What worries me is that the Flyers are placing a lot of bets and it’s very doubtful that they will win them all or even most of them.

1. Is Jones still a legit NHL goaltender? Maybe, but I’m very doubtful as he’s been bad for a while now. Hart having a total bounce back season is critical.

2. Do Thompson and Yandle have anything left in the tank, and, will AV not overuse Thompson and match him up against top offensive players like he did vs the Isles in the 2020 playoffs?

3. Can you be a playoff team with Laughton and Thompson centering 2 of your lines? If needed, can Frost step up and be an effective middle 6 pivot?

4. Can Ristolainen improve enough upon his play in Buffalo to compensate for the price it took to acquire him? And, if so, can they afford to re-sign him?

5. Will Couts re-sign? If not, they will have a gaping hole up the middle. Using Hayes as a 1C is a recipe for disaster. Losing Giroux would hurt as well.

6. Will the coaching staff learn from last years mistakes? Often it seemed that AV was on cruise control last season and that’s inexcusable for a head coach.

That’s a lot of question marks hanging over this team.

Bill,

With the closeness Jake and Giroux had, do you think the trade will have any effect on him?

I know it might seem like a dumb question but there seems to be a shift now from guys that were maybe in the "Giroux" camp to more guys that are more AV guys? I could just be a dumb and it means nothing but there does seem like a shift being made.

Again I know it is a business and I don't expect it to affect his game on the ice as he is a pro, but I was just curious if you might see anything in that regard.

Don't worry, Risto's hockey sense is top notch. We won't ever see him repeat the same mistakes over and over here. Don't believe what people are saying out of Buffalo... they only watched him for 8-years... thats barely a blip!

Nashville's so dumb for wanting no IQ Myers -- what do they know about NHL defensemen anyway... ?

Don't worry, Risto's hockey sense is top notch. We won't ever see him repeat the same mistakes over and over here. Don't believe what people are saying out of Buffalo... they only watched him for 8-years... thats barely a blip!

Nashville's so dumb for wanting Myers -- what do they know about NHL defensemen anyway... ?
- Tomahawk

I'm hoping that not playing him 24 minutes a night will help to alleviate some of that.

What worries me is that the Flyers are placing a lot of bets and it’s very doubtful that they will win them all or even most of them.

1. Is Jones still a legit NHL goaltender? Maybe, but I’m very doubtful as he’s been bad for a while now. Hart having a total bounce back season is critical.

2. Do Thompson and Yandle have anything left in the tank, and, will AV not overuse Thompson and match him up against top offensive players like he did vs the Isles in the 2020 playoffs?

3. Can you be a playoff team with Laughton and Thompson centering 2 of your lines? If needed, can Frost step up and be an effective middle 6 pivot?

4. Can Ristolainen improve enough upon his play in Buffalo to compensate for the price it took to acquire him? And, if so, can they afford to re-sign him?

5. Will Couts re-sign? If not, they will have a gaping hole up the middle. Using Hayes as a 1C is a recipe for disaster. Losing Giroux would hurt as well.

6. Will the coaching staff learn from last years mistakes? Often it seemed that AV was on cruise control last season and that’s inexcusable for a head coach.

That’s a lot of question marks hanging over this team.
- BiggE

Solid post. Not your usual HF board parroting.

Myers lacks bite, shoots hard but neither accurately nor quickly (43.6% shots through career percentage and has never reached 46% in any season to date), and makes the same mistakes over and over (questionable hockey sense). Ristolainen is only two years older than Myers... it's not like Myers is six or seven years his junior. He also has hockey sense question marks and worse analytics but he is long established to bring a nasty physical presence and a way better shooter (53.4 percent career shot attempts getting on net, never a season lower than 47.7%). Ristolainen is a power play candidate. Myers is not one at the NHL level. Both are big guys who can really skate and stay in great shape.
- bmeltzer

Nice and accurate comparison!

Unless he flat out stinks Ersson should be on the phantoms. Like his upside much better than the other 2.

So your plan is to play 2 of those 3 in Reading?
- hello it's me 2050

Not my plan. Thats almost certainly the teams plan. Remember, it only takes 1 injury and the entire goalie rotation on all 3 teams can (theoretically) change.

If Hart gets hurt, we'd call up the vet I'm claiming we need to sign. That means Ustimenko/Sandstrom are now the Phantoms 1a/1b and Ersson is the starter in Reading.

They will all get playing time. I disagree with you on Ersson for sure. He is the one I'm certain will start in the ECHL assuming we start the season with no injuries.

