Confirmed with Link: Wayne Simmonds traded to Nashville for Ryan Hartman + conditional 4th

[Ghosts Beer]

How did Kuraly prove it? It's not like he had huge AHL point totals or dominated in the AHL playoffs. And yet Boston found a spot for him on their roster, and are reaping the benefits now.

Oskar Lindblom got a chance in the NHL after putting up 34 points (19 ES, 14 PP, 1 SH) in 54 AHL games as a 21 year old. Hardly earth shattering production. But now a year and change later the Flyers know he's a NHL-level 4th liner.

Kuraly is a 6’2” 213 lbs. center who plays strong defense at the center position & takes faceoffs & won a defensive forward of the year award in college.

Luckily for him, I guess, the Bruins needed a big, defensive 4th line C & he’s done enough to stay in the NHL for 2 seasons after getting a chance at age 24.

Sometimes AHLers fit an NHL team’s specific need. Size, good defense, & ability to play C are all advantages for AHLers seeking a 4th line chance. If NAK were bigger & played C, he probably gets called up over Varone & Knight.

But the minors are littered with NAKs & Kuralys. They don’t all “deserve” a full-time NHL spot. It’s the exception, not the rule, when they have long NHL careers. Usually you get Darroll Powe if you’re lucky.

That’s where you have to rely on your team scouts & where, for the fungible AHLers, they need a little luck & timing, & also to make sure & leave a lasting impression in the event they get even a few NHL minutes. Obviously NAK failed at the latter. And no, it’s not the NHL’s job to gift him & every similar AHLer 12-13 minutes with good linemates for a long stretch of games to judge him. Playoffs & jobs are on the line.

 

[tucson83]

Kuraly is a 6’2” 213 lbs. center who plays strong defense at the center position & takes faceoffs & won a defensive forward of the year award in college.

Luckily for him, I guess, the Bruins needed a big, defensive 4th line C & he’s done enough to stay in the NHL for 2 seasons after getting a chance at age 24.

Sometimes AHLers fit an NHL team’s specific need. Size, good defense, & ability to play C are all advantages for AHLers seeking a 4th line chance. If NAK were bigger & played C, he probably gets called up over Varone & Knight.

But the minors are littered with NAKs & Kuralys. They don’t all “deserve” a full-time NHL spot. It’s the exception, not the rule, when they have long NHL careers. Usually you get Darroll Powe if you’re lucky.

That’s where you have to rely on your team scouts & where, for the fungible AHLers, they need a little luck & timing, & also to make sure & leave a lasting impression in the event they get even a few NHL minutes. Obviously NAK failed at the latter. And no, it’s not the NHL’s job to gift him & every similar AHLer 12-13 minutes with good linemates for a long stretch of games to judge him. Playoffs & jobs are on the line.

im guessing that teams that draft bigger players have more luck, that's what boston does, that's what columbus does, bigger players have more advantages than smaller players.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

im guessing that teams that draft bigger players have more luck, that's what boston does, that's what columbus does, bigger players have more advantages than smaller players.

You’re wasting your imaginative sarcastic wit on a Flyers message board. I suggest applying to SNL where your unique powers will be surrounded by similar comedic genius.

 

[tucson83]

You’re wasting your imaginative sarcastic wit on a Flyers message board. I suggest applying to SNL where your unique powers will be surrounded by similar comedic genius.

what is your problem?

 

[Ghosts Beer]

what is your problem?

The exaggerated sarcasm that permeates this board — as if sarcasm masquerades the straw-manning that usually accompanies it — is tiresome & obviously not going to result in serious conversation. So I decided to respond in your own language.

 

[tucson83]

The exaggerated sarcasm that permeates this board — as if sarcasm masquerades the straw-manning that usually accompanies it — is tiresome & obviously not going to result in serious conversation. So I decided to respond in your own language.

what i meant was the flyers should draft bigger players like boston and columbus are doing.

 

[TCTC]

I think you should never just focus on one specific attribute. Size, speed, skill, hockey IQ. It's all important.

