I cannot disagree with you, this team even with a completely healthy lineup lacked speed and top end talent. We saw it time and time again that the team had to work so hard just to score a goal, that they frequently created grade A looks but could not finish. Look, I never for a second thought this team would be a cup contender, but I thought on paper coming into this season they would make the playoffs. As you know, but probably will not admit, I have been harping on this team lacking speed and top end talent for quite some time. I liked the Ellis trade quite a bit, and I know you didn't, but in hindsight trading for Risto instead of trying to obtain more speed and top end talent was a bad move.
- jd250

We both know what side each of us was on when the trades were made. It's clear who got it right. The question moving forward is will you green light the moves Fletcher makes this off season. Most likely. The you can add it to your list of why you like Fletcher. After all, he hired some people.

Isnt that what Fletcher has done so far? Most players he has moved out have been pre-Fletcher.

Gudas
Giroux
Voracek
Nolan Patrick
Myers
Hagg
raffl
Simmonds
Weal
Weise

JVR is on his way out.

I wouldnt be surprised to see Laughton moved especially if you are going with Cates\Frost\Tippett as Line 3 and Youth for line 4

That just leaves Couturier, Lindblom, Konecny, Sanheim, Provorov and Hart
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I’d trade Lindblom before I trade Laughton

So Torts was interviewed. If he’s the coach at least the post game pressers will be entertaining.

It's absolutely mind boggling how many on this board are completely disconnected. How some still don't understand the salary cap and waiver situations in the league.
- MJL

Indeed. As if a guy with a sizable contract clearing waivers mid-season during a league-wide cap crunch somehow means nobody thinks he can play.

And judging by the quality of other players who have cleared waivers in the past, its not like the GM group as a whole always recognize value when they see it.

I saw a different team. The only way you change the culture of a team is to improve the team. Winning changes the culture. A team lacking talent can only work so hard. Culture is a word thrown around here as if it is actually a factor. This team is not good not because of a bad culture with the players. It's bad because they lack talent. They're mismanaged and they have an archaic management that has no clue on how to build a hockey team in the modern day NHL
- MJL

You fail to understand what culture is.

How teams prepare for games, what they eat, whether or not they party on nights before games, how they train and practice is all part of the culture.

Mackinnon enforces a strict healthy diet on the team. That is part of their culture.

Thornton in San Jose attended every optional skate (Exaggeration I know you get nitpicky about that). That in turn made younger players show up because they felt it was expected of them. That was San Jose's culture.

Flyers dont have Culture. Im sorry that is incorrect, The players do what they want when they want. Their culture is just show up and play

They eat what ever garbage they want.

Physical conditioning is not the top priority of this team, you can see it on a lot of the players.

Players pack it in when they are losing and give up. They are mentally fragile.

Players constantly coast in the defensive zone or dont backcheck

The Flyers dont play with Physicality or snarl they just get pushed around.

These are traits that lead to losing, not the other way around.

The young players come in and think this is acceptable

Im not saying the team needs to go full Hextall and force the players to do these thing but the leaders need to step up and lead by example. The players build the culture.

We need a culture where the players are expected to be their best

Indeed. As if a guy with a sizable contract clearing waivers mid-season during a league-wide cap crunch somehow means nobody thinks he can play.

And judging by the quality of other players who have cleared waivers in the past, its not like the GM group as a whole always recognize value when they see it.
- Tomahawk

Wonder why Arizona didnt move him or if they tried? Try to sell high. Wonder what the league wide interest was at the deadline.

Are they going to be tanking for 5 years during the entire Ristolainen contract? Ristolainen is destined to be a 3rd pair defenseman towards the end of his deal and even more dead weight than he is now. Although it's not at all a stretch to think this team is going to be mediocre to bad for the next 5 years and that they won't be anywhere close to being a legit contender for that time period
- MJL

Going for a specific player like Bedard by planning is ridiculous. Way too much there is outside your hands. Further, this is not a bottom 5 team on merit. They are a bottom 12 team.

Need to move the bottom 12 dial to a top 7 picking, and need to play the #s and do that for some years. Having Risto with his contract should help nudge it in the right (down) direction and keep it there.

