https://twitter.com/james...status/932604573126135808

hilarious
- YuenglingJagr

I saw that on the news this morning, got a good laugh out of it to start my day!

Good morning
- BiggE

a good morning back to you

I'm just not taking it as serious anymore is all. No reason to go on rants/tangents. More important things in life. There are some positives, but I don't think anyone can be happy with the first quarter of the season overall.
- PLindbergh31

I'm not thrilled, but I'm not unhappy either. Going into the season I wanted to see 3 things. Positive development/growth of the kids, Couturier find more offense in his game and a team that plays hard every night.

Provorov looks like a legit #1 Dman, Hagg has been excellent for a rookie Dman and Sanheim is getting stronger each game. Laughton and Leier are playing well in a 4th line role and on the PK. Weal started off well, then seemed to hit a wall, hopefully he can pick it up. Konecny is creating, but he's obviously pressing. He needs to just relax, but I'm not concerned, anyone can see that the talent is there. Patrick was just starting to get his legs back and contribute when he got hurt. It was very good to see him have a strong game against the Flames and I think he'll be fine. Overall, I'm very happy with how the kids have been used and how they are playing.

Couturier has certainly found his offense! Hak takes a lot of crap around here, some deserved, some not so much, but moving G to wing and sticking COots in between him and Jake was a gutsy move that has really paid off. Now we are starting to see why Coots was so highly regarded prior to the draft.

As far as playing hard goes, I think the effort is there. Sometimes I wish they would make smarter decisions with the puck, but I don't think the coach can do much to improve that. Voracek needs to be better defensively and Gudas needs to learn to control his emotions and stop being an idiot, but overall, I think this team plays hard for 60 minutes most nights.

edit: I also wanted to see Ghost bounce back this year and so far the jury is still out. He started off great, but over the last couple weeks he's made some bad plays and his loss of control which led to a bench minor was just flat out stupid. However, the talent is obviously there and I think he'll be fine. All players go through slumps, no need to panic.

Just want to see a win tonight. C'mon boys!

Just want to see a win tonight. C'mon boys!
- FlyersGrace

I'm not thrilled, but I'm not unhappy either. Going into the season I wanted to see 3 things. Positive development/growth of the kids, Couturier find more offense in his game and a team that plays hard every night.

Provorov looks like a legit #1 Dman, Hagg has been excellent for a rookie Dman and Sanheim is getting stronger each game. Laughton and Leier are playing well in a 4th line role and on the PK. Weal started off well, then seemed to hit a wall, hopefully he can pick it up. Konecny is creating, but he's obviously pressing. He needs to just relax, but I'm not concerned, anyone can see that the talent is there. Patrick was just starting to get his legs back and contribute when he got hurt. It was very good to see him have a strong game against the Flames and I think he'll be fine. Overall, I'm very happy with how the kids have been used and how they are playing.

Couturier has certainly found his offense! Hak takes a lot of crap around here, some deserved, some not so much, but moving G to wing and sticking COots in between him and Jake was a gutsy move that has really paid off. Now we are starting to see why Coots was so highly regarded prior to the draft.

As far as playing hard goes, I think the effort is there. Sometimes I wish they would make smarter decisions with the puck, but I don't think the coach can do much to improve that. Voracek needs to be better defensively and Gudas needs to learn to control his emotions and stop being an idiot, but overall, I think this team plays hard for 60 minutes most nights.

edit: I also wanted to see Ghost bounce back this year and so far the jury is still out. He started off great, but over the last couple weeks he's made some bad plays and his loss of control which led to a bench minor was just flat out stupid. However, the talent is obviously there and I think he'll be fine. All players go through slumps, no need to panic.
- BiggE

Agree with this.

Also you see guys like Vecchione, Vorobreyv and Lindblom playing well in the AHL. Guys that could be close to reaching the Flyers.

I look at Buffalo who should be further along then they are and think that I actually like how Hextall has been able to ice a team that is a bubble team while also loading up for the future.

Buffalo tanked for a top pick, got a guy like Eichel and still haven't done anything to further their team along. And now seem to lack a lot of prospects that can help moving forward.

