Simmonds and Voracek time to go

[deadhead]

That's like saying Myers isn't a good prospect because he can't beat out Folin. He's actually a great prospect, but the GM won't promote him for reasons that make no sense whatsoever.

Out of all those guys, Twarynski is the only one who's upside is NHL 4th liner. The rest of them have the potential to be top 9 guys if developed properly. In particular, putting Ratcliffe on the Flyers 4th line as a 20 year old would be a disgrace.

He won't promote Myers b/c Myers was erratic the first couple months in LHV, a great game followed by a stinker . . .
Now I think it's more about evaluating the roster and the prospects before making moves, which is why I expect serious moves come February.

It doesn't make sense to put someone like Ratcliffe on the 4th line in his first professional year when he could play a big role in the AHL.
Once he's shown he's too good for the AHL, a 4th line role that can allow him to show he deserves more is fine on a deep team.

Lot's of guys for the bottom six, NAK, Twarynski, Bunnaman, Vorobyev, then Sushko, Cates, etc.
Guys like Rubtsov might play there but have more talent.
Guys like Strome probably aren't good fits b/c he can't skate fast enough to be good forechecker on an energy line.

 

[Rebels57]

We do know this. But NAK needs to play doesn't he? Neither should be on the 3rd line...and NAK and Laughton as wingers on the 4th line makes more sense than re-signing Raffl for 2-3 million.

Who is replacing Simmonds next season?

That's where I am factoring NAK in.

Bottom 6 wingers

Lindblom/JVR (one in top 6 one in bottom 6)
NAK
Laughton
Raffl

Signing Panarin would potential change all of this though.

 

[Striiker]

It's not about what you or I think though. The organization is going to try hard to acquire an established top 4 defensemen. They've mentioned it ad nauseum. That's why I am factoring that in. If we trade/sign one, there won't be a need for Gudas going forward. I also still wouldn't rule out Gudas getting traded at THIS deadline.

Sure. I wasn't predicting what would happen, just saying what I'd like to be done.

When it comes to predictions... who the hell knows? I don't trust Fletcher and, until he does something to change my mind, I'm going to try to mentally prepare for the worst.

 

[FlyersMania2]

Who is replacing Simmonds next season?

That's where I am factoring NAK in.

Bottom 6 wingers

Lindblom/JVR (one in top 6 one in bottom 6)
NAK
Laughton
Raffl

Signing Panarin would potential change all of this though.

We've leaned on Simmonds too much for 2 years for what he can bring to the table. I'd like NAK in the lineup so we can all see him play a bit more. Not sure why Fletcher won't do that but happily lets Weise pretend to be a pro hockey player on this team.

 

[hatcher]

We've leaned on Simmonds too much for 2 years for what he can bring to the table. I'd like NAK in the lineup so we can all see him play a bit more. Not sure why Fletcher won't do that but happily lets Weise pretend to be a pro hockey player on this team.

Kids will be up in afew weeks

 

[FlyersMania2]

Kids will be up in afew weeks

Hopefully. I don't get why we can't see Myers instead of MacDonald regularly as well

 

[Tripod]

Who is replacing Simmonds next season?

That's where I am factoring NAK in.

Bottom 6 wingers

Lindblom/JVR (one in top 6 one in bottom 6)
NAK
Laughton
Raffl

Signing Panarin would potential change all of this though.

Who replaces Simmonds? Don't know. But we have lots of Cap space and you Holmgren and Scott will be telling Fletch to go spend money.

If we can't land any...I would much rather leave that 1 extra spot open for Allison, Laczynski, etc...

We just don't need to pay 2-3 million for a 4th liner anymore. Let the kids play and see who rises and demands more icetime. We went thru this 5 years to finally have depth. Let them play and FORCE their way up.

It's why I also don't want to spend that 4-6 million on mid level guys. Go big, or run with all kids.

 

[FlyersMania2]

Who replaces Simmonds? Don't know. But we have lots of Cap space and you Holmgren and Scott will be telling Fletch to go spend money.

If we can't land any...I would much rather leave that 1 extra spot open for Allison, Laczynski, etc...

We just don't need to pay 2-3 million for a 4th liner anymore. Let the kids play and see who rises and demands more icetime.

Kids should be playing now like we're holding auditions for roster spots. Simmonds 2.0 is not the improved version but it's the version we've had for 2 years. Filling Simmonds 1.0 shoes would be more challenging.

 

[hatcher]

Hopefully. I don't get why we can't see Myers instead of MacDonald regularly as well

We will. Fletcher has to deal first and treating players fair wether we like them or not is the right thing to do. Mac will play until traded or atleast sit upstairs.

 

[Rich Nixon]

We will. Fletcher has to deal first and treating players fair wether we like them or not is the right thing to do. Mac will play until traded or atleast sit upstairs.

...MacDonald has been treated more than fairly by this organization, and $5 million to watch from above so a kid can play during a lost season is hardly an unfair ask of a professional athlete.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

...MacDonald has been treated more than fairly by this organization, and $5 million to watch from above so a kid can play during a lost season is hardly an unfair ask of a professional athlete.

wonder if they could loan him out overseas. he could go play with vdv again.

 

[Curufinwe]

You could swap MacDonald with Myers right now. Keep Folin just in case he would get claimed on waivers.

 

[Rebels57]

Who replaces Simmonds? Don't know. But we have lots of Cap space and you Holmgren and Scott will be telling Fletch to go spend money.