We both know what side each of us was on when the trades were made. It's clear who got it right. The question moving forward is will you green light the moves Fletcher makes this off season. Most likely. The you can add it to your list of why you like Fletcher. After all, he hired some people.
- MJL

I am on record in saying I sincerely hope Fletcher does very little this off season. Other than freeing cap space and hiring a really solid head coach, I'd prefer Fletcher draft a really good player with the 5th pick and just let his young players play. I want Fletcher to stay away from big FA signings and stay away from big hockey trades unless it clearly benefits the Flyers both today and in the future. I liked Fletcher's aggressiveness last off season since I felt this team needed a change. However, now given the number of young players in this org that we still know very little about in terms of their ceilings, I think its time to step back and let them play out a season before any more big moves are made.

You fail to understand what culture is.

How teams prepare for games, what they eat, whether or not they party on nights before games, how they train and practice is all part of the culture.

Mackinnon enforces a strict healthy diet on the team. That is part of their culture.

Thornton in San Jose attended every optional skate (Exaggeration I know you get nitpicky about that). That in turn made younger players show up because they felt it was expected of them. That was San Jose's culture.

Flyers dont have Culture. Im sorry that is incorrect, The players do what they want when they want. Their culture is just show up and play

They eat what ever garbage they want.

Physical conditioning is not the top priority of this team, you can see it on a lot of the players.

Players pack it in when they are losing and give up. They are mentally fragile.

Players constantly coast in the defensive zone or dont backcheck

The Flyers dont play with Physicality or snarl they just get pushed around.

These are traits that lead to losing, not the other way around.

The young players come in and think this is acceptable

Im not saying the team needs to go full Hextall and force the players to do these thing but the leaders need to step up and lead by example. The players build the culture.

We need a culture where the players are expected to be their best
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

1. How exactly does the enforcement work?

2. Leading to consistent underachievement in playoffs (relative to regular season records) for a long time?

3. What was tbe Pens culture when Kessel was in town on the way to 2 cups.

Hint:

https://www.google.com/am...nhl-100-profile/%3fsn-amp

You fail to understand what culture is.

How teams prepare for games, what they eat, whether or not they party on nights before games, how they train and practice is all part of the culture.

Mackinnon enforces a strict healthy diet on the team. That is part of their culture.

Thornton in San Jose attended every optional skate (Exaggeration I know you get nitpicky about that). That in turn made younger players show up because they felt it was expected of them. That was San Jose's culture.

Flyers dont have Culture. Im sorry that is incorrect, The players do what they want when they want. Their culture is just show up and play

They eat what ever garbage they want.

Physical conditioning is not the top priority of this team, you can see it on a lot of the players.

Players pack it in when they are losing and give up. They are mentally fragile.

Players constantly coast in the defensive zone or dont backcheck

The Flyers dont play with Physicality or snarl they just get pushed around.

These are traits that lead to losing, not the other way around.

The young players come in and think this is acceptable

Im not saying the team needs to go full Hextall and force the players to do these thing but the leaders need to step up and lead by example. The players build the culture.

We need a culture where the players are expected to be their best
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

None of that is culture. You can do all of those things and if you lack talent, you won't be a top team. The only way to form a winning culture is by winning. You win by improving the team. Improving the talent level on the team and the play on the ice. As if a team has a strong culture, then a player will be good and he will back check. LOL

All of what you stated is archaic thinking. It's why the Flyers continue to be one of the worst run teams in the league. They believe they have a great culture and the Flyers way is a winning way. They have blinders on.

You solved the Flyers issues. Better nutrition and showing up to optional skates. Better training in the off season.

Going for a specific player like Bedard by planning is ridiculous. Way too much there is outside your hands. Further, this is not a bottom 5 team on merit. They are a bottom 12 team.

Need to move the bottom 12 dial to a top 7 picking, and need to play the #s and do that for some years. Having Risto with his contract should help nudge it in the right (down) direction and keep it there.
- PT21

That's the issue. If they have improved health. They're a middle of the pack team, possibly sniffing at the playoffs. Capped out and with a difficult avenue to elite talent. Worst place you can be as a team in the NHL.

