I believe I probably did say that but that's not the main reason in my opinion. I believe that the GM knows that his job is on the line. He knows that Braun was moved. Ellis is a question mark and if he moved Ristolainen. He would've had to completely rebuild the right side of his defense if Ellis can't rebound. So I think it was a safety valve more than anything. Knowing that next year if the team starts out slow, he's probably gone. Not willing to risk going into the off season with that staring at him. In essence we have a team and a GM who put themselves into a position of having to make moves rather than being very selective and making the right moves.
- MJL

Also I think it mattered to fletcher that risto wants to play here. Absolutely no guarantee of that come summertime talking to ufas. It’s going to be tough attracting talent that won’t bend the flyers over for quite awhile

I know the song lyrics but can't place it.
- MJL

Don't Shed a Tear - Paul Carrack

Here is my 10 cents, my 2 cents is free. I am one of those who think you need to have players on your team that hit and in some cases intimidate so I like the additions of McEwen and Risto for those reasons. In fact Chuckles, who I am not a fan of, recognized this after the season, and acted on it. If anyone remembers last year we were getting manhandled quite often. I was especially infuriated when Laughton got basically corkscrewed on a faceoff at center ice from that guy for Buffalo, whose name escapes me at this time, and NO ONE DID A DAMN THING!!! I think the issue for most of us is that while they add that needed muscle, the fact that the rest of the squad is short on talent makes their, well Risto's shortcomings stick out like a sore thumb. I don't need analytics to tell me that he is not playing well, I saw the first 2 goals last night, and oof. But I will also tell you that I like the physical part he brings to the game, just like Gudas and others before him. I am what I am and if I am going to lose I at least like getting my pound of flesh to ease the pain. Hopefully they add more skill, and winning, as we know, cures a lot of ailments.. but I am not hopeful with the current regime. So until then, HIT SUMBUDY!

Here is my 10 cents, my 2 cents is free. I am one of those who think you need to have players on your team that hit and in some cases intimidate so I like the additions of McEwen and Risto for those reasons. In fact Chuckles, who I am not a fan of, recognized this after the season, and acted on it. If anyone remembers last year we were getting manhandled quite often. I was especially infuriated when Laughton got basically corkscrewed on a faceoff at center ice from that guy for Buffalo, whose name escapes me at this time, and NO ONE DID A DAMN THING!!! I think the issue for most of us is that while they add that needed muscle, the fact that the rest of the squad is short on talent makes their, well Risto's shortcomings stick out like a sore thumb. I don't need analytics to tell me that he is not playing well, I saw the first 2 goals last night, and oof. But I will also tell you that I like the physical part he brings to the game, just like Gudas and others before him. I am what I am and if I am going to lose I at least like getting my pound of flesh to ease the pain. Hopefully they add more skill, and winning, as we know, cures a lot of ailments.. but I am not hopeful with the current regime. So until then, HIT SUMBUDY!
- Lawless18

Thanks for the song. It's a good one.

As far as hitting and intimidating. Neither player intimidates anyone.

You may like the physical game that Ristolainen brings but it's not effective. If it was, it would be shown in the stats. He bleeds scoring chances and goals against. He doesn't limit shots.
Ristolainen hits out of the flow of play. He's famous for roughing up a player after a goal is scored or after multiple scoring chances at the net have occurred. Like he comes in after all I said and done. It has zero effect.
His hockey sense does not allow him to read plays properly. He hits after the puck is gone. He rarely hits to separate a player from the puck and transition the other way.
Ristolainen is not as good as Gudas is.

Thanks for the song. It's a good one.

As far as hitting and intimidating. Neither player intimidates anyone.

You may like the physical game that Ristolainen brings but it's not effective. If it was, it would be shown in the stats. He bleeds scoring chances and goals against. He doesn't limit shots.
Ristolainen hits out of the flow of play. He's famous for roughing up a player after a goal is scored or after multiple scoring chances at the net have occurred. Like he comes in after all I said and done. It has zero effect.
His hockey sense does not allow him to read plays properly. He hits after the puck is gone. He rarely hits to separate a player from the puck and transition the other way.
Ristolainen is not as good as Gudas is.
- MJL

Hmm, that definition sounds like Gauthier, the guy we got from the Yotes back in the day. Huge hits but not so good otherwise..... hopefully it changes next year but I get that after over 600 games you are what you are.....

