I would really like Hakstol to try these combinations out, now that Konecny and Patrick are both hitting their stride a bit:

Giroux - Couturier - Konecny
Raffl - Filppula - Voracek
Weal - Patrick - Simmonds
Lethera - Laughton - Weise


This leaves Laughton somewhat exposed until Leier comes back, but you already have the Couturier and Filppula lines as you "shutdown" groups, anyway.


The other option would be to swap the wingers flanking Filppula and Patrick and see what happens.... But that's probably an idea for after the Christmas break rather than the second half of a back-to-back before 5 days off.
- ritns028

This is what I would like to see, with Filppula and Patrick switched. I know at that point the 3rd line would be brutal but at some point you have to give Patrick something to work with. Shame Weal had to get hurt in the early season- hasn't been the same since.

Carter Hart, Goaltender
A 2016 second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Hart has been remarkable this year with a .961 save percentage in the WHL. Hart is extremely athletic in the crease. His technique is solid. He is almost always square to the shooter, whether it be on a first shot or rebound. When he does get beaten he can make some incredible recoveries and reflex based stops. While most young goalies struggle with rebound control this is a strength of Hart’s game, as he often swallows up pucks or directs them into the corners, minimizing the number of second-chance opportunities that he will face. Hart keeps a cool and calm demeanour in the net. If he does give up a soft goal, which is rare, he does not get rattled and comes back ready to make the next stop.

He gets in and out of the butterfly very quickly. Hart takes away the bottom of the net with exceptionally fast legs. He also is an aggressive goalie who makes himself seem bigger. Hart takes full advantage of his ability to come out of the net and cut down angles. Strong skating, being able to move out and back quickly, as well as a good push and the ability to go side-to-side with ease allow Hart to fully take advantage of a style that sees him really challenge shooters and aggressively play the angles. He also has a quick glove hand.

Carter Hart, Goaltender
A 2016 second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Hart has been remarkable this year with a .961 save percentage in the WHL. Hart is extremely athletic in the crease. His technique is solid. He is almost always square to the shooter, whether it be on a first shot or rebound. When he does get beaten he can make some incredible recoveries and reflex based stops. While most young goalies struggle with rebound control this is a strength of Hart’s game, as he often swallows up pucks or directs them into the corners, minimizing the number of second-chance opportunities that he will face. Hart keeps a cool and calm demeanour in the net. If he does give up a soft goal, which is rare, he does not get rattled and comes back ready to make the next stop.

He gets in and out of the butterfly very quickly. Hart takes away the bottom of the net with exceptionally fast legs. He also is an aggressive goalie who makes himself seem bigger. Hart takes full advantage of his ability to come out of the net and cut down angles. Strong skating, being able to move out and back quickly, as well as a good push and the ability to go side-to-side with ease allow Hart to fully take advantage of a style that sees him really challenge shooters and aggressively play the angles. He also has a quick glove hand.
- nastyflyergirl

😸

Carter Hart, Goaltender
A 2016 second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Hart has been remarkable this year with a .961 save percentage in the WHL. Hart is extremely athletic in the crease. His technique is solid. He is almost always square to the shooter, whether it be on a first shot or rebound. When he does get beaten he can make some incredible recoveries and reflex based stops. While most young goalies struggle with rebound control this is a strength of Hart’s game, as he often swallows up pucks or directs them into the corners, minimizing the number of second-chance opportunities that he will face. Hart keeps a cool and calm demeanour in the net. If he does give up a soft goal, which is rare, he does not get rattled and comes back ready to make the next stop.

He gets in and out of the butterfly very quickly. Hart takes away the bottom of the net with exceptionally fast legs. He also is an aggressive goalie who makes himself seem bigger. Hart takes full advantage of his ability to come out of the net and cut down angles. Strong skating, being able to move out and back quickly, as well as a good push and the ability to go side-to-side with ease allow Hart to fully take advantage of a style that sees him really challenge shooters and aggressively play the angles. He also has a quick glove hand.
- nastyflyergirl

someone posted a cool article on Hart the other day, the tl;dr is his post work/cross crease action was the weakest part of his game, and it's light years improved this year. He and his goalie coach credit it to much better on ice awareness. Carter was mentioning how he's always trying to glance to the slot, etc, to get a better read of the play.

