Funny enough, I was on their board last night looking at the chatter on these 2. Most seem to want to keep 1 for sure to protect their own depth. Some want Eakin and his PK ability, other Haula and his PP ability.
See i don't really agree with this . If they get by Boston i think it was a good move. Their GM thought that this is their year to make some noise and if they are going to lose those two anyways , adding a couple of players to help get them their ain't the worst thing they could have done . Adding those two and not even making the playoffs which was a real possibility would have been terrible but making some noise is a calculated risk and might not look that bad in a few weeks .
These are the sort of desperation moves that Ed Snider made during the end of his life with the Flyers in pursuit of one last Cup. We saw how that ended. Its great to make a move or two in order to strengthen the club's base for the POs but not at the cost of the future. Talk to me in two plus seasons when the BJs are a lottery pick. Duchess and Jones aren't going to be able to make that club more than a less than middling one. With what they could have received in return for Panarin and Borovsky could have kept them at a PO contending level making the other acquisitions unnecessary.
Before those trades they were not making the playoffs at all . And they have not lost those players yet either , if they go on a good run it might help to encourage one of them to stay .
“Man never is, but always to be blest.”
That's not true, because you CAN still trade for a C thru the season.
I'm with you man. You'd think people would have learned that the Hextall plan of just hoping prospects/young players can jump right in and fill key roles for a playoff team doesn't typically work. It takes time for most players to find their game at the NHL level. Look at how long it took Couturier. What's the worst thing that can happen anyway if they sign a free agent center and Patrick and Frost have great seasons. They would have great center depth which is something they haven't had since they had Richards, Carter, Briere, and Giroux. They made that all work just fine.
The contracts that Hayes and Nelson are likely to both get concerns me, so I'm torn in regards to them. That said, they are both upgrades and since they can play wing just as effectively they make a lot of sense. Take away his career year in 18-19 and Nelson is still good for 40-45 points, most of which are at ES. He's a definite upgrade. Like everything else it will come down to cost.
I agree. It’s going to depend on their demands & the market competition. I do expect a lot of competition for all 3 of the centers.
You don’t know that. Way easier said than done. It’s damn hard to trade for 2Cs; & if there are any being shopped, competition will be fierce. Plus, if the Flyers yet again have a hole at 2C, think teams aren’t going to use that as leverage to squeeze the hell out of them? So adding a 2C by trade isn’t something you can just do on demand midseason; & if you do trade for one, you’re going to be weakening your roster elsewhere.
Right — NP would need to improve by 5 points to rank at the bottom of 2C production. I don’t think that’s what you want as your 2C entering a season if you have any aspirations for competing with Tavares/Matthews, Crosby/Malkin, Bergeron/Krejci, Backstrom/Kuznetsov, Barkov/Trochek, Dubois/Duchene (if he re-signs), Barzal/Nelson (if he re-signs) even Hischier/Hughes. You don’t want to risk being below average down the middle by crossing your fingers on players who’ve never been even average 2Cs in the NHL.
You sure don’t know it’s not true; and in my *opinion* if they risk entering the season with Patrick & Frost as their 2C options, & neither makes the unlikely big jump to competing with the 1/2 C pairs I cited above, then it’s a wasted season. Because if you don’t matchup with the best teams in your conference, what’s the point?
Again, I am ok adding a C. I am not ok giving big money and term to 40-50 point centers.
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Courtesy of NBCSP in an article titled: "Chuck Fletcher, Alain Vigneault and the Flyers may have a blueprint in the Islanders."