You shouldn't be the smallest team, but you also shouldn't be the slowest team.

 

[OzFlyers]

 

[tucson83]

I think you should never just focus on one specific attribute. Size, speed, skill, hockey IQ. It's all important.

You shouldn't be the smallest team, but you also shouldn't be the slowest team.

i agree.

 

[Deadpool8812]

That award should be thrown out. Messier and "leadership" make me LOL

 

[Ghosts Beer]

what i meant was the flyers should draft bigger players like boston and columbus are doing.

My apologies to you (sincerely). I thought you were being sarcastic & trying to act like I was arguing that big players are always better than small. Happens a lot on here and I jumped to that conclusion. I wouldn't have been such an ass if I read your point correctly.

 

[tucson83]

My apologies to you (sincerely). I thought you were being sarcastic & trying to act like I was arguing that big players are always better than small. Happens a lot on here and I jumped to that conclusion. I wouldn't have been such an ass if I read your point correctly.

i accept your apology, yes i understand it's tough to understand what's being worded on here. i do that sometimes too.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

i accept your apology, yes i understand it's tough to understand what's being worded on here. i do that sometimes too.

 

[Curufinwe]

Kuraly is a 6’2” 213 lbs. center who plays strong defense at the center position & takes faceoffs & won a defensive forward of the year award in college.

Luckily for him, I guess, the Bruins needed a big, defensive 4th line C & he’s done enough to stay in the NHL for 2 seasons after getting a chance at age 24.

Sometimes AHLers fit an NHL team’s specific need. Size, good defense, & ability to play C are all advantages for AHLers seeking a 4th line chance. If NAK were bigger & played C, he probably gets called up over Varone & Knight.

But the minors are littered with NAKs & Kuralys. They don’t all “deserve” a full-time NHL spot. It’s the exception, not the rule, when they have long NHL careers. Usually you get Darroll Powe if you’re lucky.

That’s where you have to rely on your team scouts & where, for the fungible AHLers, they need a little luck & timing, & also to make sure & leave a lasting impression in the event they get even a few NHL minutes. Obviously NAK failed at the latter. And no, it’s not the NHL’s job to gift him & every similar AHLer 12-13 minutes with good linemates for a long stretch of games to judge him. Playoffs & jobs are on the line.

The Flyers struggled to get depth scoring at ES and NAK has been one of the best ES scorers in the AHL for the past two seasons. That's a specific need. NAK was hurt in January and again in March which affected his chances of being called up again, and then they had limited recalls after the deadline, so I'm not saying Fletcher should definitely have called him up in the second half of the season. But he's quite clearly done enough hard work in the AHL to be in contention for a 4th line spot in 19-20. Which means about 10 minutes a game, not 12-13.

Playoffs and jobs are on the line, and the Flyers fired the GM, fired the coach who only gave NAK five minutes a game when he was on the team, and then missed the playoffs with Varone, Knight and Bailey not leaving a lasting impression on the 4th line. Dale Weise was getting 14 minutes a game during the time NAK was on the roster, Weal was getting 15, and Lehtera was getting 8. All three of those vets were quickly deemed surplus to requirements by new management, so maybe we don't need to pretend that the Flyers bottom 6 lineup choices were anywhere near perfect in 18-19.

 

[deadhead]

Doubt Fletcher brings up Bailey over NAK if Gordon objected.
When Knight came back, they had Varone on the wing along with Bailey with NAK available.
And Gordon coached him for a year and a half

Watching NAK, he is a bit stiff, but has the size/speed that should be effective on the 4th line.
Of course, Gordon never played his fourth line (7-8 minutes a night) so maybe they thought he was better off in LHV.

 

[Rebels57]

I'll reserve judgement on Hartman til I see what AV does with him. He spoke about carving out roles for players and having them understand what he expects of them.

