weird that it would be a team-wide inability to execute. I understand an individual player having a bad game or a bunch of bad games, but how does most of a team fail to execute? Why is everybody playing poorly at the same time? It's a weird dynamic
- Dkos

hahah...did you watch the Eagles play football this year...

Every GM does not check in with every team regarding what is to be had at what price. The rumor seems to be Fletch was doing some serious window shopping.
- ClaudeFather

Facts

He still looks pretty skinny form the little I saw of him. He's listed as 6'3" at 177 on the Phantoms Site. The Flyers seem to think he needs to physically develop more before he's ready for the NHL. He also had back surgery (over the summer I think?). Maybe he needs more time to rehab that? Did Phantoms camp start?
- Dkos

He got absolutely bodied in camp

I hear Ya! Finally I thought a flyer GM with no flyer friendships and ties to the organization. His methods seems unsound and fluky. His behavior extremely catatonic
- THE EVIL WITHIN

Hope someone keep a eye on him. He clearly went mad during all these quarantine s

Why not? Yandle makes 6.5 mill for 3 years compared to Ghost at 4.5 cap hit. It would make sense for FLA to keep a little bit especially when Ghosts actual Salary is approx 2 mill less 3.25 mill x3 years compared to 5.75\5.25\5.2. They arent going to go crazy and keep 50% or anything but maybe like 500k to 1 mill.

Technically if Gus got moved we could keep some cap hit though I wouldnt want to

The other thing is whats reported might not be the whole picture. Could be a bigger deal involving multiple players.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yandle is what 34 years old? Why should the Flyers take on a player of that age for 3 more years?

Wow scratching Gustafsson for Friedman. I hope the Flyers can bounce back and have a more controlled puck possession game with legit scoring chances throughout. Additionally, I'd really like to see Ghost make some noticeable difference-making plays.

Yandle is what 34 years old? Why should the Flyers take on a player of that age for 3 more years?
- MJL

Hell no to Yandle.

Yes, it's a matter execution more than strategy.

With that said, they could definitely use some minor adjustments, especially on breakouts and blueline defense.
- Tomahawk

Teams usually have both a 1 or 2 front forecheck in their repertoire. The coaches could make tweaks but again, if the Flyers don't move their feet and compete, it won't matter. Blueline defense requires all 5 skaters.

With the shortened season and the divisional format, I would say this year's regular season will be played very close to playoff intensity, so I am not surprised that the Flyers this year so far closely resemble the team we saw in the playoffs just a few months ago. There is less open ice and less time to make a play, and this fact alone tends to separate the real contenders from the pretenders. I don't think the Flyers are any where near as bad as they have played lately, and getting Coots back will stabilize things. But I also do not believe they have the goods to be a serious contender. Couturier yesterday had an interesting quote, basically stating the team has some things to clean up but he feels confident they will do so and be a very good team this year, I hope he is right.
- jd250

There are exceptions such as Boston but a lot of teams are playing very loose so far this season and aren't as sharp as they would normally be. That was the situation against Pittsburgh. I don't think the league as a whole is at playoff intensity quite yet.

In the examples shown in the videos, and thank you BTW for sharing this, it seemed to me the forecheckers were just way too deep in the o-zone creating a huge gap between them and the forward in the NZ and the two defenseman, allowing the opposing team to pick up speed in the NZ. Going to a 2-1-2 is done typically to generate more turnovers and offensive opportunities, but always increases the risk of odd man rushes the other way, which is exactly what we are seeing. A 1-2-2 is a more conservative forecheck which is designed to clog up the NZ and generate turnovers the other way. I personally prefer the 1-2-2 in today's game given the speed of the players, it gives the defending team more ability to recover.
- jd250

The best teams in the league play an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck. That is the best forecheck in today's NHL. It's a puck pressure league.

He still looks pretty skinny form the little I saw of him. He's listed as 6'3" at 177 on the Phantoms Site. The Flyers seem to think he needs to physically develop more before he's ready for the NHL. He also had back surgery (over the summer I think?). Maybe he needs more time to rehab that? Did Phantoms camp start?
- Dkos

Phantoms started their camp yesterday 1/25. I saw that same thing regarding Zamula's weight and I agree, he needs to be around 200lbs at 6'3" if he wants to be able to handle the grind of an NHL defenseman. Bummer :-(

I'm nervous about this game tonight. You'd think that with the NJ defense, we'd be able to exploit them fairly well. But, with Coots out, suddenly our lines are looking like scrambled eggs.

There are exceptions such as Boston but a lot of teams are playing very loose so far this season and aren't as sharp as they would normally be. That was the situation against Pittsburgh. I don't think the league as a whole is at playoff intensity quite yet.
- MJL

Good point, I think Boston is so darn well coached in their system that they just seem to be ahead of the curve. I do expect things will tighten up very quickly though given if teams fall behind early it will be very, very hard to make that ground up.

He still looks pretty skinny form the little I saw of him. He's listed as 6'3" at 177 on the Phantoms Site. The Flyers seem to think he needs to physically develop more before he's ready for the NHL. He also had back surgery (over the summer I think?). Maybe he needs more time to rehab that? Did Phantoms camp start?
- Dkos

I believe Zamula’s surgery was February last year. If you remember he played in the exhibition game in the bubble last August so I don’t think rehab is an issue. What confused me is why he didn’t play in Europe from October on. Particularly when the start of the AHL was known to be delayed. It would seem like playing would have benefited him more than a year of just practice.

