Every year we read the same Cap worries. But every year it works out. And every year the Flyers are able to make considerable moves and spend money. It's the same this year. And it'll be the same next year.
- MJL

It's really tiresome to hear a bunch of wannabe accountants and finance experts whine about the cap.

Let me break it down for you, Flyers fans: It will all work out.

What happened? Did the Kingsford break?
- jmatchett383

The tank blew up. Need Weber to fill the void in my soul.

If nobody would take Tom Gilbert and his contract for even a 7th round pick, no chance Meszaros (who's recently had 3 major injuries) gets dealt.
- bradleyc4

Then keep his an an excellent #7 in case of injury.

They use that to their advantage. Trade him and retain just enough to exactly meet the cap limit, then LTIR Pronger to get the full savings,
- jmatchett383

That just doesnt make sense to me though. The reason to trade Meszaros is to keep from putting Pronger on LTIR and building cap space by deadline. Otherwise you can put Schenn, Couts, and Rinaldo in the minors for 1 day then LTIR Pronger and Keep Meszaros.

The tank blew up. Need Weber to fill the void in my soul.
- Flyersgod

Meszaros and Read for Weber and Miller.

That just doesnt make sense to me though. The reason to trade Meszaros is to keep from putting Pronger on LTIR and building cap space by deadline. Otherwise you can put Schenn, Couts, and Rinaldo in the minors for 1 day then LTIR Pronger and Keep Meszaros.
- youarewrong

I think Pronger's getting LTIR'd no matter what.

The Flyers coud retain 1.5M of his salary if they had to in a deal. That would still clear 2.5M of Cap space for the Flyers.
- MJL

That would only net them about $500k of room under the cap... one injury and they'd be eating into LTIR anyway.

I'd almost rather keep Mez, send the kids down, and then hope the trade market for dmen expands once other teams either realize that their kids aren't ready and/or some significant injury compels a team to revisit trading for Mez. By then, the last outstanding UFA options will be off the market as well. Start the season in LTIR, then go off it after the trade. Same result, but you don't carry dead cap space.

Other then sentimental reasons, I'm not sure why so many folks want Gagne re-signed so badly. Yes, he played well last year, but the odds of Gagne even being healthy by April are slim at best and he is certainly not the same player he was a few years ago. With Timonen, Lacavalier, Talbot, Hartnell etc.. they have enough leadership/role models, so I would rather save a contract spot and go with youth.

At this point, I would try to move Mez, and if unable, I would reluctantly trade Grossmann and just go with the following:

Forwards
Hartnell-G-Voracek
Schenn-Vinnie-Simmonds
McGinn or Talbot-Coots-Read
Talbot or Hall-Laughton or Hall-Rinaldo
Rosehill

defense
Timonen-Schenn
Streit-Coburn
Gustafsson-Grossman or Mez
Bourdon or Gervais

Goal
Mason & Emery
- BiggE

I feel people posting "Let the kids play" is the new fab of the summer. The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup every season. A 33 year old Simon Gagne with a history of injuries is better then anything we have coming up. He makes us better. Injuries cannot be predicted. To say Gagne is unlikely to be healthy by April, there is no way of knowing this. If we sign Gagne he gets into the way of McGinn but if we keep Meszaros, he gets in the way of Gustafsson playing who's even more deserving of a roster spot. It's simple. Trust me, we need Gagne back.

I feel people posting "Let the kids play" is the new tab of the summer. The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup every season. A 33 year old Simon Gagne with a history of injuries is better then anything we have coming up. He makes us better. Injuries cannot be predicted. To say Gagne is unlikely to be healthy by April, there is no way of knowing this. If we sign Gagne he gets into the way of McGinn but if we keep Meszaros, he gets in the way of Gustafsson playing who's even more deserving of a roster spot. It's simple. Trust me, we need Gagne back.
- dingo8urbaby

That is 100% untrue. Gustafsson (barring injury/craziness) is a top-6, Meszaros would be the #7.

I believe there's another buyout window opening up on July 20.
- bradleyc4

I think that's the window that's only available to teams w/ arbitration cases... I could be wrong.

Big-spending teams don't have the cap-space to absorb his cap-hit... 13/30 teams in the league would go over the cap today if they traded for him w/o the Flyers retaining salary and/or sending a problematic cap hit in return.

Small market teams won't like the discrepancy between his cap hit and real salary... $1.5M might not see like much to Ed Snider, but in a gate-driven league, that's like all the ticket revenue from 1-2 games for a team like FLA or NYI and could mean the difference between being in the black or red.
- Tomahawk

The thing is, the guys available right now are at best 3rd line defenseman. Meszaros, if and when healthy, can be a top 4 guy. He has skills, and a team that is unable to land a top 4 guy will likely be willing to take a chance that he can be that top 4 guy. If he can't then it is only a year.

I think Pronger's getting LTIR'd no matter what.
- jmatchett383

Why? You don't LTIR Pronger unless you have to. If you can't move Meszaros, then its simple, you cant sign Gagne.

That is 100% untrue. Gustafsson (barring injury/craziness) is a top-6, Meszaros would be the #7.
- jmatchett383

this is ludicrous

So you're just okay with a Meszaros being paid 5.5 million this season with a cap hit of 4 million sitting around for half the season? If Meszaros is healthy, he plays. Simple as that. We want to avoid making this decision all together.