Going for a specific player like Bedard by planning is ridiculous. Way too much there is outside your hands. Further, this is not a bottom 5 team on merit. They are a bottom 12 team.

Need to move the bottom 12 dial to a top 7 picking, and need to play the #s and do that for some years. Having Risto with his contract should help nudge it in the right (down) direction and keep it there.
- PT21

Problem is Fletcher didn't sign Ristolainen to that contract to stealth tank. He signed him because he legitimately believes he's a good top 4 defenseman. Which worries me about this offseason, who will be the Ristolainen of 2022?

Wonder why Arizona didnt move him or if they tried? Try to sell high. Wonder what the league wide interest was at the deadline.
- hello it's me 2050

Contending teams didn't want to take on term. His value will be much higher for the 'Yotes as he enters into the final year of his deal.

Contending teams didn't want to take on term. His value will be much higher for the 'Yotes as he enters into the final year of his deal.
- Tomahawk

Well if he is has good as some think then that is a low salary for his production. Then you get him for 2 playoff runs. Plus Arizona could have retained. I just don't think he was in demand.

He wont have the same production imo next season. Not 100% sure though his underlying metrics I do not think were all that good.

So who are the other coaches the Flyers interviewed? And why is it so hush hush?

In other sports it seems there is a lot of transparency. Flyers once again treating something like they’re guarding high level CIA intel.
- StepfordSam

As frustrating as it is I hope they keep it quiet. It's going to be hard enough to walk in to this show. Could you imagine the fallout they'd face if the fan base was 100% aware of who their choices were and then they picked one the fan base disagreed with?
Jeopardy host nightmare 2.0
It'll be bad enough with our conjectures.

Well if he is has good as some think then that is a low salary for his production. Then you get him for 2 playoff runs. Plus Arizona could have retained. I just don't think he was in demand.

He wont have the same production imo next season. Not 100% sure though his underlying metrics I do not think were all that good.
- hello it's me 2050

His overall WAR was pretty high, like 15th-overall for dmen in the league. The underlying stuff is strong on the offensive side of the puck. On the defensive side, he was still better than RR, and he was actually used in all situations this season with a very even zone split and time on the PK.

With equal ice time and Arizona maybe scoring more than just 28 PP goals as team, I could see him putting up 40-60 pts pretty easily again.

Definitely had a regress in the second season. Still managed his second highest point total season this past year and led the team. Regardless of how bad the team was he still led them in points. I think that is something to build on for next season.
- MBFlyerfan

Can anybody name any players who excelled under AV??
Seriously... He was an awful developmental coach. Everything those nasty rags fans warned us about AV was true
After AV got the axe and yeo slowly implemented his system I saw TK play better hockey.. much better actually. Same could be said for a lot of players.
AV and his dump and chase scheme with arguably one of the slowest most lackadaisical teams in the NHL just wasn't going to work
AV was terrible here outside of that first year that everybody bought into the program.
I honestly wonder what had happened for the entire team to stop listening to AV. Was it his system he tried to force on these guys?
Genuinely curious question here... What TF happened?!

So Torts was interviewed. If he’s the coach at least the post game pressers will be entertaining.
- mikeyo27

Maurice gives you the same thing for less money.

So who are the other coaches the Flyers interviewed? And why is it so hush hush?

In other sports it seems there is a lot of transparency. Flyers once again treating something like they’re guarding high level CIA intel.
- StepfordSam

High level intel is an accurate description. Fletcher said he is building an ideal candidate profile. It’s all classified. You have to have a top security clearance within the organization. This candidate profile will be the blueprint for all coaching hires for the next 2 decades. If they tell you who they interviewed, you might figure out the ideal candidate profile. Duh.

Was listening to the NHL Network on Sirius/XM this afternoon and they were harping on the Torts to Philly idea! I think Trotz would be my first choice and Torts second. Torts' post game pressers would be more interesting though. Tocchet would be my LAST choice. Please NO!!! Thanks!