The environment last year on the Flyers, especially for a young defenseman was difficult at best. Myers was clearly in a mental funk and had a severe lack of confidence. This led to the player making repeated mistakes as well as having periods where he was non-competitive and hesitant. However before that, he was a riser as a undrafted UFA and on a steady developmental course to the NHL. All of a sudden he developed questionable hockey sense? He caught like it was a cold or some other virus? With the Flyers having Ellis, Provorov who I don't like on the PP and now Yandle, they can live without Ristolainen having to play on the PP. I understand you like the Rsitolainen trade and I hope you're right but I would bet on Myers rebounding on a team that is known for developing defenseman and righting his game and becoming a pretty good player long term.
- MJL

I think Nashville would agree with you, and Chuck Fletcher said as much in his presser when he made the trade, i.e. that Myers will develop into a very good defenseman. I still would trade Myers for 5 years of Ellis who I think is a superior defenseman.

Don't worry, Risto's hockey sense is top notch. We won't ever see him repeat the same mistakes over and over here. Don't believe what people are saying out of Buffalo... they only watched him for 8-years... thats barely a blip!

Nashville's so dumb for wanting no IQ Myers -- what do they know about NHL defensemen anyway... ?
- Tomahawk

Ryan Parent, Mattias Nilsson, Jonathon Blum, Taylor Aronson, Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, Charles-Olivier Roussel,Jack Dougherty, and Tomas Slovak agree

Not my plan. Thats almost certainly the teams plan. Remember, it only takes 1 injury and the entire goalie rotation on all 3 teams can (theoretically) change.

If Hart gets hurt, we'd call up the vet I'm claiming we need to sign. That means Ustimenko/Sandstrom are now the Phantoms 1a/1b and Ersson is the starter in Reading.

They will all get playing time. I disagree with you on Ersson for sure. He is the one I'm certain will start in the ECHL assuming we start the season with no injuries.
- mochoson

Well to me they need to face better competition at this stage than ECHL.

Sanstrum isnt a young guy anymore.

Why are you comparing the Flyers to the Lightning? Who is the Flyers version of Vasilevsky, Hedman, Point and Kucherov? The Lightning franchise cornerstones are infinitely better than any player the Flyers have. When you have these (4) players who are all 30 and under, you can fill out your roster with veterans.
- PLindbergh31

Very good point. Tampa has elite talent in all 3 phases of the game, while the Flyers have good but not elite talent in any position.

I think you're wrong that I'm missing that point. I think you're missing the point that there is a big difference between relying on a young player to play in the top 4 of a defense versus as #6 on the 3rd pair. As I said in my post, they could've signed a player as a #7 and a fall back if York falters. They also have Morin. Instead they signed Yandle to be a regular in the top 6. Effectively taking away any legitimate chance York has to earn a spot in the top 6 barring injury.
- MJL

York is 20 years old and he's not Cale Makar. There is really no downside for him to gain more experience on the Phantoms.

Solid post. Not your usual HF board parroting.
- hello it's me 2050

Ok
And thanks for letting me live rent free in your head Zac.

So-

seems some think that AV will default to playing the VETs just brought in as opposed to playing younger players. York will not get time or Thompson will block others...

your opinion? Does AV have a bias?

if it is close does AV go with the vet?

I will ask just for the hell of it, if the young player has a really good camp will they get the spot??
- wcorvette

I absolutely believe AV has a bias towards playing veterans. Look at late last season when it was clear the Flyers were not going to make the playoffs, AV still put his veterans in all the key situations late in games instead of enabling the younger players to gain some experience.

Ok
And thanks for letting me live rent free in your head Zac.
- BiggE

how the book sales?

I absolutely believe AV has a bias towards playing veterans. Look at late last season when it was clear the Flyers were not going to make the playoffs, AV still put his veterans in all the key situations late in games instead of enabling the younger players to gain some experience.
- jd250

He had York on some of the PP and had Allison on the PP. What other young players were not getting minutes?

Don't worry, Risto's hockey sense is top notch. We won't ever see him repeat the same mistakes over and over here. Don't believe what people are saying out of Buffalo... they only watched him for 8-years... thats barely a blip!

Nashville's so dumb for wanting no IQ Myers -- what do they know about NHL defensemen anyway... ?
- Tomahawk

Yea all those guys they ‘developed’ would have been trash if they were apart of any other rosters. Give me a break, it’s majority on the player. Obviously certain organizations rush players all the time but to think they are turning duds into star players is ridiculous

Ryan Parent, Mattias Nilsson, Jonathon Blum, Taylor Aronson, Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, Charles-Olivier Roussel,Jack Dougherty, and Tomas Slovak agree
- hello it's me 2050

Now do the Flyers

Now do the Flyers
- Tomahawk

woywitka, Alexandre Picard, Mike Ratchuk, Denis Bodrov, Kevin Marshall, Simon Bertilsson, Samuel Morin, Mark Friedman

Not as long as I would have thought.

