Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: Practice Day, Fletcher, Wilson and More

Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: Practice Day, Fletcher, Wilson and More
- bmeltzer

Thanks Bill

Thanks for the insight into this crazy time.

Sounds like today is the day Seattle gets approved.

Saying the right things giving him time to see the reality.

Thanks for the insight into this crazy time.

Sounds like today is the day Seattle gets approved.
- dragonoffrost

Crazy time indeed. Really reminds me of the Lindros drama where the org throws a franchise icon under the bus. I'm just hoping that this drama doesn't go on for years like the Lindros one did.

I hope they give Hak 10 games. If he's not something like 7-2-1 with the team vastly improved on the PP and PK as well as consistency in play then I can him and the assistants other than Wilson. I still don't think that Hextall is the reason that Hak hasn't been able to get the team playing well as was implied by Homer and Scott. If you're going to clean house, rip it off like a bandaid.

I'm just going to sit back and reserve judgement until I see what moves Fletcher makes and how the team performs the rest of the season. This team has some significant holes and no GM is going to fill them all over the next 2 months. Nor can any GM make a young player magically more experienced.

What I'm looking for from the new GM is:

Making the entire work environment more comfortable; not just for the front office, but more importantly, for the coaches and players. It seems that there was a lot of tension under Hextall (whether his fault or not doesn't matter, the tension still existed) and pro sports is a high stress field already without adding any extra anxiety into the mix.

Take his time and get a good read on Hakstol and current staff. I think Wilson, if the rumors are true, will be a good addition that can come in and use his knowledge and experience to settle down a very young group of Dmen. There is no rush to make a decision regarding who will be coaching the team in the future. Take your time and get it right.

As he alluded to in the conference call, take his time and see what solutions are in house before making any moves. Can Wilson get the D playing better both at ES and on the PK? Can Stolarz continue to play solid in net? Can you get through the season with a combo of Stolarz, Elliott and Neuvirth? If so, than you don't have to give up an asset to acquire a goalie. Same with the D. If Provy starts playing like Provy and Wilson gets everyone else playing to their capabilities, then you probably don't need to overpay to acquire a Dman. Perhaps the only addition needed to the roster is just one more solid center? A veteran PKer? Time will tell.

Looking forward to his assessment of the current core. Should someone be moved to shake things up? Is there a reasonable deal that can be worked out to keep Simmonds a Flyers, or do you move him? I think the next couple of months and the upcoming off season will be interesting to say the least. Can the team make the playoffs in 2019? Maybe, but it won't be easy, they have a lot of hard work to do if they want to make it happen.

Either way, Chuck Fletcher deserves a chance to make this team better. Ripping him now is just being petulant and childish. He's a smart guy and while he made some mistakes in Minnesota (as all GMs do), he also made some smart moves and you hope he learns from his mistakes. At the end of the day, we all want the Flyers to succeed and bring the Cup back to Philly. I'm going to give Fletcher a fair shake and see if he can get the job done.

Thanks Bill. Hopefully this organization moves forward from here and not look back. I hope Fletcher helps this team take the next step.

I do believe they will make they playoffs. Fletcher mentions that Hakstol ND teams always got better as the season goes on. Seems similar with his time with the Flyers so far, so I do expect this team to go on a run and make the playoffs.

Sad to hear about Jim McKenzie.

I might be interperting this incorrectly, but it sounds like Fletcher is interested in giving players like Hart and Myers a shot before making trades. But it sounds also sounds like the defense and goaltending are the areas he wants to improve, and I don't agree with that. IMO if you want to improve the team defense, get some forwards that you can match as defensive assignments and can improve the PK. It will take 3 guys and you will likely have to eat the salaries of Weise and Lehtera while Lindblom might be sent to LV. I wouldn't mind a vet goalie coming in to split time with Elliot when he is healthy, like Anderson.

JVR-Giroux-Voracek
Konecny-Patrick-Simmonds
Laughton-Couturier-Raffl
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

This doesnt change the core, or really hurt the youth movement. But it does give us 2 very good defensive lines.

This upcoming road trip is the mark. We will be 30-31 games into the season when they return Dec. 18. If Fletcher doesn't like what he is seeing while on this trip, there will be moves (trades and/or call-ups). Home Thursday vs. CBJ, @Buf Saturday, then Western Canada for the week. While it can and has been done, it is a little more difficult logistically to acquire a player while on a road trip.

