Speculation: Line-ups based on the players we HAVE NOW.

[IceHot]

It's hard to make a lineup with 2 pieces(VL &BS) that don't really thrive/click with the other members of the team. Not a knock on them, these things sometimes happen in Hockey where chemistry and style of play either compliment players or destroy their ability to put up points. Anyway here's my shake up lines:

Lecavalier(or Bellemare)-Claude Giroux-Matt Read
Simmonds-Couturier-Voracek (perfectly Balanced/play well together)
Umberger-B. Schenn-Jason Akeson (Braydon plays his natural position)
Zac Rinaldo-Bellemare (or VL)-Raffl

Depending who they choose to call up:
Ghost or Grossmann-Streit
Schenn-MacDonald
Lauridsen Or Grossman-Del Zotto

In my Opinion (as well as many others) we are one first line LW and one legit balanced defender away from having the tight team we hope for, with the clogs being VL, BS, and Coburn we should trade Coburn and one of those 2 forwards for that forward more fitting our lineup and players surrounding them. Preferabbly a good 2 way player passer who can pot 20-30 goals. It can be someone who's lower minutes are deceiving their possible per game output, goals, and total points. Any ideas out there who is dangling a forward for help on Defense and might need a second line center? Oilers don't count because they can only offer one way offensive players.

 

[Appleyard]

It's hard to make a lineup with 2 pieces(VL &BS) that don't really thrive/click with the other members of the team. Not a knock on them, these things sometimes happen in Hockey where chemistry and style of play either compliment players or destroy their ability to put up points. Anyway here's my shake up lines:

Lecavalier(or Bellemare)-Claude Giroux-Matt Read
Simmonds-Couturier-Voracek (perfectly Balanced/play well together)
Umberger-B. Schenn-Jason Akeson (Braydon plays his natural position)
Zac Rinaldo-Bellemare (or VL)-Raffl

Depending who they choose to call up:
Ghost or Grossmann-Streit
Schenn-MacDonald
Lauridsen Or Grossman-Del Zotto

In my Opinion (as well as many others) we are one first line LW and one legit balanced defender away from having the tight team we hope for, with the clogs being VL, BS, and Coburn we should trade Coburn and one of those 2 forwards for that forward more fitting our lineup and players surrounding them. Preferabbly a good 2 way player passer who can pot 20-30 goals. It can be someone who's lower minutes are deceiving their possible per game output, goals, and total points. Any ideas out there who is dangling a forward for help on Defense and might need a second line center? Oilers don't count because they can only offer one way offensive players.

MDZ cannot play the right side.

Schenn cannot play the left side.

Vinny cannot play LW... he showed that last year. He needs to be 100 miles from Giroux as well.

Simmonds has never played LW.

I think they should have just stuck with the lines they started the year with... they were actually well balanced and well thought out.

Read-Couturier-Simmonds

and

Rinaldo-Bellemare-Akeson

in particular looked great and had instant chemistry.

The problem is not really forwards... this group has a very good argument for being top ten overall in the NHL and top ten in depth. A 1LW would be nice... but defence is a more pressing issue.

But getting a guy who is a top pairing D good enough to make a difference will just be a case of overpaying, as they are rare... and frankly there are arguably less than 40-45 guys in the NHL better than Coburn as defensemen anyway. In Coburn and Streit I think there is a legit argument we have 2 of the best 50-60 Dmen in the NHL. But both are closer to 60 than 1. They are both #2/3s.

Trading Coburn we may as well just tank...

For example... a guy like Josi, Yandle, Seabrook, Voynov, Carlson, Hamhuis, Burns etc... the '2nd tier' D men, is going to cost more than it is worth.

Bouwmeester, Hamhuis, Phaneuf and Yandle are pretty much the best established guys available by trade in the last 5 years. We were in on likely 3/4.

Johnson is one of the only guys traded in the last 5 who has gone on to be a good 1st pairing guy while already an established NHL Dman.

Getting a Dman like that is hard... we dropped hellishly lucky with acquiring Coburn... who is a clear step below those guys.

These guys are very, very hard or very, very expensive to get.

 

[OrangeAndBlackMetal]

I'd sit Rinaldo and try

Bellemare-Jones-Akeson

could maybe get that line going offensively.

 

[Appleyard]

I mean... we have been in on pretty much every 1st pairing D man made available recently:

Suter, Weber and Hamhuis they made concrete plays at.

When Phaneuf was made available there were pretty big rumours the Flyers were in on it.

Burns, Yandle and JBo I am very, very certain they kicked tyres.

I mean, the only feasible ones the Flyers could really have legitimately got were Burns or Bouwmeester.

Now what would they have cost?

Burns & 2012 2nd: Coyle, Setoguchi, 1st round pick (#28).

Flyers ~equivalent:

Burns to Flyers

for

2011 1st round pick (#8, Couturier) and JVR? Maybe less than JVR, but what else di we have?

Bouwmeester: 2013 1st (#22), Cundari and Berra.

Flyers ~equivalent:

Bouwmeester to Flyers

for

2013 1st (#11, Morin) and throw in.

Bouwmeester would be the easier to swallow, he is better overall and the price is nicer... but would he make that much of a difference? Would he turn us into a contender? We would likely be a regular playoff team for the next ~4 years from this moment without making much noise and then he would start to decline. Though we would have had to make further moves to get him under the cap at the time...