I made mention previously about the lack of measurements for 'hockey IQ'.
It was concerning Vorachek and his perpetually finding ways to lose a puck.
Both of our subtractions have displayed little 'intelligence' on a consistent basis. When physical fitness is common (and also demanded), sorting by size is marginally relevant but 'smarts' dominate a fast-moving game.
Speed kills and nothing moves faster than well-DESIGNED passes and they elevate a team's chances to win more than any other attribute.
OK, killer goalies excepted.

Flyers protect NAK, leave JVR available.
Seattle is going to either take Braun or Hagg now. No doubt about it.
- PLindbergh31

No way! Ron Francis wants to have a job and build a contending team as fast as possible. Francis will pick either JVR or Ghost ... mark it down!!

less physical than meyers? Thats concerning. Meyers was very soft last year
- bradster

dude...he played with broken ribs for a long time. Hard to be making big hits when it hurts to even breathe.

Zamula will get there...he is super thin and needs to fill out. He played last year below 175lbs.

Let’s go hypothetical

Seattle takes Price, agrees for pay 100% of salary in trade to someone else

1) They can only pay base salary right, which is $1-2 mill a year. Other team pays yearly bonuses?

2) How much cap do they retain?

What if there is a weird way to get around it, and Flyers can get Price and play him 50 games. Hart gets the rest, learns from his idol and takes over in a few

Scenario there very unrealistic but what are cap rules on 1-2 above?

Savard isn’t a top 4D. Someone is gong to overpay thinking that. He looked pretty good on a 3rd pair with TB. That’s where he belongs.
- Minnyhock

Not many teams have the depth to put Savard on their third pair. Tampa did, since they already had Hedman, Sergachev, McDonagh and Cernak. He's been mostly a 20-minute (or very close to 20-min) guy, and mostly on playoff-caliber Columbus teams. In the right mix, he'd still be OK on a second pairing.

Agreed. However, I would not add a sweetener for Seattle to take him.
- mickel25

Really? Even if its a 2nd round pick?? Come on, a 2nd round pick is worth saving $26M in cap over the next 3 years!

god dammit I can't believe we are not protecting JVR
- black_francis

Really? I can't believe you think we should protect him! I for one think we can get a much better player for $7M than what JVR gives this team right now!

So the leafs traded a prospect? and a pick for Jared McCann from the Pens, and they are exposing McCann in the ED? Lmao that makes zero sense, especially if he gets taken which looks like it could be very likely.

Not many teams have the depth to put Savard on their third pair. Tampa did, since they already had Hedman, Sergachev, McDonagh and Cernak. He's been mostly a 20-minute (or very close to 20-min) guy, and mostly on playoff-caliber Columbus teams. In the right mix, he'd still be OK on a second pairing.
- bmeltzer

Agreed, Savard is absolutely a top 4 dman, and would give the Flyers one of the best top 4 in the league when added to Ellis, Provorov and Sanheim. It's the smart move and so far CF is acting smart!

And I'll post it again, NO ONE is getting overpaid in this league for the next few years, until the cap opens up again. Savard will sign a 4 year deal in the $5M range tops, and that is a good price for him.

Agreed, Savard is absolutely a top 4 dman, and would give the Flyers one of the best top 4 in the league when added to Ellis, Provorov and Sanheim. It's the smart move and so far CF is acting smart!

And I'll post it again, NO ONE is getting overpaid in this league for the next few years, until the cap opens up again. Savard will sign a 4 year deal in the $5M range tops, and that is a good price for him.
- jd250

On Philly….he’s a top 4 all day.

Seattle doesn't care about Flyers' cap situation. They care about building a team and getting to the cap floor as required. While I am iffy on them taking JVR without a sweetener and almost certain they only take Voracek with significant sweeteners, Ghost with no sweeteners is very plausible, and serves Seattle's purposes more than Braun (although not out of the realm of possibility) or Hägg (unlikely).

Ghost is 28, can play PP1, play LD or RD, has only two years of term left and a reasonable cap hit of $4.5M for a team that has to get to cap floor but isn't taking crazy expensive contracts just to do so.
- bmeltzer

There is no way Francis takes either Braun or Hagg, both barely bottom pairing guys, that would be a waste of an opportunity and Francis is not dumb. I still think JVR is the pick since you know what you will get for 2 years, while with Ghost you really don't.

On Philly….he’s a top 4 all day.
- landros 2

I watched the finals, I thought Savard was one of Tampa's best defenseman when he was out there along with McDonagh.

dude...he played with broken ribs for a long time. Hard to be making big hits when it hurts to even breathe.