Just. Win. Somehow.

Let’s go Flyers!

Has everyone seen the Yandle rumor? Looks like it resurfaced. Today's, rumor is more specific. Yandle for Ghost swap. Any leg's to this? Not sure if it makes sense via the cap - or the expansion draft. Yandle was a consistent NHL'er for years, at 34 not sure how much gas he's got left. We'd be giving up the dream of Ghost's come back and giving up on youth. However, we do have guys in the pipeline to fill in when Yandle's done (if it's not this year).

The article - no cited author - calls it a "blockbuster" trade... Yandle for Ghost is not exactly blockbuster.

https://www.letsgoflyers....LXmdpBuXGUtqcJwI3PPF_n1OM
- leon neon

Someone I work with asked if I heard about the "Flyers trade?". To which I said no but he was talking like it had happened? He said with Panthers and I was " oh no, not Yandle ".

Would have been a total panic move IMO.

In todays NHL one guy not doing their job and it ends up in your next. Your coverage and gaps for example, you let team break out with speed and it will be a long night. I like to see that improve and I would to see the Flyers knock some folks OFF the puck .

Why not? Yandle makes 6.5 mill for 3 years compared to Ghost at 4.5 cap hit. It would make sense for FLA to keep a little bit especially when Ghosts actual Salary is approx 2 mill less 3.25 mill x3 years compared to 5.75\5.25\5.2. They arent going to go crazy and keep 50% or anything but maybe like 500k to 1 mill.

Technically if Gus got moved we could keep some cap hit though I wouldnt want to

The other thing is whats reported might not be the whole picture. Could be a bigger deal involving multiple players.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yandle has a NMC he’d have to waive to come here, but that means we’d be forced to protect him in the draft. This also means we’d be protecting 4 defensemen - Provy, Sanheim, Myers, and Yandle.

Now we look at the forwards, and G and Hayes are automatic. So are Coots and TK, let’s be honest.

If you get Yandle, you’d have to also be okay with Seattle having free range to take anyone else on the team other than Hart. I know many of us are down on our FWDs at the moment, but let’s look at it objectively. Like pretend things are alright because a healthy Coots is back.

You ok with this?

I mean, maybe you are, I dunno. Chances are Seattle isn’t taking who you hope they’ll take.

And regardless if you or anyone else around here is comfortable with it, I’ll all but guarantee that the Flyers are NOT.

For that reason, I’m not buying this as legit at all. smells like bad fish. Or good cheese.

I debate even watching the games against Jersey, just something about them. Awful to watch and we seem to stink.
- ClaudeFather

But we love you guys so much...

We have a starting goaltender who hasn’t played in the NHL for 2 years (Scott Wedgewood!) we are missing our top line center (Nico) and a top 6 winger (Bratt). We have a Russian rookie on the top line (Sharangovich). We are missing Sami Vats and are using AHL tweener/NHL journeyman Matt Tennyson on defense with another rookie (Ty Smith). We are loaded with at least 3 other guys who couldn’t hold down an NHL spot last year (McLeod, Merkley, Kuokkanen, and Bastian). If you don’t know who they are, EXACTLY. You guys should be salivating...

But we love you guys so much...

We have a starting goaltender who hasn’t played I the NHL for 2 years, we are missing our top line center (Nico) and a top 6 winger (Bratt). We have a Russian rookie on the top line (Sharangovich). We are missing Sami Vats and are using AHL tweener/NHL journeyman Matt Tennyson on defense with another rookie (Ty Smith). You guys should be salivating...
- Queenie_5_hole

Ty Smith looks like a really good player

But we love you guys so much...

We have a starting goaltender who hasn’t played in the NHL for 2 years (Scott Wedgewood!) we are missing our top line center (Nico) and a top 6 winger (Bratt). We have a Russian rookie on the top line (Sharangovich). We are missing Sami Vats and are using AHL tweener/NHL journeyman Matt Tennyson on defense with another rookie (Ty Smith). We are loaded with at least 3 other guys who couldn’t hold down an NHL spot last year (McLeod, Merkley, Kuokkanen, and Bastian). If you don’t know who they are, EXACTLY. You guys should be salivating...
- Queenie_5_hole

Got it so devils win 6-1

The best teams in the league play an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck. That is the best forecheck in today's NHL. It's a puck pressure league.
- MJL

I read up more on the 2-1-2 forecheck and found this note very interesting; I bolded the lines that most jumped out at me regarding what I think points to the heart of the problems the Flyers have been having this season.
"The 2-1-2 system is great to run when the opposing team has defensemen who are confident in skating the puck up the ice. Applying this type of pressure will take away their time and space to handle the puck. It also works well when opposing teams have slow defenders. Slow defensemen can be exploited by applying aggressive pressure. It is critical to have the first two players keep their feet moving through the entire process. When forecheckers hesitate using a 2-1-2, a good defense pair on the opposing team will use the extra second or two to find an outlet pass – usually D-to-D. Thus you must skate hard all the way through the forecheck."

Ty Smith looks like a really good player
- ClaudeFather

Thanks. Some of the new kids can play and Ty has been surprisingly good after getting cut out of camp the last two seasons. Not rushing him probably helped.

Got it so devils win 6-1
- Tfaehner

This team can't score 6 goals! Not in one game...
We'll see what happens.

This team can't score 6 goals! Not in one game...
We'll see what happens.
- Queenie_5_hole

well thats it then, jersey with the six spot tonight.