High level intel is an accurate description. Fletcher said he is building an ideal candidate profile. It’s all classified. You have to have a top security clearance within the organization. This candidate profile will be the blueprint for all coaching hires for the next 2 decades. If they tell you who they interviewed, you might figure out the ideal candidate profile. Duh.
- Minnyhock

That's locked up in a GSA file container. It's top secret. That is right next to the analytics file with the team age distribution chart.

Can anybody name any players who excelled under AV??
Seriously... He was an awful developmental coach. Everything those nasty rags fans warned us about AV was true
After AV got the axe and yeo slowly implemented his system I saw TK play better hockey.. much better actually. Same could be said for a lot of players.
AV and his dump and chase scheme with arguably one of the slowest most lackadaisical teams in the NHL just wasn't going to work
AV was terrible here outside of that first year that everybody bought into the program.
I honestly wonder what had happened for the entire team to stop listening to AV. Was it his system he tried to force on these guys?
Genuinely curious question here... What TF happened?!
- Bob Habib

Konecny and Farabee had their best seasons under AV

Lindblom was looking to have his best season with AV until he was diagnosed with Cancer.

Provorov had his 2nd best season with AV

Hart had a good year his 1st season with AV

I dont buy the AV was a bad coach routine, I just think he started to lose the room when he started playing mind games. Flyers were a good team in 2019-20 over the 69 games they played. People try to shrug it off to a hot streak but the 1st half of the season is just as good as their 2nd half.

This team has a habit of going through coaches like underwear. Its rare for a PHI coach to complete 4 years. Last one was Laviollette.

Konecny and Farabee had their best seasons under AV

Lindblom was looking to have his best season with AV until he was diagnosed with Cancer.

Provorov had his 2nd best season with AV

Hart had a good year his 1st season with AV

I dont buy the AV was a bad coach routine, I just think he started to lose the room when he started playing mind games. Flyers were a good team in 2019-20 over the 69 games they played. People try to shrug it off to a hot streak but the 1st half of the season is just as good as their 2nd half.

This team has a habit of going through coaches like underwear. Its rare for a PHI coach to complete 4 years. Last one was Laviollette.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

When a coach fails to over a significant period of time to correct numerous issues that a team has. Most predominantly the Flyers defensive zone coverage issues. He's a bad coach. I lobbied for the Flyers to hire AV. That was a mistake on my part. He did a poor job as did his assistants.

Konecny and Farabee had their best seasons under AV

Lindblom was looking to have his best season with AV until he was diagnosed with Cancer.

Provorov had his 2nd best season with AV

Hart had a good year his 1st season with AV

I dont buy the AV was a bad coach routine, I just think he started to lose the room when he started playing mind games. Flyers were a good team in 2019-20 over the 69 games they played. People try to shrug it off to a hot streak but the 1st half of the season is just as good as their 2nd half.

This team has a habit of going through coaches like underwear. Its rare for a PHI coach to complete 4 years. Last one was Laviollette.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

The shelf life of the average NHL coach tends to not be very long. I mean, just look around the league. How many coaches actually have 5 years with the same organization. It seems not many. Look at Lavy....his shelf life seems to be 5 years or less.

None of that is culture. You can do all of those things and if you lack talent, you won't be a top team. The only way to form a winning culture is by winning. You win by improving the team. Improving the talent level on the team and the play on the ice. As if a team has a strong culture, then a player will be good and he will back check. LOL

All of what you stated is archaic thinking. It's why the Flyers continue to be one of the worst run teams in the league. They believe they have a great culture and the Flyers way is a winning way. They have blinders on.

You solved the Flyers issues. Better nutrition and showing up to optional skates. Better training in the off season.
- MJL

I think its all important to be honest. To start with you have to have good players and a good mix of talent. Next you have to have a solid and proven system that the players believe in and will execute game in and game out. But then you need to have a strong work ethic and a high level of responsibility and accountability in order to get the most out of the talent you have.

For the Flyers, they have some good players, but no top end elite players. The Flyers unfortunately do not have a proven system that they believe in and execute consistently. And finally, the Flyers have shown a lack of worth ethic and accountability over the past few years, though this season I think that improved a bit.

So the Flyers need to start with step 1, get good players. Fletcher has stated he wants this team to get younger, faster and more talented. That to me is a big step in the right direction.