Hextall...What Have His Positives Been To-Date?

[renberg]

I like MDZ but I am not interested in giving him a long term deal. offer him 2 years-2.5-3 million per. if he says no wish him luck and have him go look elsewhere and take the compensation.

Absolutely. He's not replaceable. I don't see him doing more than Ghost can once he gets settled into NHL play. MDZ's biggest problem has always been that if he has a little success he starts to think that he's more than he really is. If I were to pick one guy off of this roster who could have a AMac type drop off in play next season it would be MDZ.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Absolutely. He's not replaceable. I don't see him doing more than Ghost can once he gets settled into NHL play. MDZ's biggest problem has always been that if he has a little success he starts to think that he's more than he really is. If I were to pick one guy off of this roster who could have a AMac type drop off in play next season it would be MDZ.

well I hope he learned those lessons from getting to complacent. That attitude almost got him out of the league. he got a 2nd chance and took advantage of it and had a good year. likely a better year than anyone could of expected.
I think he will accept his QO. Than they can work on a contract which should be no longer than 2 years.

 

[HighOFFHockey]

Its funny all the people claiming MDZ shouldn't get much. MDZ was a top 10 scoring dman at even strength this year.

MDZ is going to get paid either by us or someone else.

no less than $3mil a year for 2 years is my guess. I assume itll be around 3.25-3.75 over 2 years. Which is a good deal for a player of his caliber. I think the move is to get rid of any Dman not Streit, DZ, or Shultz. Leave the other spots open for FA and Rookies.

It won't be easy to do, but its the logical decision. That leaves us with DZ - Shultz and Streit - McDonald for next season with Manning as the 7th.
Grossman and Schenn are movable and that's why they will get traded.

 

[Rebels57]

no less than $3mil a year for 2 years is my guess. I assume itll be around 3.25-3.75 over 2 years. Which is a good deal for a player of his caliber. I think the move is to get rid of any Dman not Streit, DZ, or Shultz. Leave the other spots open for FA and Rookies.

It won't be easy to do, but its the logical decision. That leaves us with DZ - Shultz and Streit - McDonald for next season with Manning as the 7th.
Grossman and Schenn are movable and that's why they will get traded.

You forgot Gudas.

 

[HighOFFHockey]

You forgot Gudas.

Good point. I suspect he could get traded as well before ever playing a game.

The D is so crowded its worth it to move any piece you can. We have 0 untouchables at the NHL level and only Del Zotto and Streit being actual top 4 Dmen. Everyone else is mix and match.

 

[DrHamburg]

I am not sure how I feel about Hextall yet.

Positives
+Coburn Trade, he got a fantastic return for him
+Kimmo contract and then trade. Again, fantastic return for him.
+Signing Schultz, I hated the deal but thought he played well this season.
+Bellemare, has proved to be a deal.
+B.Schenn deal

Negatives
-Rinaldo Deal....seriously what was he thinking?
-Schultz Extension, thought he played worse as the season went on. Didn't have a need for him and I have no faith he will repeat his success this season.
-Not dealing Grossmann, didn't go full sell mode at the deadline and should have. Why he kept Grossmann when D-men were getting traded for high amounts was just silly.
-Craig Berube, how is this guy still employed? He should've been dumped. No way he deserved to be a head coach throughout the entire season.
-Berube/Reese/Mason situation. Flyers finally have an elite goalie, they had a great relationship and it was ended by essentially Berube's handling of Mason. How does Hextall let this go? Especially when most think Berube is going to get fired. He threw mason under the bus and threw him in early when Mason admittedly said he wasn't ready.
-Ghost situation, got called up, dicked around by Berube and scratched for a game at Florida which we all remember. Then got injured and followed up with some odd handling that he may or may not be back this season. I am not even a huge Ghost fan but the handling of him this season was quite bizarre.

On the Fence
=MDZ Signing, hard to give Hextall credit when the only reason he signed him was due to Kimmo having blood clots. Not to mention he was pretty much the only NHL D-man available at the time. If he gives him a nice contract I will be happy, if he overpays as a RFA, I will slot this as a negative.
=Hartnell for Umberger trade. Good lord Umberger has been bad. Lets see if Hartnell regresses and what they do with the Umberger cap space, but it is still a hard pill to swallow if we are stuck with Umberger for 2 more years and he plays this badly. Essentially threw 3 years of cap space away for a chance of 2 solid years.

I realize that Hextall has had his hands tied so I cannot blame him as most of his deals are working for the future, but this team had a chance to compete without throwing seasons away, right now he threw away this season and if he doesn't fire Berube he pretty much already threw next season away.

 

[Curufinwe]

Schultz played well all season against the hardest competition and earned his contract. At the deadline the only other Dman we had who could handle other teams 1st lines got traded and so Schultz had less help after that.

Schultz is the cheap, defensively sound veteran who makes Grossmann and LSchenn expendable this off season so there absolutely was a need for him.

Assuming there was a big market for Grossnann is silly, and he was hurt at the deadline. To move him this summer the Flyers may need to retain salary.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Good point. I suspect he could get traded as well before ever playing a game.