Where are we after the next 6 games? Interesting stuff.

I'm just going to sit back and reserve judgement until I see what moves Fletcher makes and how the team performs the rest of the season. This team has some significant holes and no GM is going to fill them all over the next 2 months. Nor can any GM make a young player magically more experienced.

What I'm looking for from the new GM is:

Making the entire work environment more comfortable; not just for the front office, but more importantly, for the coaches and players. It seems that there was a lot of tension under Hextall (whether his fault or not doesn't matter, the tension still existed) and pro sports is a high stress field already without adding any extra anxiety into the mix.

Take his time and get a good read on Hakstol and current staff. I think Wilson, if the rumors are true, will be a good addition that can come in and use his knowledge and experience to settle down a very young group of Dmen. There is no rush to make a decision regarding who will be coaching the team in the future. Take your time and get it right.

As he alluded to in the conference call, take his time and see what solutions are in house before making any moves. Can Wilson get the D playing better both at ES and on the PK? Can Stolarz continue to play solid in net? Can you get through the season with a combo of Stolarz, Elliott and Neuvirth? If so, than you don't have to give up an asset to acquire a goalie. Same with the D. If Provy starts playing like Provy and Wilson gets everyone else playing to their capabilities, then you probably don't need to overpay to acquire a Dman. Perhaps the only addition needed to the roster is just one more solid center? A veteran PKer? Time will tell.

Looking forward to his assessment of the current core. Should someone be moved to shake things up? Is there a reasonable deal that can be worked out to keep Simmonds a Flyers, or do you move him? I think the next couple of months and the upcoming off season will be interesting to say the least. Can the team make the playoffs in 2019? Maybe, but it won't be easy, they have a lot of hard work to do if they want to make it happen.

Either way, Chuck Fletcher deserves a chance to make this team better. Ripping him now is just being petulant and childish. He's a smart guy and while he made some mistakes in Minnesota (as all GMs do), he also made some smart moves and you hope he learns from his mistakes. At the end of the day, we all want the Flyers to succeed and bring the Cup back to Philly. I'm going to give Fletcher a fair shake and see if he can get the job done.
- BiggE

In regards to in house i wonder also if he looks at guys in Lehigh. Instead of continuing to use Lehtara or Weal, does he see someone like Aube-Kubel more of an option for the Flyers moving forward.

I'm just going to sit back and reserve judgement until I see what moves Fletcher makes and how the team performs the rest of the season. This team has some significant holes and no GM is going to fill them all over the next 2 months. Nor can any GM make a young player magically more experienced.

What I'm looking for from the new GM is:

Making the entire work environment more comfortable; not just for the front office, but more importantly, for the coaches and players. It seems that there was a lot of tension under Hextall (whether his fault or not doesn't matter, the tension still existed) and pro sports is a high stress field already without adding any extra anxiety into the mix.

Take his time and get a good read on Hakstol and current staff. I think Wilson, if the rumors are true, will be a good addition that can come in and use his knowledge and experience to settle down a very young group of Dmen. There is no rush to make a decision regarding who will be coaching the team in the future. Take your time and get it right.

As he alluded to in the conference call, take his time and see what solutions are in house before making any moves. Can Wilson get the D playing better both at ES and on the PK? Can Stolarz continue to play solid in net? Can you get through the season with a combo of Stolarz, Elliott and Neuvirth? If so, than you don't have to give up an asset to acquire a goalie. Same with the D. If Provy starts playing like Provy and Wilson gets everyone else playing to their capabilities, then you probably don't need to overpay to acquire a Dman. Perhaps the only addition needed to the roster is just one more solid center? A veteran PKer? Time will tell.

Looking forward to his assessment of the current core. Should someone be moved to shake things up? Is there a reasonable deal that can be worked out to keep Simmonds a Flyers, or do you move him? I think the next couple of months and the upcoming off season will be interesting to say the least. Can the team make the playoffs in 2019? Maybe, but it won't be easy, they have a lot of hard work to do if they want to make it happen.

Either way, Chuck Fletcher deserves a chance to make this team better. Ripping him now is just being petulant and childish. He's a smart guy and while he made some mistakes in Minnesota (as all GMs do), he also made some smart moves and you hope he learns from his mistakes. At the end of the day, we all want the Flyers to succeed and bring the Cup back to Philly. I'm going to give Fletcher a fair shake and see if he can get the job done.
- BiggE

👍.