Any lineup updates for tonight?

I heard that Weal practiced in his usual spot yesterday so I'm assuming he's good to go for tonight. Wondering what the status is for AMac.

Also wondering if they go back to Neuvirth tonight too or do they wait and play him tomorrow vs the Isles.
- BiggE

I'd tell you but it would be wrong.

Agree with this.

Also you see guys like Vecchione, Vorobreyv and Lindblom playing well in the AHL. Guys that could be close to reaching the Flyers.

I look at Buffalo who should be further along then they are and think that I actually like how Hextall has been able to ice a team that is a bubble team while also loading up for the future.

Buffalo tanked for a top pick, got a guy like Eichel and still haven't done anything to further their team along. And now seem to lack a lot of prospects that can help moving forward.
- J35Bacher

Yup. Building from within while still holding on to your established core allows you to break in your prospects with some good veteran talent around to help them along. Buffalo was such a dumpster fire when they tanked that it had to be difficult for the kids.

Hextall's drafting has been excellent so far, I can't remember a time when we had anywhere near this many prospects in the system.

When it comes to trades/FA, I'd still give him an incomplete. He really hasn't made any true blockbuster trades as of yet and the jury is still out on the Schenn deal. Most of his other trades have been solid. He got a great return for Timonen, when Kimmo could barely still play and he got fair value for Coburn too. Streit for Filppula was ok and the fact that he got anything of value for VLC and L Schenn was another solid move. The Hartnell deal was a bit disappointing because he expected to at least get serviceable use out of Umberger, but from a cap perspective, it's still a good deal.

On the free agency side, most of his signings have been short term low risk/reward deals. The only really bad one IMO was Weise, mainly due to the term. I would have never gone past 3 years, 2 million per. IF he doesn't take it , you walk away.
His contract extensions have been very good so far. Locking up Ghost and Couturier for deals with AAV's well under 5 million were great moves and the Gudas extension was at a fair price as well. The only one that may come back and bite him was Voracek's extension, but that was the going rate to keep a guy like Jake and they weren't going to just let him walk. The next Provorov deal will be the next interesting one to watch, the kid is gonna big bucks and an eight year deal is likely.

Overall, I'd give Hextall a B+ for the job he's done so far. The most crucial thing he needed to do when he took over was get rid of some bad contracts and dead weight and draft well. He has certainly excelled at that.

I'm not thrilled, but I'm not unhappy either. Going into the season I wanted to see 3 things. Positive development/growth of the kids, Couturier find more offense in his game and a team that plays hard every night.

Provorov looks like a legit #1 Dman, Hagg has been excellent for a rookie Dman and Sanheim is getting stronger each game. Laughton and Leier are playing well in a 4th line role and on the PK. Weal started off well, then seemed to hit a wall, hopefully he can pick it up. Konecny is creating, but he's obviously pressing. He needs to just relax, but I'm not concerned, anyone can see that the talent is there. Patrick was just starting to get his legs back and contribute when he got hurt. It was very good to see him have a strong game against the Flames and I think he'll be fine. Overall, I'm very happy with how the kids have been used and how they are playing.

Couturier has certainly found his offense! Hak takes a lot of crap around here, some deserved, some not so much, but moving G to wing and sticking COots in between him and Jake was a gutsy move that has really paid off. Now we are starting to see why Coots was so highly regarded prior to the draft.

As far as playing hard goes, I think the effort is there. Sometimes I wish they would make smarter decisions with the puck, but I don't think the coach can do much to improve that. Voracek needs to be better defensively and Gudas needs to learn to control his emotions and stop being an idiot, but overall, I think this team plays hard for 60 minutes most nights.

edit: I also wanted to see Ghost bounce back this year and so far the jury is still out. He started off great, but over the last couple weeks he's made some bad plays and his loss of control which led to a bench minor was just flat out stupid. However, the talent is obviously there and I think he'll be fine. All players go through slumps, no need to panic.
- BiggE

yeah only took until his 7th season and playing with 2 top end players.