep him or send him back. If they're keeping him, then it's an indication of how good he is, but how bad the defense is. If they're sending him back, it's because Hextall and company think they can make do with the defense they have.
I think the guy to watch will be Mark Alt. He's pretty much at that point of now or never in terms of breaking the NHL roster. I still believe if he didn't suffer all those freak injuries this past year, he's on the big club. I'd be more inclined to think that that's what they'll probably do - move out some defenders and have Alt and Manning rotate as the #6 and 7 guys on the club. Streit, Medvedev, Schultz, Del Zotto and MacTurd will be the top five.
FLYguy3911
Sanheim Lover
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Larry44
#FireTortsNOW
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Spelling Gostisbehere is really not forgiveable anymore for someone trying to look professional. And opening with 'sending Manning down will be unpopular' is about as dumb as it can get. No one gives two craps about Manning. He's a Phantom, on a one-way to discourage waiver claims.
BackToTheBrierePatch
Nope not today.
I think I trust the judgment of Hextall and his staff with regards to the prospects being ready. Sure Sanheim or any of the prospects could come in and play well in the preseason when they are playing against teams not always icing NHL lineups. We already went thru this last preseason and many got exciting thinking teenage prospects could make the club. In the end they were sent back and by all accounts it was the right decision with all of them.
Oh for sure. I'm not saying I think Sanheim is ready, I'm saying that if he comes in to camp and outplays X amount of guys and is in the top 6 on the depth chart, they aren't going to send him back to juniors just because. If he is on the cusp or below the cusp, then back to juniors he goes and I have no beef whatsoever with that. I just don't see the value in sending a guy to play against kids in the WHL if he is truly good enough to play in the NHL. The problem Sanheim is going to have is the obvious challenge of outplaying all the other defensemen vying for that last spot or spots on the team.