Why? You don't LTIR Pronger unless you have to. If you can't move Meszaros, then its simple, you cant sign Gagne.
- youarewrong

Gagne or no Gagne, they'd still be $2M over the cap with Meszaros and Pronger.

That is 100% untrue. Gustafsson (barring injury/craziness) is a top-6, Meszaros would be the #7.
- jmatchett383

July is a little early to tell who will be sitting. If Meszaros is still on the team, then they will compete for a roster spot. And both will likely get nights off in favor of the other.

Is Weber allowed to come to the Flyers today, the 19th, or the day the OS was matched (24th)?
- Flyersgod

You have to let this go, for your own mental health.

The thing is, the guys available right now are at best 3rd line defenseman. Meszaros, if and when healthy, can be a top 4 guy. He has skills, and a team that is unable to land a top 4 guy will likely be willing to take a chance that he can be that top 4 guy. If he can't then it is only a year.
- youarewrong

Not sure that the margin between Mez and guys like Whitney, Gilbert, Hainsey White and Kuba is really that wide, if there is a margin at all.

And I think teams are aware of Mez's history of performing much better as a 3rd-pairing guy playing sheltered minutes. He tends to get exposed in unfavorable matchups.

this is ludicrous

So you're just okay with a Meszaros with being paid 5.5 million this season with a cap hit of 4 million sitting around for half the season? If Meszaros is healthy, he plays. Simple as that. We want to avoid making this decision all together.
- dingo8urbaby

Yes. I don't care what a player makes, I care about his performance. It makes more sense to play a guy who is our best NHL-ready young defenseman who logged huge minutes both for the Flyers and Team Sweden last year as opposed to having him sit and have an older defenseman play out the last year of his deal here.

July is a little early to tell who will be sitting. If Meszaros is still on the team, then they will compete for a roster spot. And both will likely get nights off in favor of the other.
- youarewrong

Again, not true. If a high priced player is healthy enough to play, he simply plays! We have a 7th defenseman. Bruno Gervais.

July is a little early to tell who will be sitting. If Meszaros is still on the team, then they will compete for a roster spot. And both will likely get nights off in favor of the other.
- youarewrong

That I'd be cool with. Gustafsson, good as he might be, is going to have some rough patches. If they do a 60/40 split of games with Gus getting the majority, I'm cool with it.

Again, not true. If a high priced player is healthy enough to play, he simply plays! We have a 7th defenseman. Bruno Gervais.
- dingo8urbaby

Think about what you just said.

Yes. I don't care what a player makes, I care about his performance. It makes more sense to play a guy who is our best NHL-ready young defenseman who logged huge minutes both for the Flyers and Team Sweden last year as opposed to having him sit and have an older defenseman play out the last year of his deal here.
- jmatchett383

It doesn't matter if you care or not. This is also a business. It's a waste of cap space for the Flyers not to make good on their investment. Meszaros just sitting around isn't an option and is a better player then Erik Gustafsson if healthy.

I feel people posting "Let the kids play" is the new fab of the summer. The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup every season. A 33 year old Simon Gagne with a history of injuries is better then anything we have coming up. He makes us better. Injuries cannot be predicted. To say Gagne is unlikely to be healthy by April, there is no way of knowing this. If we sign Gagne he gets into the way of McGinn but if we keep Meszaros, he gets in the way of Gustafsson playing who's even more deserving of a roster spot. It's simple. Trust me, we need Gagne back.
- dingo8urbaby

While injuries can't be predicted, it is a fact that Gagne has not made it through an 82 game season without significant injuries in a long time. I think it's safe to say that chances are relatively slim, that at age 33-34, he will all of sudden stop breaking down.

Yes. I don't care what a player makes, I care about his performance. It makes more sense to play a guy who is our best NHL-ready young defenseman who logged huge minutes both for the Flyers and Team Sweden last year as opposed to having him sit and have an older defenseman play out the last year of his deal here.
- jmatchett383

That's why they hold training camp and preseason games, though. Who knows who will make a strong case and who looks terrible until the competition actually starts. And who knows, Streit could tear his Achilles tomorrow while drinking hot chocolate and all this speculation could be rendered moot.

Gagne or no Gagne, they'd still be $2M over the cap with Meszaros and Pronger.
- jmatchett383

IF you end up keeping Meszaros, then you have the below starting roster.

Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($3.750m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
Brayden Schenn ($3.110m) / Vincent Lecavalier ($4.500m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Maxime Talbot ($1.750m) / Sean Couturier ($1.375m) / Matt Read ($0.900m)
Jay Rosehill ($0.675m) / Adam Hall ($0.600m) / Zac Rinaldo ($0.750m)
DEFENSEMEN
Kimmo Timonen ($6.000m) / Mark Streit ($5.250m)
Chris Pronger ($4.941m) / Braydon Coburn ($4.500m)
Andrej Meszaros ($4.000m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m) / Erik Gustafsson ($1.000m)
GOALTENDERS
Ray Emery ($1.650m)
Steve Mason ($1.500m)
OTHER
Buyout: Oskars Bartulis ($0.100m)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $66,609,356; BONUSES: $2,800,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $490,644

If they can manage to go a few weeks without call-up then they should have enough cap space available without having to LTIR Pronger.