If we can't land any...I would much rather leave that 1 extra spot open for Allison, Laczynski, etc...

We just don't need to pay 2-3 million for a 4th liner anymore. Let the kids play and see who rises and demands more icetime. We went thru this 5 years to finally have depth. Let them play and FORCE their way up.

It's why I also don't want to spend that 4-6 million on mid level guys. Go big, or run with all kids.

There's no chance Allison or Tanner skip the AHL. Neither have done enough to deserve going right from the NCAA to the NHL.

There's also no reason to think Raffl would get that much money.

I don't see many prospects that would be competing for that 4th line winger on the Flyers next season. NAK if we sign a big-ticket free agent. Twarysnki? He's nothing special. The good thing is, I doubt Raffl is in high-demand so they can take their shots on others and if they miss out circle back to Raffl as a depth option.

 

[Rebels57]

You could swap MacDonald with Myers right now. Keep Folin just in case he would get claimed on waivers.

That's too easy. We must suffer longer.

 

[Rebels57]

...MacDonald has been treated more than fairly by this organization, and $5 million to watch from above so a kid can play during a lost season is hardly an unfair ask of a professional athlete.

Who is suggesting that worthless garbage hasnt been treated fairly? The fact that he has even earned $1 for his play is unjust.

 

[deadhead]

There's no chance Allison or Tanner skip the AHL. Neither have done enough to deserve going right from the NCAA to the NHL.

There's also no reason to think Raffl would get that much money.

I don't see many prospects that would be competing for that 4th line winger on the Flyers next season. NAK if we sign a big-ticket free agent. Twarysnki? He's nothing special. The good thing is, I doubt Raffl is in high-demand so they can take their shots on others and if they miss out circle back to Raffl as a depth option.

Did you see what 4th line types got last summer?
Ryan Reaves (31) - 2yr, $5.5M
Antoine Roussel (29) - 4yr, $12M
Thomas Plekanec (36) - 1yr, $2.25M + $1.25M in performance bonuses
Blake Comeau (32) - 3yr, $7.2M
Jay Beagle (33) - 4yr, $12M
Kyle Brodziak (34) - 2yr, $2.3M
Matt Calvert (29) - 3yr, $8.4M
Leo Komarov (31) - 4yr, $12M

Komarov is the only one with production to justify his first season (and he has terrible advanced metrics).
Yet teams were giving out $2-3M a year, many on 3-4 year deals, to players with worse track records and older their first FA year than Raffl.

 

[Tripod]

There's no chance Allison or Tanner skip the AHL. Neither have done enough to deserve going right from the NCAA to the NHL.

There's also no reason to think Raffl would get that much money.

I don't see many prospects that would be competing for that 4th line winger on the Flyers next season. NAK if we sign a big-ticket free agent. Twarysnki? He's nothing special. The good thing is, I doubt Raffl is in high-demand so they can take their shots on others and if they miss out circle back to Raffl as a depth option.

If we do strike out on UFA's, we have more than enough assets to trade for a much better upgrade.

We are finally in a place not to "settle" on 30 year old 4th liners who "might" get 20 points. I want to aim higher.

 

[Rebels57]

If we do strike out on UFA's, we have more than enough assets to trade for a much better upgrade.

We are finally in a place not to "settle" on 30 year old 4th liners who "might" get 20 points. I want to aim higher.

I'm telling @Appleyard on you.

 

[Tripod]

I'm telling @Appleyard on you.

Go ahead....lol.

About 2-3 years ago, I said we would be in good shape when Raffl was finally playing on our 4th line. I expected that to happen while on his current contract....not on his next one.

I am not a Raffl hater at all. I just think it's time to move on.

Now if we strike out on every UFA and can't get a trade done, and he wants to sign for 1 million for 1 year, then go ahead. But in no way do I sign him for multiple years at 2+ million.

 

[deadhead]

We should view next year as a rebuilding season, not a tank season, but one where we play young players and avoid veteran patches for the most part.
My view on the roster is answer one question, will the player contribute in 2021-22, both on the ice, and if a veteran, as a mentor to the prospects.

 

[Lord Defect]

Who replaces Simmonds? Don't know. But we have lots of Cap space and you Holmgren and Scott will be telling Fletch to go spend money.

If we can't land any...I would much rather leave that 1 extra spot open for Allison, Laczynski, etc...

We just don't need to pay 2-3 million for a 4th liner anymore. Let the kids play and see who rises and demands more icetime. We went thru this 5 years to finally have depth. Let them play and FORCE their way up.

It's why I also don't want to spend that 4-6 million on mid level guys. Go big, or run with all kids.

Trading for Stone fixes that hole.

 

[baudib1]

We should be in win-now mode next year.

 

[TheKingPin]

Our biggest path is FA. There are some big name players out there that will be worth the money, we have the money. We can get even more by dumping pure garbage. We can a lot more still if we trade Voracek. Our focus should be Panarin, Stone, EK. A lot of good teams need that big UFA to help them. This is that summer.

 

[AdamParrot]

TSN started talking about Simmonds more and more. It's good for us. For his value.

 

[FlyTimmo]

TSN started talking about Simmonds more and more. It's good for us. For his value.

My inside sources tell me that Cale Makar and Ottawa's 1st are both on the table for Simmonds. And I get it, Simmonds has those generational intangibles.