Hmm, that definition sounds like Gauthier, the guy we got from the Yotes back in the day. Huge hits but not so good otherwise..... hopefully it changes next year but I get that after over 600 games you are what you are.....
- Lawless18

Defensively and in his own end, he's exactly like Gauthier. The difference is Ristolainen has a lot more talent and can put up some points.

Here is my 10 cents, my 2 cents is free. I am one of those who think you need to have players on your team that hit and in some cases intimidate so I like the additions of McEwen and Risto for those reasons. In fact Chuckles, who I am not a fan of, recognized this after the season, and acted on it. If anyone remembers last year we were getting manhandled quite often. I was especially infuriated when Laughton got basically corkscrewed on a faceoff at center ice from that guy for Buffalo, whose name escapes me at this time, and NO ONE DID A DAMN THING!!! I think the issue for most of us is that while they add that needed muscle, the fact that the rest of the squad is short on talent makes their, well Risto's shortcomings stick out like a sore thumb. I don't need analytics to tell me that he is not playing well, I saw the first 2 goals last night, and oof. But I will also tell you that I like the physical part he brings to the game, just like Gudas and others before him. I am what I am and if I am going to lose I at least like getting my pound of flesh to ease the pain. Hopefully they add more skill, and winning, as we know, cures a lot of ailments.. but I am not hopeful with the current regime. So until then, HIT SUMBUDY!
- Lawless18

I don’t know what’s funnier. The fact you believe in todays nhl you need players that hit and are intimidating

Or

Mcewan and risto intimidate anyone.

No by fears them whatsoever. They laugh at them. They take advantage of them.

Wake up

Thanks for coming out today. The Flyers are proud to announce our newest mascot, Nitty!! So now the Flyers have the best of both worlds, Nitty and Gritty. Things couldn't be more $hitty.
- hockeylover

next they'll add mr $hitty the Christmas poo

I don’t know what’s funnier. The fact you believe in todays nhl you need players that hit and are intimidating

Or

Mcewan and risto intimidate anyone.

No by fears them whatsoever. They laugh at them. They take advantage of them.

Wake up
- Stayin alive

I will politely disagree. All I have to do is look at games last year and perhaps even further back and this year. Losing yes, but getting manhandled as well is not acceptable and never will be in my opinion.

Perhaps the game has passed my by as I am reminded every time I see that overgrown dustball on my tv screen during home games......

I will politely disagree. All I have to do is look at games last year and perhaps even further back and this year. Losing yes, but getting manhandled as well is not acceptable and never will be in my opinion.

Perhaps the game has passed my by as I am reminded every time I see that overgrown dustball on my tv screen during home games......
- Lawless18

I don't see MacEwen as a player that intimidates anyone. He is a player that the Flyers need to move on from in my opinion. Not an effective 5 on 5 player and doesn't play on special teams. Flyers have more talented and younger players that they need to develop and open spots for.

Thank you for this link. I looked it over and Sanheim is really up their in even strength offense (EVO) Wins above replacement (WAR). Sanheim is above Adam Fox, Chris Letang, Zach Werensky, Miro Heiskanen, Alex Pietrangelo and CHarlie McAvoy just to name a few. BTW Risto is actually above 0 which I was surprised at.
- jd250

Are you only looking at that single column? Because that's only represents ES offense lol. All the columns gets summed together into the score on the far right, which tells you each players total impact on their teams this season.

Overall, Fox and McAvoy have had a bigger positive impact than Sanheim this season (not surprising). Heiskinen's been good and ranks near Sanheim. Werenski and Letang have had poor defensive seasons, which hurts them overall. Pietrangelo's having a down year.

