I find hockey players are quite accommodating. I am such a big fan, I'd always take an opportunity to meet any of the Flyers players. I've had nothing but good experiences with the players and alumni.
- Hextall271

Leight but.. sadly the most standoffish guy to ever sign an autograph was peter forsberg, which sucked because he was my absolute favorite hockey player. I was at a Nashville preds game and they played the avalanche that night. The players usually ate at the restaurant across the street so we waited in the lobby for him and sakic and deadmarsh. foppa tried to run and hide without being seen when he walked out of the restaurant
. He looked genuinely displeased about having to sign an autograph, even though I had his jersey on

It kinda sucked bc he was my favorite player. But I still got that autograph!!

I met Dave Shultz and Bob Kelly at the NHL store in NYC a few years ago. They were as nice as could be and took a photo with me. Shultz was taking about how tough it was to play against the Rangers at MSG and I told him that he had it easy and I called him a Wuss in front of everybody. You could have heard a Pin drop. I explained to him that he fought on the ice for a couple minutes, then the refs stepped in and he sat in the box for 5 minutes. I told him that I sat in the blue seats in the rafters of MSG and I had to fight with the drunk Ranger fans for 20 minutes each period, plus intermissions. He laughed and agreed with me. Both guys still looked like they could be playing in the NHL.
- Thors-Hammer

😂. Pretty funny story. Pin drop I bet. Nice play though but your lucky you got the second half of that before they pulled your sweat shirt over your head. 😂

😂. Pretty funny story. Pin drop I bet. Nice play though but your lucky you got the second half of that before they pulled your sweat shirt over your head. 😂
- peesinwind

Hahah. Awesome story.

Length of remaining term and a likely ownership directive to pare down payroll. The last two seasons have been financially rough revenue wise.
- bmeltzer

Yes, with the flat cap right now and the NHL financial struggles it doesn’t look to improve soon. Plus I think they are one of the few teams in the league that have a pretty good farm system with RHD.

This is a good trade for the Flyers though. They really needed to shore that top pairing up and it looks like it could be for awhile.

The projection is that the cap will flatten out for 5-years.

The TV deal actually doesn't bring in enough money to make a real difference. The main problem is that revenues were so low during Covid that the players actually owe the owners a (frank)-ton of money that couldn't be covered by escrow. And if the players' debt crosses a certain threshold, it triggers a clause in the CBA where the cap is basically frozen until it's reduced.

That's gonna take quite a few years, unless the NHL all of a sudden starts pulling in NBA money.

DGB has a really nice piece about it if you're curious about the particulars:
https://www.pensionplanpu...revenues-should-rise-soon
- Tomahawk

Thanks for posting this link. I was under the impression the cap was going to rise in 22-23. Paints a tougher picture.

Leight but.. sadly the most standoffish guy to ever sign an autograph was peter forsberg, which sucked because he was my absolute favorite hockey player. I was at a Nashville preds game and they played the avalanche that night. The players usually ate at the restaurant across the street so we waited in the lobby for him and sakic and deadmarsh. foppa tried to run and hide without being seen when he walked out of the restaurant
. He looked genuinely displeased about having to sign an autograph, even though I had his jersey on

It kinda sucked bc he was my favorite player. But I still got that autograph!!
- Bob Habib

Yeah. Maybe he was shy. Who knows. But you got the autograph so it’s all good haha. G was great when I met him and coburn and I joked a bit about me wanting him to wallop Cindy. Coots read and timonen were also very friendly.

The projection is that the cap will flatten out for 5-years.

The TV deal actually doesn't bring in enough money to make a real difference. The main problem is that revenues were so low during Covid that the players actually owe the owners a (frank)-ton of money that couldn't be covered by escrow. And if the players' debt crosses a certain threshold, it triggers a clause in the CBA where the cap is basically frozen until it's reduced.

That's gonna take quite a few years, unless the NHL all of a sudden starts pulling in NBA money.

DGB has a really nice piece about it if you're curious about the particulars:
https://www.pensionplanpu...revenues-should-rise-soon
- Tomahawk

I guess the guys on the Sirius/XM NHL Network were wrong then. That's where I heard that the cap would be going up relatively soon although I heard something similar to what you showed too. Lots of teams are going to be in deep shyte cap wise if that scenario plays out.

Counterbalance to the Peter Forsberg story. Back in November 2006, he was named Swedish player of the century by the SIF. A friend of mine named Konstantin Foussianis was asked to write a corresponding magazine article and asked if I would take photos (the only published photos I've ever taken because photography is far my strong suit).

The three of us went out for lunch after practice in Voorhees. Peter was delightful, insisting on my behalf that the conversation be conducted in English. During lunch, his phone kept going off with calls and texts. He apologized and shut it off so he could give the conversation his undivided attention.

One of the topics discussed was the infamous incident pre-NHL when he blew up about the officiating after a playoff elimination game loss with Modo on a live interview (cursing and saying he wanted to punch out the ref). Peter said that incident was a big embarrassment to him and he could never see himself doing something like that now.

Within the hockey talk, he predicted that Victor Hedman (not draft eligible yet at that time) was going to become a superstar in the NHL.

Beyond hockey talk, Peter also discussed some of his off-ice interests. He had an interest in real estate investing and correctly predicted that Northern Liberties properties in Philly had all the signs of becoming trendy and profitable.

At the end of the discussion, he offered to pay for lunch. I insisted on picking up the check, not so I could say someday that I once bought lunch for Peter Forsberg but because it had been an incredible experience and I was grateful for how generous he was with his time and going above and beyond in being insightful, introspective and kind.

Fast forward one night. The Flyers were playing Tampa Bay and the awful start to the Flyers' season continued. In the third period, Foppa blew a gasket over a call, arguing himself into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a 10-min misconduct that ended his night early.

When he saw me in the locker room, he recalled what he said the day before in Voorhees about having outgrown the Modo incident. He gave me a half grin and shrugged.

The idea that Myers, Glass, and the cap flexibility they got from dealing Ryan Ellis was lackluster value for what is perceived as a top pairing dman is silly.

The Preds dealt Ellis because they felt he was a luxury they could afford to lose. It isn't anymore complicated than that.
- mochoson

It is a lackluster value. If I was a Preds fan, I would not be happy. There is no such thing as a top pair RH all situations defenseman being a luxury. They are at a premium in this league.

I meant from Nashville's perspective. Trading Ellis enabled them to protect Ekholm or someone else. Everyone was questioning Nashville's motivation.
- backfire

No that is not the case. They used a protection spot for Myers. Which they could've easily used for Ellis. The trade did not do anything for them in the expansion draft.

Relevant concern sure. He hasn’t shown any decline in his game. His 82 game season was just 3 seasons ago and the last 2 were shortened Covid season. Although last year he was out handful of games for the broken knuckle.

His points per game look pretty good right now. Not dropping off at all.

So how relevant is it is a question we should ask. Your assuming that they got rid of him due to this concern with no proof of their intention. Your not a guy who jumps to these conclusions. There is no sign of decline based on his stats and a broken knuckle is hardly a concern in one’s future health.
- peesinwind

Teams just don't trade top pairing RH defenseman very often. I think it's a reasonable assumption.