A 4th line of Laughton, Hartman, and Raffl offers 2 speed options and a good grinder. I'm genuinely excited about that

Now we just need two new top 9 forwards so that hypothetical 4th line is not actually 2/3 of our 3rd line. Once that happens, i'll be excited.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

The Flyers struggled to get depth scoring at ES and NAK has been one of the best ES scorers in the AHL for the past two seasons. That's a specific need. NAK was hurt in January and again in March which affected his chances of being called up again, and then they had limited recalls after the deadline, so I'm not saying Fletcher should definitely have called him up in the second half of the season. But he's quite clearly done enough hard work in the AHL to be in contention for a 4th line spot in 19-20. Which means about 10 minutes a game, not 12-13.

Playoffs and jobs are on the line, and the Flyers fired the GM, fired the coach who only gave NAK five minutes a game when he was on the team, and then missed the playoffs with Varone, Knight and Bailey not leaving a lasting impression on the 4th line. Dale Weise was getting 14 minutes a game during the time NAK was on the roster, Weal was getting 15, and Lehtera was getting 8. All three of those vets were quickly deemed surplus to requirements by new management, so maybe we don't need to pretend that the Flyers bottom 6 lineup choices were anywhere near perfect in 18-19.

I certainly never “pretend[ed]” the Flyers bottom 6 lineup options were anywhere near perfect. All I’ve disagreed with in this thread were the notions that NAK had unquestionably earned a regular, full-time NHL role & that his presence in the organization meant they had no need to acquire Ryan Hartman.

I think it’s quite within management’s purview to assess that Hartman is better than NAK & to think NAK didn’t do enough to earn a full-time NHL job last year. Sure some will disagree, especially because fans love the mystery box of youth, but I don’t think there’s an obvious clear-cut answer either way, as some of NAK’s supporters seem to believe. Certainly I think he’s in contention for the 4th line next season. But with fringe NHLers, a lot boils down to coach & GM preferences for the specific fits of their systems. It’s possible Vigneault will like NAK. Or, it’s possible AV will take a shine to another 4th liner.

 

[The Madrigal]

NAK has got to be one of the most overrated Flyers prospects by fans in a long time. People just keep clamoring for him to be on the Flyers while he has done absolutely nothing to earn that opportunity.

''We don't need Hartman, just put NAK in there.'' I just love comments like that.

 

[The Madrigal]

I certainly never “pretend[ed]” the Flyers bottom 6 lineup options were anywhere near perfect. All I’ve disagreed with in this thread were the notions that NAK had unquestionably earned a regular, full-time NHL role & that his presence in the organization meant they had no need to acquire Ryan Hartman.

I'm right there with you dude. The love affair some people have with this dude is astonishing. He been in the AHL for three seasons and got in 6 games the year before those. He has a whopping 97 points in 217 games if you include the playoffs. If a guy can't do better than score at a 0.447 ppg pace that long into his AHL career perhaps maybe he just isn't NHL material. Id say he's Andreas Nodl 2.0, but that would be an insult to Nodl.

 

[FlyguyOX]

Idk about you guys but I enjoyed what I saw out of Justin Bailey when he was up.

 

[deadhead]

Bailey has size, speed and hustle, unfortunately he also has hands as bad as Rinaldo.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I'm right there with you dude. The love affair some people have with this dude is astonishing. He been in the AHL for three seasons and got in 6 games the year before those. He has a whopping 97 points in 217 games if you include the playoffs. If a guy can't do better than score at a 0.447 ppg pace that long into his AHL career perhaps maybe he just isn't NHL material. Id say he's Andreas Nodl 2.0, but that would be an insult to Nodl.

Haha... he does kind of remind me a bit of Nodl.

 

[The Madrigal]

Me too, except Nodl actually had an 11 goal NHL season which isnt much less than NAK's best AHL season.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

NAK has got to be one of the most overrated Flyers prospects by fans in a long time. People just keep clamoring for him to be on the Flyers while he has done absolutely nothing to earn that opportunity.

''We don't need Hartman, just put NAK in there.'' I just love comments like that.

Thinking i a guy can play on an NHL 4th line after solid production in the AHL is hardly hyping someone up

 

[deadhead]

NAK will get his shot in TC, but this is probably his last chance, same for Bailey.