Do the Flyers make the playoffs?

[GapToothedWonder]

Entering the season not learning a new system will be huge.

 

[Gsus]

Went with very likely.

Why?

- Like said above, knowing Haks system already is huge.
- No more Umberger or Lecavalier waiting for their popcorns to pop but a healthy 'fight for your spot' situation with fourth liners and some juniors.
- Voracek's and Giroux's numbers likely go up.
- Healthy Del Zotto.
- The defence is more mobile and skilled with Provorov. Better in many ways no matter who he passes in the lineup.
- Weise and Gordon are good bottom 6 additions. Hexy couldn't add top tier scoring depth, so he added a little bottom6 scoring and physicality in Weise, and a steady 4th line center. The team got stronger in offense.
- Goaltending duo is more equal now so both will push each other forward.
- With the UFA additions, Giroux and Coots likely will have more time to focus on doing their own job in their own lines.
- Rangers are likely to fall behind as they got older with another year and they don't know how to rebuild.
- Konecny should have a good impact with speed and skill.

 

[LI Fly Guy]

Posted this in another thread:

Bottom has improved 6 substantially. Also top 6 get easier minutes now.

MDZ healthy
Voracek healthy
Couturier healthy
Ghost and Hakstoll's 2nd year
Provorov>>>>>> whoever's spot he takes whether it's 23,47,55, or 32

Obviously other injuries will happen. But yea, way better.

 

[Striiker]

+Healthy Giroux.

 

[Garbage Goal]

I think we got better while the Islanders, Rangers, Montreal, and NJ all got varying degrees of worse. Boston and Detroit are two teams I don't think got worse because of any off-season moves, but will get worse just because of how reliant they are on pretty old cores (plus Datsyuk is gone). Florida and Carolina are both going to be much better and Washington/Pittsburgh/Tampa shouldn't regress much if at all (with the caveat that you never really know what the hell is going to go on with Pittsburgh and the effectives of it's coaching).

I'd say it's very likely we make them. Might have to be as a WC spot, might not, but I'd be surprised if they couldn't make it. I think number three seed is actually a realistic target next year. Only teams in our division I see as clearly ahead are Pittsburgh and Washington. Tampa, Carolina, Florida are all outside of ours.

 

[CanadianFlyer88]

I think we got better while the Islanders, Rangers, Montreal, and NJ all got varying degrees of worse. Boston and Detroit are two teams I don't think got worse because of any off-season moves, but will get worse just because of how reliant they are on pretty old cores (plus Datsyuk is gone). Florida and Carolina are both going to be much better and Washington/Pittsburgh/Tampa shouldn't regress much if at all (with the caveat that you never really know what the hell is going to go on with Pittsburgh and the effectives of it's coaching).

I'd say it's very likely we make them. Might have to be as a WC spot, might not, but I'd be surprised if they couldn't make it. I think number three seed is actually a realistic target next year. Only teams in our division I see as clearly ahead are Pittsburgh and Washington. Tampa, Carolina, Florida are all outside of ours.

Carolina is in the Metro with the Flyers.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Islanders have sort of fallen off this offseason, so right now the top 4 in the Metro are,
#1 Pens
#2 Capitals
#3 Rangers
#4 Flyers
and the gap between the Rangers & Flyers isn't that much anymore, so I could see the Flyers being top 3.

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

Well, I wouldn't underestimate the strength of the Islanders.

They lost Okposo but signed Ladd.

Maybe Barzal joins them too and their Center depth would be something like Tavares, Strome, Barzal, Nelson. That's scary good.

In addition, they still have some cap space.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Well, I wouldn't underestimate the strength of the Islanders.

They lost Okposo but signed Ladd.

Maybe Barzal joins them too and their Center depth would be something like Tavares, Strome, Barzal, Nelson. That's scary good.

In addition, they still have some cap space.