Kid is a hard worker too. He's the real deal. I'm excited.

Would take a monumental effort and some good bounces for this game to end in Phillys favour. Not since 2005!? Kapanen!?

It’s time to sit Weal and bring up any winger at this point who can contribute something. He has been a waste of space all season imo and he’s not getting better.

Would take a monumental effort and some good bounces for this game to end in Phillys favour. Not since 2005!? Kapanen!?
- coffee junkie

Almost gawked at the 7th in 12 nights, and the back end of a 3 in 4 and back to back on the road.

Merry Christmas. Yowza.

All the more reason that if they can eek out something tonight it'd be cause of celebration

Yeah they looked listless out there last night. It's like they were already home having Christmas dinner in their minds. Hope that was a wake up call for tonight's game.

Why, because he plays hard? IMO, guys who win major awards, are well regarded NHL superstars and/or lead their teams to championships deserve to remain with their teams for life.

Simmonds is a nice player, but lets not get carried away and start treating him as the second coming of Gordie Howe.
- BiggE

Because he is the kind of player every team could use or want. They don't all have to be HOF caliber players to be with the franchise forever.

If the Flyers do end up moving him, I'm fairly confident he'll be a valuable asset wherever he ends up.

Because he is the kind of player every team could use or want. They don't all have to be HOF caliber players to be with the franchise forever.

If the Flyers do end up moving him, I'm fairly confident he'll be a valuable asset wherever he ends up.
- Pelle31Forever

Jets.

Get a package back including Connor female doges.

It’s time to sit Weal and bring up any winger at this point who can contribute something. He has been a waste of space all season imo and he’s not getting better.
- Buzzo

He has been playing fine of late. He started off well too and then had an injury or two. But he’s been playing fine the last week or two with either Laughton and now some good games with Patrick of late. I mean some nights he’s been the only one doing remotely anything on that line.

We have Lehtera with Konecny and Laughton, and Weise with Patrick, but Weal is the issue? Dale Weise needs to go to the glue factory, and he can take his buddy with him.

Also, Filppula sucks.

It’s time to sit Weal and bring up any winger at this point who can contribute something. He has been a waste of space all season imo and he’s not getting better.
- Buzzo

I've been saying this all year, just wait for the company men to attack you for saying so.

He has been playing fine of late. He started off well too and then had an injury or two. But he’s been playing fine the last week or two with either Laughton and now some good games with Patrick of late. I mean some nights he’s been the only one doing remotely anything on that line.

We have Lehtera with Konecny and Laughton, and Weise with Patrick, but Weal is the issue? Dale Weise needs to go to the glue factory, and he can take his buddy with him.

Also, Filppula sucks.
- Mononoke

That's BS. I'd like to see Filppula clean up some areas of his game that should be better over the last stretch but he's going to wind up with somewhere around 15-20 goals and around 30 ES points. That's not bad on this team.

That's BS. I'd like to see Filppula clean up some areas of his game that should be better over the last stretch but he's going to wind up with somewhere around 15-20 goals and around 30 ES points. That's not bad on this team.
- MJL

He’s been the 2C all year, playing with all of our best non-Giroux wingers: Raffl, Voracek, Simmonds, TK. He’s only ahead of Leier and Lehtera in 5v5 rate scoring (1.07 p/60). He has 8 5v5 points and is pacing for 18 as our 2C. He plays a poop ton of undeserved minutes. Empty net points count as ES, and he has 3 of them, which have no relevancy to your defense of him. That’s going to affect projections. He also has a few PP points with the first unit and 0 with PP2, so that’s nothing to point to either. Both units were better without him than with anyway.

His mediocre play has been a direct cause of the team’s poor 5v5 play. We already got into the eye test argument. He looks like poop too. He turns over the puck every chance he gets, routinely takes the puck OUT of scoring areas for worse looks, and can barely catch a pass half the time. Sorry not sorry!

He's a 13th forward who is experienced and can play center or wing. There is no need to keep him off the ice when they need him.

