GDT: Pre-Season #1: Mon., Sept. 16, 2019: Islanders at FLYERS, 7:00 pm ET

[Rebels57]

assorted thoughts...

Hayes, as mentioned, looked pretty terrific. I'm sure he felt he had something to prove tonight, and he did. Good mindset to have, and if he keeps up that play he'll be an excellent addition.

Braun was very solid. I forget who said they didn't realize he had such a good stick...I mean, yeah, that's always been his thing. He's a very strong defensive defenseman who skates pretty well. Had a couple sloppy passes. That's what you're gonna get. He's very solid. He's no amazing, but he's a sure thing back there.

Ghost was Ghost.

Farabee had a rough go, but he didn't exactly have great opportunity there. I want to see him with some talent next to him

Rubtsov looked very smart and smooth and willing to get dirty when needed. Nothing spectacular, but encouraging.

Myers is the ****ing man. I've said it a million times: in three years, he might be the best of the whole bunch. He is the real damn deal. His only hangups were in his decision-making: Sometimes he has too many options and ends up just skating into something. Knock that habit out and oh boy.

Zamula is intriguing and is an excellent defensive prospect. Man, if one or him of Myers really hits...

Vorobyev had a bad one. Invisible most of the time, but was downright atrocious on the one PK, I think it was the third of the Islanders' five straight, just falling all over himself. I think he has a mental block. He was an ace last preseason.

The scheme, although it didn't result in a win, was much more fun to watch. More men on the rush, stronger pressure on the halfwalls. The PK was excellent. We'll see how all this comes along, but this team will be far more pleasant on the eye than anything else we've watched recently.

I thought Misha looked pretty good considering who his wingers were. Would like to see a Rubtsov - Misha - Farabee line.

 

[macleish1974]

I thought the defense was better than the offense. Oh wait and we did not have our top 3 D men in the game......? Our D-men were faster/quicker than the forwards? Oh wait, Konecny,Frost, NAK and Laughton didn’t play did they? Their goaltending was better than ours. Oh wait, Hart and Sandstrom didn’t play either did they?

In 2 years if Myers and Big Z are not top 4, Undrafted FAs to boot, I will be surprised.

 

[Rich Nixon]

I thought Misha looked pretty good considering who his wingers were. Would like to see a Rubtsov - Misha - Farabee line.

I dunno, I was really into him last preseason and enjoyed the hell out of what he did then...and it's like I haven't seen that same guy since. Just kinda on a long drift to me. We'll see what he does next time around.

I wanna see Sandstrom in net tomorrow, hopefully he will be. He looked great in the rookie game, let's see how he handles a couple pros.

It's amazing: In two or three years we could have a top-tier defense and goaltending tandem, all homegrown. Pinch me, but I never thought I'd see that from the Flyers. We'll be trading a very good defenseman for a very good forward at some point down the line.

 

[Stizzle]

You’d have to be crazy to think Zamula is a better prospect though.

 

[baudib1]

Ratcliffe has a long ways to go.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Still not ready to place Zamula ahead of Ratcliffe in the end game. Certainly willing to reinforce that Zamula has a good chance to play as a third pairing guy in the NHL. Reach, size, smarts, anticipation, agility. Not great speed. One game, as many said. But he showed NHL potential. So did Oskars Bartulis.

 

[KrazyKat]

Ratcliffe has a long ways to go.

I agree! I think 1 if not 2 full years In The AHL.

I think Frost/Farabee could use some time in the minors too. But I’m still down to give them a look with some better players.

I’ve seen mixed reviews on Rubtsov. I think he has a good shot. And is a decent skater.
Vorobyev looks to as good as he did last pre season too.

Tbh, I’m not sure. I think tomorrow’s game will help. Maybe Laughton plays well. Maybe Andreoff or Gabriel play well.

These things may be hard to swallow. But I do agree if the kids arn’t ready. They shouldn’t be gifted a spot.

You could very well see this :

Giroux - Couturier - Konecny
JVR - Hayes - Voracek
Laughton - Patrick - Lindblom
Raffl - Andreoff - Aubé Kubel / Pitlick

And One of Frost, Rubtsov, Farabee, Vorobyev earn call ups when they dominate the AHL.

Things don’t always need to rushed. Hextall tried preaching this before and a lot of people didn’t seem to get it.

Lots of fans start penciling in these kids, and when they get there and do nothing they wonder why?

And oh yeah. Chris Stewart... I hope u have fun in training camp. You will never play in the NHL again. But you seem like a good dude.

 

[flyerslducks]

lindblom is exactly what this team needs. Consistent, hard working player who will do anything and can complement any line nicely.

 

[flyerslducks]

Giroux - Couturier - Konecny
JVR - Hayes - Voracek
Laughton - Patrick - Lindblom
Raffl - Andreoff - Aubé Kubel / Pitlick

.

I wouldn't mind reuniting the top line. I love tk there too but this also looks ok:

G-Couts-Voracek
JVR-Hayes-TK
Farabee/frost-patrick-lindblom
raffl-rubstov/andreoff-laughton

gives hayes/jvr a speedier player. Laughton can interchanged with anyone for 4c duties even though I like his speed more on wing. Him and raffl are great on the forecheck if they can have someone else be center

 

[Winston Wolf]

Everyone is raving about Myers, but I thought Zamula had the better game. His only glaring mistake was getting his shot blocked at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of his game for me. Myers is obviously the superior physical talent, but he still makes too many mistakes with the puck (which is fine and to be expected for his age and experience level) whereas I thought Zamula almost always made the simple, yet effective play with the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. I was also impressed with his stickhandling and ability to calmly handle bouncing pucks. He also thinks the game well and moves the puck quickly under pressure which is the biggest hurdle to being NHL players for guys like Hagg and Morin.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

hard to criticize players, who have had three practices together, learning a new system,and aren't used to playing with each.

