No, Richard Park is in San Jose helping Jumbo moe his lawn.
- flipneil

Richard Park has actually been playing in the NHL for the past 2 seasons as a member of the Oilers under the assumed name of "Connor McDavid."

What is "Juniors"? Do you mean "Major Junior" hockey in the CHL?
- Deeps27

Important correction right here.

Important correction right here.
- eichiefs9

Darn tootin'. Juniors is amateur hour for a site that charges $3.99/month or $19.99/year.

Eklund: Should the Flyers send Nolan Patrick back to the W?
- Eklund

Can the kid get into camp before asking such inane questions?

Will he be joining Malkin in Chicago when Malkin is the man?
- smellmyfinger

Yes. But only after MAF becomes a Philadelphia Flyer.

Is richard park really Garth?

I havent seen them blog in the same room before
- DDM-Coga

Richard Parf?

That would be pretty embarrassing to select a #2 overall guy that doesn't even make your lineup.

Also Sean Couturier is not a relevant part of a winning hockey team, why do Flyers fans treat him like a stud? He can't even get a 40 point season. If Nolan Patrick isn't the 4th best forward he's a bust because most of that team is replacement level.

It's not offsides. It's offside. It's not going back to juniors. It's going back to junior. Eklund needs a month in Saskatoon to get it right.

Get rid of the dumb CHL/AHL rules, and allow the prospects to go play in the AHL. It would make the AHL a lot more exciting, and give people a reason to support their club's farm team. The talent is not needed in the CHL, it's needed in the AHL.
- mixturebill

Thats tunnel vision indeed.

A lil history lesson if i may....
The NHL Entry Draft picked prospects younger & younger to the point feeder sysytems such as the CHL were being hurt by it. Simply ignoring the fact the CHL is in business also is silly. Its not the NCAA where flunkies in football & basketball get scholarships for basket weaving 101 to leave early for the Pros while schools reap billions in revenues at their expense. Who cares about the AHL when most have no clue who is on teams not on NHL contracts. The AHL can fend for itself. Its its own entity with NHL affiliations.


Lastly back in 1967 the NHL overnight expanded from 6 to 12 teams.
The reason...
The AHL & WHL were going to start a rival league.
Territorial rights in those days & the Entry draft was not to be created til later.
IMO prospects should be drafted 1 year older as 19yr olds as in the drinking age.

Thats tunnel vision indeed.

A lil history lesson if i may....
The NHL Entry Draft picked prospects younger & younger to the point feeder sysytems such as the CHL were being hurt by it. Simply ignoring the fact the CHL is in business also is silly. Its not the NCAA where flunkies in football & basketball get scholarships for basket weaving 101 to leave early for the Pros while schools reap billions in revenues at their expense. Who cares about the AHL when most have no clue who is on teams not on NHL contracts. Its its own entity with NHL affiliations.


Lastly back in 1967 the NHL overnight expanded from 6 to 12 teams.
The reason...
The AHL & WHL were going to start a rival league.
Territorial rights in those days & the Entry draft was not to be created til later.
IMO prospects should be drafted 1 year older as 19yr olds as in the drinking age.
- Nighthawk

agreed. they should raise the age of the draft. they would really be only rolling back 8.5 months anyways.

agreed. they should raise the age of the draft. they would really be only rolling back 8.5 months anyways.
- Tumbleweed

counter point

Teams should just be able to sign players at any age of their draft class.

If you sign all 7 of your 2022 draft class right now, thats just yolo but you are done with signing prospects born that year.

Wanna sign the next McDavid when they are 8 like they do in soccer, do it but dont mess up

Play the same old horses and get that highly coveted 9th place

Send him back. Organizationally it makes for a lot of reasons.

1. He can have a full season at the 1C while healthy, and tear up the OHL. That will benefit him and give him the confidence to step into the 2C role behind G the following year.
2. The flyers will be working two rookie defensemen and Oskar Lindblom into their system next season. I don't see Lindblom being sent to the AHL. Vechionne is also a rookie. Technically so is Laughton. That is as many as 5 rooklies. Patrick could get lost in a lineup shuffle.
3. The following season Fillpula will be coming off contract and Lehtera will probably be gone too. Patrick can comfortably step into his 2C role behind G without contention.
4. The Flyers are a borderline at best playoff team. With a year of the defensive unit maturing together they can be a contender the following year behind the Pens.

All that said, he'll probably be here on the Flyers. I am hoping he is sent back and the Flyers miss the playoffs one more year and can secure another high end draft pick. With one more high end forward out of the draft the Flyers will have a surplus of riches to contend against the "next round" of Cup favorites in Edmonton and Toronto.

Should the Flyers wait until Training Camp to make a decision? Yes.

Is sending "two first names" back to junior a viable option. Yes.

But see the first question.

Send him back. Organizationally it makes for a lot of reasons.

1. He can have a full season at the 1C while healthy, and tear up the OHL. That will benefit him and give him the confidence to step into the 2C role behind G the following year.
2. The flyers will be working two rookie defensemen and Oskar Lindblom into their system next season. I don't see Lindblom being sent to the AHL. Vechionne is also a rookie. Technically so is Laughton. That is as many as 5 rooklies. Patrick could get lost in a lineup shuffle.
3. The following season Fillpula will be coming off contract and Lehtera will probably be gone too. Patrick can comfortably step into his 2C role behind G without contention.
4. The Flyers are a borderline at best playoff team. With a year of the defensive unit maturing together they can be a contender the following year behind the Pens.