Risto's been bad across the board. Overall he's ranked next to last, and that's while playing with a very strong partner most of the time.

Now ask yourself, what the hell does this mean? Is this metric trying to tell me that Sanheim is a better player than any of these defenseman mentioned?
- jd250

No. See above.

So in the end, I am not sure what to draw from this data but given the players that are lower than Sanheim, I can tell you its not much if anything.
- jd250

You're making a snap judgement before you fundamentally understand what you're looking at. Makes it kinda hard to expand your knowledge base that way, doesn't it?

I will politely disagree. All I have to do is look at games last year and perhaps even further back and this year. Losing yes, but getting manhandled as well is not acceptable and never will be in my opinion.

Perhaps the game has passed my by as I am reminded every time I see that overgrown dustball on my tv screen during home games......
- Lawless18

You can relax….no the game hasn’t changed that much and has not passed you by. Both Risto and MacEwen provide elements that can’t be measured analytically….lol. So they must not be important? I can’t believe this is actually being said. Now intimidation isn’t quite what it used to be but until they take both contact and fighting out of hockey both guys serve a useful purpose. Rule changes have helped reign in the goofy side of intimidation and physical contact but it’s still there and I’m pretty sure always will be.

I don't see MacEwen as a player that intimidates anyone. He is a player that the Flyers need to move on from in my opinion. Not an effective 5 on 5 player and doesn't play on special teams. Flyers have more talented and younger players that they need to develop and open spots for.
- MJL

Which means Chucks about to hand him a multi-year extension. Book it.

If you have a defenseman who supposedly brings a physical element that a team needs to the ice, it would show up in the results of what happens when that player is on the ice.

So if we look at all NHL defenseman with a filter of 650 minutes played to just focus on regular players at defensive numbers. Here is how Ristolainen ranks

Shot attempts CA/60 159th
Shots against/60 157th
Goals against/60 135th (equal to Keith Yandle)
XGA/60 159th
SCA/60 147th
HDCA/60 151st

So where is the intimidation as he bleeds shot attempts, shots, goals and scoring chances when he is on the ice? Bad players serve no useful purpose no matter how many hits they throw.

In this case, Chuck isn't your normal country club member. He's like a son to Clarke. I think Chuck is safe as long as Scott is willing to keep hearing Bob Clarke make excuses for him. Even with Danny going to night school lol.
- Tomahawk

Lol he’s cramming

Interesting….Phil Myers has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies…the leafs farm team, directly from the pred’s….talk of a buyout this summer if they can’t move him.

Interesting….Phil Myers has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies…the leafs farm team, directly from the pred’s….talk of a buyout this summer if they can’t move him.
- landros 2

The Flyers literally gave up nothing to get Ellis. Now they have to figure out a way to get him healthy. Really strange that they haven't decided on surgery at this point. Watch them wait until August and then he'll be out most of next season too.

The Flyers literally gave up nothing to get Ellis. Now they have to figure out a way to get him healthy. Really strange that they haven't decided on surgery at this point. Watch them wait until August and then he'll be out most of next season too.
- Phillywhiteout

Hopefully…because he’s an anchor on the cap if he can’t play more then 4 games a year.

The Flyers literally gave up nothing to get Ellis. Now they have to figure out a way to get him healthy. Really strange that they haven't decided on surgery at this point. Watch them wait until August and then he'll be out most of next season too.
- Phillywhiteout

The Flyers gave up cap space and let a team off the hook with a troublesome contract with 6 years still left on it.

Interesting….Phil Myers has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies…the leafs farm team, directly from the pred’s….talk of a buyout this summer if they can’t move him.
- landros 2

dude must be uncoachable or something

Allison starts the game with a goal

#freeallison

Allison starts the game with a goal

#freeallison
- wcorvette

Kids a player.

Kids a player.
- MJL

If he can ever stay on the ice, let’s hope

We just got a D man from the Marlies for future considerations lol

We just got a D man from the Marlies for future considerations lol
- hereticpride

A Minnesota wild cast off…ie another Nick Seeler…although this kids more offensive.