Does Philly Need defensive help?

[Giroux tha Damaja]

is he still having concussion issues?

That's a good question. I don't know. I am going to guess maybe. I caught an AHL game the other weekend and I didn't see him out there once, so I'm guessing he didn't play.

 

[lancer247]

That's a good question. I don't know. I am going to guess maybe. I caught an AHL game the other weekend and I didn't see him out there once, so I'm guessing he didn't play.

yeah, i haven't seen him on the flyers or phantoms injured reserve. I never expected that muh from him but he actually played pretty well last season.

 

[WeekendAtBernies]

But he's still on the team. And I'm guessing the Sens miss his offense. Of course, if he's expendable, we'll be happy to take him...

The Flyers have enough good defenders- Timonen, Coburn, Grossman, Schenn, Meszaros... all good in their own end. Only Timonen can jump start the offense though and he may retire after one more year. That's what the Flyers need, preferably in the form of a bona-fide #1 type guy.

Who cares if he's on the team? The other poster's point is that even without Karlsson, the team continues to play very good defense. Do they miss Karlsson offensively? Of course... especially on that powerplay which is horrendous right now, but defensively Ottawa continues to play great hockey.

The Flyers right now are still among the tops of the league in goals scored per game (in the top 10 at least) despite a very sluggish start to the season. Scoring goals is not their problem. Allowing goals has once again been their Achilles heel. Some flyers' fans attribute that to the inconsistent Jekyll-Hyde play of Ilya Bryzgalov this year. Others attribute it to a terrible group of defenseman, but the one universal belief held by most fans is that we absolutely need a #1 Puck-Moving defenseman, and I'm not sure if that's really true or not. Without a real #1 PMD for some period of time now, the Flyers' have still been one of the league's top goal-scoring teams.

And as much as everyone wants to believe the loss of Timonen after next year will cripple the team, the fact is that Timonen does most of his damage offensively on the powerplay. Both Meszaros and Carle were/are consistently better (in terms of getting points) than Timonen at even-strength in prior years. And this year, Luke Schenn has been consistently better @ attaining even-strength points. The loss of Timonen will hurt some defensively and will definitely hurt the powerplay if Gustafsson can't take over his role, but if we replace Timonen w/ a primarily defensive defenseman, I'm not sure our play @ even strength will change all that much.

Obviously, like everyone else I'd LOVE to acquire a #1 defenseman, but I'm thinking more and more that it's not absolutely crucial to the team's success. There's more than 1 way to skin a goat. If the Flyers have to get bye for a few years without a true #1 defenseman, it's definitely doable with the forward core they have.

 

[Psuhockey]

The fact is no team has two #1 defensemen so no team is going to give one up. So the only defensemen the Flyers would be able to obtain are second tier guys. Then the question is is it worth giving up good assets to obtain one of the second tier guys over just signing someone like Hainsey, Smid, or White in the offseason. IMO I choose the band aid free agents over giving up assets, at least this year. There is nobody available that would be worth giving up Couturier ++ for.

 

[LEIFey]

Who cares if he's on the team? The other poster's point is that even without Karlsson, the team continues to play very good defense. Do they miss Karlsson offensively? Of course... especially on that powerplay which is horrendous right now, but defensively Ottawa continues to play great hockey.

The Flyers right now are still among the tops of the league in goals scored per game (in the top 10 at least) despite a very sluggish start to the season. Scoring goals is not their problem. Allowing goals has once again been their Achilles heel. Some flyers' fans attribute that to the inconsistent Jekyll-Hyde play of Ilya Bryzgalov this year. Others attribute it to a terrible group of defenseman, but the one universal belief held by most fans is that we absolutely need a #1 Puck-Moving defenseman, and I'm not sure if that's really true or not. Without a real #1 PMD for some period of time now, the Flyers' have still been one of the league's top goal-scoring teams.

And as much as everyone wants to believe the loss of Timonen after next year will cripple the team, the fact is that Timonen does most of his damage offensively on the powerplay. Both Meszaros and Carle were/are consistently better (in terms of getting points) than Timonen at even-strength in prior years. And this year, Luke Schenn has been consistently better @ attaining even-strength points. The loss of Timonen will hurt some defensively and will definitely hurt the powerplay if Gustafsson can't take over his role, but if we replace Timonen w/ a primarily defensive defenseman, I'm not sure our play @ even strength will change all that much.

Obviously, like everyone else I'd LOVE to acquire a #1 defenseman, but I'm thinking more and more that it's not absolutely crucial to the team's success. There's more than 1 way to skin a goat. If the Flyers have to get bye for a few years without a true #1 defenseman, it's definitely doable with the forward core they have.

We're currently 5th in scoring. 27th in goals against

 

[Jack Straw]

Who cares if he's on the team? The other poster's point is that even without Karlsson, the team continues to play very good defense. Do they miss Karlsson offensively? Of course... especially on that powerplay which is horrendous right now, but defensively Ottawa continues to play great hockey.

The Flyers right now are still among the tops of the league in goals scored per game (in the top 10 at least) despite a very sluggish start to the season. Scoring goals is not their problem. Allowing goals has once again been their Achilles heel. Some flyers' fans attribute that to the inconsistent Jekyll-Hyde play of Ilya Bryzgalov this year. Others attribute it to a terrible group of defenseman, but the one universal belief held by most fans is that we absolutely need a #1 Puck-Moving defenseman, and I'm not sure if that's really true or not. Without a real #1 PMD for some period of time now, the Flyers' have still been one of the league's top goal-scoring teams.

And as much as everyone wants to believe the loss of Timonen after next year will cripple the team, the fact is that Timonen does most of his damage offensively on the powerplay. Both Meszaros and Carle were/are consistently better (in terms of getting points) than Timonen at even-strength in prior years. And this year, Luke Schenn has been consistently better @ attaining even-strength points. The loss of Timonen will hurt some defensively and will definitely hurt the powerplay if Gustafsson can't take over his role, but if we replace Timonen w/ a primarily defensive defenseman, I'm not sure our play @ even strength will change all that much.

Obviously, like everyone else I'd LOVE to acquire a #1 defenseman, but I'm thinking more and more that it's not absolutely crucial to the team's success. There's more than 1 way to skin a goat. If the Flyers have to get bye for a few years without a true #1 defenseman, it's definitely doable with the forward core they have.

One of the big problems the Flyers have had (the kind of problem that has led to pucks ending up in the Flyers net) is an inability to get the puck out of their own zone. When we talk about a "puck-moving" defenseman we're not just talking about stats, we're talking about someone who has the ability to move the puck effectively in all three zones. The Flyers currently have one guy who can do that (at the start of last season they had three) and that one guy is probably going to retire after next season. So the need is real.

I don't disagree that they can probably get by, and figure out something that works. But getting a #1 D would make things a lot easier.

 

[BrimFullofAsham45]

We're currently 5th in scoring. 27th in goals against

Both stats are probably a product of playing more games than any other team.

 

[Broad Street Elite]

Both stats are probably a product of playing more games than any other team.

Somewhat correct. 9th in GFA (2.9). 20th in GAA (2.9). We're a .500 team for a reason. We can't have good defense/goaltending and good scoring at the same time.