 

[Bob Clarke Fan Club]

Zamula and Hayes impressed IMO.

 

[deadhead]

Everyone is raving about Myers, but I thought Zamula had the better game. His only glaring mistake was getting his shot blocked at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of his game for me. Myers is obviously the superior physical talent, but he still makes too many mistakes with the puck (which is fine and to be expected for his age and experience level) whereas I thought Zamula almost always made the simple, yet effective play with the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. I was also impressed with his stickhandling and ability to calmly handle bouncing pucks. He also thinks the game well and moves the puck quickly under pressure which is the biggest hurdle to being NHL players for guys like Hagg and Morin.

Myers will be similar to Sanheim as a rookie, except where Sanheim had his struggles early in the season, Myers had his last year in his cameo.

Myers is my unicorn, but I think he'll have an up and down first half of the season as he tries to do too much and AV growls at him and Yeo beats him around the ears. Then at some point the light will go on, he'll realize "less is more," relax, let the game come to him and take his play up a notch or two.

Where Myers has an advantage over Sanheim starting out is his defensive potential, with his size and skating, as long as he plays good positional hockey he's almost impossible to beat, he can just engulf smaller players.

 

[hatcher]

Everyone is raving about Myers, but I thought Zamula had the better game. His only glaring mistake was getting his shot blocked at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of his game for me. Myers is obviously the superior physical talent, but he still makes too many mistakes with the puck (which is fine and to be expected for his age and experience level) whereas I thought Zamula almost always made the simple, yet effective play with the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. I was also impressed with his stickhandling and ability to calmly handle bouncing pucks. He also thinks the game well and moves the puck quickly under pressure which is the biggest hurdle to being NHL players for guys like Hagg and Morin.

Myers wasn't anything special thats forsure. Zamula was better.

 

[hatcher]

hard to criticize players, who have had three practices together, learning a new system,and aren't used to playing with each.

Post of the year. No player was really gonna stand out. The young fowards are slower and not that good for all the hype either.

 

[Curufinwe]

Frost was invisible.

 

[Striiker]

Haven't noticed York much either. Disappointing for a 1st round pick.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Everyone is raving about Myers, but I thought Zamula had the better game. His only glaring mistake was getting his shot blocked at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of his game for me. Myers is obviously the superior physical talent, but he still makes too many mistakes with the puck (which is fine and to be expected for his age and experience level) whereas I thought Zamula almost always made the simple, yet effective play with the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. I was also impressed with his stickhandling and ability to calmly handle bouncing pucks. He also thinks the game well and moves the puck quickly under pressure which is the biggest hurdle to being NHL players for guys like Hagg and Morin.

As has been said, if you combined the two skillsets, it's like the perfect defenseman.

Myers is always going to stand out individually. He's a physical monster with elite (and I don't throw that word around lightly) tools. He wins every footrace. It's hard to watch his shifts and not notice him and have that stick with you- in a good way.

Zamula is a lot more subtle and heady and you really need to watch him to appreciate his game. Ridiculously soft hands for a player of his height. Tremendous passer. Tons of breakups. I mean there's a reason why he was able to compete in NHL preseason games 3 months after going undrafted at about 165 pounds. Really smart player. He's moving his feet better this year both with the puck and without it. Still question his skating in stride and while carrying the puck, but there's more than enough there to be an effective NHL player.

I'm a big stats guy, but it's still crazy to think these two guys went undrafted. I'm not going to pretend that I watched them in their draft years, but players of their size and raw talent aren't easy to find. It's not out of the question that they could conceivably be a top 4 NHL pair someday. Considering their on-ice personnel decisions, I'm not sure how they did it, but the Hextall-era amateur defensemen selections and signings were off the charts.

Who is better in the long run? That's a good question I think and not one I thought I'd ask so soon. Myers has the clearer path of course, but I do wonder if Zamula's skillset is a little more projectable to true NHL success.

 

[SanBlom]

Everyone is raving about Myers, but I thought Zamula had the better game. His only glaring mistake was getting his shot blocked at the end, but that doesn't take away from the rest of his game for me. Myers is obviously the superior physical talent, but he still makes too many mistakes with the puck (which is fine and to be expected for his age and experience level) whereas I thought Zamula almost always made the simple, yet effective play with the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. I was also impressed with his stickhandling and ability to calmly handle bouncing pucks. He also thinks the game well and moves the puck quickly under pressure which is the biggest hurdle to being NHL players for guys like Hagg and Morin.

Gotta agree with this. He looked very comfortable out there. There was a turnover early in the D Zone but other than that I would say he was one of our best players on the ice.

 

[tucson83]

i think hayes is going to be most underrated signing in fa. im betting alot of fans in the nhl are going to ask why didnt we go after hayes instead of spending 10 million dollars on this guy.

 

[deadhead]

Who is better in the long run? That's a good question I think and not one I thought I'd ask so soon. Myers has the clearer path of course, but I do wonder if Zamula's skillset is a little more projectable to true NHL success.

The only thing that will keep Myers from being a star is if he can't pick up the nuances of playing defense and ends up another talented underachiever like Pitkanen. But his issues seem to be more inexperience and trying to do too much than lack of instincts.

Zamula is like Provorov Jr, prematurely mature, has great instincts and is a smooth athlete. But he's not in the same class as Myers as far as talent, Myers just does things that should be outlawed for guys his size, he skates like a 6'0 "skill" offensive defenseman, deking people where most guys his size (see Morin) would just try to run them over.

 

[landsbergfan]

NHL posted a condensed version of the game for those who may have missed it