Zamula will get there...he is super thin and needs to fill out. He played last year below 175lbs.
- juiced

itd not even about big hits, its about [;aying defense and boxing out

So the leafs traded a prospect? and a pick for Jared McCann from the Pens, and they are exposing McCann in the ED? Lmao that makes zero sense, especially if he gets taken which looks like it could be very likely.
- Richieattack18

the prospect and pick are literally nothings. i dont get why the pens just didnt leave well enough alone and let him get selected. decent little player to lose, but now theyre effectively losing him AND whoever is selected

Their is no folly in drafting an developing. That is how you build winning franchises and keep being a winning franchise for a decent amount of time. It applies in all sports.
- Pelle31Forever

They are in the "stay competitive" and "draft and Develop camp". Sorry I missed mentioning the first part. But because of the fact that you are drafting mid round, your chances of landing impact players are lower and you have to be patient and stick with the strategy a little longer.

That length of time needed is not possible in a market like ours.

Ellis is not more physical than Timonen was. Timonen was a force on the puck and a significantly better player than Ellis.
- MJL

Oh come on, no he was not a significantly better player. I think Ellis is better offensively and as good all around. Maybe Kimmo was more physical, but if so barely. I think you need to give Ellis more credit here, he is really good.

he is physisal, youll see, empty replies, ? How do you want me back that up that he is more physical, what stats can you use. ? Board battles won, harder hits?
I didnt say anything about norris trophy voting, top 20? hahahah ok, whatever thats worth, who had more top 50 votes? lol
but i see you are now off the meyers is awesome and trying to defend ellis being better than kimo, so thats a step up. Very relevant. Honestly, this is awesome, cant even make these arguments up.
- bradster

Your post is incoherent.

If Flyers want to add size and grit, Ben Harpur (d) and Ross Johnston are available. If they want to add a solid, responsible forward, Krejci and Palmieri would be sensible additions (but not before securing scoring depth).

They are in the "stay competitive" and "draft and Develop camp". Sorry I missed mentioning the first part. But because of the fact that you are drafting mid round, your chances of landing impact players are lower and you have to be patient and stick with the strategy a little longer.

That length of time needed is not possible in a market like ours.
- PT21

Back to this again? Ellis was drafted 11th overall. You can build a great team drafting anywhere as long as you hit on your draft picks no matter where you draft them, its really that simple. I can imagine you hate this trade because the Flyers are significantly better today than they were yesterday, no tanking happening any time soon I am very happy to report!

Let’s go hypothetical

Seattle takes Price, agrees for pay 100% of salary in trade to someone else

1) They can only pay base salary right, which is $1-2 mill a year. Other team pays yearly bonuses?

2) How much cap do they retain?

What if there is a weird way to get around it, and Flyers can get Price and play him 50 games. Hart gets the rest, learns from his idol and takes over in a few

Scenario there very unrealistic but what are cap rules on 1-2 above?
- Ottawa Fan

You can only retain 50% of a players salary including bonuses.

Back to this again? Ellis was drafted 11th overall. You can build a great team drafting anywhere as long as you hit on your draft picks no matter where you draft them, its really that simple. I can imagine you hate this trade because the Flyers are significantly better today than they were yesterday, no tanking happening any time soon I am very happy to report!
- jd250

the prospect and pick are literally nothings. i dont get why the pens just didnt leave well enough alone and let him get selected. decent little player to lose, but now theyre effectively losing him AND whoever is selected
- stayinthefnnet

Oh .. you know Hextall loves his picks!

Agreed, Savard is absolutely a top 4 dman, and would give the Flyers one of the best top 4 in the league when added to Ellis, Provorov and Sanheim. It's the smart move and so far CF is acting smart!

And I'll post it again, NO ONE is getting overpaid in this league for the next few years, until the cap opens up again. Savard will sign a 4 year deal in the $5M range tops, and that is a good price for him.
- jd250

That doesn't give the Flyers one of the best top 4 in the league. There absolutely will be some players signed to deals that are considered overpaid.

What is that old fox Lou up to? They got rid of their worst performing asset relative to contract. Now if they can use that space to sign Suter, that would be a great fit.

That doesn't give the Flyers one of the best top 4 in the league. There absolutely will be some players signed to deals that are considered overpaid.
- MJL

It will be interesting to see over the coming 2 weeks. I really believe contracts will be down this off season.

But to your other point, if Savard joins the Flyers, what team will have a significantly better top 4?