Bill Meltzer: Musings & Quick Hits: Couturier, Simmonds, 'Lose for Hughes,' Phantoms

Welp we can’t fleece Chiarelli anymore

Good stuff, Bill!

Here is the money paragraph as far as I'm concerned:

"It would be great if every development path was a neat-and-tidy upwards arrow. That is rarely the case. However, there's a difference between a staccato path and a somewhat-below-expectations season and an outright disastrous campaign. The latter can a very difficult bounceback for a young player. There's rarely a next-year "magic switch" to flip."

There are younger forwards in this lineup that were counted upon this year to provide some depth behind the top end guys. They simply haven't done that to date. In my mind, rooting to race to the bottom is like rooting for these guys to never come around.

Furthermore, our 2 best defensemen coming into the season were 22 and 25 YO, respectively. On the blueline, the team had less depth than at forward, so a rough year by either of Provorov or Ghost (or worse, both) was going to be bad.

was curious with no games if you could keep it interesting Bill, hats off, great write up.

Welp we can’t fleece Chiarelli anymore
- arichardson22

Just saw this. And I thought the Flyers were a front office mess.

There are younger forwards in this lineup that were counted upon this year to provide some depth behind the top end guys. They simply haven't done that to date. In my mind, rooting to race to the bottom is like rooting for these guys to never come around.

Furthermore, our 2 best defensemen coming into the season were 22 and 25 YO, respectively. On the blueline, the team had less depth than at forward, so a rough year by either of Provorov or Ghost (or worse, both) was going to be bad.

Totally agree.

not a lot went right, still think the Morin injury hurt and hurt the D depth. I know he doesn't have the NHL games but he has the edge and attitude that I think this D misses.

This team needs a little luck going into next year. Maybe they can teach Nick Foles to play hockey

http://www.philly.com/fly...sbehere-phantoms-20190122.

The Flyers need a high-caliber veteran (but not too old of one) who can give them 20+ quality minutes a night against opposing top lines.

This is one of my favorite gems in this piece. Thanks Bill. Marvelous content. I couldn’t agree more.

Welp we can’t fleece Chiarelli anymore
- arichardson22

EDM is still gonna have to make some serious moves no matter who they hire. Should be interesting.

This is one of my favorite gems in this piece. Thanks Bill. Marvelous content. I couldn’t agree more.
- NC Flyers Fan

How are they going to get it and for what cost?

"...if Konecny and Patrick have strong offensive second halves and Lindblom consistently emerges as an effective penalty killing winger who can also chip in points while play on the second or third line, the Flyers' forward group suddenly starts to look much deeper and more potent than has all season."


IF...the biggest two letter word in the English language. For example...If I had 8 million dollars I wouldn't be here.

This team has relied on too many IFs for too long.

EDM is still gonna have to make some serious moves no matter who they hire. Should be interesting.
- hereticpride

Gonna be real interesting depending on who the replacement is.

Strange to hear about a GM being fired during the season, now we have TWO.

Seriously it had to be that Koskinen signing....absolutely stupid timing and contract.

[quote=FlyersRdumb]

Yeah, and IF they tank and IF they draft Hughes or Kakko and IF they make quick NHL impacts... well, the team would still have further to go than if the youth that is already here gets on track and the team adds some quality vets. Lottery luck would be nice, too, but is not a "plan".

Bill, you are the best. Thank you.

I'm not looking purely for a lose for Hughes situation, however I would like to see them make the correct decisions as a selling team. That means looking to move UFA's like Simmonds, Raffl, Frolin, and Lehtera. I would also look to move Weise, A-mac, and explore Gudas and Voracek trades.

Then I would like to see whatever holes created filled by youth. Is it a lose for Hughes, no, but I would expect us to be in the bottom 5.

At the same time If you can get a package out of Ottawa of Stone or Duchene plus for Voracek, and the Flyers could get a minute eating defenseman from another seller, I would be all for it.

I'm not looking purely for a lose for Hughes situation, however I would like to see them make the correct decisions as a selling team. That means looking to move UFA's like Simmonds, Raffl, Frolin, and Lehtera. I would also look to move Weise, A-mac, and explore Gudas and Voracek trades.

Then I would like to see whatever holes created filled by youth. Is it a lose for Hughes, no, but I would expect us to be in the bottom 5.

At the same time If you can get a package out of Ottawa of Stone or Duchene plus for Voracek, and the Flyers could get a minute eating defenseman from another seller, I would be all for it.
- youarewrong

Gonna be real interesting depending on who the replacement is.

Strange to hear about a GM being fired during the season, now we have TWO.

Seriously it had to be that Koskinen signing....absolutely stupid timing and contract.
- Glak18

Any contract has to be approved by upper management.

I'm for a re-tool....not a re-build. I can't see the Flyers turning this season into a playoff spot, but I'm hoping they do get some consistency back in the second half. It's a draft lottery, so perhaps they are able to add another decent piece in the June draft. To me the proper changes were made and now the core group needs to be addressed....going to be interesting times between now and July 2nd.

[quote=bmeltzer]

agreed.

Who cares if some fans want to lose for Hughes? They have no power and are just shouting into the wind.

Meanwhile the GM is playing forcing a guy charged with drug offenses in his native country into the lineup, even though he would be a strong contender for Worst Forward in the NHL.

Who cares if some fans want to lose for Hughes? They have no power and are just shouting into the wind.

Meanwhile the GM is playing forcing a guy charged with drug offenses in his native country into the lineup, even though he would be a strong contender for Worst Forward in the NHL.
- Feanor

It's a travesty. Cost the Flyers the season.

Who cares if some fans want to lose for Hughes? They have no power and are just shouting into the wind.

Meanwhile the GM is playing forcing a guy charged with drug offenses in his native country into the lineup, even though he would be a strong contender for Worst Forward in the NHL.
- Feanor

Yes he should not be playing but who is he going to use in his spot. The Phantoms are playing games with 10 forwards. Read that again. Do you want them using 9?

Don't just look at the Flyers there is more in the organization going on.

How are they going to get it and for what cost?
- MJL

That depends on the target. We have had this conversation before. You can say what you want. Let me make my feelings on the matter clear. This move to acquire a big minute, solid veteran defenseman (not too old and preferably RH) has to be made and it will be costly. With other smart moves taken into account, the cost affect can be minimized. I, in no way, think this move will jeopardize the future. Rather the opposite, we don’t want a repeat of this season’s struggles on defense if multiple of our young defenseman struggle at the same time again-next season or the next few seasons. Pay to make the wonderful and cost effective pieces we do have work. Build a championship team. This move has nothing to do with the ability to sustain that level of compete, it is all about getting there in the first place.

That depends on the target. We have had this conversation before. You can say what you want. Let me make my feelings on the matter clear. This move to acquire a big minute, solid veteran defenseman (not too old and preferably RH) has to be made and it will be costly. With other smart moves taken into account, the cost affect can be minimized. I, in no way, think this move will jeopardize the future. Rather the opposite, we don’t want a repeat of this season’s struggles on defense if multiple of our young defenseman struggle at the same time again-next season or the next few seasons. Pay to make the wonderful and cost effective pieces we do have work. Build a championship team. This move has nothing to do with the ability to sustain that level of compete, it is all about getting there in the first place.
- NC Flyers Fan

I'm not sure that there will be any vet RH Dman available, unless you're willing to massively overpay, that are any better than Gudas. I like the thought, I'm just not sure it's a reasonable possibility.

Strangest thing is hearing chia being fired so close to the deadline. Wonder if he brought them trade proposals to put through and they saw Seguin trades happening all over again.