Well to me they need to face better competition at this stage than ECHL.

Sanstrum isnt a young guy anymore.
- hello it's me 2050

ECHL is great competition. It's a little different for goalies because they take so long to develop. Players can be 24-25 years old and still splitting time between the AHL/ECHL; that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Getting all of these guys time is exactly why I think Philippe Desrosiers (only 25 but still bouncing between leagues; good stats in both) would be a good signing. I think he starts as the 1a to Sandstrom but it may not remain that way as the season goes on. That's a legit competition. They'd both play.

Ersson and Ustimenko is an almost identical scenario. They will split time but it could start off with Ersson being the "1A" with Ustimenko coming off injury.

Give me a break, it’s majority on the player.
- ClaudeFather

When it comes to Myers, the majority is on the player.

When it comes to Risto, it's the poopty Sabres and playing him too many minutes.

Ya'll need to make up your minds.

Don't worry, Risto's hockey sense is top notch. We won't ever see him repeat the same mistakes over and over here. Don't believe what people are saying out of Buffalo... they only watched him for 8-years... thats barely a blip!

Nashville's so dumb for wanting no IQ Myers -- what do they know about NHL defensemen anyway... ?
- Tomahawk

I take Risto over Myers any day.

I take Ellis over Myers as well.

Funny. how bent out o do shape everyone is for questioning a players hockey iq. But we had this convo I. Season.

What worries me is that the Flyers are placing a lot of bets and it’s very doubtful that they will win them all or even most of them.

1. Is Jones still a legit NHL goaltender? Maybe, but I’m very doubtful as he’s been bad for a while now. Hart having a total bounce back season is critical.

2. Do Thompson and Yandle have anything left in the tank, and, will AV not overuse Thompson and match him up against top offensive players like he did vs the Isles in the 2020 playoffs?

3. Can you be a playoff team with Laughton and Thompson centering 2 of your lines? If needed, can Frost step up and be an effective middle 6 pivot?

4. Can Ristolainen improve enough upon his play in Buffalo to compensate for the price it took to acquire him? And, if so, can they afford to re-sign him?

5. Will Couts re-sign? If not, they will have a gaping hole up the middle. Using Hayes as a 1C is a recipe for disaster. Losing Giroux would hurt as well.

6. Will the coaching staff learn from last years mistakes? Often it seemed that AV was on cruise control last season and that’s inexcusable for a head coach.

That’s a lot of question marks hanging over this team.
- BiggE

As I've said ad nauseam, Fletcher is pushing his chips into the middle with King Jack off-suit. It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off for him.

No doubt the Flyers are a better team now on paper. The question is how close are they to contender status and not simply a playoff team?

ECHL is great competition. It's a little different for goalies because they take so long to develop. Just because a guy is 24-25 years old and still splitting time between the AHL/ECHL isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Getting all of these guys time is exactly why I think Philippe Desrosiers (only 25 but still bouncing between leagues; good stats in both) would be a good signing. I think he starts as the 1a to Sandstrom but it may not remain that way as the season goes on. That's a legit competition. They'd both play.

Ersson and Ustimenko is an almost identical scenario. They will split time but it could start off with Ersson being the "1A" with Ustimenko coming off injury.
- mochoson

Sorry it isn't great competition. If that is great is the AHL super great?

It also isn't a good thing at 24/25 to be in the ECHL by any means.

Signing an Alex Lyon type at this point wont do much. If that vet is seeing time with the flyers then this season went off the rails. Assuming it is for more than a game or 2.

Let the 3 they have battle it out then address later if need be.

Yep. You want a vet ok. Get one that can at least contribute. He is slow as balls. The grit part is even funnier.

In no order just naming names:

clode - ex selke - cam
jvr- hayes - joel
tk - frost/laughton- allison
laughton- Nate - lindblom

Tanner - NAK - anyone missing?
- hello it's me 2050

I really wanted Fletcher to sign Nick Foligno who I think would have really solidified our bottom 6, however Boston offered him 2 years at over $3M AAV so he was beyond the Flyers budget. Thompson will be a part time depth player who will play based on match-ups. He is low cost and gives the AV some flexibility in his match-ups from game to game. I am not concerned about the signing, he is strictly a role player.