I agree, let's give him some time.

As far as the goalies go. To me, if they dont think Elliott can stay healthy they need to figure something out there. If he can stay healthy, as of right now, I think Elliott and Stolarz can give them what they need.

I think *hope* this D can return to last years form.

I like the forward lineup with Raffl back and Weal on the bench.

Still need to figure out the PK. That's the coaching change I think they should have made.

SiriusXM was mentioning possible moves and they brought up Ghost and Sanheim as possibles to be moved for additional scoring help. I'm not seeing that need. So I hope he don't go that drastic.

you would hope, I dont think they gave NAK a full shot at staying with the big club. That said our issue is not our 4th line. It is really is the 2/3 C and the chemistry on those lines. It is just not a fit right now. Maybe Patrick can gel with JVR and Simmer but I think they need to replace Simmer with more a play making winger.

The thing I hate about the goalie market this year is theres really no up and coming guys stuck behind a vet to take a chance on. Its all old vets or bad contracts.

SiriusXM was mentioning possible moves and they brought up Ghost and Sanheim as possibles to be moved for additional scoring help. I'm not seeing that need. So I hope he don't go that drastic.
- dragonoffrost

I don't see that we need scoring either and wouldn't trade those guys. We need better team d, goaltending and special teams.

you would hope, I dont think they gave NAK a full shot at staying with the big club. That said our issue is not our 4th line. It is really is the 2/3 C and the chemistry on those lines. It is just not a fit right now. Maybe Patrick can gel with JVR and Simmer but I think they need to replace Simmer with more a play making winger.
- wcorvette

I don't think Aube-kubel is strictly a 4th line line guy. I wouldn't be against seeing him move up to a 3rd line role. He has an offesnive game and solid size and skating.

I hope Fletcher’s first move is a Simmonds trade

I don't see that we need scoring either and wouldn't trade those guys. We need better team d, goaltending and special teams.
- Hextall271

That's the areas I look at also

I might be interperting this incorrectly, but it sounds like Fletcher is interested in giving players like Hart and Myers a shot before making trades. But it sounds also sounds like the defense and goaltending are the areas he wants to improve, and I don't agree with that. IMO if you want to improve the team defense, get some forwards that you can match as defensive assignments and can improve the PK. It will take 3 guys and you will likely have to eat the salaries of Weise and Lehtera while Lindblom might be sent to LV. I wouldn't mind a vet goalie coming in to split time with Elliot when he is healthy, like Anderson.

JVR-Giroux-Voracek
Konecny-Patrick-Simmonds
Laughton-Couturier-Raffl
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

This doesnt change the core, or really hurt the youth movement. But it does give us 2 very good defensive lines.
- youarewrong

wut

wut
- Streit2ThePoint

Get the lazy ass vets to backcheck or bring in forwards that will and the defense will get better.

Exciting times ahead, I feel. Looking forward to seeing what kinds of changes Fletch brings to the organization.

Get the lazy ass vets to backcheck or bring in forwards that will and the defense will get better.
- dragonoffrost

If you want to improve the goaltending, get some defensemen that will block shots.

Get the lazy ass vets to backcheck or bring in forwards that will and the defense will get better.
- dragonoffrost

Wilson May get our forwards to do this

I am very interested to see what he does with Simmer. Seemed to me that he was not going to be a Flyer under Hexy. Evidently they were pretty far apart. I love Simmonds, but I don't think he can be signed at term/hit that will be worth while. That said, I agree with arichardson22,, trade him while we can get something. Maybe Simmer and a prospect for a player that will really help.

Top 4 D
or
2/3C

Everyone was all gung ho with Hextall with the astute drafting, refusing to trade prospects/picks for aging rentals, preaching patience for a rebuild.

His style was the total antitheses of his predecessors Clarke and Holmgren.

Well here we are. Nothing has worked. This franchise hasn't won a playoff series in 6 years, and this year is looking like 7. So it's on to the next GM, and likely the next coach soon. The beat just goes on and on.

I won't pretend to know a ton about Fletcher, only what I've read. I don't see anything in the results he had in Minnesota that will make him succeed here. But every situation is different. So hopefully he's learned with experience. Obviously a smart guy being a Harvard graduate. I guess time will tell.