All that said, he'll probably be here on the Flyers. I am hoping he is sent back and the Flyers miss the playoffs one more year and can secure another high end draft pick. With one more high end forward out of the draft the Flyers will have a surplus of riches to contend against the "next round" of Cup favorites in Edmonton and Toronto.
- oliethagoalie

yep, and always remember, every team who misses the playoffs has a shot at 1st overall.

That would be pretty embarrassing to select a #2 overall guy that doesn't even make your lineup.

Also Sean Couturier is not a relevant part of a winning hockey team, why do Flyers fans treat him like a stud? He can't even get a 40 point season. If Nolan Patrick isn't the 4th best forward he's a bust because most of that team is replacement level.
- eNDSo

The Flyers made a mistake not sending Sean Couturier back to Juniors. He put up big numbers offensively in a year he had mono. However, Hexy was not the GM and Homer was not a big development GM. So who knows.

counter point

Teams should just be able to sign players at any age of their draft class.

If you sign all 7 of your 2022 draft class right now, thats just yolo but you are done with signing prospects born that year.

Wanna sign the next McDavid when they are 8 like they do in soccer, do it but dont mess up
- DDM-Coga

It used to be that way before an entry draft existed but with no max. I'm not sure on the details but Bobby Orr signed with Boston when he was 14. Before NHL entry draft ever existed. That one kinda sorta worked out.

It used to be that way before an entry draft existed but with no max. I'm not sure on the details but Bobby Orr signed with Boston when he was 14. Before NHL entry draft ever existed. That one kinda sorta worked out.
- Njuice

How did the Leafs miss that one? Parry Sound would've been in Leafs territory.

How did the Leafs miss that one? Parry Sound would've been in Leafs territory.
- gergeswillems

I looked up the whole territory thing and also the "Habs got all frenchmen" thing. I believe the territory spread to 100km's from your City and I don't think Parry Sound actually does fall in that, but it might have also been different times and different rules. I don't know the exact dates, but at one time NHL teams did get first crack at players within 100(miles or KM's) of their city.

BUT ALSO - and here's how the Habs got awesome. If the NHL team OWNED a junior, etc. team they also owned the rights to players who played their and from what I've read the Habs developed a huge network of junior(or whatever) teams and that's how they got all the awesome players. Leafs started copying to some success.

I'm not sure how those rules applied to Bobby who would've been like the Super Gretzky of his era. Nobody was more 'ahead of his time' than Bobby. Nobody. Not even the Great One.

It's very interesting stuff and also super confusing.

I looked up the whole territory thing and also the "Habs got all frenchmen" thing. I believe the territory spread to 100km's from your City and I don't think Parry Sound actually does fall in that, but it might have also been different times and different rules. I don't know the exact dates, but at one time NHL teams did get first crack at players within 100(miles or KM's) of their city.

BUT ALSO - and here's how the Habs got awesome. If the NHL team OWNED a junior, etc. team they also owned the rights to players who played their and from what I've read the Habs developed a huge network of junior(or whatever) teams and that's how they got all the awesome players. Leafs started copying to some success.

I'm not sure how those rules applied to Bobby who would've been like the Super Gretzky of his era. Nobody was more 'ahead of his time' than Bobby. Nobody. Not even the Great One.

It's very interesting stuff and also super confusing.
- Njuice

I believe the Habs actually had all of Quebec. the rest of the league had 100 km. not that it mattered. no one French speaking would consider playing elsewhere prior to the draft. and strongly fought it after.

the bobby orr thing g you refer to is called c forms.

Sometimes, I wonder if we can send you back to Juniors.

If there is no benefit to sending him back, why are we asking this question? Slow news day? Ek finally realized Duchene isnt going to be dealt? I could be wrong but I dont believe he will be traded before the season starts.

The Flyers made a mistake not sending Sean Couturier back to Juniors. He put up big numbers offensively in a year he had mono. However, Hexy was not the GM and Homer was not a big development GM. So who knows.
- oliethagoalie

Couturier was ready that is why he stuck with the club. He failes to put up offensive numbers because he is a defense first guy and he isnt the speediest guy not has been playing with much talent on the Flyers tbh. Big numbers in junior doesnt translate to big numbers in the NHL. It is like a completely different game. Many 4th line players were high scorers in Junior. Mistakes happen in junior, if they happen in the NHL you usually dont play afterwards.

Throw him into the fire. I think he will be fine in the NHL this season. Not every 18yo has to be a huge impact player as a rookie. Start developing him into the star player he's going to be in the big leagues.
- SolidGoldBricks

He's probably not going to be a big star in this league. Not as good as Tavares, better than Nugent-Hopkins, something like that.

I looked up the whole territory thing and also the "Habs got all frenchmen" thing. I believe the territory spread to 100km's from your City and I don't think Parry Sound actually does fall in that, but it might have also been different times and different rules. I don't know the exact dates, but at one time NHL teams did get first crack at players within 100(miles or KM's) of their city.

BUT ALSO - and here's how the Habs got awesome. If the NHL team OWNED a junior, etc. team they also owned the rights to players who played their and from what I've read the Habs developed a huge network of junior(or whatever) teams and that's how they got all the awesome players. Leafs started copying to some success.

I'm not sure how those rules applied to Bobby who would've been like the Super Gretzky of his era. Nobody was more 'ahead of his time' than Bobby. Nobody. Not even the Great One.

It's very interesting stuff and also super confusing.
- Njuice

Correct.