The D is so crowded its worth it to move any piece you can. We have 0 untouchables at the NHL level and only Del Zotto and Streit being actual top 4 Dmen. Everyone else is mix and match.

I don't think Gudas would have been included in the deal if they had no intention of him playing here next year. Hextall & Gudas have history going back to when Gudas was a junior aged player so odds are he saw value in him.

 

[renberg]

I don't think Gudas would have been included in the deal if they had no intention of him playing here next year. Hextall & Gudas have history going back to when Gudas was a junior aged player so odds are he saw value in him.

I don't see a lot of difference between what LSchenn, Grossmann and Gudas bring to the ice. Perhaps Hextall had trading off Schenn and Grossmann in mind when he added Gudas.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I don't see a lot of difference between what LSchenn, Grossmann and Gudas bring to the ice. Perhaps Hextall had trading off Schenn and Grossmann in mind when he added Gudas.

If you ignore contracts than yeah but there's a big difference there. Gudas' caphit will be $991,667 while Schenn's will be $3.6M & Grossmann's will be $3.5M. Gudas will still be an RFA after next year (meaning we'll get more cost controlled years) while Schenn & Grossmann will be UFA's.

You can get two depth players for the price of one by ditching one of Schenn or Grossmann.

 

[renberg]

If you ignore contracts than yeah but there's a big difference there. Gudas' caphit will be $991,667 while Schenn's will be $3.6M & Grossmann's will be $3.5M.

You can get two depth players for the price one by ditching one of Schenn or Grossmann.

Absolutely agree with you on the contracts. To me, that's $6M in cap space for the future. Both of the guys need to be dealt. A team can get away with icing one slow footed defenseman in a game. When they put two of them out there, it doesn't work out as we saw when both Schenn and Grossmann dressed.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Absolutely agree with you on the contracts. To me, that's $6M in cap space for the future. Both of the guys need to be dealt. A team can get away with icing one slow footed defenseman in a game. When they put two of them out there, it doesn't work out as we saw when both Schenn and Grossmann dressed.

I think one of them if definitely going this summer (likely Schenn) but I don't see both. I think Hextall will want a placeholder there for one of the young players to prove themselves whether it be in camp or during the course of the season.

 

[Curufinwe]

I think one of them if definitely going this summer (likely Schenn) but I don't see both.

I agree.

MDZ-Schultz
Grossmann-Streit
MacDonald-Gudas
Manning

or

Schultz-Streit
MDZ-LSchenn
MacDonald-Gudas
Manning

 

[DrHamburg]

Schultz played well all season against the hardest competition and earned his contract. At the deadline the only other Dman we had who could handle other teams 1st lines got traded and so Schultz had less help after that.

Schultz is the cheap, defensively sound veteran who makes Grossmann and LSchenn expendable this off season so there absolutely was a need for him.

Assuming there was a big market for Grossnann is silly, and he was hurt at the deadline. To move him this summer the Flyers may need to retain salary.

Schultz was awful before this season and I felt his play slowed down as the season went on. Hopefully he makes me eat crow But I have a feeling he regresses this season.

And I'd be shocked if it took retaining salary to move grossmann. I'm not a fan of his by any means but he can be a useful bottom pairing and pk guy on a playoff team.

 

[Rebels57]

I am not sure how I feel about Hextall yet.

Positives
+Coburn Trade, he got a fantastic return for him
+Kimmo contract and then trade. Again, fantastic return for him.
+Signing Schultz, I hated the deal but thought he played well this season.
+Bellemare, has proved to be a deal.
+B.Schenn deal

Negatives
-Rinaldo Deal....seriously what was he thinking?
-Schultz Extension, thought he played worse as the season went on. Didn't have a need for him and I have no faith he will repeat his success this season.
-Not dealing Grossmann, didn't go full sell mode at the deadline and should have. Why he kept Grossmann when D-men were getting traded for high amounts was just silly.
-Craig Berube, how is this guy still employed? He should've been dumped. No way he deserved to be a head coach throughout the entire season.
-Berube/Reese/Mason situation. Flyers finally have an elite goalie, they had a great relationship and it was ended by essentially Berube's handling of Mason. How does Hextall let this go? Especially when most think Berube is going to get fired. He threw mason under the bus and threw him in early when Mason admittedly said he wasn't ready.
-Ghost situation, got called up, dicked around by Berube and scratched for a game at Florida which we all remember. Then got injured and followed up with some odd handling that he may or may not be back this season. I am not even a huge Ghost fan but the handling of him this season was quite bizarre.

On the Fence
=MDZ Signing, hard to give Hextall credit when the only reason he signed him was due to Kimmo having blood clots. Not to mention he was pretty much the only NHL D-man available at the time. If he gives him a nice contract I will be happy, if he overpays as a RFA, I will slot this as a negative.
=Hartnell for Umberger trade. Good lord Umberger has been bad. Lets see if Hartnell regresses and what they do with the Umberger cap space, but it is still a hard pill to swallow if we are stuck with Umberger for 2 more years and he plays this badly. Essentially threw 3 years of cap space away for a chance of 2 solid years.

