News Article: Flyers' Hartnell: The player that keeps on giving

[shipwreck]

Flyers' Hartnell: The player that keeps on giving

Flyers left winger Scott Hartnell, two years removed from scoring a career-high 37 goals, is not having his best season.

Off the ice, however, he is an all-star.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...artnell__The_player_that_keeps_on_giving.html

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[shipwreck]

Thought it was a nice story - although the writer stills gets in a few digs about Hartnell's performance on the team while still trying to give him a pat on the back

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

This is why I really want him to pick it up. He seems like such a great guy, it sucks to see him struggle, especially because it gets all of our fans calling for his head.

 

[RJ8812*]

Not to be a dick, but I really don't care what he does off the ice. All that matters is that he produces on the ice, and he isn't

I'd love for this team to ship him out, but I just don't see it happening

 

[RonHextall27]

Sometimes a players value to the team goes above the numbers he puts up on the ice. Hartnell is a glue guy, and guaranteed he is one of the main reasons why this team has turned it around. Maybe his play hasn't been up to the lofty expectations of some fans, but I would say there isn't a single player in that room that he wouldn't go to bat for or wouldn't go to bat for him.

As for his salary, take a look on capgeek of comparable cap hits and tell me how many of those guys you would rather have for the price. Only a handful of guys in my mind.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Sometimes a players value to the team goes above the numbers he puts up on the ice. Hartnell is a glue guy, and guaranteed he is one of the main reasons why this team has turned it around. Maybe his play hasn't been up to the lofty expectations of some fans, but I would say there isn't a single player in that room that he wouldn't go to bat for or wouldn't go to bat for him.

As for his salary, take a look on capgeek of comparable cap hits and tell me how many of those guys you would rather have for the price. Only a handful of guys in my mind.

I agree with you but I also understand why people are frustrated with his play. Being a good locker room presence is hard to quantify, and also, is questionable in terms of what that is actually worth cap-wise.

I think he can still bounce back and while I don't see another 30 goal season in the future, I still think he can produce near 50 points for another couple years.

 

[RonHextall27]

I think, 20 goals and 45 points are not entirely out of reach this year, and would definitely salvage his season following a poor start. That is decent value for a 4.5M good teammate, who would skate through walls for the guys. My only thing with him is the dumb minors 200 ft from his own net.

 

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

He really needs to pick it up if he hopes to get 20+. 6 goals and 15 points thru 33 games isn't really on pace.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Hartnell can be very good for chunks at a time. Hopefully he gets hot at the right time

 

[ponder719]

As for his salary, take a look on capgeek of comparable cap hits and tell me how many of those guys you would rather have for the price. Only a handful of guys in my mind.

Honestly, for me, it's not about having a particular guy to replace him for the price. What I'd rather have than Hartnell Down is the flexibility to acquire a higher-priced guy in a deal every once in a while without having to pay through the nose to get the other team to take back enough salary to make it cap compliant.

Prime example is when we had to trade Upshall for Carcillo to get cap compliant, and in addition to taking the hit in talent, we also had to pay a 2nd. If we had some cap flexibility, we would never have had to make that deal, and could either have kept Upshall and the 2, or been able to make a hockey-motivated deal, instead of a financially-motivated one.

I like Scott Hartnell, don't get me wrong, but what he provides to the team can be provided by other players, and his cap hit carries with it opportunity costs that go above and beyond his salary/performance ratio. That's the reason I'd be willing to find him a new home.

 

[JustJim]

Hartnell's game is best when he stands in front of the goal crease and gets tip-ins. He's been trying to play a finesse game this year, staying outside of the slot or behind the net.....it's not working!
Hartnell should abandon the finesse tactics and get back to playing what he's best at, annoying the opposition!

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

Hartnell's game is best when he stands in front of the goal crease and gets tip-ins. He's been trying to play a finesse game this year, staying outside of the slot or behind the net.....it's not working!
Hartnell should abandon the finesse tactics and get back to playing what he's best at, annoying the opposition!

Damn true!

And with Schenn and Simmonds on his line he has nice company to do so .

 

[SgtJoseph*]

Sometimes a players value to the team goes above the numbers he puts up on the ice. Hartnell is a glue guy, and guaranteed he is one of the main reasons why this team has turned it around. Maybe his play hasn't been up to the lofty expectations of some fans, but I would say there isn't a single player in that room that he wouldn't go to bat for or wouldn't go to bat for him.

As for his salary, take a look on capgeek of comparable cap hits and tell me how many of those guys you would rather have for the price. Only a handful of guys in my mind.

Well said...........Harts is a very valuable player whether he is or is not scoring . Our club needs a big body who is willing to go into the dirty areas and Harts and Simmer both do it well . Hopefully they both stay healthy .

 

[BernieParent]

I'm pretty convinced that Hartnell will get into a hot streak near the end of the season and maybe (God willing) into the playoffs. He can work on regaining his form on the third line for the time being, and when Downie is back, it will be up to Hartnell, Simmonds and Raffl to show who doesn't deserve to be moved to the fourth line.

 

[FlyingPhilly]

Well said...........Harts is a very valuable player whether he is or is not scoring . Our club needs a big body who is willing to go into the dirty areas and Harts and Simmer both do it well . Hopefully they both stay healthy .

I disagree. If Hartnell is not producing then he is a liability on the ice.

 

[Appleyard]

I'm pretty convinced that Hartnell will get into a hot streak near the end of the season and maybe (God willing) into the playoffs. He can work on regaining his form on the third line for the time being, and when Downie is back, it will be up to Hartnell, Simmonds and Raffl to show who doesn't deserve to be moved to the fourth line.

I think Simmonds has already pulled himself out of that battle tbh, 10 goals and 22 points in his last 32, joint 1st on the team in goals and 3rd in points. Been on ice for the 3rd most ES goals and 2nd most PP goals.

 

[GKJ]

Well said...........Harts is a very valuable player whether he is or is not scoring . Our club needs a big body who is willing to go into the dirty areas and Harts and Simmer both do it well . Hopefully they both stay healthy .

They're paying him to score goals. Period.

 

[RJ8812*]

Well said...........Harts is a very valuable player whether he is or is not scoring . Our club needs a big body who is willing to go into the dirty areas and Harts and Simmer both do it well . Hopefully they both stay healthy .

no he's not

You don't pay a player $4.75m to only "get into the dirty areas." You expect a level of production if you're getting paid that much and for the past 2 seasons, he has not done that