When another young player such as Linblom is ready, he can be added to the lineup and if they can, they can send Lehtera down or keep him and Weise as extra forwards.
- MJL

What have you seen about Lehterä that brings you to the opinion that he can “play”

What have you seen about Lehterä that brings you to the opinion that he can “play”
- Just5

4th liners and all, but who would have thought they'd have played a worse player than VDV.

No internal cap limit, bunch of kids crying for ice time and thats the best you have.

(For all the bad contracts Hex has been able to unload, Weise/Lehtera/Umberger have kind of balanced those out). Which to a point is fine, but there is zero reason to play these players. Really cant find any better? (frank) off. Insulting to the fanbase to have to watch that kind of trash hockey.

He’s been the 2C all year, playing with all of our best non-Giroux wingers: Raffl, Voracek, Simmonds, TK. He’s only ahead of Leier and Lehtera in 5v5 rate scoring (1.07 p/60). He has 8 5v5 points and is pacing for 18 as our 2C. He plays a poop ton of undeserved minutes. Empty net points count as ES, and he has 3 of them, which have no relevancy to your defense of him. That’s going to affect projections. He also has a few PP points with the first unit and 0 with PP2, so that’s nothing to point to either. Both units were better without him than with anyway.

His mediocre play has been a direct cause of the team’s poor 5v5 play. We already got into the eye test argument. He looks like poop too. He turns over the puck every chance he gets, routinely takes the puck OUT of scoring areas for worse looks, and can barely catch a pass half the time. Sorry not sorry!
- Mononoke

Raffl was on the 4th line and Voracek was on the top line for most of the season. When you're defending a one goal lead late and make a play to get an EN goal, that's an important goal for a team that seals the 2 points. He is out there in key situations for a reason. You keep repeatedly singling out players that you don't like and blame them for team issues. Other than Voracek and Giroux, this team doesn't have any consistent wingers. I agree that the last few weeks or so he needs to clean up his puck management but it is a long season. I like how you disqualify certain points as not counting. That's faulty analysis. Sorry not sorry.

Raffl was on the 4th line and Voracek was on the top line for most of the season. When you're defending a one goal lead late and make a play to get an EN goal, that's an important goal for a team that seals the 2 points. He is out there in key situations for a reason. You keep repeatedly singling out players that you don't like and blame them for team issues. Other than Voracek and Giroux, this team doesn't have any consistent wingers. I agree that the last few weeks or so he needs to clean up his puck management but it is a long season. I like how you disqualify certain points as not counting. That's faulty analysis. Sorry not sorry.
- MJL

Lol man, you dont even care about the team. This is simply a debate fetish. Fil sucks, let's get real.

Lol man, you dont even care about the team. This is simply a debate fetish. Fil sucks, let's get real.
- flyer_nutter

My man.

What have you seen about Lehterä that brings you to the opinion that he can “play”
- Just5

LOL define play?

Lol man, you dont even care about the team. This is simply a debate fetish. Fil sucks, let's get real.
- flyer_nutter

Is that all you've got? Bring something to the table!


Stating that I don't care about the team is probably the most ridiculous thing you've posted and that's saying something.

Weal is not going to the dirty areas that he did last year which got him the contract.

Filppula came as advertised maybe even providing more. He was a total cap dump who is playing a bit better hockey than you’d expect from a dump . It’s not his fault he’s been asked to fill a 2nd line scoring roll at this point in his career.

Barzal hat trick.... what do our first rounders do?

LOL define play?
- MJL

That’s my question to you!

I would think that he’d excel at some type of area in the NHL if your suggesting he can “play”

It’s obvious, much like vinny showed years ago, he cannot “play” at this level.

Now if he’s a living and breathing organism skating around in an orange flyers jersey with the other players maybe he can “play”. If that’s your definition

Weal is not going to the dirty areas that he did last year which got him the contract.

Filppula came as advertised maybe even providing more. He was a total cap dump who is playing a bit better hockey than you’d expect from a dump . It’s not his fault he’s been asked to fill a 2nd line scoring roll at this point in his career.
- Just5

That's the deal, he's pretty much a 3C at this point of his career who is being asked to be a 2nd line center on a team that doesn't have the winger depth while other players develop.