This is true, but as of now they do seem significantly weaker. I actually think losing Frans Neilsen's loss hurts more than the loss of Kyle Okposo. I think they have some serious doubts unless they could pick up a capable 2nd line center. I'm also not a fan of their dmen. We'll see tho, like you said, anything can happen.

 

[Garbage Goal]

Carolina is in the Metro with the Flyers.

Yeah I'm not sure what I was thinking there, my bad. Nevertheless, I still wouldn't see Carolina as a playoff team and if they were I can't imagine it as higher than a WC spot.

 

[Rebels57]

I see no reason why the Rangers should be better than the Flyers next season.

Their D core is aging rapidly. Nash has fallen off considerably. Henrik cant mask their deficiencies forever. They lost Yande to Florida and didnt replace him. I think we finish ahead of them this year.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Well, I wouldn't underestimate the strength of the Islanders.

They lost Okposo but signed Ladd.

Maybe Barzal joins them too and their Center depth would be something like Tavares, Strome, Barzal, Nelson. That's scary good.

In addition, they still have some cap space.

Strome doesn't play center. I don't think Barzal will be a center either. Their top three center's are likely Tavares, Nelson, & Cizikas (they gave him a bigger contract that would suggest they don't view him as a fourth liner anymore).

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I see no reason why the Rangers should be better than the Flyers next season.

Their D core is aging rapidly. Nash has fallen off considerably. Henrik cant mask their deficiencies forever. They lost Yande to Florida and didnt replace him. I think we finish ahead of them this year.

Agree completely. I wouldn't be surprised to see them miss the playoffs.

 

[Rebels57]

Did anyone in the Metro improve besides us?

I dont think so.

Maybe some internal promotions and player improvement will be the X factor for a team like the Islanders but on the surface they, along with NYR and Detroit look worse. Pitt and Washington stayed the course.

 

[phlocky]

Free agent bonanza is almost over. Now that the dust has settled, do you think the Flyers make the playoffs?

After the top 4 teams, I think the tiers are insanely fluid.

Does Columbus make a huge jump in the standing with Jones and Werenski in the lineup for the whole season? Does Boston make huge strides with a healthy team and the addition of Backes or does the D suck so bad that it kills them. Does Toronto become playoff contenders with the addition of Mattthews, Nylander etc... Do the Devils improve with the addition of Hall or their defense so bad that they are worse? Do the Islanders improve with Ladd or suffer with the loss of both Okposo and Nielsen. Does Detroit finally not make the playoffs after losing Daytsuk.

1. Washington
2. Tampa
3. Pitt
4. Florida
----------
5. Rangers
6. Islanders
7. Flyers
8. Boston
-----
9. Detroit
10. Montreal
11. Ottawa
12. Carolina
-----
13. NJ
14. Buffalo
15. Toronto
16. Columbus

Me personally, I switch us and the Habs. I think with a healthy Price they are right there with the top 4 teams. I think we'll be in the 9-12 range

 

[Rebels57]

Me personally, I switch us and the Habs. I think with a healthy Price they are right there with the top 4 teams. I think we'll be in the 9-12 range

So we have a better team and a more adjusted coach yet we finished 2-5 spots worse next season?

Some of you people need some optimism in your lives lol

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I still have the Flyers as a bubble team personally. Outside of Pittsburgh, Washington, Tampa Bay, & Florida there's a handful teams behind them fighting for those remaining spots. The Flyers could be as high third in the metro or be one of the teams on the cusp missing out. It's that close IMO.

 

[JWEKD]

It's easy for us to see with the Flyers, but other teams have optimism with new young talent and ufa signings too. They also have improving young nhlers looking to make the leap to the next tier of their career arcs. I can easily see all teams in the 5-12 range from briererocks post making up those last 4 spots. Imo it'll be a dogfight just like last season.

 

[phlocky]

So we have a better team and a more adjusted coach yet we finished 2-5 spots worse next season?

Some of you people need some optimism in your lives lol

Yeah, I probably should have said in the 7-10 range, a bubble team. A lot is going to happen and there will be surprises I'm the east. We clearly aren't one of the elite teams yet and though we are very optimistic, we could be a worse team than last year.