I realize that Hextall has had his hands tied so I cannot blame him as most of his deals are working for the future, but this team had a chance to compete without throwing seasons away, right now he threw away this season and if he doesn't fire Berube he pretty much already threw next season away.

How about Ryan White? Signed him for pennies too.

Rinaldo contract is a non-issue. He's paid near league minimum.

Schultz earned his contract.

Transaction wise, the only negative was the Hartnell-Umberger trade..and as much as it sucked in year 1, we may be counting our lucky stars 2 years from now.

Berube still being around is confusing to me but as long as he is gone this summer, it doesn't matter.

I don't think anyone really knows enough about the Reese situation beyond speculation.

I didn't like the Ghost situation either. Call him up for 2 games, both wins, then send him down for Manning in Florida with his family waiting to watch him play, only to see him return to LHV and tear his ACL. I didn't like the comments in the media that basically said "ill be watching him like a hawk and he has no chance of staying here long term this seaosn regardless of how well he plays." I'm paraphrasing but it was along those lines and its not the best recipe for motivation.

 

[Curufinwe]

Schultz was awful before this season and I felt his play slowed down as the season went on. Hopefully he makes me eat crow But I have a feeling he regresses this season.

And I'd be shocked if it took retaining salary to move grossmann. I'm not a fan of his by any means but he can be a useful bottom pairing and pk guy on a playoff team.

Playoff teams tend to be near the cap and the cap ceiling might not be going up by much.

Schultz outplayed Grossmann this season and has a $2.25m cap hit, but you don't like his contract. Yet you assume a playoff team, i.e. a team better than the Flyers, will want Grossmann at $3.5m.

 

[thelos]

Grossmann didnt get traded because he was injured at the deadline

 

[DrHamburg]

Playoff teams tend to be near the cap and the cap ceiling might not be going up by much.

Schultz outplayed Grossmann this season and has a $2.25m cap hit, but you don't like his contract. Yet you assume a playoff team, i.e. a team better than the Flyers, will want Grossmann at $3.5m.

Sorry if it's not clear but I would've most definitely traded both of them. Neither one should be on this team 2015-2016

 

[DrHamburg]

How about Ryan White? Signed him for pennies too.

Rinaldo contract is a non-issue. He's paid near league minimum.

Schultz earned his contract.

Transaction wise, the only negative was the Hartnell-Umberger trade..and as much as it sucked in year 1, we may be counting our lucky stars 2 years from now.

Berube still being around is confusing to me but as long as he is gone this summer, it doesn't matter.

I don't think anyone really knows enough about the Reese situation beyond speculation.

I didn't like the Ghost situation either. Call him up for 2 games, both wins, then send him down for Manning in Florida with his family waiting to watch him play, only to see him return to LHV and tear his ACL. I didn't like the comments in the media that basically said "ill be watching him like a hawk and he has no chance of staying here long term this seaosn regardless of how well he plays." I'm paraphrasing but it was along those lines and its not the best recipe for motivation.

If he brings white back next season. I'd be very happy. But he only played a handful of games this season. If he gets another 1 year deal I'd certainly count that as a plus.

Agree with you 100% on ghost. The whole year made no sense.

If berube is back next year he is going to play rinaldo. So a lot depends on berube being here next season.

Hard to say about reese situation. I had thought media outlets said he was unhappy about the mason treatment and left. My whole thing is, flyers have an elite goalie, why piss off the goalie coach and play mason when he wasn't ready. Very odd

 

[Striiker]

Mason explicitly stated that he never played when hurt this year, every time he played he was healthy.

 

[klutch]

Tomorrow will be Hextall's best move yet as a GM.......

.....Firing Berube

 

[Rebels57]

Rumor has it, Todd McLellan is getting fired tomorrow. I think a lot of shoes will start to drop once he goes.

 

[Curufinwe]

Sorry if it's not clear but I would've most definitely traded both of them. Neither one should be on this team 2015-2016

Which two dmen would you have playing against other teams 1st lines?

 

[deadhead]

I think Streit will be traded if they sign MDZ, because at his age, and the fact that he faded down the stretch, you want to limit his minute to save him for the PP. Now if the Flyers were contenders, he'd be a nice luxury, but given his age and salary, take the draft picks.

Hextall knows he has to work 3-4 young defensemen into 7 slots the next 2-3 years (If Sanheim adds 10-15 lbs he'll never see the AHL, Morin and Ghost at worst will be pushing for starting jobs in 2016-17, Hagg, Alt and Manning will be pushing for jobs on the 3rd pair and as the 7th D-man).

He also needs some cap relief, to resign some young players and to afford to buy out one or two guys in a year, and to throw in money in a trade or two. If I'm Hextall, my goal is cap flexibility by 2017-18 to add any missing pieces to make a cup run.

 

[Curufinwe]

They are not going to trade Streit this offseason no matter what they do with MDZ.