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

Strome doesn't play center. I don't think Barzal will be a center either. Their top three center's are likely Tavares, Nelson, & Cizikas (they gave him a bigger contract that would suggest they don't view him as a fourth liner anymore).

I'll give you Strome as his game is better suited on the wing but I can't see at all how Barzal won't be a center in the long run.

Besides his great puck-handling and excellent vision he is a strong 2-way-player.

As far as I'm concerned he is a poor mans Giroux.

For me, if you have R.Strome AND Barzal and you still go with Nelson and Cizikas as your centermen for the 2nd and 3rd line you don't deserve your pool of talented youngsters.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I'll give you Strome as his game is better suited on the wing but I can't see at all how Barzal won't be a center in the long run.

Besides his great puck-handling and excellent vision he is a strong 2-way-player.

As far as I'm concerned he is a poor mans Giroux.

For me, if you have R.Strome AND Barzal and you still go with Nelson and Cizikas as your centermen for the 2nd and 3rd line you don't deserve your pool of talented youngsters.

I wouldn't call Barzal a strong two-way player at this point. He's all offense right now. I don't think he's a lock to play in the NHL next year either.

He's a similar prospect to Konecny but he doesn't have Konecny's motor or physical play which limits his floor right now. If the offense doesn't translate he doesn't really anything to fall back on. That's likely the reason he fell in the draft in the first place.

 

[Garbage Goal]

Well, I wouldn't underestimate the strength of the Islanders.

They lost Okposo but signed Ladd.

Maybe Barzal joins them too and their Center depth would be something like Tavares, Strome, Barzal, Nelson. That's scary good.

In addition, they still have some cap space.

They lost Nielsen, Martin, and Okposo and the only addition they've made is Ladd who's older than all three of those players and has no history with the Islanders unlike those other three players. That's a pretty big collection of losses and even just saying Ladd will replace Okposo's production is absolute best-case scenario. Nelsen is a tremendous third line center and Martin was a big part of what most described as the best fourth line in the league (which was often described as one of the standout things of that team).

That team is also clearly souring on it's coach or, at the least, not getting it done with him there. Barzal is a rookie so even assuming he makes the team, his effectiveness will wear down by the end of the season just like almost every rookie ever. Strome was trash last year IIRC and, even if he wasn't, they treated him like he was. He was in the AHL at long stretches of last season IIRC.

Islanders will be worse barring huge and unexpected performances from several young players.

 

[Curufinwe]

I'm still amazed Ladd got 7 years.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Anyone think the Pens could see a drop? Sid, Letang, and Malkin are going to do their thing. Kessel will as well, but outside of those guys they did a lot with a little last season and while their young guys should improve I don't foresee anyone stepping up in any significant way. Hornqvist and Hagelin are solid complimentary guys. Kunitz is getting up there but he's still a solid guy but nothing special. So that gives them what, two good lines and one good defensive pairing?

EDIT: NYR seems on the downslope too. My biggest fear is Washington, Florida, TBL, and NYI. ****, if CBJ stays healthy I'm probably more worried about them than Pitt and NYR.

 

[Pantokrator]

I think they're still in that group that can finish anywhere from 6-12.

Washington, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Montreal (with a healthy Price) and Florida probably finish ahead of the Flyers.

The Isles, Flyers, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers are probably in the next group right now, but teams like Carolina, Buffalo and New Jersey could surprise and knock one of the others down a peg or two.

I'm expecting Columbus, Toronto and Ottawa to be the bottom three this year (at this moment, as there is still a lot of time between now and October to adjust rosters).

I go with this. I think Montreal will be much better because of Price. Florida looks better, Washington should be the same, Tampa will be as good if not better, and Pittsburgh will have a full season of Sullivan as coach.

I think Detroit is on its way out, but has some last gasps. I expect Carolina to be a getting close to becoming a playoff regular.